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ENVS139, Pulver Fall 2021 (Business Environment): Industry Analysis

Define Your Industry

NAICS and SIC codes are important elements of industry research. Finding your industry's NAICS and SIC codes is a good starting point for your research, and will help you find materials in other resources as well. Many sources provide industry information based on these codes. Also, most directories that index companies by industry use SIC and/or NAICS codes.  
 
SIC codes are 4-digits long, and are being largely phased out in favor of the NAICS codes- but are still used by some government agencies.
NAICS codes are 6-digits and classify industries according to type of economic activity (process of production) in Mexico, Canada, and the US. This allows for easier comparability across companies within the same industry.
 

Other Industry Information

Associations
Associations can be useful sources of information from organizations involved in a business or activity. Many associations do research on their industry, and some provide that on their website often listed under "Research" or "Publications".
To find an association try searching Google:
             [keyword] association OR society
                 (OR must be in upper case)
 

Annual Reports.com

Free service allows users to review an annual report in an easy and convenient manner.

Allows search by industry.

Industry Ratios

Yahoo! Finance
Locate an industry by company, or browse all industries from a list. Click on "View Industry Browser" to see sector and industry averages, plus performances by individual companies.

 

Factiva
Search for a company in the Company/Markets tab, then select Reports - Ratio Comparison Report

Reference Sources

Industry & Company Reports - Industry Bibliography and Overview

 

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