Research Guides: Industry Research: Industry Research

Research Hints

When researching an industry, consider the following:

Is your industry a segment of a larger industry? For example, men’s shoes may be part of the larger segment called apparel, which may be part of the larger industry of retail. You will want to look at your industry from the smallest segment to the larger industry.
What kind of industry are you studying? Is it service, manufacturing, retail, etc.?
Do you know the SIC and NAICS codes for your industry? These are classification codes assigned to industries, and some databases still use them for searching for industries. Information on searching SIC and NAICS codes are below in Descriptions and Overviews.

Starting with Google? Might be good for...

Professional associations (San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, American Bakers' Association, etc.)
Web sites for companies within your industry
Some articles, fact sheets, statistics
Pricing, logos, images

Descriptions and Overviews

IBISWorld
Great information on industries in the US and global economy. Each Industry Report includes overviews, data and statistics, market share, competitive landscape, major companies, outlooks and more!

Tips for IBISWorld:

US Industry Search:

Use a keyword or phrase for your US industry search. Start big: transportation.
Browse the list of results for useful reports.
Use other keywords for your topic to find additional reports. For example, for a taxi or shuttle service, search the word: taxi, and also try the word: shuttle, to see what other different industry reports come up. You can view the entire report or use the iExpert Summaries to get just the highlights.

China or Global Industry Search:

Click on either China Industry Reports or Global Industry Reports to see what industries are available. iExpert Summaries are not available for China or Global industries.

Classifying Industry Reports at the 5-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), IBISWorld Industry Reports are at the granular level covering industry-specific titles from the popular to the not so popular. Each Industry Report is some 35-50 pages in length with abridged, 6-page Executive Summaries also available.

On-Campus Link
Passport
Excellent for US and global industry statistics and market research.

Tips for Passport industry search:

In upper right corner of the screen, search a simple keyword like “snacks.”
On the next screen, you can choose from the Popular Statistics column, or the Analysis column.
For statistics, scroll down and select the item that interests you. For analysis, use the pull down menu at the top that says Filter Analysis to select either topics or geography.

On-Campus Link
Business Source Complete
You can use Business Source Complete to find industry profiles. When you are on the main search page, look to the right of the screen for Industry Profiles. Click there, then click on "By Title, Subject, & Description" under the search box to search for your industry by keyword.

In addition to the searchable cited references provided for more than 1,200 journals, Business Source Complete contains detailed author profiles for the 25,000 most-cited authors in the database. Journal ranking studies reveal that Business Source Complete is the overwhelmingly superior database for full text journals in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics.

Additional full text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more.

On Campus Link
ABI/INFORM Collection
To find industry reports, first do a search in quotation marks on: "first research industry profiles." Once you are on the result page, click the Reports link under the Source type section on the left.

Launched in the early 1970s, ABI/INFORM remains the gold standard when it comes to business research databases. ABI/INFORM Complete’s massive content set—which includes important full‐text journals and much sought‐after titles from the business press as well as key trade publications, dissertations, conference proceedings, and market reports—will help today’s researchers resolve tomorrow’s problems.

ABI/INFORM Complete includes all content found in ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Dateline, ABI/INFORM Research, and ABI/INFORM Trade and Industry. It also includes ABI/INFORM Archive, which offers a deep backfile of many of the most important business journals of the last century.

Through agreements with some of the world’s most prestigious publishers—including Cambridge University Press, Dow Jones & Company, Emerald Group Publishing, Dun and Bradstreet, Palgrave MacMillan, the Financial Times Group, and the Economist Intelligence Unit—ProQuest provides access to hundreds of key business titles.

Key ongoing full-text journals include:

Journal of Economic Literature
Journal of International Business Studies
Organization Science
Journal of Economic Perspectives
Academy of Marketing Science Journal
American Economic Review
Accounting Review
Supply Chain Management
MIT Sloan Management Review
China Quarterly

Key ongoing full-text periodicals include:

Wall Street Journal
Financial Times
Economist
SmartMoney

News and Trends

Professional Associations:

These are great for finding out what people in the profession or industry area are reading and thinking about, as well as current trends. For many associations, some of the content is freely available, while other content is available to members only. To find industry associations, try these tools:

Association Directory
This is a freely available web site that allows you to search for professional and industry associations by region, category, state, and more.

Google
A quick search on a keyword for your industry (food service, finance, transportation, hospitality, etc.) plus the words association or organization will give you a list of web sites you can view.

