The two primary sections of this book
are devoted first to the e-commerce and Internet industry as a
whole and then to the “Individual Data Listings” for
THE E-COMMERCE 450. If time permits, you should begin your research
in the front chapters of this book. Also, you will find lengthy
indexes in Chapter 4 and in the back of the book
THE E-COMMERCE AND INTERNET INDUSTRY
Glossary: A short list of e-commerce
and Internet industry terms.
Chapter 1: Major Trends and Technologies
Affecting the E-Commerce and Internet Industry. This
chapter presents an encapsulated view of the major trends that
are creating rapid changes in the e-commerce industry today.
Chapter 2: E-Commerce and Internet Statistics.
This chapter presents in-depth statistics ranging from
an industry overview to online retail spending to the growing
use of broadband and much more.
Chapter 3: Important E-Commerce and Internet Industry
Contacts - Addresses, Telephone Numbers and World Wide Web Sites.
This chapter covers contacts for important government
agencies, e-commerce organizations and trade groups. Included
are numerous important World Wide Web sites.
THE E-COMMERCE 450
Chapter 4: THE E-COMMERCE 450: Who They
Are and How They Were Chosen. The companies compared
in this book (the actual count is 442) were carefully selected
from the e-commerce & Internet industry, largely in the United
States. 39 of the firms are based outside the U.S. For a complete
description, see THE E-COMMERCE 450 indexes in this chapter.
Individual Data Listings:
Look at one of the companies in THE E-COMMERCE 450’s Individual
Data Listings. You’ll find the following information fields:
Company Name:
The company profiles are in alphabetical order by company name.
If you don’t find the company you are seeking, it may be
a subsidiary or division of one of the firms covered in this book.
Try looking it up in the Index by Subsidiaries, Brand Names and
Selected Affiliations in the back of the book.
Ranks:
Industry Group Code: An NAIC code used to group companies within
like segments. (See Chapter 4 for a list of codes.)
Ranks Within This Company’s Industry Group: Ranks, within
this firm’s segment only, for annual sales and annual profits,
with 1 being the highest rank.
Business Activities:
A grid arranged into six major industry categories and several
sub-categories. A “Y” indicates that the firm operates
within the sub-category. A complete Index by Industry is included
in the beginning of Chapter 4.
Types of Business:
A listing of the primary types of business specialties conducted
by the firm.
Brands/Divisions/Affiliations:
Major brand names, operating divisions or subsidiaries of the
firm, as well as major corporate affiliations—such as another
firm that owns a significant portion of the company’s stock.
A complete Index by Subsidiaries, Brand Names and Selected Affiliations
is in the back of the book.
Contacts:
The names and titles up to 27 top officers of the company are
listed, including human resources contacts.
Address:
The firm’s full headquarters address, the headquarters telephone,
plus toll-free and fax numbers where available. Also provided
is the World Wide Web site address.
Financials:
Annual Sales (2004 or the latest fiscal year available to the
editors, plus up to four previous years): These are stated in
thousands of dollars (add three zeros if you want the full number).
This figure represents consolidated worldwide sales from all operations.
2004 figures may be estimates or may be for only part of the year—partial
year figures are appropriately footnoted.
Annual Profits (2004 or the latest fiscal year available to the
editors, plus up to four previous years): These are stated in
thousands of dollars (add three zeros if you want the full number).
This figure represents consolidated, after-tax net profit from
all operations. 2004 figures may be estimates or may be for only
part of the year—partial year figures are appropriately
footnoted.
Stock Ticker: When available, the unique stock market symbol used
to identify this firm’s common stock for trading and tracking
purposes is indicated. Where appropriate, this field may contain
“private” or “subsidiary” rather than
a ticker symbol.
Total Number of Employees: The approximate total number of employees,
worldwide, as of the end of 2003 (or the latest data available
to the editors).
Apparent Salaries/Benefits:
A “Y” in appropriate fields indicates “Yes.”
Due to wide variations in the manner in which corporations report
benefits to the U.S. Government’s regulatory bodies, not
all plans will have been uncovered or correctly evaluated during
our effort to research this data. Also, the availability to employees
of such plans will vary according to the qualifications that employees
must meet to become eligible. For example, some benefit plans
may be available only to salaried workers—others only to
employees who work more than 1,000 hours yearly. Benefits that
are available to employees of the main or parent company may not
be available to employees of the subsidiaries. In addition, employers
frequently alter the nature and terms of plans offered.
NOTE: Generally, employees covered by wealth-building benefit
plans do not fully own (“vest in”) funds contributed
on their behalf by the employer until as many as five years of
service with that employer have passed. All pension plans are
voluntary—that is, employers are not obligated to offer
pensions.
Pension Plan: The firm offers a pension plan to qualified employees.
In this case, in order for a “Y” to appear, the editors
believe that the employer offers a defined benefit or cash balance
pension plan (see discussions below).The type and generosity of
these plans vary widely from firm to firm. Caution: Some employers
refer to plans as “pension” or “retirement”
plans when they are actually 401(k) savings plans that require
a contribution by the employee.
• Defined Benefit Pension Plans: Pension plans that do
not require a contribution from the employee are infrequently
offered. However, a few companies, particularly larger employers
in high-profit-margin industries, offer defined benefit pension
plans where the employee is guaranteed to receive a set pension
benefit upon retirement. The amount of the benefit is determined
by the years of service with the company and the employee’s
salary during the later years of employment. The longer a person
works for the employer, the higher the retirement benefit. These
defined benefit plans are funded entirely by the employer. The
benefits, up to a reasonable limit, are guaranteed by the Federal
Government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. These
plans are not portable—if you leave the company, you cannot
transfer your benefits into a different plan. Instead, upon
retirement you will receive the benefits that vested during
your service with the company. If your employer offers a pension
plan, it must give you a summary plan description within 90
days of the date you join the plan. You can also request a summary
annual report of the plan, and once every 12 months you may
request an individual benefit statement accounting of your interest
in the plan.
