Library Guides: Media Entrepreneurship (Hedlin, Chris): Industry Resources

Industry Introduction

In business, industry generally serves as the broadest category of analysis when researching a business environment. Companies which are similar, based on the sources of their revenue, are grouped into a common category for purpose of organizing data and insights. There is no governing body which assigns industry designations to companies, and companies can fall under multiple industries at the same time. Industry information can be helpful in researching the following topic areas:

Competitive landscape
Policies and regulations
Operating conditions
Market shares
Risk and barriers to entry
Major trends and industry volatility

Industry Jargon:

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) - Modern numeric classification system for industries and industry sectors commonly used to categorize industry information across multiple databases
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) - Historic numeric classification system for industries and industry sectors that has largely been abandoned in favor of NAICS. Some older databases which rely on SEC filings still use SIC codes as their organizational scheme

Industry Reports and Data

IBISWorld
Provides access to industry reports covering industry performance and outlook, competitive landscape (including market share concentration), regulatory environment, major companies, operational conditions, SWOT analysis, and key statistics.
Mergent Intellect
Provides access to private and public U.S and international business and company data, industry profiles and news, facts and figures, ratios, and executive contact information.
PitchBook
Provides access to company profiles, private equity, and venture capital data. Also provides access to a research library of market reports covering market areas that are trending in the venture capital and private equity space.
Library of Congress Industry Guide
Serves as a repository for government agencies that publish publicly available industry data.

Industry Trade Journals and Academic Literature

ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry (ProQuest)
Includes Fitch Solutions Risk Reports and Country Industry Reports.
Provides access to articles, business periodicals, newsletters, and trade publications focused on industry and trade topics.
Business Source Complete (EBSCOhost)
Includes full text access to the Harvard Business Review.
Provides access to articles from academic journals, magazines, trade publications covering topics related to business, industry, marketing, and company research.
Business Insights: Essentials (Gale)
Provides access to global business information, including company profiles, brand information, investment reports, rankings, SWOTs, professional associations, and industry reports.

Competitive Landscape

Mergent Online
Provides company profile data such as financials, executive information, company description, 10-k's, and annual reports on U.S and international publicly traded companies and private companies. Our subscription includes access to Investext, which provides company and industry analyst reports from investment banks, consulting firms, and brokerage houses.
GuideStar Pro
Provides access to information the missions, programs, and finances of IRS-recognized nonprofit organizations.

Media Entrepreneurship (Hedlin, Chris)

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Industry Introduction

Industry Jargon:

Industry Reports and Data

Industry Trade Journals and Academic Literature

Competitive Landscape