BUS 125: Course Research Guide

Finding Industry Profiles

Industry reports contain valuable analysis of an industry's operating conditions, driving forces, competitive landscape, and more.

Be aware that many do not cover smaller niche industries (e.g. pet food vs. pet supplies and services) and may not contain the most up-to-date data. Supplement these reports with information gleaned from news stories, magazine articles, and trade publications.

You can search or browse this business database for industry profiles. I recommend that you try searching using Advanced Search: Select Industry Profiles as a Publication Type, enter a NAICS number and then click Search. 

Finding Articles and Other Reports
 

Business Source Complete provides full text for scholarly business journals and other sources, including full text for more than 1,800 peer-reviewed business publications. To find articles based on your industry's NAICS number follow these steps:

NAICS codes are used to classify and measure industry activity. Knowing the code for your industry will help you find reports, articles, and other information.

TROUBLE FINDING CODES?

If you are unable to determine the appropriate code for an industry, look up a company you know is in that industry in EBSCO'S Business Source Complete to see what codes are assigned to that company.

Hint: Search for company name, and view the company profile to see the SIC and NAICS codes assigned by this database.

Some statistics will appear in industry reports you find in Business Source Complete, Statista or online. Use the government websites below to find more extensive or comparative data.

Note: industry statistics will NOT mention specific companies.

Industry Snapshots
Quick statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau's Economic Census.

U.S. Census Bureau (American FactFinder)
Includes Economic Census and other government-collected data.
For a given industry and geographic area, find:
-Number of businesses,
-Employment size and payroll,
-Sales figures,
-and more.

Steps:
1. Select desired industry code(s), using the link on the left-hand side.
2. Narrow results by topic and/or geography if necessary.

Tip: If your initial search fails, try a broader code designation,
i.e. 8123 vs. 812320 for Drycleaning & Laundry Services

SEC 10-K Filings
Public companies will publish legal information and information addressing regulation in their 10-K reports.  Use your browser’s Find feature to search for “regulatory,” “regulate,” “government,” “lawsuit,” “litigation,” etc.

• State of Hawaii Data Book 
  "...official summary of statistics on the social, economic, and political organization of our state." 2000-present.
   
• Maui County Data Book
  "... a useful and valuable source of economic, demographic and other statistical information about the County of Maui." 

• State of Hawaii Census and Population (DBEDT)
  Customized links to Hawaii profiles for American Community Survey, Economic Census and more.

• Hawaii Community Profiles
  Compiled by the Hawai`i Business Research Library (HBRL) from data at the U.S. Census Bureau

• Native Hawaiian Databook 
  "...official summary of statistics on the social, economic, and political organization of our state...also includes resource lists for education, health, human services, and economic development, and GIS maps to illustrate the demographic distribution of the Native Hawaiian population in the state of Hawai'i."

Business Source Complete contains global industry reports.

1. Enter a keyword or industry code.

2. In the second search box, type "global" or "worldwide".

3. Once results load, filter by source type: "Industry Profiles" (left-hand side of screen).

International Trade Administration
Provides information including international statistics, industry analysis, competitiveness, trade data as well as recent reports and news about a number of major industries.