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Course & Subject Guides

Strategic Management - MBA - Pittsburgh Campus

Designed to assist MBA students in completing their Strategic Management courses.

Industry Characteristics

Finding information on industries will require reviewing reports from multiple sources in order to get a complete picture of the industry. Key characteristics of the industry include geographic scope of the industry, the boundaries of the industry, and the dominant economic characteristics of the industry.

Geographic Scope and Economic Characteristics

The geographic scope of the industry is usually discussed in the industry report. For example, in Datamonitor reports accessed through Business Source Complete, sections on market segmentation often discuss the geogrphic segmenation of the industry.

Economic characteristics of the industry tend to be the main focus of industry reports and economic information can be found throughout. Look for sections of the report related to Market Analysis, Market Value, Market Volume, and Market Forecast.  

Supply Chain

Industry Boundaries

Begin the process of identifying industry boundaries by finding the NAICS or SIC codes associated with your industry. NAICS and SIC codes are often found in the Industry Overview section of the Business and Company Resource Center industry snapshot. When you find your industry in Business Insights: Global, select the Industry Overview and Overviews tabs. The documents listed for your industry will list the NAICS and SIC codes associated with this industry. 

NAICS and SIC codes are only a starting point to understanding industry boundaries. Look at the analysis in the industry reports for more information on the boundaries of the industry.

How to find NAICS codes

NAICS codes are used to classify and measure industry activity. Knowing the NAICS codes for your industry can help you find information on that industry in some databases. 

Note: Each database decides for itself which code applies to each company. Occassionally, other databases may assign different NAICS codes.

Profitability Ratios