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Industry Research

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Portions of this guide are adapted with permission from a guide produced by the James J Hill Library

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  Industrial Classification Codes
Industrial classification code numbers designate specific industries. Many indexes, directories, and statistical sources use these code numbers to organize information, so it can be a critical piece of information in your research. The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, in place since 1941, has been replaced by the new North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). Since many information sources are still using the older SIC system, it is helpful to identify both the SIC and NAICS codes for your particular industry.
North American Industry Classification System NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America. The NAIC System assigns numerical codes to industries from two to six digits. The shorter codes represent broader industry sectors. Be sure to read the full description of the NAICS code, as it may include a broader array of products/services than you might assume. More information on NAICS is available at the Ask Dr. NAICS site.
At Census Bureau site or
Reference HF1042 .N67 2002
Standard Industrial Classification Manual The SIC system assigns numerical codes to industries from two to four digits. The shorter codes represent broader industry sectors. Be sure to also read the full description of the SIC code, as it usually includes a broader array of products/services than you might assume.
At OSHA site or
Reference HF1042 .A55
  Industry Overviews
See also:
Market Research Reports
Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys The S & P Surveys give current, historical, and forecasted information on 52 major U.S. industries. Although only broadly defined industries are covered, the surveys provide extensive information including detailed information on current conditions, industry trends, how the industry operates, and sources for more information. Statistics are provided for major companies within each industry, as well as for the industry overall. Updated twice a year.
Online version in NetAdvantage is most current version available from EMU Library.
Access from off campus with My.Emich login
NetAdvantage has archived surveys back to 2001. Library has archived hard copy to 1983.
Reference HG4961 .S6x
Mintel Reports Mintel produces extensive market research reports on US and European consumer markets. Each report offers data and analysis of the competitive landscape, market-share analysis and consumer profiles. Reports sometimes include data from Simmons Market Research. EMU has a subscription to Mintel so that students can access full reports for academic research. Content may only be used for academic research and may not be used to ultimately benefit a company. NOTE: First time users will need to set up a personal account using their My.Emich email address and a password.
EMU students and faculty -- for ACADEMIC USE ONLY.
Login with my.emich login and password
Read use agreement and set up an account with your official EMU email address.
Business & Company Resource Center A search of the Industry section of this database by SIC or NAICS code may get you an industry overview, brief market research reports, rankings, industry associations, profiles of companies in the industry, or articles on the industry. Materials available will vary for different industries.
Access from off campus with My.Emich login
Michigan residents can access the database at the Michigan Elibrary

