Information for analyzing an industry will come from many different sources, including, but not limited to, trade associations, investment analysts, commercial publishers and government agencies. The nature of the industry you are investigating will help determine which resources are the best starting points. For example, large established industries will be well covered by the commercial publishers; smaller and newer industries may be better covered by trade associations, industry newsletters, and more specialized databases.
NAICS and SIC Codes
Identify the industry and its classification codes. Many resources use the SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) and/or the NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) as an access point for information about industries and companies. Print copies are available in the Reference Collection.
NAICS Codes
Searchable by keyword
SIC Codes
Searchable by keyword
Industry Overview
Locate industry surveys or overviews.
Dun and Bradstreet/Gale Industry Reference Handbooks
Hamilton Main Reference HF5035.D78
Encyclopedia of American Industry
Vol. 1 Manufacturing Vol. 2 Service
Hamilton Main Reference HC102 .E53
Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources
Hamilton Main Reference HF5351 .E53 (Reference Desk Collection)
Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries
Hamilton Main Reference HD2324.E527
Encyclopedia of Global Industries
Hamilton Main Reference HD2324 .E53
Global Market Information Database (GMID)
Licensed for UHM use only
Euromonitor International's GMID is an integrated product for business intelligence on countries, consumers and industries. Includes hard-to-find demographic, economic and marketing statistics, as well as lifestyle and market analysis.
NOTE: This resource is restricted for use by UH Manoa students, faculty and staff. You will be prompted to log in to your Library account before proceeding to the resource. Once you have connected to GMID, you will need to create a personal account with Euromonitor. Your personal Euromonitor account will be used each time you access GMID.
Industry Profiles and Market Research Reports via Business Source Premier
Licensed for UHM use only
Over 5,000 industry and market research reports. Providers include Datamonitor, Gartner, ICON Group.
Manufacturing USA
Hamilton Main Reference HD9723 .M36
Mergent Online
Licensed for UHM use only
Comprehensive global company database with custom reporting features. Integrated searching across the following components:
- U.S. Company Data - Financials, ratios, history, ownership, analysis for 15,000 NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ companies.
- U.S. Company Archives Data - Financials for more than 4,000 companies that were acquired, went bankrupt, liquidated or merged out of existence from 1995 onward.
- International Company Data - 20,000 non-U.S. based corporations, representing 95% of the non-U.S. global market capitalization. Business description, history, property, subsidiaries, officers and directors, long-term debt and capital stock. Financial statements are presented in "as-reported" form and in native currencies.
- International Company Archives Data - financials on more than 2,000 non-U.S. companies that have merged, were acquired, went bankrupt, liquidated or otherwise disappeared from 1995 forward.
- Global Private Company Data - Basic information on approximately 1 million global private companies, including up to four years of full financial information on over 400,000 firms.
- Institutional Holdings - 15 largest institutional holders for every U.S. company, as well as aggregate institutional buyers and sellers data.
- Insider Trading - complete, up-to-date record of all stock purchases and sales by U.S. corporate officers and directors for the past three- and six-month time periods.
- U.S. and International HSD Equity Pricing - 20+ years history with flexible charting and reporting.
Plunkett's airline, hotel & travel industry almanac
Hamilton Main Reference HE9803.A2 P58
Service Industries USA
Hamilton Main Reference HD9981.1 .S47
Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage
Licensed for UHM use only
Comprehensive source of business and investment information. Includes Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys, Stock Reports, Bond Reports, Corporation Records, The Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives, The Outlook, Mutual Fund Reports, Compustat Excel Analytics, and more. Extensive financials and analysis on more than 10,000 public companies. Basic data for 85,000 private companies.
U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook
Hamilton Main Reference HC106.5 .A17 (Reference Desk Collection)
Value Line
Hamilton Main Reference HG4501 .V26 (newest issues kept at the Reference Desk)
Forbes Platinum List of America’s Best Big Companies
(formerly Annual Report on American Industry) (January issue) brief overiew of 23 industries and performance of 400 leading companies.
Business Week Industry Outlook
(mid-January issue) yearly evaluations and predictions for major industries.
Hawaii Voyager Library Catalog: Remember, many books offer in-depth histories and profiles of specific industries.
Current News and journal articles
Find news and articles to gain a better sense of the industry's structure, how it operates, and where the players are focusing their energies.
ABI/INFORM Global
Licensed for UHM use only
The premier business and management database providing extensive coverage of North America and the world. Search nearly 1,800 worldwide business periodicals for in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Expanded international coverage. Fast access to information on 60,000 + companies with business and executive profiles. Now includes The Wall Street Journal.
