Reseach on business topics often involves piecing together information from a variety of sources. There is rarely one article or report that will have all the information that you need. The Staley Library Business guide has information about library databases and other sources to use for business research. This page includes information on using select sources for research for your class. You should also consult the database Credo Reference for explanations of key business concepts.
When researching a company and its competitors a good place to start is by figuring out the industry that the company belongs to.
What is an industry? It is a group of businesses that produce and/or sell the same, or similar, types of goods or services.
Why focus on industries? This is a way to better understand what a company does and the other companies that do similar things. If all the companies are in the same industry, we know that they are doing similar things and can be compared.
Who determines the industries? There are two major systems for classifying industries, an older system called SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) from the US Department of Labor and a newer system called NAICS (North American Classification System) from the US Census Bureau.
Start your researcher on your venture's competitors by determining which industry your venture belongs to and the associated NAICS code. For example, tattoo parlors are part of the "Personal Care Services" industry (812199) and are grouped with spas and tanning salons.
You can find out more about SIC and NIACS on the Business guide under the Company & Industry Sources tab.
Staley Library subscribes to a database called Mergent Intellect that has information on industries and the companies that are part of that industry.
Once you access Mergent Intellect, look for the First Research button on the dashboard (the collection of icons below the search bar).
Clicking on the First Research button will open a new tab or window. By default you can search or browse for industries using D&B Hoovers Industries. Use the change link to search by NAICS 2022 or US SIC code. Once you have found your industry click View Results in the upper right.
Select your report at the next screen. Once you do, you will be taken to a page with many options for exploring the industry. You will first see fast facts for the industry; scroll down or use the menu on the left to find out more about your industry. Select the PDF icon in the upper right to download part or all of the industry profile as a PDF.
Industry Overview gives you an overview of the industry along with a growth rating and forecast.
Industry Description goes into more detail about the industry.
Quarterly Industry Updates provides timely updates on what is happening in the industry.
Executive Insight lists challenges and opportunities for different executives (CEO, CFO, etc.) in the industry.
Challenges, Trends & Opportunities lists issues that individual firms in the industry may encounter.
Call Prep Questions offers suggestions on questions to ask different individuals working in the industry.
Financial Information provides company benchmark trends.
Industry Websites & Acronyms suggestions additional sources of information on the industry.
Industry Codes may provide associated industry codes.
Use the "Company" search option in Mergent Intellect to search for a company by name or ticker symbol.
At the results screen you can see details about the company such as a brief and competitors, financial details such as an income statement and cash flow, information about the company's executives, and a family tree. There is more information about publicly traded companies than about private firms.
For publicly traded companies, the SEC filings, in particular the annual or 10K reports, can be an excellent source of information on the company and the larger industry.
You can also use Mergent Intellect to find all the companies in an industry. At the main Mergent Intellect screen select Industry and then enter your industry code or the name of your industry.
The results screen will show you all the companies in your industry across the United States; click on any company name to find out more about it. There will be more information about larger, publicly traded companies than there will be about private firms.
To find companies in your industry in a particular geographic region, e.g., Decatur or Macon county, select the Advanced Search button from the dashboard.
From the Advanced Search screen select Industry. Either enter your industry code or drill down through the hierarchy to find your industry and then click Add to Criteria +.
Next, select Location. Select a state, county, metro area, city, or zip code and then click Add to Criteria +.
After adding both these criteria (location and industry) click the Search button at the bottom the screen.
At the results screen you will see a listing of companies that match your criteria. You'll see the company's name, location, location type, sales, SIC code, URL, and phone number. Click on any company's name to get more information about it. By default the companies are sorted by Sales, but you can switch the sorting to any of the other criteria listed in the tabs (Employees Type, Ownership Type, etc.).
There are many, many resources available on leadership. When searching for information on leadership, try:
Staley Library has a dedicated print leadership collection and many eBooks on leadership. For example:
Lead Right for Your Company's Type
by
Twisted Leadership
by
The library database Business Source Premier also offers many articles on different aspects of leadership and the latest academic research in the field.
An internet search for "personal strengths" will bring back many examples of lists of strengths that you can use for brainstorming your own strengths. For example:
A few more in-depth resources on evaluating your strengths:
StrengthsFinder 2.0
by
Personal and Career Development
by
Resources on interviewing in a business context tend to focus on job interviews from the perspective of the employer or the job candidate. Try searching for "informational interviews" to find information on interviewing leaders for their insights. For example, this site from UC Berkeley:
Staley Library also has some books on interviews in the workplace:
Effective Interviewing and Information Gathering
by
Interviewing
by
The industry reports in Mergent Intellect have "call prep questions" that are questions specific to that industry that you can ask people working in that field. For example, the "Health Supplement Store" report has questions like: