HOD Resources on Companies, Industries, and Organizations

Industry Research

INDUSTRY RESEARCH is all about the competitors, products, and services that are provided. These databases are a good place to begin your research:

This database has market research reports attached to the PARENT company record.  Open the Parent (Public or Private), scroll down to Industry, and select the link for the NAICS code. This links you to market research reports, and note that you can VIEW ALL as only five will be displayed.

Large or Small Industry?

If an INDUSTRY is well established (like cars or computers), finding enough background information on the industry or market is pretty straightforward.  An industry may not be well covered if it is a niche, new, or relatively small. Think about the typewriter, which was replaced by the computer. Initially, there was no market research or industry data on computers. So your best bet was to look for information about typewriters to start to understand the possibilities of the new computer industry:

  • How many typewriters were sold each year? Were sales increasing? (size of potential market)
  • Who were the major typewriter manufacturers? (competition)
  • Were they used more at home or work? (tells you who the customer is, business or individuals)

Finding information will be more difficult if an industry is niche or small. Sources of information that can also help are industry associations, which can be found at the link below:

The following library databases provide industry reports:

Industry & Company Statistics

Market Research

Thought Leaders

Thought Leaders are industry experts who are generally respected as being knowledgeable about an industry or market, often leading consulting firms or major companies publish information on the Web about state-of-the-art thinking or status. Here is an example using Google Advanced Search to find such reports:

Scroll down for this:

Using the Google Advanced Search allows you to find more focused search results.

 

Librarian for Human and Organizational Development

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Jennifer Castle
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