Industry reports contain valuable analysis of an industry's operating conditions, driving forces, competitive landscapes, and more. Use these resources to help you identify and define an industry, locate industry surveys and reports, search for industry trends, identify leading companies, find market share data and rankings, get current and in-depth news about an industry, and much more. Be aware that many do not cover smaller niche industries and always check the date to see how current the information is. Supplement these reports with information found in newspapers and trade publications.
Industry reports contain valuable analysis of an industry's operating conditions, driving forces, competitive landscapes, and more. Use these resources to help you identify and define an industry, locate industry surveys and reports, search for industry trends, identify leading companies, get current and in-depth news about an industry, and much more. Supplement these reports with information found in newspapers and trade publications.
Trade and professional association websites often contain trends and forecasts, news, government regulations, regulatory concerns, and new technological developments. Some may provide market data and sales statistics; look for links called "research" or "data."
Use IBISWorld or Google to identify trade associations.
To find profiles and other information about a company, such as its history, product lines, customer base, key suppliers, management team, strategy, and competitors, use the following resources. Keep in mind that for public companies, additional information can be found in the company's 10-K, the annual report all U.S. public companies have to file with the SEC.
A company or organization website can be an excellent source of information for locations, products and services, pricing, and product specifications. For public companies, they can include the company's mission statement as well as links to annual reports and 10-K's. SEC filings, especially 10-K reports, may include products, markets, distribution channels, research and development, patent, and environmental safety information.
Note: Websites are not objective information sources, do not depend on them to tell the entire story about a company or organization.