Bizjournals
Regional and Industry-specific news
Business Source Premier
Licensed for UHM use only
Full text for more than 2,300 serials, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed business publications. Additional full text, non-journal content includes market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses.
LexisNexis Academic
Licensed for UHM use only
Provides full-text documents from over 5,600 news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications with a variety of flexible search options.
PR Newswire
Company press releases (industry focus available).
ProQuest Asian Business and Reference
Licensed for UHM use only
Find the latest business and financial news from the Eastern Hemisphere. Covers Asian business and financial information from key international publications including Far Eastern Economic Review, Asiaweek, and many more.
Regional Business News
Licensed for UHM use only
This full text newswire database incorporates business wires from all over the world. Included in this database are A&G Information, Africa News Service, Inter Press Service, Resource News International, South American Business, M2 Communications, PR Newswire, Business News Wire, Canadian Corporate News, News Bytes News Network, and Phillips Business Information Highlights.
See also:
Directory of business periodical special issues
Hamilton Main Reference Z6941 .D57 (Reference Reference Collection; located just behind the Reference Desk)
Trends and Forecasts
Gather information to determine the direction of the industry and the factors driving the direction. Newspapers, magazines and trade journals are good sources of trend and forecast information for large and small industries.
ABI/Inform Global
Licensed for UHM use only
The premier business and management database providing extensive coverage of North America and the world. Search nearly 1,800 worldwide business periodicals for in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Expanded international coverage. Fast access to information on 60,000 + companies with business and executive profiles. Now includes The Wall Street Journal.
Business Source Premier
Licensed for UHM use only
Full text for more than 2,300 serials, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed business publications. Additional full text, non-journal content includes market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses.
IndustryWeek
Web companion to Industry Week magazine. "...trends, news, analysis, research and peer-to-peer conversation motivates manufacturing leaders to achieve their goals."
LexisNexis Academic
Licensed for UHM use only
Provides full-text documents from over 5,600 news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications with a variety of flexible search options.
Regional Business News
Licensed for UHM use only
This full text newswire database incorporates business wires from all over the world. Included in this database are A&G Information, Africa News Service, Inter Press Service, Resource News International, South American Business, M2 Communications, PR Newswire, Business News Wire, Canadian Corporate News, News Bytes News Network, and Phillips Business Information Highlights.
Composite Financials and Ratios
Benchmark activities within the industry, including leading companies to other similar companies. See guide to Financial Ratios.
Industry Ratio Books (current three years in Reference Collection)
- Annual Statement Studies (Robert Morris Associates)
Hamilton Main Reference HF5681 .B2 R6
- Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios (Troy)
Hamilton Main Reference HF5681 .R25 T68
- Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios (Dun & Bradstreet)
Hamilton Main Reference HF5343 .I64
Financial Studies of the Small Business
Hamilton Main Reference HD2346 .U5 F55a
Mergent Online
Licensed for UHM use only
Comprehensive global company database with custom reporting features. Integrated searching across the following components:
- U.S. Company Data - Financials, ratios, history, ownership, analysis for 15,000 NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ companies.
- U.S. Company Archives Data - Financials for more than 4,000 companies that were acquired, went bankrupt, liquidated or merged out of existence from 1995 onward.
- International Company Data - 20,000 non-U.S. based corporations, representing 95% of the non-U.S. global market capitalization. Business description, history, property, subsidiaries, officers and directors, long-term debt and capital stock. Financial statements are presented in "as-reported" form and in native currencies.
- International Company Archives Data - financials on more than 2,000 non-U.S. companies that have merged, were acquired, went bankrupt, liquidated or otherwise disappeared from 1995 forward.
- Global Private Company Data - Basic information on approximately 1 million global private companies, including up to four years of full financial information on over 400,000 firms.
- Institutional Holdings - 15 largest institutional holders for every U.S. company, as well as aggregate institutional buyers and sellers data.
- Insider Trading - complete, up-to-date record of all stock purchases and sales by U.S. corporate officers and directors for the past three- and six-month time periods.
- U.S. and International HSD Equity Pricing - 20+ years history with flexible charting and reporting.
Mergent’s Industry Review
Key financial information, operating data, and ratios on approximately 3500 companies arranged by industry.
Hamilton Main Reference HG4961 .M76
Competition
Determine the major players in the industry. Research these companies to get an idea of some of the key issues, strengths and weaknesses in the industry.
Business Rankings Annual
Hamilton Main Reference HG4050 .B88
Corporate Affiliations.com
Licensed for UHM use only
"...provides current, accurate corporate linkage information and company profiles on nearly 200,000 of the most prominent global public and private parent companies and their affiliates, subsidiaries and divisions—down to the seventh level of corporate linkage." Includes corporate family trees, 700,000 corporate contacts, 110,000 board members, 150,000 brand names, 140,000 competitors, and merger/acquisition/out-of-business information back to 1976.
