Science & Business Research Guide: Industry Research

Let's say you are interested in starting a company in biofuels. Before you start working, you want to know more about your potential competitors.

What are the key pieces of information you would want to know about your industry before you start?

You would probably want to know:

• the key players/competitors and their strategies 
• is your industry growing or shrinking
• industry trends

Seeking out this kind of information is industry research. 

When you are doing industry research, many of the databases will understand keywords, like "biofuels" or "biodiesel." and this is a good strategy.

However, we can add a degree of sophistication to our search, by using our industry's North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, for databases that understand it. Incorporating the NAICS code has 3 advantages:

1. Databases like IBISWorld understand this code and will readily give you relevant results
2. NAICS is a universal system between Canada, America, and Mexico 
3. Searching through the NAICS hierarchy may expose you to adjacent industries, which may give you inspiration or new avenues to research

In order to get good industry research, we need a good strategy. In this case, a good strategy is comprised of the right tools and an effective search string. 

Selecting the Right Tool

Finding the right tool can be a daunting challenge, but under Library Resources and Openly Available Resources, we have compiled great industry research tools to get you started.

To find industry research for biofuels, as an example, we are going demonstrate IBISWorld. 

Creating your Search String

IBISWorld is good at giving relevant results from a handful of keywords. Meaning that using Boolean operators, like "AND" "OR" or "NOT" is not necessary. 

Instead we can search IBISWorld using keywords, NAICS code, or company name. 

So for industry research in the biofuels industry we may be interested in:

• Keyword example: biodiesel, ethanol
• NAICS code example: 32519 (ethanol and biodiesel manufacturing) 
• Company example: Greenfield (biofuels company)

Once you have your tool and search string all that is left is to try it out! 

IBISWorld 

How to Use IBISWorld for Industry Research?

IBISWorld contains industry reports for Canada and the United States. You can search by keyword, NAICS code, industry name, or company name. 

GlobalData Explorer 

How to use GlobalData Explorer for Industry Research

GlobalData Explorer includes industry profiles for many countries internationally. To find industry profiles, use the "Sectors" drop-down menu and search for a keyword, such as "pharmaceuticals" or "agriculture."

ABI Inform 

How to use ABI Inform for industry research? 

Search for your industry by keyword in the search fields. Scroll down to select Document Type and choose Industry Report, Market Report, and/or Market Research. ABI Inform uses Boolean Operators and keywords for effective searching: see the Library's tutorial on Advanced Database Searching to learn more about these techniques. 

Frost & Sullivan 

How to use Frost & Sullivan for Industry Reports?

NAICS 

How to use NAICS codes for industry research? 

Databases like IBISWorld and Canadian Industry Statistics allow you to search by keyword or NAICS code. If you can't find reports on your industry, it helps to know how industries are organized by code in order to find the closest related industry. 

Canadian Industry Statistics 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Industries at a Glance 

Government of Canada Industry Sector Intelligence 

European Commission Industry Profiles 

KPMG Reports 

Deloitte 

Reports from Trade Associations

How to use reports from Trade Associations for industry research? 

Most industries have trade associations, who collect and publish information about that industry. Try searching online for your industry or topic and "association", ex. "sporting goods association Canada".