Industry Information - Doing The Research

An important component of any company research project is to explore the industry in which that company operates. Is that industry booming or is it in decline? Who are the competitors within the industry? What is the outlook for the industry? Can you get composite sales or financial data for the industry?

Plunkett's Research Online is one of Gutman Library's premier sources of industry information. But there are some other sources mentioned below, including some useful print resources found in the Library.

It is important to keep in mind the difference between an industry and a product. For the most success in researching an industry, consider that they are organized by the aggregation of large corporations. Examples are banking, airline, automotive, food and beverage, telecommunications, and so on. If you were researching frozen yogurt desserts, you could possibly find some information about it within the food and beverage industry, but don't expect to find industry reports on frozen yogurt desserts.

Most of the databases discussed above can also serve as excellent research tools for doing industry research. This section will provide a few tips on making the most of them for your research project.

In addition to these electronic resources, don't forget to use the Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys, which we still subscribe to in print format. They are found in the main reference area of Gutman Library.

Suggested Library Databases For Industry Research

Hoover's Online - they provide an industry overview report. See the screenshots to learn how to get access to the report.

ValueLine Research Center - in addition to the company reports, Valueline also provides an industry report. This contains a current assessment of the events in and outlook for that industry, advice for investors, and some aggregate financial data for the industry. See the screenshots to learn how to get access to the report.

Business & Company Resource Center - as mentioned above this database has a section devoted to industry information. There is an industry search tab as well that allows access to the database content by industry rather than by company name. Now that you know how to get the SIC or NAICS for a company, you can use it here to get more information about the industry. See the screenshots on how to get to a report on your industry from the Encyclopedia of American Industry.

ABI/Inform - you can easily construct a search to find articles about an industry. For example, a search could be formed by combining the terms "airline" and "competition or strategy". If you already have an NAICS code, ABI does have a feature that allows you to use it in a search to focus on industry information. See the screenshot that show how to do this.

Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe - Like ABI/Inform you can construct searches in AU to find articles more specific to industries. However, there is one area of AU that is particularly relevant to industry research. That is the Industry & Market search. To get to it, you need to enter the Business section of AU. The advantage of I&M searching, is the the articles being searched are more specific to industries and markets, so the search results are usually more accurate. The source option allows you to choose from about 30 different industries.

Plunkett Research Online

This is a specialized database that provide full-text industry analysis reports, industry statistics, and information about contacts within the industry (e.g., associations). It provides reports for approximately 30 industries but they are among the most significant industries. It is important to bear in mind that an industry is a large aggregation of public or significant companies that operate within the industry. Examples of industries include automotive, banking, airlines, health care, insurance, telecommunications, etc. This is different from product research. Products are far narrower than industries. Examples of products would include frozen desserts, pet food, tires, soda, shampoo, etc. There may be some information in an industry report about a product or a company that makes those products, but product research is typically better conducted in article databases such as ABI and Business Source Premier.

The screenshot to the left shows some of the industries available. Just click on the link to the industry report and then choose from a variety of reports. Note that the links shown on the screenshot are not active links - you need to go to the database first.

Hoover's Industry Overview

The industry overview report can be a good starting point for obtaining information on the current state of the industry and some of the key players within it.

Step One: Click n the "industries" tab and enter the industry name, a product name, or try the browse option

Step Two: Click on the name of the industry you want more information about from the search results screen

Step Three: Click on "overview" to get background information on the industry and key companies in that industry.

Return to Top

ValueLine Research Center's Industry Report

Step One: From the home page of ValueLine, click on "Look Up Industry"

Step Two: From the result screen find your industry, then click on the PDF icon to get the report

Step Three: Here is a sample paragraph from the report

Return to top

Business & Company Resource Center

Step one: Enter an SIC or NAICS into the search box (you can look them up here as well)

Step two: When the SIC number 2834 was entered into the search box above, it returned the link to the article on this industry in the Encyclopedia of American Industries.

Click here for screenshot >

In addition to these reports, BC&RC also provides access to Market Research reports. These reports, which provide detailed information on the markets of products, are found most frequently for consumer products. To see what is available for your industry click on the green tab for "Market Research" (you'll see this only when you search by industry). Because the reports are costly, libraries only get access to old ones - sorry.

Return to top

ABI/Inform - Finding Articles About Industries

Tip One - To search for articles about specific topics as they relate to an industry use the Advanced Search, and use search terms similar to way shown below. Note the use of the truncation symbol (*).

Click here for screenshot >

Tip Two - When you are on the advanced search screen, click on the "More Search Options" tab (below the search box) and you will see the options shown below. If you already know the NAICS code for your industry, ABI allows you to use it as a search term in the specified search box. Also shown below is combining the code with a subject (compet* is truncated to find competition, competes, competitor, etc.)

Click here for screenshot >

Return to top

Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe - Industry & Market Search
Step One: To access the I&M search - go to the Business segment of AU, then click on the link to I&M.

Step Two: Complete the template by using your industry as the keyword and then add additional terms (or otherwise the search will be too broad). Then - and here is the critical part - use the "industry" source list to choose the correct industry. There are about 30 choices. This limits what is being searched to just sources about your industry or articles from other sources that are specific to the industry, so it's much more specific than a similar search in "general news".

Click here for screenshot >

Step Three: The screen shot below shows a selection of the articles retrieved - which are specific to the airline industry.

Click here for screenshot >

Return to top