36 Industry Information - Information by Field part 2 (Information Research)
Description
This article is from the Information Research FAQ, by David Novak david@spireproject.com with numerous contributions by others.
36 Industry Information - Information by Field part 2 (Information Research)
Business Magazines and Trade Periodicals
Industry analysts are not the only ones involved in research.
Considerable broad industry analysis occurs in the trade and business
press. The most effective tool here, of course, is the article search.
There are two ways to approach this. Firstly, if you can refine your
concept to a specific phrase which interests you, then try a broad
search of business & industry periodicals. Alternatively, you can
select a specific database particular to the industry you want to
cover. For example: Aluminum Industry Abstracts (Dialog). This is
covered in a little more detail our articles on Finding Articles &
Commercial Databases.
There are also collections of databases focused on 'industry' in
general. Industry Trends and Analysis: (Dialog) a mixed
index/abstract/text for "broad coverage of industries, technologies,
and management topics", and Predicasts Prompt: a "multi-industry
bibliographic database, offering access to over 1500 trade journals,
newspapers and special reports in relation to over 60 industries".
Conclusion
Many of the resources used in company research will describe the
industry too. Annual Reports for industry giants will include
information useful for industry analysis. The same directories like
Kompass which can be used to identify the address of a company, can
also be used to identify the companies which are active in a particular
industry. Patents may be critical in certain industries. Thankfully,
the US & Canada have considerable patent data free online. Patent
research is covered separately in Searching Patents. Interview key
analysts within the industry. These are the people writing the
articles, the industry reports, the government analysts and, perhaps,
critical managers & past managers from the industry. Import & Export
statistics may help you understand and quantify the international
nature of an industry. This is described separately in our article:
Imports & Exports. Of particular interest will be the free internet
access to US and Canadian trade statistics by SIC & NAICS thanks to
Industry Canada.
As with corporate research, there are a very many rewarding avenues to
search for industry information. The challenge will be in structuring
your approach in a way that both suits your budget and desired depth.
If we are successful, we aim to have compiled a collection of industry
specific data from a range of sources, including a range of bias and
background. A simple pitfall: collecting various resources which all
depend on SEC financial data. You are equally likely to collect
resources featuring data pulled primarily from the company's annual
report or website. In this field, numerous references does not
necessarily lend additional credence to information.
Strategy
Industry Research could either be research into industry-groups
(banking or transport industries) or research into specific industries
(wholesale furniture or retail butchers). This is a good distinction to
make as very different resources are involved. Industry-group trends
may be found with national statistics, government trade reports and
general market reports. Researching specific industries may better be
served with association statistics, specific market reports, trade
articles and business benchmarks. Select only the resources you feel
match your research goals.
Secondly, collecting industry research need not be constrained to your
national border. There are very good reasons to consider statistics
collected from foreign governments or associations. Industries do not
develop uniformly in different countries. Foreign industries may be
predictive of industry developments yet to flow through to your
country, or indicative of different standards and legislation.
There is considerable expertise in drawing conclusions from industry
data: a skill beyond the initial scope of our work here. This is often
the domain of experienced consultancy - though there is certainly no
miracle to it. May I recommend a book; The New Competitor Intelligence
by Leonard Fuld. Lastly, we have not yet described the categorization
of industries using standard SIC or NAICS coding. In simple terms, each
industry is divided into specific codes, similar to the international
patent classification or the Dewey decimal system. The two systems SIC
and NAICS are inter-related and will not cause undue difficulty. Trade
statistics, digital business directories, and national statistical
bureau industry data will all use the industry codes.
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