A company overview is an informational statement about a company that is designed to provide people with some basic data about the company and its operations. Company overviews are typically made readily available in a number of locations for the convenience of people who may have reason to interact with a company, ranging from investors to consumers interested in buying a company's products. Overviews are periodically updated to confirm that the information they contain is accurate and up to date.
Company overviews take the form of a company profile that alerts people to key facts about a company they may find important or relevant. The location of the company headquarters is disclosed, along with contact information, the full company name, the type of industry the company is in, and whether or not it is traded on the stock market. Company overviews can also familiarize readers with the company background, including the date the company was founded, what it did historically, and various mergers and acquisitions it has been involved in.
Information about key people and points of contact may be offered so that people know who is in charge of the company currently. Some company overviews also provide brief biographical information that may be of relevance, including where executives went to school and what kind of experience they have in the industry. The company overview may also discuss the areas of the world where the company does business.
A shortened version of a mission statement can also be included. Mission statements are used to convey information about a company's ethics, the reason it is in business, and the kind of work that it does. Many companies also provide material about the charities they are involved with and may include a brief corporate responsibility statement discussing the company's commitment to caring for the environment, sourcing labor and materials ethically, and taking other steps to behave responsibly in the market.
Company websites usually have a company overview in their about section. A company prospectus, as well as other publications, can contain overviews, as do press kits. When press releases are generated, a condensed version of the company overview may be printed so that people reading the press release have some context and basic information about the company that can be used while writing about the issue covered in the press release. A company overview is also commonly printed on informational materials for employees, as well as prospective investors and other people who might be interested in where a company is located, what it does, and how it is organized.
