Research and Course Guides: MKTG 200 and 201: Competitors

Identifying Competitors

Business resources identify industry competitors in different ways:

These resources can help you find companies within an industry.

IBISWorld Industry Market Research This link opens in a new window
In-depth industry analysis for 700+ U.S. industries and hundreds of international industries; they are adding state-specific reports. Restricted to current UST students, faculty, and staff.
D&B Hoovers This link opens in a new window
Contains comprehensive company information from international public companies, detailed industry reports, analyst reports, SEC filings, and market research.
S&P Global NetAdvantage This link opens in a new window
Covers 50+ industries; each industry survey has a section on companies within the industry.
Reference Solutions from Data Axle This link opens in a new window
Use the Business Type section of the Custom Search to get a list of companies in a particular industry. Exporting of data is limited to 100 items on-campus or 50 off-campus.
Passport This link opens in a new window
Industry and country reports identify "company shares" of the market. Restricted to current UST students, faculty, and staff.
Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window
Includes company profiles, investment research reports, industry reports, market research, country reports, SWOT analysis, and articles from trade publications and scholarly journals.

NAICS: North American Industry Classification System
Replaced the U.S. Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system in 1997; it's a 5- or 6-digit number. You can search by keyword, and there are tables to convert from NAICS to SIC, and SIC to NAICS. The NAICS was developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to compare statistics about business activity across North America.
SIC: Standard Industrial Classification
The U.S. government classified business activity according to the SIC system until the adoption of NAICS in 1997. It's searchable by code or by keyword. Some business sources still feature SIC code search options.
North American Product Classification System (NAPCS)
3-5 digit classification system for products produced by service industries in 12 NAICS sectors in the 48-49 through 81 divisions. Is a complement to NAICS and organizes products primarily by their use. Implementation started in 2007.