Guides: Business and Government Research: Finding industry information

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Getting started with industry research

The following are helpful to keep in mind when doing industry research:

Define the industry - what terms are used to describe the industry? Are you thinking about an industry, or a sector of the industry (e.g. clothing vs children's active wear). If you are looking for a region and cannot find anything, try looking for individual countries
Ask yourself 'who cares about this information?' - think about different groups or organisations which may have some interest in the industry. For example, environmental groups will likely be interested in the fossil fuels industry, and may have produced original research (or link to secondary research) on their website
Consider various sources, such as
- academic literature - what have researchers said about the industry or sector. Even if you are unable to locate research directly referring to New Zealand, there may be overseas examples from which you can make a comparison
- Library databases - the Library has access to several databases which you can use to locate industry information
- websites - company, organisation, and government websites can all contain useful information, though may be difficult to locate.

Industry classification codes

Industry codes are applied to all industries and sectors and can be used to search particular databases and websites. Codes can vary by country or region.

New Zealand and Australia use the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)

Globally the most prominent industry classifications are:

North American Standard Industry Classification (NAICS)
Standard Industry Classification (SIC) - mostly redundant and has been largely replaced by NAICS, but can be useful for historical purposes.

Academic literature

Academic books and articles can provide information which is either original or collected from multiple sources.

A basic search in the Library catalogue Te Waharoa can begin with [industry keywords] + [location]. For example:

heritage tourism new zealand

dairy farming waikato

manufacturing china

tobacco industry south east asia

Set the filter "Resource Type" to "Book" / "Book Chapters" / "Articles" to refine to academic literature only.

Library databases

Business databases present industry information via industry reports, profiles, or statistics.

Katalyst Business This link opens in a new window
Identify New Zealand companies in various industries. Can use ANZSIC industry codes to identify companies by selecting "Product" -> "ANZSIC Group", "ANZSIC Class" etc. and entering the code or searching by keyword
Katalyst Business has comprehensive profiles on 15,000 New Zealand business to business (B2B) companies including details on their activities, brands, people, products and services searchable by 30 different criteria. Covers the head offices of producers, manufacturers, publishers, franchisors, importers, exporters, wholesalers, agents and business service providers. Provides more extensive information and more search fields than any other NZ business database. Has turnover data for approximately 16% of the companies on the database.

You can use Katalyst to:
• Find new suppliers of products and services
• Research companies, markets and industries
• Identify and target key areas
• Produce lists for direct mail campaigns or surveys
• Find sales leads & make new contacts
• Put products in front of B2B purchasers

Export
You can export spreadsheets of Katalyst data for private use, e.g. in a mailing list or database import, using download credits; Download credits are $0.50 per company. Contact Katalyst to purchase credits. If you are just going to contact companies directly, on a one-to-one basis, you probably don't need download credits. More information at https://app.katalystbusiness.co.nz/pages/help
ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
Search for industry name in the text field or using the industry codes by selecting "Advanced search" and then "NAICS code" from the dropdown menu
Statista This link opens in a new window
From the homepage select "Statistics" -> "All Industries" to view a list of industries and sub-industries. For reports select "Reports" -> "Industry and Market Reports" and use the search fields and filters to refine
MarketLine Advantage This link opens in a new window
From the homepage select "Sectors" and under "Refinements" filter by sub-sector and geography
Passport This link opens in a new window
From the homepage select "Industries" and then select the sub-heading, followed by either the "Explore Analysis" or "Explore Statistics" dropdown options.

The news is also a great source of industry information and statistics. The Library has access to several New Zealand and International news databases - see News sources

Websites

Websites can all provide reports and statistics which contain useful industry information. For tips on how to search see "Google Advanced Search" on the Finding Grey Literature guide.

Some New Zealand examples include:

Statistics NZ Industry
Industries are grouped by the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)
MBIE Sector Series Reports
Information on all the industry sectors that make up the New Zealand economy.

Some international examples include:

Office for National Statistics (UK) Business, industry and trade
Activities of businesses and industry in the UK, including data on the production and trade of goods and services, sales by retailers, characteristics of businesses, the construction and manufacturing sectors, and international trade
Bureau of Labor Statistics (USA) Industry at a Glance
Data for over 100 industries, available in Alphabetical order by industry or NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) number order.