Library Guides: MBA Program: BUAD 695

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RefWorks Citation Management Tool

Industry Codes

Simplify your research and keep things consistent by FIRST defining your industry by selecting the industry code that classifies your business or service.

You could search by company within the databases and be on the lookout for the NAICS or SIC code. Or, you can search by a keyword that describes a particular product/service using the links below.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
From the United States Department of Commerce - U.S. Census Bureau website. Search for the NAICS code that classifies your industry.
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System Search
From the United States Department of Labor - Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) website. Search the 1987 SIC manual by code or keyword to find the SIC code that classifies your industry.

Questions and strategies to consider before you jump into your research. Use the other tabs in this box for information on how to access certain resources mentioned below (e.g., company profiles, industry reports, etc.).

Get to know your client company (website, social media, news, library resources)

Products/services
- Do their products/services overlap multiple industries?
About Us pages (website and/or social media)
- Check out their mission, goals, and other information. Do they mention anything that further specifies their target customer/market? Anything else worth noting?
Advertisements (social media, news, website...)
- How do they market themselves? Does this say anything about who they view as their customer?
News
- Current or historic (i.e., when they were first established). Anything noteworthy?
Company profile
- Any information on the company in library databases, such as a company profile?

Get to know the industry (library resources, business news)

Consider both the type of product/service (e.g., women's athletic clothing) and the geographic area (e.g., US, North America, global...)
Use industry analysis reports, surveys, profiles, or news to gather information such as:
- Target market & industry size
- Market share
- Growth/decline
- Barriers to entry
- Suppliers
- Customers
- Competition (see below)

Get to know the competition

Similar resources and research techniques as for your client company (see tips above).
What do they offer? Are they growing, declining? Is their customer different from yours? Keep in mind the following:
Self-identified competition
- Did your client identify companies they view as competitors? Are they public, private? National, local? Do they compete against them in only one area of their market (i.e., a single service or product line), or multiple?
Unidentified competition
- Research the industry - any competitors your client didn't think of?
- Does client want to expand (products, services, location...)? Any new competitors in these markets?

Get to know the customers (library resources, news, websites)

Current
Prospective
- Who do they want as their customers? How different is this from their current customer demographic?
- Think critically about the customer that fits their needs (e.g., do they really want millennials, or just people who shop online? Are their customers teens, or the parents of teens?)
Demographics (age, location, employment, education, household...)
Lifestyle
- Day-to-day living
- Hobbies, habits...

Library databases are online resources, often restricted to SU students, faculty, and staff. You may be prompted to login with your SU username and password - same as for Gullnet, MyClasses, etc.) once you follow a link. Resources vary depending on the database, and include scholarly articles, news, company profiles, company financial statements, industry reports, legal cases, and more.

For company information... (including competitors, once you've identified them)

Hoover's Company Profiles (ProQuest)
Hoover's™ Company Records, a valuable resource for academic libraries, provides information about companies, industries, and the people who lead them. Featuring profiles of more than 40,000 companies, 600 industries, and 225,000 key executives, Hoover's Company Records provides easy access to thorough and up-to-date business information.
Mergent Online
Formerly known as Moody's Financial Information Service, Mergent Online provides full-text business descriptions, corporate histories and detailed financial data for over 10,000 public U.S. and international, and 17,000 non- U.S. public companies. Provides full search access to the EDGAR database.

For industry information... (including how to identify competitors)

ABI/INFORM Global
For Industry Reports: Go to Advanced Search. After entering your search terms, use the options below to limit your Document Type to Industry Report.
Mergent Online
For Industry Reports, go through Industry Analysis tab at top of screen.
Value Line Investment Survey
The Value Line Investment Survey's main section, "Ratings & Reports," presents full-page, individual stock reports and industry reviews. The "Summary & Index" provides a key to locating the latest quarterly and supplementary reports and cites the most recent data on each of the stocks followed. Finally, "Selection & Opinion," a feature section, gives Value Line's views on the economy and the stock market and on stocks of special interest.

For customer demographics information...

Statista
Statista.com, by Statista, Inc. provides data on over 60,000 topics from over 18,000 sources, categorized into 21 market sectors. Statista.com provides quantitative data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas.
Academic Search Ultimate
Try searching for academic articles with keywords describing your product/service. One search strategy could be to search by industry code AND keywords such as "consumers" or "market."

Company information

Try searching the library catalog using the company name as a keyword

Filter your results to books/eBooks (using options on left-hand side of screen, when viewing results page)
Take note of the availability and location of the book.
- SU Libraries
- UM System Libraries (can borrow directly, takes 3-5 days to arrive)
- Libraries worldwide (can request through InterLibrary Loan, takes 7-10 days; see link below)

InterLibrary Loan (ILL)
Follow this link to create your ILL account, make a request, or check the status of a request.

Search for books or eBooks...

Industry information

Print books (in the library)

Industry Surveys by S&P Global Market Intelligence (Firm)
Call Number: HC106.6 .S74
Publication Date: July 2016 - Present

Most current 2 years kept in Reference Collection (1st floor). This series continues S&P Capital IQ Industry Surveys (Feb. 2013 - Apr. 2016).

S&P Industry Surveys, Feb. 2013 - Apri. 2016
Most current 2 years kept in Reference Collection (1st floor)
Older than 2 years: General Collection (3rd floor)
S&P Industry Surveys, 1981-2011
General Collection (3rd floor)

eBooks (available remotely through online library databases. Use SU login information to access. Contact Robin Vickery for help or questions.)

See Databases tab. eResources for industry information are mostly in the form of profiles and reports.