IBIS World Industry Snapshots Brief industry snapshots describe U.S. industries at the 5 digit NAICS level. "Drill down" through the hierarchical industry menu to find snapshots which include NAICS code and definition, a few key figures (industry revenue & industry employment, & number of enterprises) , major players, brief statement of industry conditions, a graph showing the geographic distribution of the industry by U.S. region, and links to related industries (often supplier industries, customer industries, or distributor industries).
Brief snapshots are free. Web site sells longer reports. You can use other resources listed in this guide to compile similiar information.
Reuters Industry Profiles These brief industry profiles usually give you recent news from the industry, rankings of top industry players, and benchmark ratios. Companies can be ranked by size, value, revenue, earnings, cash flows, leverage, and margins. The ratios may be based on only a small sample of companies, so the numbers may be less representative than those found in the Industry Ratios section of this guide.
Value Line Investment Survey While oriented to the investor with information on specific stocks, Value Line also provides one page analyses of 98 industries. Each analysis includes financial statistics and information on trends. An index kept in the front of the Ratings & Reports volume (large black binder) gives page numbers for industry reports in the same binder.
EMU LIbrary 1st floor Reference HG 4501 .V25x and
EMU Library first floor Reference HG 4501 .V26x
Note to commuter students: Many city public libraries have Value Line (It may be too expensive for libraries serving small communities.)
Dun & Bradstreet Industry Reports Free report gives average sales for companies in the industry based on size (as measured by number of employees.) Also included are statistics by state or metro area, and sometimes statistics for smaller segments of the industry.
Site is free to all users, but requires registration to set up a login and password.
After registering, follow Industry Reports link, drill down categories, then generate report.
ICAF Industry Studies The Industrial College of the Armed Forces analyzes selected defense-essential industry sectors. These include agribusiness, aircraft, biotechnology, education, energy, environment, financial services, health care, information technology, land combat systems, manufacturing, news media, privatized military operations, reconstruction & infrastructure, shipbuilding, space, strategic materials (metals & other materials), and transportation. Past reports have also included construction, electronics, munitions, supply chain management, and weapons.
The Structure of American Industry These books offer industry overviews written by economists. The overviews explore how an industry is organized and structured, industry history, competition in the industry, economic performance of industries, and related public policy issues. The 2009 edition profiles agriculture, airlines, automobiles, banking, beer, cigarettes, college sports, electricity, health care, music recording, petroleum, public accounting, and telecommunications. Industries unique to the 2001 edition are computers and motion pictures. Unique to the 1995 edition are casino gambling, steel, and pharmaceuticals (some coverage in 2005 ed. chapter on health care). Unique to the 1986 edition are breakfast cereal and conglomerates.
Reference HC 106 .S85 2009
Reference HC 106 .S85 2005
Reference HC 106 .S85 2001
Reference HC 106 .S85 1995
Reference HC 106 .S85 1986
Industry Studies Like the The Structure of American Industry, this text provides economic explorations of industries that focus on issues such as industry structure, economies of scale, distribution, price competition, and other factors. The 3rd ed covers: airlines, automobiles, beer, broilers (chicken), computers, electric power, casino gambling, health insurance, motion pictures, nursing homes, pharmaceuticals, retail banking, steel, and telecommunications. The 2nd ed. (available online via NetLibrary) has a chapter on hospitals.
Reference HC 106.8 .I53 2002
  Business and Industry Associations
Industry associations are a key source of statistics, trends, and other information. Although some associations will share key data only with members, many associations provide free information on their Web sites. Industry information may also be found in periodicals published by associations (see Business Periodicals.)
Business & Company Resource Center Use the Industry section of this database and you will sometimes find information on industry associations.
Or use the Advanced Search:
From the Advanced Search screen, change the Content Area to "Associations"
The search form displayed will allow you to search by association name, city, state, country, SIC code, NAICS code, and more.
Access from off campus with My.Emich login
Michigan residents can access at Michigan Elibrary

