Business Research

Industry Profiles

It is important to understand the industry within which a company is operating. Different industries have different threats and opportunities to consider: Pending legislation? High barriers to entry?  Major competitors and market concentration?  These issues can be addressed with industry research.

Trade Associations

Trade associations, or industry trade groups, frequently offer valuable information, including industry profiles, analysis, statistics and consumer demographics, as free content. Try searching the Internet for "association" and the name of your industry. Try different search words; if your industry is "soft drinks," try searching "beverage" to find the American Beverage Association.

Industry Classification Codes

If you are unable to find or determine the correct primary or secondary industry code for a company, use either Mergent Online or Data Axle to determine the code by searching for your company name or a company in the same industry. 

• NAICS

  North American Industry Classification System uses six-digit codes.
  An example of a NAICS code is 524126 = Insurance Carriers.

• SIC

  Standard Industrial Classficiation
  SIC codes are four-digit codes used to identify an industry. An example of a SIC code is 5411 = Grocery Stores.

Scholarly Articles

News Sources & Trade Journals

Begin Here

North Carolina

International

Consumer Profiles

Articles About Consumers

Articles are frequently good sources of consumer preferences.  Search with terms like “consumer, “consumer behavior,” “attitudes,” or “preferences” then narrow the search with the type of consumer behavior you are searching for like coffee or electric vehicles.

Non-Profits & Philanthropy

All American non-profits and charities are required to annually submit financial statments on the IRS Form 990.  Non-profits are required to allow the public to inspect these records during regular business hours.  Many organizations will post these forms on their website.

Candid provides access to these forms.

Also, written requests to the IRS can be directed to:

Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Attn: Freedom of Information Reading Room
1111 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20224

Books About Philanthropy

Before you go to your next job or internship interview, prepare.
Research Your Company -  Show your interviewer you are knowledgeable and interested.

Make an appointment with the Student Professional Development Center for career advice and interview prep.

1. Identify the company type:
   1. ​public
   2. private
   3. non-profit
   4. governmental
   5. NGO
2. Review a company profile using Hoovers or Marketline or GuideStar; 
   Private companies, large and small, will be in Data Axle:
   1. company's product: manufacturing or service
   2. company size
      1. employees
      2. revenue
      3. net income "the bottom line"
   3. headquarters location
   4. CEO
   5. strategic plan
3. Find out more about the company's industry using IBISWorld
   1. ​research industry performance
   2. competitive landscape
   3. major players
4. Ask informed questions about the company; find these at FirstResearch​
   1. select the industry
   2. interview prep questions and SWOT
5. What is it like to work for a certain company; find company reviews on Glassdoor

Business Case Studies
Case studies are located in article databases like Business Source Complete or ABI/Inform Complete, in journals that specialize in case studies, and some business organizations and universities offer a selection for free or for a small fee. List of business case studies locations

Elon University has a subscription to the Financial Times, one of the leading international financial daily newspapers. Sections included are: World, U.S., Companies, Tech, Markets, Opinion, Work & Careers, Life & Art

Financial Times includes:

• Unlimited FT article access
• Topics including energy, finance, health care, industrial products/services, information technology, telecommunications, transportation, apparel, luxury goods, textiles.

TO SUBSCRIBE ON MOBILE OR LAPTOP:

1) go to https://www.ft.com/ or download the app
2) select Subscribe
3) select Group Subscription - Team or Enterprise
4) fill in your information and Elon email and you'll receive an email response
5) you should get this message: Great news! Elon University has an FT subscription.

• Financial Times This link opens in a new window

  FT content is produced each day by over 500 journalists reporting from the world's political and commercial nerve centers. It provides an authoritative and impartial picture of international trade, finance, the economy and politics.

APA 7th ed. Citation Examples for Business Sources
Note: format each citation using a hanging indent.

ABI/INFORM COMPLETE

Plunketts. (2023). Caterpillar Inc. [Company profile]. ProQuest ABI/Inform. https://www.proquest.com/abicomplete

Hayashi, Y. (2023, August 18). U.S. sets tariffs on food-can metal from 3 nations. Wall Street Journal, A2.

McCafferty, R.A. (2023). Narrowing the gap: Efforts big and small are needed to close the racial wealth gap. Crain's Cleveland Business, 44(14), 16.

Donnan, S. (2023, March 13). So many jobs, so few workers. Bloomberg Businessweek, 25.

Schrock, W. A., Hughes, D. E., Zhao, Y., Voorhees, C., & Hollenbeck, J. R. (2021). Self-oriented competitiveness in salespeople: Sales management implications. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49(6), 1201-1221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-021-00792-0

BUSINESS SOURCE COMPLETE

Vaughan, B. (2023, September 1). Can Microsoft hold its lead? Fast Company, 258, 8.

MarketLine. (2023, July 30). NIKE Inc. [Company profile]. https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/business-source-main-edition

Kato, T. (2022). Brand concept drives loyalty toward Starbucks: Concept, product, place, and staff in Japan. Central European Management Journal, 30(1), 70–90. https://doi.org/10.7206/cemj.2658-0845.70

CHATGPT

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (May 24 version) [Large language model]. http://chat.openai.com/chat

DATA AXLE

Data Axle. (n.d.) [Wineries in Alamance County, North Carolina] [List]. Retrieved August 31, 2023 from https://www.dataaxleusa.com

HOOVER'S COMPANY RECORDS

Hoovers. (2023, June 2). Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. [Company profile]. https://www.proquest.com/abicomplete

IBISWORLD

Al Bari, S. (2023, April 11). Hybrid & electric vehicle manufacturing in the U.S. [Industry report]. IBISWorld. https://www.ibisworld.com

IBISWorld. (2022, December). Healthy eating index. [Data set]. https://www.ibisworld.com

INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION (TRADE.GOV)

International Trade Administration. (2022, January 25). Market Overview - Hungary. https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/hungary-market-overview

MERGENT ONLINE

Mergent Online. (n.d.) Microsoft Corporation. [Company profile]. Retrieved September 8, 2023, from https://www.mergentonline.com

MINTEL

Olsen, K. (2023). Frozen snacks – US [Market report]. Mintel. https://www.mintel.com

Mintel. (2023, August 22). Frozen snack attitudes: Asked of internet users aged 18+ who purchased any frozen snack in the past three months. [Data set]. https://www.mintel.com

MORNINGSTAR

Woldemariam, D. (2023, October 31). Caterpillar Inc. [Analyst report]. Morningstar. https://www.morningstar.com

Lynch, K. (2023, November 10). Markets brief: These funds fared the worst in the bond market selloff. Morningstar. https://www.morningstar.com

PASSPORT

Passport. (2023, June). Consumer lifestyles in Japan [Country report]. https://portal.euromonitor.com/

Roberts, J. (2023, August 1). Key trends and growth markets for beauty packaging [Briefing]. Passport. https://www.portal.euromonitor.com/

Passport (n.d.). Hot drinks packaging [Chart]. Retrieved November 17, 2023, https://www.portal.euromonitor.com/

POLICYMAP

Environmental Protection Agency. (2023, September 8). Average number of jobs per household in 2021. [Map]. PolicyMap. https://www.policymap.com/

STATISTA

Statista. (n.d.) Total retail sales in the United States from 2017 to 2023, by month. [Chart]. Retrieved November 9, 2023 from https://www.statista.com