Market Share Reporter
Hamilton Main Reference HF5410 .M35
Mergent’s Industry Review
Key financial information, operating data, and ratios on approximately 3500 companies arranged by industry.
Hamilton Main Reference HG4961 .M76
Mergent Online
Licensed for UHM use only
Comprehensive global company database with custom reporting features. Integrated searching across the following components:
- U.S. Company Data - Financials, ratios, history, ownership, analysis for 15,000 NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ companies.
- U.S. Company Archives Data - Financials for more than 4,000 companies that were acquired, went bankrupt, liquidated or merged out of existence from 1995 onward.
- International Company Data - 20,000 non-U.S. based corporations, representing 95% of the non-U.S. global market capitalization. Business description, history, property, subsidiaries, officers and directors, long-term debt and capital stock. Financial statements are presented in "as-reported" form and in native currencies.
- International Company Archives Data - financials on more than 2,000 non-U.S. companies that have merged, were acquired, went bankrupt, liquidated or otherwise disappeared from 1995 forward.
- Global Private Company Data - Basic information on approximately 1 million global private companies, including up to four years of full financial information on over 400,000 firms.
- Institutional Holdings - 15 largest institutional holders for every U.S. company, as well as aggregate institutional buyers and sellers data.
- Insider Trading - complete, up-to-date record of all stock purchases and sales by U.S. corporate officers and directors for the past three- and six-month time periods.
- U.S. and International HSD Equity Pricing - 20+ years history with flexible charting and reporting.
ReferenceUSA (U.S. Business Module)
Licensed for UHM use only
Database of over 14 million businesses allows you to search with 27 unique data elements. Searchable by geography, business type, number of employees, ownership, etc.
Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage
Licensed for UHM use only
Comprehensive source of business and investment information. Includes Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys, Stock Reports, Bond Reports, Corporation Records, The Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives, The Outlook, Mutual Fund Reports, Compustat Excel Analytics, and more. Extensive financials and analysis on more than 10,000 public companies. Basic data for 85,000 private companies.
10-K - U.S. public companies must file with the SEC. In the Business Overview Section (Item 1 - Business), companies are required to report on the nature of competition in their industry. This section often delivers key insights into the competitive factors that shape an industry. See Mergent Online or IDEA (SEC's database) to retrieve 10-Ks.
Ward’s Business Directory of U.S. Public and Private Companies
Ranks companies by sales within SIC categories
Hamilton Main Reference HG4057 .A3833
Market Data and Statistics
Gather statistics about the industry and many facets of the industry. Also see the "Current News and Journal Articles" section above. For example, search ABI/Inform using keywords and/or subject "market shares"
Business & Government Section of American Factfinder
Select Business & Government. Change the geography to Hawaii for number of establishments, employees, payroll, etc. Also find state export data and state revenues.
FedStats
Data from over 70 U.S. government agencies
Global Market Information Database (GMID)
Licensed for UHM use only
Euromonitor International's GMID is an integrated product for business intelligence on countries, consumers and industries. Includes hard-to-find demographic, economic and marketing statistics, as well as lifestyle and market analysis.
NOTE: This resource is restricted for use by UH Manoa students, faculty and staff. You will be prompted to log in to your Library account before proceeding to the resource. Once you have connected to GMID, you will need to create a personal account with Euromonitor. Your personal Euromonitor account will be used each time you access GMID.
International Marketing Data and Statistics
Hamilton Main Reference HA42 .I56
LexisNexis Statistical
Licensed for UHM use only
LexisNexis Statistical provides easy access to statistics produced by the U.S. government, major international and intergovernmental organizations, professional and trade organizations, commercial publishers, independent research organizations, state government agencies, and universities. The "Find a Table" module includes more than 100,000 tables, mostly from U.S. federal sources. The "Find a Publication" module searches Statistical Reference Index (SRI, 1980-present) and Index to International Statistics (IIS, 1983-present). Use these extensive indexes and abstracts to identify statistics available fulltext in the library's SRI Microfiche Collection (microfiche S50003) or other print and online sources.
Market Share Reporter. Gale Group.
Hamilton Main Reference HF5410 .M35 <Most current edition kept at the Reference Desk>
Marketresearch.com Academic
Licensed for UHM use only
Market research reports for consumer goods, food and beverage, heavy industry, life sciences, technology, and more. Sources include Kalorama Information, Packaged Facts, Simba Information and Specialists in Business Information (SBI). Full reports (many 200-400 pages) are available after 12-month embargo.
Mergent’s Industry Review
Key financial information, operating data, and ratios on approximately 3500 companies arranged by industry.