Gateway to Associations The American Society of Association Executives sponsors a free directory of associations on their website. Because this directory provides links to association sites, it can lead you to useful sources of industry-specific information.
Scroll down page to access search boxes. You can try keywords in the field labeled "Association name contains:" to find associations for specific industries.
Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys via NetAdvantage If your industry is covered, the S & P Surveys will include Web addresses for key industry associations in the "Industry References" section of the Survey.
  Industry Ratios
These sources provide ratios and financial norms commonly used in evaluating corporate financial performance within specific industries. Data varies from source to source due to different data sources, company size breakdowns, industry classification systems, and which factors are analyzed.
Almanac of Business and Industrial Ratios “Performance data is derived from the latest available IRS figures on U.S. and international companies, and tracks 50 operating and financial factors in 192 industries” arranged by NAICS. Breaks down data by company size (based on assets). Because IRS data is used, it may be more representative of absolute averages than the other sources, but less current.
On Reserve at the Circulation Desk: HF 5681.R25 T68
D&B Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios Data is derived from Dun and Bradstreet’s large database of financial statements for public and private companies. Uses SIC system to organize data on 800 industries. Sometimes gives break down data by asset size. Data is available under four digit SIC code for some but not all industries; for some industries data is available only at the two digit level.
On Reserve at the Circulation Desk: HF 5681 .R25 I525x
RMA Annual Statement Studies (formerly called Robert Morris) Statistics are derived from data submitted by bank members of the Risk Management Association. Covers 600 industries arranged by NAICS and sometimes by assets/sales size. Some data presented in medians/quartiles. A detailed explanation of how RMA Ratios are calculated has been posted on the web by RMA. This copy of the introductory pages of the source can help you better understand the RMA information.
On Reserve at the Circulation Desk: HF 5681 .B2 R6x
RMA eStatement Studies RMA eStatement Studies is the online version of the RMA Annual Statement Studies. It includes financial ratio benchmarks, as well as industry default probabilities and cash flow measures. Statistics are derived from data submitted by bank members of the Risk Management Association. The data comes from more than 190,000 statements of both public and private companies, but the vast majority are from small to medium sized non-public companies. Covers over 650 industries arranged by NAICS and usually also by assets/sales size. Some data is presented in medians/quartiles. There are also subsets of data by U.S. region and four years of data from past editions.
Access from off campus with My.Emich login
  Market Share and Company Rankings
Market share information can be difficult to find. Different sources may provide different market share data due to varying definitions of the market or different methods for gathering and analyzing data.
Market Share Reporter This reference book is one of the few easy ways to look for market share data. This annual publication includes brief market share information culled from other sources (usually trade periodicals). Entries are arranged by SIC code. Sometimes information from this source can be found in the Business & Company Resource Center under the Rankings tab.
Reference HF 5410 .M35
Ward’s Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies Ward’s offers detailed rankings of companies by sales within 4-digit SIC or within 6-digit NAICS, State Rankings by sales within 4-digit SIC, and other special rankings.
EMU LIbrary 1st Floor North
Reference HG 4057 .A58x 2006
ABI/Inform You may use ABI/Inform to find market share or rankings data published in business periodicals or trade journals. Use the advanced search function with keywords for your industry, product, company, or brand in combination with the terms “market shares” or “rankings” in the subject field. If you want to look further you can try any of the other business periodical databases.
Access from off campus with My.Emich login
  Business Periodicals, Newspapers, and Trade Journals
Business magazines and trade journals are valuable sources of information on industries, particularly those niche industries too narrow to be followed in detail by the standard industry sources. Scanning recent issues of an industry-specific trade journal can give you a feel for trends in the industry.

Many of the databases provide full text articles. When the article is not full text in the database you are using, you can easily check to see if the text is available via a different database, an electronic journal subscription, or at the library. Click on the EMU FindText+ link found in the article record. This will open a new window with links to other possible sources for the article.

Business and Company Resource Center Includes articles, company histories, industry reports, investment reports, market share information, rankings, and more.
Access from off campus with My.Emich login
Michigan residents can access the database at the Michigan Elibrary
ABI/INFORM Global ABI/INFORM Global indexes over 2000 journals, magazines, trade publications, and newspapers covering topics in business and economics. Many articles are available full-text. ABI/INFORM is a multipurpose database which can be used to find scholarly articles, general business articles, and articles on specific companies or industries. It’s excellent search interface can save time in finding relevant materials.

Search Tip:
Try doing an advanced search that combines your industry (i.e. beverage industry) as a subject with one of the following useful ABI/Inform subject terms:
Forecasts, Industrywide conditions, Market segments, Market shares, Statistical data, or Trends
Access from off campus with My.Emich login

Factiva This database from Dow Jones and Reuters includes very recent newswires and full text articles from business periodicals, trade journals, the Wall Street Journal and local newspapers—a useful source for international news from emerging markets.

Search Tip:
Did you retrieve hundreds of articles with your search?
Try changing the “Sort by” to “Relevance”
Handout on searching Factiva
EMU Students and Faculty only
Access from off campus with My.Emich login
Limited to 6 simultaneous users

General BusinessFile This easy to search database has full text articles from business magazines, trade journals, and newspapers.