Articles and News:

ABI/INFORM Collection
One of the world's most comprehensive business databases, and the only one with the full text of the Wall Street Journal, ABI/INFORM Collection makes a smart starting point among our many business resources.

Launched in the early 1970s, ABI/INFORM remains the gold standard when it comes to business research databases. ABI/INFORM Complete’s massive content set—which includes important full‐text journals and much sought‐after titles from the business press as well as key trade publications, dissertations, conference proceedings, and market reports—will help today’s researchers resolve tomorrow’s problems.

ABI/INFORM Complete includes all content found in ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Dateline, ABI/INFORM Research, and ABI/INFORM Trade and Industry. It also includes ABI/INFORM Archive, which offers a deep backfile of many of the most important business journals of the last century.

Through agreements with some of the world’s most prestigious publishers—including Cambridge University Press, Dow Jones & Company, Emerald Group Publishing, Dun and Bradstreet, Palgrave MacMillan, the Financial Times Group, and the Economist Intelligence Unit—ProQuest provides access to hundreds of key business titles.

Key ongoing full-text journals include:

Journal of Economic Literature
Journal of International Business Studies
Organization Science
Journal of Economic Perspectives
Academy of Marketing Science Journal
American Economic Review
Accounting Review
Supply Chain Management
MIT Sloan Management Review
China Quarterly

Key ongoing full-text periodicals include:

Wall Street Journal
Financial Times
Economist
SmartMoney
Business Source Complete
This is the world's definitive scholarly business database, providing the leading collection of bibliographic and full text content. As part of the comprehensive coverage offered by this database, indexing and abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals back as far as 1886 are included.

In addition to the searchable cited references provided for more than 1,200 journals, Business Source Complete contains detailed author profiles for the 25,000 most-cited authors in the database. Journal ranking studies reveal that Business Source Complete is the overwhelmingly superior database for full text journals in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics.

Additional full text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more.

On Campus Link
Nexis Uni
Replaces LexisNexis Academic.

More than 15,000 news, business, and legal sources from LexisNexis—including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790.

National and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources.

U.S. Federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews, and international legal information.

Shepard’s Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789.

Business news journals, company financial information, SEC filings and reports, and industry and market news.

On Campus Link
Sports Market Analytics
The database combines market research from the largest single research supplier to the industry, the National Sporting Goods Association; the U.S. Department of Commerce; various sports governing bodies; and full-text articles from 14 magazines and newsletters published by Miller Freeman, the world's largest sporting goods trade publisher, and newsletters provided by leading independent industry experts.

On-Campus Link
Access World News
Through nearly 7000 news sources, find diverse global, local, regional, and national perspectives on topics related to controversial issues, the environment, health, education, science, the arts, literature, business, economics, criminal justice, and more.

Sources include a variety of current and retrospective news media: newspapers, newswires, broadcast transcripts, blogs, periodicals, and web-only content.

Also included are the following Access Modules: Business News, U.S. Newswires, Military, Government, and Defense, and Acceda Noticias. Content is easily searched and sorted through an intuitive, map-based interface.

Access World News includes many California News Sources including the current San Francisco Chronicle.

On Campus Link

Statistics and Market Share

Statista
A database of statistics and data on industries, companies, market share, consumers, and much, much more. Data is viewable in different graph forms, and there are industry reports for certain industries.

Categorized into over 20 market sectors, Statista provides business customers, researchers, and the academic community with direct access to relevant quantitative facts on agriculture, finance, politics, and many more areas of interest.

Sources of information include market researchers, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.

On-campus link

Business Rankings Annual
Search company, industry and product keywords. Contains lists of ranked companies, products, services, and activities compiled from a variety of published sources. To search, type in search words for your industry under Find.

Market Share Reporter
Search company, industry and product keywords.
Provides the market share for many companies within an industry, shown with pie charts and graphs. To search, type in search words for your industry under Find.

Ratios

Mergent Online
Once you are on the main information screen for a particular company, the ratios will be under Company Financials > Analysis > Ratio Analysis

On Campus Link
Nexis Uni
To get to ratios, use the pull down menu at the top of the start page to select Company Dossiers. Type in your company name, and click on it in the search results. Once you are on the main information page for a company, the ratios will be under Financial Overview > Ratio Analysis

National and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources.

U.S. Federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews, and international legal information.

