Industry Research Strategy

This is a selected guide for research on Industry Information in the McFarlin Library Collection.

Search Strategies

Industry research is important for strategic planning. Designing marketing plans, tracking company performance, assessing competitors, and evaluating capital investment all depend on good industry intelligence.

Also information is often not provided exactly as you may be seeking it. Many general resources provide background on a broad level which still contribute to a good business analysis. Once you've spent some time evaluating the industry, related research such as company assessment will be easier.

Industry analysis

 Industry data is often reported in broad or aggregated form.  Use it to provide background for your analysis.

The following steps will help organize the research process:

• define the industry
• determine the SIC or NAICS code for the industry
• develop an overview - use multi-industry publications
• use guides to the literature to find relevant publications
• identify trade associations for the industry
• look for relevant statistical sources such as sales data and production figures
• browse periodical and newspaper indexes to find articles on recent developments
• search Internet sources

Finding Background Information

To find articles about a particular industry, search the following electronic indexes:

Business Source Complete  via EBSCOhost

Business Source Elite provides full text from over 1,020 journals covering business, management, economics, banking, finance, accounting and much more. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for nearly 1,560 journals. This database contains popular business publications such as Business Week, Forbes, and Harvard Business Review, and hundreds of scholarly, peer reviewed journals. Also included is Wall Street Words, a dictionary of financial terms, linked directly to words within the citations and full text.

 Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys

 Standard & Poor's is a comprehensive source of business and investment information, offering on-line access to Standard & Poor's independent  research, data and commentary on stocks, bonds, funds, anad industries.

Mergent Online  

 Mergent Online's enhanced features and functions include the ability to:

• Research 15 years of detailed financial statements

• Customize viewing and output to retrieve precisely the information you need
• Export company reports and financials into software applications such as Microsoft® Word, Microsoft® Excel or Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®
• Execute accurate cross-border searches using a variety of financial and text variables
• Compare multiple companies' reports
• Access site via user ID or IP authentication

• View more than 115,000 images of company annual reports" -- Mergent website

 

Background guides

Use these guides to identify resources such as industry journals, statistical sources, and trade associations for the industry:

Overviews and surveys

The following sources are helpful in providing an overview of the industry:

Industry norms and business ratios

Industry ratios give an average of costs and expenditures in specific industries. Company strength can be evaluated by comparing the company ratios to the industry standard.  Ratios are used for financial analysis of assets, debt, sales, profit, labor, advertising, etc.

The following specialized sources are helpful in finding information on industry norms and business ratios:

Industry statistics

Statistics such as average industry production levels, annual sales, and market size can contribute to your understanding of the industry.

The following sources are helpful in finding information on industry statistics:

Economic Indicators & Statistics

Sources of economic statistics assess the overall direction of the economy. They are typically collections of data from a variety of originating agencies. They may also provide a useful historical pattern.

The following sources are helpful in finding information on economic data:

Industry Information on the Web

Searching for industry information on the Web requires creativity. Possible sources are trade or professional associations related to the industry.

 

Census Bureau

Web site for Census data such as Economic Censuses and Current Industrial Reports.

 

 Hoover's Industry Snapshots

Hoover's, Inc. delivers comprehensive company, industry, and market intelligence that drives business growth. Hoover’s provides sales, marketing, business development, and recruiting professionals with the global business intelligence they need to prospect and prepare for client meetings, sales presentations, vendor and partner negotiations, and other business opportunities.

 

 

Yahoo Industry News