Search Tip:
Getting too many hits when you search your industry?
Choose the “Subject guide” (left margin of screen).
Search for your industry (i.e. restaurant industry), then click on the button "Narrow by subdivision".
Access from off campus with My.Emich login
Michigan residents can access at Michigan Elibrary

Infotrac Custom Newspapers For most industry research, you should usually try databases with magazines and trade periodicals first. However, newspapers can give you some information for small business sectors that are not covered well in other sources, such as some types of specialty retail.
Access from off campus with My.Emich login.
Michigan residents can access at Michigan Elibrary
Westlaw Campus Research Westlaw includes articles from business magazines, trade periodicals, newswires, and newspapers.
Access from off campus with My.Emich login
  Statistical Sources
Statistical information on industries often originates from government sources. The U.S. government has the resources and expertise to produce high quality statistics. Sometimes private companies update government statistics or repackage it in more convenient forms. Industry associations and private companies may also produce statistics not available from government sources.

You may have heard it said that one can “lie” with statistics. Statistics are also frequently inaccurate because the user did not understand the statistics--whether it be not understanding their limitations or not being aware of what the statistics were designed to measure. Taking the time to read introductory material and footnotes makes the statistics more meaningful and helps to prevent bad decisions from using the wrong statistics.

Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys via NetAdvantage The Surveys include current statistics and references to statistics sources for the large industries covered by S&P.
Statistical Abstract of the United States The Statistical Abstract contains a wealth of industry statistics. Footnotes to the statistical tables can direct you to a more complete government report or Web site.
Reference HA 202
or full text on GPO site
County Business Patterns County Business Patterns is an annual series that provides economic data by industry for the nation, states, and counties. This Web site provides links to various forms of the data, including data by 5-digit zip code or metropolitan area using either SIC or NAICS codes. Data can be downloaded to spreadsheets.
You'll need to use NAICS codes with this report (or SIC codes if using older reports). See Industrial Classification Codes.
Business and Industry stats from the Economic Census This page links to statistics from many economic surveys and the Economic Census.
You may need to use NAICS codes with these sources. See Industrial Classification Codes.
Current Industrial Reports “The primary objective of the CIR program is to produce timely, accurate data on production and shipments of selected products. The data are used to satisfy economic policy needs and for market analysis, forecasting, and decision-making in the private sector. These surveys measure manufacturing activity in important commodity areas such as textiles and apparel, chemicals, primary metals, computer and electronic components, industrial equipment, aerospace equipment, and consumer goods.”
U.S. Census Bureau – Manufacturing, Mining, and Construction Statistics This site leads to several statistical publications with data for manufacturing and construction industries, including reports on residential construction and sales, an annual statistical survey of manufacturers, and monthly data for specific manufacturing industries on shipments, orders, and inventories.
U.S. Census Bureau – Retail Trade Data This site leads to reports with annual and monthly data on sales for retail, E-commerce, accommodations, and food service.
You'll need to use NAICS codes with this report. See Industrial Classification Codes.
U.S. Census Bureau – Service Annual Survey The Service Annual Survey gives “national estimates of annual revenue and expenses, by kind of business and tax status, for selected service industries” including information, transportation, health and social, financial, real estate, professional, environmental, arts, recreational and other services. A new series provides quarterly data on services.
You'll need to use NAICS codes with this report. See Industrial Classification Codes.
Agriculture, Mining, and Construction USA
Manufacturing & Distribution USA
Transportation and Public Utilities USA
These reference works pull together historical data from many sources in a convenient arrangement by SIC code. Many of the tables provided can be updated using the Economics Census sources described above.
Agriculture, Mining, and Construction USA
Reference HD 9005 .A47x 1998
Manufacturing & Distribution USA
Reference HD 9721 .M3495 2000
Transportation and Public Utilities USA
Reference HE 202.5 .T72 1998
American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) "The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is an economic indicator that measures customer satisfaction. It's based on modeling of customer evaluations of the quality of goods and services that are purchased in the United States and produced by both domestic and foreign firms that have substantial U.S. market shares." ACSI tracks customer satisfaction over time. "Companies can use the data from the Index to assess customer loyalty, identify potential barriers to entry within markets, predict return on investments, and pinpoint areas in which customer expectations are not being satisfied." Scores are available for industries and some leading companies within industries.
Cluster Mapping Project Harvard Business School "The Cluster Mapping Project uses detailed county level data and statistical techniques to profile regional economies and their performance over time, with a special focus on clusters. Clusters are geographically concentrated groups of interconnected companies, universities, and related institutions that arise out of linkages or externalities across industries."
Part free, part subscription. EMU does not have a subscription.
CRB Commodity Yearbook This volume presents commodity statistics from numerous government and private sources. Useful for agricultural products, energy resources, metals, and some processed products such as plastics or lumber.
On Reserve at the Circulation Desk HF 1041 .C56 2008
Economic Census: Concentration Ratios This page links to reports by the Census Bureau that provide information on industry concentration "by the percent of output accounted for by the largest 4, 8, 20 and 50 companies." Data is based on the Economic Census. "Only the manufacturing report includes the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index."
You'll need to use NAICS codes with this report. See Industrial Classification Codes.
International Trade Administration You can get import/export data by industry at this site. The site is not well organized, so it may take some time to find information. Data availability and currency varies greatly.
Survey of Current Business Monthly publication by the Bureau of Economics Analysis (BEA) offers industry statistics such as GDP by industry or business investment by industry. Each issue offers different reports. The paper issues at the library have numerous supplemental statistical charts not included in the Web version.
See also: Commodities and Futures section of the Financial Markets guide
for international statistics on agricultural products and other commodities.
  Industry Specific Sources
There are numerous sources devoted to specific industries. These include publications published by industry associations, special issues of trade journals, specialized industry directories, reference books by business publishers, and market research reports. These industry sources are often expensive, ranging from a few hundred dollars for some reference titles to five thousand dollars or more for a detailed market research report.

