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Finding Indusry Profiles

How to find a profile of an industry using different databases and web sites.

Finding Industry Profiles using Business Source Complete

About Industry Profiles in this Database

About Business Source Complete Industry Profiles

Industry profiles from Business Source Complete offer a great deal of data about an industry. A profile will typically include the following:

  • Market Overview
  • Market Data
  • Market Segmentation (by category, geography; market share; market distribution)
  • Market Outlook
  • Five Forces Analysis (buyer power; supplier power; new entrants; threats of substitutes; degree of rivalry)
  • Leading Companies
  • Macroeconomic Indicators (e.g., country data)
  • Industry Associations
Tips
  • Check the date on the profile - while many are relatively current (within the last year), some are older, particularly in smaller markets, like Canada.

Finding an Industry Profile

Method 1: Search by Keyword

  1. Enter keywords describing the industry in the first search box.
  2. Enter the keywords "industry profile" in the second search box.
  3. Click on the Search button (or hit the Enter key).
  4. Click on the "PDF Full Text" link to view the profile.

Screenshot of search results with search fields highlighted and red arrow to P D F full text link.

Method 2: Search using the NAICS Code

  1. Enter the NAICS code in the first search box, and select "IC NAICS Code or Description" from the drop-down list of search fields.Note that you can search for more than one NAICS code by joining the codes with the word OR (use uppercase).
  2. Enter the keywords "industry profile" in the second search box.
  3. Click on the Search button (or hit the Enter key).
  4. Click on the "PDF Full Text" link to view the profile.

Screenshot of search results with search fields highlighted and red arrow to I C N A I C S dropdown menu and P D F link.

Method 3: Browse Industries

  1. Locate the Browse menu on the database search screen and click on the Industry Profiles link. 

    Screenshot of search screen with Browse heading highlighted and red arrow to Industry Profiles link.

  2. Type keywords describing the industry into the box labelled "Browse for:" and click the Browse button.
  3. Click on the "PDF Full Text" link to view the profile.

    Screenshot of Browse search results with red arrow pointing to p d f link in one of the results.

Tips
  • Refine your results by using the Date filter to find the most recent profiles.
  • Industry profiles are often associated with a specific country or region, but there are also global profiles that look at the industry worldwide - you probably want to view all that relate to your company's geographic distribution.
  • Take note of the date - ideally, you want the most current data available, so you may need to look for updated data, if it's available. (Note the source of the data in the report and go directly to the source for updates.)

APA Citation Format

Reference

In-Text Citation
MarketLine Industry Profile. (2012a, February). Global Pet Care. Retrieved from http://www.marketline.com/ (MarketLine Industry Profile, 2012a)
​MarketLine Industry Profile. (2012b, February). Pet Care in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.marketline.com/ (MarketLine Industry Profile, 2012b)

Notes

  • Take the title from the title page of the report, not the listing in the database. 
  • Provide the URL of the publisher's home page (in this case Marketline). Do not provide the direct URL to the report
  • Do not include the name of the database (Business Source Complete).
  • Use hanging indents to format your references.
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