Research: Online MBA: Industry & Market Information

Industry Surveys

Online Resources
Report Examples

Get an overview of how an industry operates, the trends, and more. The most notable industry surveys are the S&P Industry Surveys through NetAdvantage (S&P global). Access through link below.

NetAdvantage (S&P Global) This link opens in a new window
NetAdvantage (S&P Global) provides web based access to S&P Industry Surveys, S&P Company Profiles, Stock Reports and Sub-Industry Reviews. Each S&P Industry Survey includes current trends, how the industry operates, downloadable company data and links to industry trade associations.

Go to: the Industry Survey Locator - A database of industry surveys that appear in databases and other reference materials. A good first place to check for industry surveys and overviews.

Many Online Databases are included in the Locator:

IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive collection of Industry reports organized by NAICS code. Reports include competitive landscape, supply chain, statistics and key facts as well as information on key issues facing the industry. Includes U.S. Specialized Industry Reports and Global Industry Reports.
MarketLine (formerly Datamonitor) Industry Profiles This link opens in a new window
MarketLine (Formerly Datamonitor) Industry Profiles provide profiles on industries worldwide and are available through the Business Source Complete database. Each industry profile includes a market overview, market share, market size, leading companies in the industry and market forecasts. To locate an industry survey, type the industry name in the search box, select title from the drop-down menu and click on the Search button.
Mintel Academic This link opens in a new window
Mintel reports provide information on markets for consumer products, travel, lifestyles, and leisure. Our subscription predominately covers products and markets in the United States. Each report combines data & analysis of the competitive landscape and consumer profiles.

For instructions see the Mintel Graphing Tutorial.
Hoover's Industry Snapshots This link opens in a new window
Provides more than 600 industry snapshots from Hoovers Company and Industry Reports via Nexis Uni. The snapshots include the following industry information or links to relevant information: Description; Terminology; Associations & Organizations and Selected Resources.

NOTE

The databases listed below are not available in the Industry Survey Locator, but will be very helpful for finding information on technology and healthcare industries:

Frost & Sullivan This link opens in a new window
Frost & Sullivan reports cover technology and market trends in various technology, energy and manufacturing related fields. In-depth market research and strategy reports with international coverage. Includes the following industry sectors: healthcare; communication technologies; industrial automation and electronics; energy and power systems; aerospace and defense; environmental and building technologies. These reports can only be viewed in html format.
Gartner Research This link opens in a new window
Gartner, Inc. is a well-known information technology research and advisory company that provides insights to help clients make informed decisions related to information technology. Reports contain research findings and advice on technology markets, topics, and industries. Gartner Research is provided to the BU community through BU’s Information Services and Technology’s subscription. Log in to the website using your BU login name and Kerberos password.

These databases can be accessed from the Business Databases A-Z List:

IBISWorld This link opens in a new window

1. Log in using your BU username and Kerberos password.

2. Type in Automobile manufacturing in the search box.

3. On the results page you can use the filters on the left side of the page such as Region (U.S. or Global), Content Type (industry, specialized industry, iExpert, etc.)

Examples:

U.S. Industry (NAICS) Report 33611a Car & Automobile Manufacturing in the U.S.

Report by Devin Savaskan | February 2020

Global Industry Report C2531-GL Global Car & Automobile Manufacturing

Report by Eddie Gonzalez | February 2020

NetAdvantage (S&P Global) This link opens in a new window

1. Log in using your BU username and Kerberos password.

2. In the blue bar at the top left, click on "Industry Survey".

3. In the center box, under "Research Types". You can use the "Select a GICS Industry" dropdown menu and choose "Automobiles," then click on the Search button.