Although the library can’t purchase many of these expensive sources on a regular basis, the library does have some current resources and some older versions of industry specific publications. Search the library catalog to locate these.

Automotive Industry Automotive News Market Data Book
Reference HD 9710 .A2 A88x
Ward’s Motor Vehicle Facts & Figures
Reference HD 9710 .A1 W37x
Aftermarket Business
Price Waterhouse Automotive Industry Reports
free to download from Price Waterhouse site

Communications & Entertainment Industries Communications Industry Forecast and Report
Reserves Reference HE202.5 .V471
Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook
Reserves Reference HE 8689 .B77
Entertainment Industry Statistics MPAA - includes movies, television, theatre, new media, etc.
Recording Industry of America
Theme Entertainment Industry Association - amusement park statistics
Food, Restaurant, & Hospitality Industries Thomas Food & Beverage Market Place
Reference HD9003 .T48
Beverage Industry
Cruise Lines International Association
Center For Hospitality Research
Health Care Industry American Hospital Association Guide to the Health Care Field
Reference RA 977 .A1 A46
Medical and Health Information Directory
Reference R 118.4.U6 M43
US News Best Hospitals

Sports Business Team Valuations on Forbes.com
Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer
Sports Business Research Network (SBRN)
Access from off campus to SBRN with My.Emich login
Technology Consumer Electronics Association publications
Morgan Stanley Technology Research

To identify more sources search the EMU Library catalog or check the following:
Baker Library Industry Guides Online guides prepared by Harvard Business School librarians for industries include free Web sites and some resources available via EMU library or periodical databases, especially ABI/Inform and Factiva.
Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources Lists and describes sources for particular industries, such as buyer’s guides, directories, handbooks, periodicals, price sources, research centers, statistics sources, and trade associations.
Reference HF 5353 .E9
  See Also:
Advertising, Marketing, and Market Research This guide describes databases, reference books, and Web sites for information on advertising, brands & marketing campaigns, consumer spending, consumer preferences, and population & business demographics. It also points to sources for market research reports, marketing reference books, and information on how to do primary market research.
Company Research This guide describes databases, reference books, and Web sites for finding information about specific companies.
  Questions?
Consult with an EMU Librarian
(734) 487-0020 (dial 1) x2100
Chat or Email

Maintainer of this guide: Kate Pittsley, Asst. Professor, Librarian       last updated: August 31, 2009

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