One of the best and most basic ways to use the ranking of the top publicly held companies is as a measuring stick. With publicly held company rankings, a public company can see how they compare to the best companies within the industry. Conversely, if you own a private company and want to take it public, these rankings are helpful in this situation, as well. Your company can view the financial statements, stock price and construction of potential public competitors prior to going public.

Publicly held companies that achieve a high ranking usually have a combination of excellent profits and an innovative workforce. Not all publicly held corporations with a lofty ranking, however, will provide a perfect blueprint of success. With enough homework, though, almost every company on the list can provide some form of corporate example of how you can improve your business. Either way, to properly utilize the publicly held company rankings basics, there are few items to consider, such as:

1. Understand all of the basic issues with publicly held companies.

2. Review the top 250 public companies and other company rankings.

3. Research the detailed information about the top public companies.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Examine all the aspects of a publicly held business

Before you can use the top public companies as a basic model for your business, it's imperative to understand just what constitutes a public company. If you're debating whether to take your company public, a thorough evaluation of the process will benefit your business, as well. Finally, a thorough knowledge of publicly held companies will enhance your ability to define the rankings on your own terms.

I recommend: Learn the basic differences between public and private companies at Investopedia. Decide when to go public by studying the article at Hoover Web Design. Use the tutorial available from the State of Wisconsin on the process of becoming a public company.

Check the various rankings directory of publicly held companies

There are many top publicly held company rankings lists out there, but it's important that you choose one that most closely fits your business. For instance, if you ran a furniture company, the top 50 publicly held technology companies would have little relevance to you. That's why you need to choose a ranking list in your industry, your area or dealing with companies of a similar size.

I recommend: Choose the ranking list that most closely fits your company from Information Week, Fortune Magazine and Industry Week. These are but three of the rankings lists available, which can help you gauge the competitiveness of your business relative to the list.

Investigate the details of each of the ranked publicly held corporation

Once you've chosen a company for comparison or modeling purposes, then you need to gather the relevant information. Because the companies are publicly held, they're required to publish all the relevant company information. It's within this data that you find the best practices or basic goals for your own company.

I recommend: Use the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne library research tools to locate information on publicly held companies. Check the website at the University at Albany for a second source of research information.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Top ranked publicly held businesses aren't always the best examples for your company to follow. To make an apt comparison using the publicly held company rankings basics, be sure to choose companies that are similar in size, industry, geographic location and age. After all, these four factors can have a significant influence on your business and are something you can't immediately control.

Gear up your marketing research with in-depth profiles of publicly held companies. Find company rankings across industries, whether they are the top 250 public companies or the top 10 public companies. Build your call lists, increase your sales opportunities, or create a more targeted direct mail campaign by obtaining information on contact details from companies around the globe.

You can find databases of publicly held company rankings that also include corporate criteria, financials and analyst reports—vital information to help you hone your marketing intelligence. Some services also offer email alerts, industry news and press releases from thousands of sources. To ensure a competitive marketing edge, find resources of top public companies that:

1. Provide accurate, up-to-the-minute information on publicly held businesses.

2. Integrate business intelligence with stats on top publicly held companies.

3. Provide information on publicly held corporations in specific industries.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get the most up-to-the-minute information on publicly held businesses

Find publicly held company rankings, profiles, corporate structures, contacts and other vital company information to increase your business intelligence and gain a marketing edge. Services and directories are good sources to obtain information on publicly held corporations.

I recommend: Selectory gives you unlimited online access to top publicly held businesses in both the United States and Canada as well as global companies. Get profiles on 14 million U.S. businesses and 1 million Canadian firms. The company offers a free trial to its service as well. Jigsaw provides a profile directory of 1 million top companies with 8 million contacts at all levels. It also offers a free sign up.

Find sources that provide trends and analysis reports on top publicly held companies

You want analysis tools as well profiles on top companies. Track trends and get statistical tables and other market data on some of the leading corporations.

I recommend: Plunkett Research, Ltd., provides trends, technologies, market data and statistics on various size companies, including publicly held companies. OneSource has 16 million profiles that include corporate financials, customized analyst reports and other data that can integrate with your CRM system. Another well-known directory of publicly held companies is Standard & Poor's Capital IQ while the S&P 500 is the most famous of publicly held company rankings.

Get information on publicly held corporations by industry

Analyze industry trends and other data on top companies across industry sectors. Get industry overviews on finance, agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing and other areas.

I recommend: Hoovers provides research on various industry sectors, including construction and real estate, finance and insurance, food and agriculture and manufacturing. First Research provides profiles on 300 U.S. industries that include overviews, quarterly industry updates, industry forecast and basic financial information.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Business publications like Crain's New York provide lists of publicly held businesses, such as the Crain 500, that rank local corporations by revenues. Chicago Crain's has its own of top Chicago businesses. Both provide analysis and articles on the latest business news and make great resources for marketing lists.

You work for an investment firm and your manager wants you to put a list of the top 50 public companies together. You can go to the library and spend hours there, but you don’t have the time.

There are other and quicker ways of getting publicly held company rankings education and training. You have a powerful tool at your fingertips, and that is the Internet. To obtain publicly held company rankings education and training, do the following:

1. Learn how to search IPOs on future publicly held companies.

2. Become familiar with white papers or reports to find out about publicly held businesses.

3. Learn how to scour SEC filings on public companies.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Train yourself to discover future publicly held companies through IPOs

Learn which companies are about to become publicly held corporations. The technique is to learn about IPOs (initial public offerings). IPOs are when corporations issue common stocks or shares to the public for the first time. There are websites where you can find out about IPO filings and pricings.

I recommend: Hoovers provides in-depth information on not only publicly held company rankings, but on IPO filings. You can view the IPO calendar to find out when the public companies will start trading. IPO Monitor also shows IPO filings and pricings.

Educate yourself on publicly held businesses through white papers or reports

White papers can also be great resources to find the top public companies. White papers and reports show you not only the ranking of the publicly held company, but you can learn to look in the SEC filings to get the information that you need. In addition, you can learn about what the company's outlook is for the short-term as well as long-term. Reports can also reveal what Wall Street analysts are saying about the publicly held corporation.

I recommend: HighBeam Research has good information on the top publicly held companies. If you want to limit your search by geography, HighBeam Research has the top public companies in Chicago or New York. CFO Publishing is another website you can visit to look at its white paper.

Learn about public companies through SEC filings

Looking at SEC filings is a great way to find out public companies. SEC filings are financial statements that publicly held businesses must submit to the U.S. Securities Exchange and Commission. Public companies must file these statements on a regular basis. Investors use SEC filings to help assess their investment decisions.

I recommend: U.S. Securities Exchange and Commission is the first place you should check. You can learn about the most current SEC filings that publicly held companies submitted. Yahoo! Finance is also another place you can visit to see if a publicly held corporation has submitted an SEC filing.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider creating your own database of public held companies that you want to keep track of. Store information - such as contact, sector, and other information - that is important to you.

Financial analysts and others rely on publicly held company rankings to know what's going on with the big Wall Street firms. For companies that have gone public, a lot of analysis is required to protect investors and to accurately assess the health of the financial giants that contribute to America's economic success. Knowing about some of the common key terms for ranking and analyzing publicly held companies will help a business understand the workings of this complex financial world.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Financials

Publicly held companies are often ranked according to various financial data or 'financials.' Web readers can get a lot of financials info through online sources to find out how well a company is doing and what kind of investment potential it might currently hold.

I recommend: See some links for corporate financials at Corporate Financials Online to get up-to-date reporting on what's going on with America's large companies.

Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission is a federal agency that looks after the behaviors and the status of publicly held companies. The SEC gets involved in a lot of the activities around these companies to try to make sure financial reporting is accurate.

I recommend: See more on the SEC, including what they do and how they establish accuracy in finance, at their website.

Analyst reports

Outside individuals from brokerages or similar firms often complete reports on stock value or other elements of a publicly held company. Analyst reports help inform those involved in a company's health about its investment potential.

I recommend: See more on analyst reports from Lexis-Nexis.

Corporate structure

Corporate structure refers to the 'layout' of a business in several essential ways. Reporting on publicly held companies often involves information on the corporate structure and how it might facilitate growth or further investment.

I recommend: See more on corporate structure at WiseGeek.

Standard and Poor's

Standard and Poor's is the leading source for financial analysis and data around publicly held companies. Indexes and publications from S&P get a lot of attention in the financial world.

I recommend: See more on Standard & Poor’s at their website.

Financial statements

Financial statements are information volunteered by these publicly held companies that help provide for rankings and other activity on Wall Street. Recent reporting shows that government agencies are changing regulations for financial statements.

I recommend: See more about financial statements and what's changing at CFO.