• Defined Contribution Plans: These are quite different.
They do not guarantee a
certain amount of pension benefit. Instead, they set out circumstances
under which the employer will make a contribution to a plan
on your behalf. The most common example is the 401(k) savings
plan. Pension benefits are not guaranteed under these plans.
• Cash Balance Pension Plans: These plans were recently
invented. These are hybrid plans—part defined benefit
and part defined contribution. Many employers have converted
their older defined benefit plans into cash balance plans. The
employer makes deposits (or credits a given amount of money)
on the employee’s behalf, usually based on a percentage
of pay. Employee accounts grow based on a predetermined interest
benchmark, such as the interest rate on Treasury Bonds. There
are some advantages to these plans, particularly for younger
workers: a) The benefits, up to a reasonable limit, are guaranteed
by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. b) Benefits are
portable—they can be moved to another plan when the employee
changes companies. c) Younger workers and those who spend a
shorter number of years with an employer may receive higher
benefits than they would under a traditional defined benefit
plan.
ESOP Stock Plan (Employees’ Stock Ownership Plan): This
type of plan is in wide use. Typically, the plan borrows money
from a bank and uses those funds to purchase a large block of
the corporation’s stock. The corporation makes contributions
to the plan over a period of time, and the stock purchase loan
is eventually paid off. The value of the plan grows significantly
as long as the market price of the stock holds up. Qualified employees
are allocated a share of the plan based on their length of service
and their level of salary. Under federal regulations, participants
in ESOPs are allowed to diversify their account holdings in set
percentages that rise as the employee ages and gains years of
service with the company. In this manner, not all of the employee’s
assets are tied up in the employer’s stock.
Savings Plan, 401(k): Under this type of plan, employees make
a tax-deferred deposit into an account. In the best plans, the
company makes annual matching donations to the employees’
accounts, typically in some proportion to deposits made by the
employees themselves. A good plan will match one-half of employee
deposits of up to 6% of wages. For example, an employee earning
$30,000 yearly might deposit $1,800 (6%) into the plan. The company
will match one-half of the employee’s deposit, or $900.
The plan grows on a tax-deferred basis, similar to an IRA. A very
generous plan will match 100% of employee deposits. However, some
plans do not call for the employer to make a matching deposit
at all. Other plans call for a matching contribution to be made
at the discretion of the firm’s board of directors. Actual
terms of these plans vary widely from firm to firm. Generally,
these savings plans allow employees to deposit as much as 15%
of salary into the plan on a tax-deferred basis. However, the
portion that the company uses to calculate its matching deposit
is generally limited to a maximum of 6%. Employees should take
care to diversify the holdings in their 401(k) accounts, and most
people should seek professional guidance or investment management
for their accounts.
Stock Purchase Plan: Qualified employees may purchase the company’s
common stock at a price below its market value under a specific
plan. Typically, the employee is limited to investing a small
percentage of wages in this plan. The discount may range from
5 to 15%. Some of these plans allow for deposits to be made through
regular monthly payroll deductions. However, new accounting rules
for corporations, along with other factors, are leading many companies
to curtail these plans—dropping the discount allowed, cutting
the maximum yearly stock purchase or otherwise making the plans
less generous or appealing.
Profit Sharing: Qualified employees are awarded an annual amount
equal to some portion of a company’s profits. In a very
generous plan, the pool of money awarded to employees would be
15% of profits. Typically, this money is deposited into a long-term
retirement account. Caution: Some employers refer to plans as
“profit sharing” when they are actually 401(k) savings
plans. True profit sharing plans are rarely offered.
Highest Executive Salary: The highest executive salary paid, typically
a 2003 amount (or the latest year available to the editors) and
typically paid to the Chief Executive Officer.
Highest Executive Bonus: The apparent bonus, if any, paid to the
above person.
Second Highest Executive Salary: The next-highest executive salary
paid, typically a 2003 amount (or the latest year available to
the editors) and typically paid to the President or Chief Operating
Officer.
Second Highest Executive Bonus: The apparent bonus, if any, paid
to the above person.
Other Thoughts:
Apparent Women Officers or Directors: It is difficult to obtain
this information on an exact basis, and employers generally do
not disclose the data in a public way. However, we have indicated
what our best efforts reveal to be the apparent number of women
who either are in the posts of corporate officers or sit on the
board of directors. There is a wide variance from company to company.
Hot Spot for Advancement for Women/Minorities: A “Y”
in appropriate fields indicates “Yes.” These are firms
that appear either to have posted a substantial number of women
and/or minorities to high posts or that appear to have a good
record of going out of their way to recruit, train, promote and
retain women or minorities. (See the Index of Hot Spots For Women
and Minorities in the back of the book.) This information may
change frequently and can be difficult to obtain and verify. Consequently,
the reader should use caution and conduct further investigation
where appropriate.
Growth Plans/ Special Features:
Listed here are observations regarding the firm’s strategy,
hiring plans, plans for growth and product development, along
with general information regarding a company’s business
and prospects.
Locations:
A “Y” in the appropriate field indicates “Yes.”
Primary locations outside of the headquarters, categorized by
regions of the United States and by international locations. A
complete index by locations is also in the front of this chapter.
