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BUS 4150 Contemporary Issues in Global Business

Industry Research Step-by-Step

Marketline

Marketline homepage

Research industries and gather industry statistics from MarketLine

  • Easy to use database gives you a wealth of industry information including a composite SWOT analysis for leading companies, Porter's 5 Forces analysis with graphs for industries (global or by country) as well as consumer behavior statistics
  • Click MarketLine link
  • Enter your company name and click GO
  • Click News for up to date industry news
  • Click Companies to see company profiles and SWOT analysis
  • Click Opinion to see analysts' predictions and trends
  • Click Industries to see comprehensive industry reports including Porter's 5 Forces analysis with graphs

Marketline with industry highlighted

IBISWorld

IBISworld homepage

Use IBIS World for a strategic analysis of your industry with easy access to upstream and downstream industries (supply chain) that your industry may be dependent upon or support

  • Click IBIS World
  • Enter keywords to describe your industry
  • View reports by clicking on their title
  • Move through report contents by using links to the left or clicking the PDF link to get the whole report
  • To see related industries follow links in the box on the lower left called See Full Context

IBISworld industry page

ABI Inform

  • Review more detailed industry surveys and industry-related intelligence at ABI Inform Trade and Industry
    • Click ABI Inform Trade and Industry
    • Click the Browse tab at the top of the screen
    • Select FirstResearch for quarterly industry reports; these reports are more granular that S&P's and oftentimes deal with very specific sub-industries while using examples of particular companies within the industry
    • Excellent resource for finding detailed information on a specific function or business within an industry (e.g. automobile dealerships as opposed to simply automotive industry.)
    • TIP: There are other links to things like market share, market research reports, and industry trends and forecasts; to get to these materials is a little tricky. You need to do the following:
      • Click the link for the thing you want
      • ProQuest will bring back all of the documents about that topic in the database; it could be thousands!
      • Limit to your industry or company by scrolling to the bottom of the page and adding the connector AND plus your keywords (e.g. AND automotive industry)

ABI Inform

Mergent

Mergent Intellect

  • Mergent is another source of compiled industry surveys both United States and global ones
    • Select Mergent Intellect
    • Click Industry Reports
    • Select your industry
    • The industries covered are very broad but can be useful for the 'big picture'

Plunkett

Plunkett Homepage

Get industry statistics and trends from Plunkett

  • Click Research an Industry
  • Choose Industry List
    • Select the industry grouping that most closely matches your company's
    • Review Market Research/Trends as well as Statistics

Plunkett industry drop down

Industry Ratios

D&B Key Business Ratios

  • Retrieve industry ratios to determine how the industry is doing in terms of solvency as a whole along with highs and lows for companies in that industry
    • Select D&B Key Business Ratios
    • Select your industry from the pull-down

D&B Business Ratios

BizMiner

  • Get sample financial statements and up to 5 years of historical industry ratios with charts from BizMiner 
    • Select BizMiner 
    • Enter a keyword for your industry or search by SIC Code (Standard Industrial Classification) 
    • TIP: Use Google to find your company's SIC code by googling the company name and 'sic code'; It's a 2-6 digit code; Best one to use is the 4 digit one...2 digit SIC codes are too general; 6 are too specific. 
    • Click Search 
    • Select the industry that most matches yours 
    • Click Show Industry Reports 
    • Choose Industry Financial Profiles 
    • Select your revenue range (or all) and whether you want a 3 or 5 year report

BizMiner

 

Scholarly Articles

Business Source Premier

Business Source Premier

  • Business Source Premier also has industry surveys and analysis; Theirs are unique in that they provide country breakdowns as well as archive up to 10 year's worth of historical, archived surveys
    • Click Business Source Premier
    • Select Publications towards the top of the screen
    • Move your eye down to the Browse box
    • Select Match Any Words
    • Enter your search terms free text (like a google search)
    • Click Browse
    • Review results
      • Click the title
      • Click the year to get the most recent stuff (on the right-hand side)
      • Results may come back as a set of documents! This means the documents as a whole make up the report. You'll have to email/print each one individually...
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