Consumer information

Print books (in the library)

Marketing to Millennials by Jeff Fromm; Christie Garton
Call Number: HF5415.332.Y66 F76 2013
ISBN: 9780814433225
Publication Date: 2013-07-02

"With more than 80 million in their ranks, the Millennials (aka Generation Y)--born between 1977 and 1995--are the largest generation in American history, outnumbering Generation X by far, and even the Baby Boomers by 1 million. Their direct buying power is estimated at $200 billion, and their indirect buying influence at least double that..."

eBooks (available remotely through online library databases. Use SU login information to access. Contact Robin Vickery for help or questions.)

The baby boom : Americans born 1946 to 1964 by New Strategist Editors,
Call Number: HC110.C6 .B339 2015eb
ISBN: 9781940308890
Publication Date: 2015

"After more than six decades of breaking the rules established by their elders, the Baby-Boom generation and older Americans are one and the same. In 2014, Boomers spanned the ages from 50 to 68, accounting for 24 percent of the total U.S. population and 71 percent of the population aged 50 or older. The eighth edition of The Baby Boom: Americans Born 1946 to 1964 includes in its pages, for the first time, a statistical profile of the U.S. population aged 50 or older..."
The millennials : Americans born 1977 to 1994 by New Strategist Editors,
Call Number: HQ796 .M555 2015eb
ISBN: 9781940308838
Publication Date: 2015

"The Millennials: Americans Born 1977 to 1994 examines young adults who are establishing themselves in the household and labor market at a difficult time. This large generation is critical for business success. Not only is it responsible for putting the first African American in the White House, but its technological sophistication makes or breaks many products and services. In these difficult economic times, perhaps no generation is more important to business than Millennials. The Millennials will tell you what you need to know..."
Best Customers: Demographics of Consumer Demand by New Strategist Publications, Inc.
Call Number: HC110.C6 B384 2014eb
Publication Date: 2014

"Find out how the American marketplace has been transformed by the Great Recession in the new 10th edition of Best Customers: Demographics of Consumer Demand, with all-important 2012 spending data. Best Customers is a unique look at who the best and biggest customers are for hundreds of individual products and services. The new edition of Best Customers includes analyses of spending trends before (2000 to 2006) and after (2006 to 2012) the Great Recession, product by product."
The American Marketplace: Demographics and Spending Patterns by New Strategist Publications, Inc.
Call Number: HF5415.3 .A44 2014eb
Publication Date: 2014

Provides the demographics and spending patterns of American consumers. Includes data on education, health, housing, income, labor force participation, living arrangements, population, spending, and wealth.
The generation X : Americans born 1965 to 1976 by New Strategist Editors,
Call Number: HF5415.332.Y66 .G464 2015eb
ISBN: 9781940308869
Publication Date: 2015

"The eighth edition of Generation X: Americans Born 1965 to 1976 tells the story of the small but vital generation spanning the ages of 38 to 49 in 2014. Although their numbers are small, lifestage dictates that Generation X is a vital part of the nation’s commerce and culture. People in their thirties and forties are in the crowded-nest years. They are supposed to be advancing in their careers, their incomes should be growing, and their spending should climb because of the expenses of children and teens. But the generation has been hit hard by the Great Recession and is still struggling to recover. Generation X: Americans Born 1965 to 1976 shows how Gen Xers are coping with these demands and what to expect in the future..."
Household Spending: Who Spends How Much On What by New Strategist Publications, Inc.
Call Number: HC110.C6 H385 2014eb
Publication Date: 2014

"Based on data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2012 Consumer Expenditure Survey, this report examines how much American households spend on hundreds of products and services, all organized by demographics. It discusses who is buying what, and how much they spend. Also included in this edition is a comparison of spending trends before and after the Great Recession."

For company information...

Company website
Social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn...)
Trade association websites
- Use Google to search for trade associations of companies that operate in a similar industry as your client.
- Try keywords like: recreation association Maryland
- e.g.,
Competitor websites
- Use Google to search for competitors.
- Try keywords that relate to the product/service, plus a geographical location if that suits your company's needs. Brainstorm synonyms for the product/service to capture more companies.
- e.g., (fitness centers OR gyms) AND Maryland eastern shore
Local news websites, such as Delmarva Now (see link below)

Delmarva Now
Local news

For industry information...

Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development (ChooseMaryland)
Check out the "Business Resources" page. From there, you may want to go to "Maryland Stats & Data". A link to a "list of rankings" provides information on MD industries; below that, you can compare data to other states.

For customer information...

Consumer Expenditure Survey (bls.gov)
This survey provides data about American consumer expenses. The most recent survey is for 2016. The survey can be viewed in a variety of formats, including tables, news releases, and reports. Select the type of resource you would prefer from the top paragraph.
Pew Research Center
Nonpartisan, non-advocacy public opinion polling and demographic research. Topics include: U.S. Politics; Media & News; Social Trends; Religion; Internet & Tech; Hispanics; and Global. The Internet & Tech tab brings you the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, which has the latest research and infographics on social media, mobile, and other technology user information.

Need Research Help?

Teddy Stocking

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Contact:

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410 548 3899

Subjects:Accounting & Legal Studies, Business, Economics & Finance, Information & Decision Sciences, Management & Marketing

Citation Management Help

ProQuest RefWorks is a citation management tool that assists researchers in gathering, organizing, annotating, and citing their sources. Accounts are free to anyone with an SU email address (students, staff, faculty).

RefWorks Login

To set up your account, go here.

Please note that citation tools like RefWorks are only as perfect as the data they are extracting from resources -- you should always double-check your citations to make sure they are correct.

Help Pages:

Accounts and features
ProQuest's Tutorial Library
ProQuest's Guide to RefWorks
For further assistance, please contact your librarian.

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Library Research Guides

MBA Program: BUAD 695

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Research Help Guides

Industry Codes

Strategies and Starting Points

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