4. Click on the PDF icon from the results list to view the report.

ProQuest One Business This link opens in a new window
ProQuest One Business combines multiple ProQuest business information databases including ABI-Inform, Accounting, Tax & Banking and Entrepreneurship and contains more than 130 million documents. Content in this database also covers over 2,400 journals and magazines, several hundred news sources, thousands of ebooks, videos and company, industry and country reports.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides bibliographic and full text content, including indexing and abstracts for scholarly business journals back to 1886 and full text journal articles in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, finance and economics. The database full text content includes investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses. Sources covered by this database include Economist Intelligence Unit country reports.
Factiva This link opens in a new window
Provides worldwide full text coverage of local and regional newspapers, trade publications, business newswires, press release wires, media transcripts, news photos, business-rich websites, investment analyst reports, market research reports, country and regional profiles, company profiles, historical market data. Date coverage varies by publication.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni is a source for newspapers and magazines, trade journals, wire services and transcripts, as well as legal sources for federal and state cases and statutes, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1790, and information on U.S. and international companies and executives.

Financial Times (FT.com)
For Questrom students: Click on link to establish an account; use a bu.edu email address. Once you create an account, go to FT.com and click on "Sign In" in the upper right hand corner to log in.

For additional industry resources, see Industry Information Sources.

Automobile manufacturing

Automotive industry

Motor vehicle manufacturing

Data & Statistics

Online Resources
Report Examples

Mintel Academic This link opens in a new window
Mintel reports provide information on markets for consumer products, travel, lifestyles, and leisure. Our subscription predominately covers products and markets in the United States. Each report combines data & analysis of the competitive landscape and consumer profiles.

For instructions see the Mintel Graphing Tutorial.
Business Insights: Essentials (Gale Business) This link opens in a new window
Provides reference content from Gale's core business collection; company fundamentals and investment research reports; industry rankings, profiles, market share data, and company histories.

Mintel Academic This link opens in a new window

For instructions see the Mintel Graphing Tutorial.

When you log in to Mintel, you will need to read the terms of use and then click on "I agree" to enter the database.

Type "automotive" into the search box next to the yellow magnifying glass icon.

Scroll for reports and insights such as:

"The Twisting Worlds of Automotive and eCommerce" (U.S.) by K. Yackey, Jan. 30, 2020.

"Online Car Buying Solutions to Circumnavigate Covid-19 Lockdown Restrictions" (UK) by S. Mayles Apr. 21, 2020.

Suggested search terms:

Motor vehicle manufacturing

Motor vehicle sales

From results list use the filters on the left to modify date range, region, and choose from the Subject links (e.g. motor vehicle industry, manufacturing).

Results include reports from U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Industry Financial Ratios

Online Resources
Report Examples

eStatement studies This link opens in a new window
Contains composite financial data from over 250,000 anonymous financial statements of manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, service, and contracting businesses operating in industries. Designed to be particularly useful to lending and credit risk professionals who want to compare one company's performance relative to other companies in the same line of business.

Finding Ratios Tutorial

eStatement studies This link opens in a new window

Choose Annual Statement Studies, search by keyword or NAICS code. NOTE: Search terms will call up suggested NAICS codes in the NAICS search field so you do not need to find the code elsewhere first.

You can also choose to search at a specific level (2, 3, 4 or 5 digit code).

Sample report:

336111, 336112 - Automobile Manufacturers (Aug. 2021)

From the left-side menu, choose Financial Discussion to find Financial Ratio Benchmark Data and Industry Default Probability Data.

SIC/NAICS Codes

Mergent Online This link opens in a new window
In-depth company information and financials for international public companies. Allows you to export financials into Excel and create company comparisons using ratios and other financial metrics. Good source for annual reports and company 10K’s. Provides access to research reports written by analysts at leading investment banks, brokerage houses and consulting firms. Click on the Investext tab to access the analyst reports.

Help in searching for SIC/NAICS codes:

Census Data
Access data about the nation's people and economy including demographic data and the Economic Census.
U.S. Census SIC/NAICS Concordance Tables
Find your NAICS code, and you will find the corresponding SIC code.
North American Industry Classification Search (NAICS)
Search by keyword to find the NAICS code for the industry you are researching. Includes 2017, 2012 and 2007 NAICS codes.
Standard Industry Classification (SIC) Manual Search
Search by keyword to find the SIC code for the industry you are researching.