Shepard’s Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789.

Business news journals, company financial information, SEC filings and reports, and industry and market news.

On Campus Link
IBISWorld
Once you are on the information overview screen for an industry, the ratios will be under Key Statistics > Industry Financial Ratios. Find Key Statistics on the left side of the screen.

Classifying Industry Reports at the 5-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), IBISWorld Industry Reports are at the granular level covering industry-specific titles from the popular to the not so popular. Each Industry Report is some 35-50 pages in length with abridged, 6-page Executive Summaries also available.

On-Campus Link

MSN Money
In the middle of the screen, use the Quote Search to search for your company's name or ticker symbol. Then, click Analysis to view a number of ratios on financial health, growth, and other criteria. Also view your company's ratios with its industry ratios to compare your company to industry benchmarks.

RMA Annual Statement Studies: Financial Ratio Benchmarks
ISBN: 1570703507
Includes financial statistics and ratios, as well as comparative historical data and current data ranked by sales. Latest copy kept at the Reference Desk.
Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios by Leo Troy
Latest copy kept at the Reference Desk.
Business Ratios and Formulas by Bragg, Steven M.
ISBN: 9781118169964
This book lists and describes common business ratios and how to calculate them.

Porter's Five Forces and SWOT Analysis

IBISWorld and Porter's Five Forces
This short video shows how to use the IBISWorld industry database to find information for a Porter's Five Forces assignment.

IBISWorld
Information on over 700 US Industries in the US economy.

Classifying Industry Reports at the 5-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), IBISWorld Industry Reports are at the granular level covering industry-specific titles from the popular to the not so popular. Each Industry Report is some 35-50 pages in length with abridged, 6-page Executive Summaries also available.

On-Campus Link
Statista
For industry SWOT analysis, select Reports at the top of the screen, and then select Industry Reports. For each industry report, a SWOT analysis is available within the first 5-10 pages.

Categorized into over 20 market sectors, Statista provides business customers, researchers, and the academic community with direct access to relevant quantitative facts on agriculture, finance, politics, and many more areas of interest.

Sources of information include market researchers, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.

On-campus link

Other Companies in Your Industry

referenceUSA
Create lists of businesses within industries by using city, state, zip code, and more! To start: Click on U.S. Businesses. Then click Custom Search. On the next screen, you can create your own search form to search for industry keywords, plus geographical terms like city, state, zip code, etc.

ReferenceUSA is compiled from over 5,000 Yellow page directories, Business White Pages, Corporate Annual Reports, SEC 10K reports, Chamber of Commerce Directories, state directories, and other public information sources. It is searchable by Yellow Page heading, Industry group, SIC code, city or geographic area, employee size, sales volume, and consumer name.

ReferenceUSA also allows you to create heat maps of your business list based on many of the criteria listed above.

On-Campus Link

Citing Your Sources

Whenever you do research, you will need to cite the information sources that you use. Most business scholars use APA style. Here are some tools that can help you with this task:

Citing Business Databases in APA: Michigan State University Guide
This guide was created to help with citing some common business databases
Citing Business Databases from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
This guide has some additional business database examples in APA style.
MLA Business Citations: Youngstown State University
Scroll down the page to see citations for specific business web sites, reports, and databases cited in MLA style.
Purdue OWL
Our favorite style guide web site is the OWL from Purdue University.

RefWorks
RefWorks allows users to create personal databases to manage, store, and share the information citations/references. Users can automatically insert references from their database into their papers and generate formatted bibliographies and manuscripts in seconds. Create an account using your USF email address.

Create an account using your USF email address.

If you do not want to use your USF email address:

on campus: create an account with any email address.
off campus: use the link above and this invitation code: 5951-1639
Please note, even though you will be prompted for a "university email address," you may enter any email address.

(You can still use the Old RefWorks) Group Code: RWUSanFrancisco

New RefWorks Guide
Legacy RefWorks Guide

Getting Help!

There are several ways to obtain assistance with your research. Read on!

The School of Management has a library liaison named Penny Scott, and you can contact her for help.

Her contact information is: email: plscott@usfca.edu * phone: 415-422-5389

It is best to call or email ahead, or make an appointment, to make sure she is available!

If Penny is not available, or any time you need help, you can always get help, just Ask a Librarian!

Gleeson Library

Industry Research

Reference Librarian/Business Liaison

Ask A Librarian: Penny

Penny's Office Hours Spring 2020