Company and Industry Research

This segment provides recommendations for conducting research on industry. When you begin researching an industry, there are a number of helpful things to consider before navigating recommended databases. Depending on the nature of your project, you can take several approaches to industry and market research:

• For well-defined and established industries, searches databases and online catalogs by using the industry name or classification codes (see Industry Classification Systems).
• Search resources on companies that provide the products that you are focusing on, then determine which industries they belong to (see the Research Guide on Companies).  Such companies can be identified by searching through directories, trade association materials, company reports, and trade journals.
• Search resources on issues, trends, and other topic of interest and then identify the industries and companies that focus on these areas.

When searching for industry overviews, keep in mind that different databases may refer to industries differently, so you may need to try several different names when searching for information about a given industry. For instance, you may be able to find information about the industry in which microwave ovens are manufactured by searching for information about the home appliance industry, household appliance industry, consumer appliance industry, domestic appliance industry, major appliance industry, hard goods industry, durable goods industry, etc.

NAICS and SIC codes help classify and measure industry activity. Knowing the code for your industry will help you find reports, articles, and other information on that industry.

Companies engaged in a wide range of activities may have multiple industry classifications, although usually one industry is considered primary.

Even though the codes are standardized, different resources will assign codes differently. Additionally, many companies can have multiple codes because of their various business segments. Some business databases such as Bloomberg and Morningstar and countries use their own industry classifications.