Click into your Company's Website. See if you can answer these questions:
What products and services do they provide?
Can you identify their primary industry?
How big are they?
What is their organizational structure?
Are they public or private?
Some companies offer a link to "About the Company." If the company is public, look for the "Investor Relations" tab to get the 10-K and the Annual Report for an overview of recent performance.
Learn how to find the NAICS code for your company. Each industry has its own NAICS code. Many industry reports use the NAICS code to describe the industry and to identify key companies within that industry. For more information on NAICS codes, see the US Census Bureau web site.
Industry Report
Log into IBISWorld, search by keyword or NAICS code, and obtain your industry report. IBISWorld gives in-depth reports on hundreds of industries, with a quick overview of how the industry operates and key company profiles. For more information on your industry and to see how to analyze companies within that industry see also the S&P Industry Surveys. Use these reports to identify a public competitor.
How Products Are Made: Look up your company's product on this site to see how it's made. Hint: use common words to describe your product.
Handbook of manufacturing processes: how products, components and materials are made TS183 .B73 (On Reserve for OEM at the Library: ask for it at Information Desk 1.)
Log into RMA eStatement Studies to obtain your industry ratio. Use the NAICS table to find your code, or use the keyword search to find your industry. Hint: try synonyms, like car or auto.
Do you know your company's annual sales? In the ratio report, look for the column that corresponds to your company sales size. Look for key ratios that help define industry performance. Can you translate these ratios into questions to ask your company?
Log into InfoTrac's Businss & Company Resource Center. Great resource for company news and industry overviews. See the news articles organized by type. See also the top tabs for reports like "Industry Overview" and "Trade Associations."
