Industry Research

The study of a group of companies involved in similar business activities.  Companies belong to at least one and possibly several industries.

Types of Industries:

Aerospace                       Apparel                       Chemicals
Computer Software           Entertainment               Health Care
Specialty Retailers            Soaps, Cosmetics          Wholesalers

Example: Coca-Cola is involved in the manufacturing of syrup, the sales and distribution of carbonated beverages, and the bottling of beverages.  Each of these are separate industries.

Industry information can consist of the following:

Market Share - How much of a given industry does a company control.
Company X controls 75% of the widget market.
Industry Rankings - A ranked list of companies in an industry within some parameter.
Company X is first in sales in the widget industry.
Industry Ratios - averages of financial statistics are calculated for a group of companies in a given industry.  Ratios can be used to make estimates for business plans and future developments.
Overviews - Discussion on the history, current state, and future trends of a given industry.

Classification Codes

There are several classification codes for segmenting and comparing companies.

SIC Code- SIC Code Manual Standard Industrial Classification Code.  A U.S. Government classification system not updated since 1987.  Most publishers of industry sources still use this code system.  New technologies and industries are not well covered.
NAICS - SIC/NAICS Conversion North American Industrial Classification System.  This is the replacement for the SIC Code.  NAICS was designed to accomodate the NAFTA Treaty and to cover the many new industries that have been created since 1987.
Harmonized Tariff Codes - A system used for determining the tariff or tax placed on goods shipped into the United States.

Other Relevant Resources:

Tablebase: is an international database that specializes exclusively in tabular data dealing with companies, industries, products and demographics.

Promt: Multi-industry database providing international coverage of companies, products, markets, and technologies.

Market Insight Contains Industry Surveys providing detailed overviews of major industries.  Information is available on the industry´s history, major companies, statistical information, and future directions.