Hamilton Main Reference HG4961 .M76
Annual & Quarterly Services Surveys
Estimates of revenue and other measures for selected service industries. Includes operating revenue for both taxable and tax-exempt firms and organizations; sources of revenue, exports, and inventories for selected industries and selected industry-specific items.
Standard & Poor's Statistical Service
Monthly basic statistics (15-20 years) for major industry groups.
Hamilton Main Reference HG4921 .S752
WDI (World Development Indicators) Online
Licensed for UHM use only
Provides direct access to more than 550 development indicators, with time series data (1960 to present) for more than 200 countries and 18 country groupings. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators. Updated monthly. Export to Excel and CSV.
Government Resources
Consult authoritative resources from local, state, federal and international agencies.
County Business Patterns
U.S. Census Bureau. "...annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. The series is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses."
Current Industrial Reports
Production, manufacturers’ shipments, and exports of leading industries in individual reports, now available only on the Internet.
The Economic Census
"The Economic Census profiles American business every 5 years, from the national to the local level."
How to find the latest business data - Data since 2002
Links to annual, quarterly, and monthly business and economic reports produced by the U.S. Census Bureau. National, state, metro, county, city and zip.
Statistical Abstract of the United States
Note: Current paper version kept in the Ready Reference Collection, just behind the Reference Desk HA202 .A3
STAT-USA
Licensed for UHM use only
"GLOBUS (Global Business Opportunities) offers daily trade leads from the Trade Opportunities Program (TOPS), as well as the Department of Agriculture. GLOBUS also offers daily procurement activity from the Defense Logistics Agency, the United Nations, and the Commerce Business Daily leads. Historical trade leads are available for up to three months. Historical TOPS leads are provided for up to two years. The NTDB (National Trade Data Bank) provides access to Country Commercial Guides, Market Research reports, Best Market reports and other programs. The International Trade Library is a comprehensive collection of over 40,000 documents related to international trade. All are full text searchable, as well as key word searchable by country or product."
Trade Associations and Publications
Most business activities have a trade or professional association supporting the interests of its members. Many of these associations provide forums, publications, and web sites.
Encyclopedia of Associations
22,000 organizations, representing many trade and industry groups.
Hamilton Main Reference HS17 .G3 (Most current edition is kept at the Reference Desk)
Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources
Organized by industry/topic with a list of "Periodicals and Newsletters" provided for each industry listed. The Encyclopedia also describes the abstracts and indexes, directories, encyclopedias and dictionaries, handbooks and manuals, statistical sources, trade and professional societies, and electronic databases available for each industry.
Hamilton Main Reference HF5351 .E59 (Most current edition is kept at the Reference Desk)
F & S Index International
Domestic and international company, product, and industry information. Over 2,500 newspapers, trade journals, government documents, bank letters, prospectuses, and reports from around the world are surveyed regularly for business-related articles.
Hamilton Main Reference HC10 .F752
Also search Google, Alta Vista, Ask.com, Yahoo! to identify associations.
Additional resources
Valuation Resources.com Industry Resources Reports
"Industry Resources Reports list resources available from trade associations, industry publications, and research firms which address subjects such as industry overview, issues, trends, and outlook, financial benchmarking, compensation surveys, and valuation resources. Reports are available for more than 230 industries..."
Consider also the industry's consumers, legal issues, regulatory issues, the physical geography, and the political or military implications.
Hawaii State Public Library System Resources
Access to several outstanding databases is available at your nearest public library or remotely with valid HSPLS card. Hawaii State Public Library System home page.
Business and related databases include:
- Business and Company Resource Center
- American Wholesalers and Distributors Directory
- Brands and Their Companies
- Business Rankings Annual, 2000 through Present
- Consultants and Consulting Organizations Directory
- Encyclopedia of American Industries
- Encyclopedia of Associations: National Organizations of the U.S.
- Encyclopedia of Associations: Regional, State, and Local Organizations
- Encyclopedia of Associations: International Organizations
- Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries
- Encyclopedia of Global Industries
- Graham and Whiteside Major Company Series
- International Directory of Company Histories
- Market Share Reporter
- Notable Corporate Chronologies
- Publishers Directory
- Telecommunications Directory
- Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies
- Ward's Business Directory of Private and Public Companies in Canada and Mexico
- World Market Share Reporter
- ReferenceUSA International
- TableBase (via RDS Business Reference Suite)
- Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Business Plans Handbook, v1-11
- Encyclopedia of American Industries
- International Directory of Business Biographies
- and many more
Public Library card information
Last modified: June 29, 2009 (David Flynn david.flynn@hawaii.edu)
20090707.0: 
