Library Research Resources
General Management 105 - John Hironaka
September 8, 2010

Present by Anne Bradley, Business Reference Librarian
bradleya@csus.edu ~ 278-4350 ~ CSUS Library Office 2501

Find the Industry Code

Industry Overviews

  • Use these tools to analyze the external variables (P.E.S.T.) for your company/industry
  • Standard and Poor's Industry Surveys - Ref. HG 4921 .S65 - Provides an overview of 52 major industries and includes major competitors.
  • Hoovers Handbook of Industry Profiles 2008 - Ref. HD 2328 .H363 2008 - Short industry snapshot.    
  • Encyclopedia of American Industries - Ref. HC 102 E53 - Has narrative profiles of major industries. Each report describes industry organization and structure, current conditions, industry leaders, and trends.
  • Encyclopedia of Products & Industries--Manufacturing - Ref HD 9720.5 E53 2008 - Individual products get in-depth analysis including key producers, supply chain, distribution channel, adjacent markets, trends, and target markets.
  • Business Source Premier
    Check Industry Overview to get a profile on your industry.

Industry Financials

Ratio sourcebooks contain financial and operating ratios, and composite balance sheet and income statements for specific industries, usually arranged by SIC or NAICS numbers.
  • Dun and Bradstreet Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios. Ref HF 5681 .R25 I525
  • RMA Annual Statement Studies. Ref HF 5681 .R25 R6
  • Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. Ref HF 5681 .R25 T68
  • Financial Studies of the Small Business. Ref. HD 2346 .U5 F55a

Local Competitors

  • U.S. Census Bureau - http://www.census.gov/econ/www/index.html - The US Census Bureau counts businesses as well as people! This is a good way to find businesses in a city, zip code, or county. Click Data by Geography then try County Business Patterns and Economic Census to find how many companies are in a particular industry in Sacramento.
  • D&B Million Dollar Database
    This database lists companies with sales greater than $9 million or 180 or more total employees. Search by city, zip code and/or industry. Provides directory information including address, management, number of employees, and estimated sales.
  • LexisNexis Academic
    Provides directory information for small, private companies and detailed information for publicly traded companies. Searchable by a combination of industry, location, public/private, sales and/or number of employees.
  • D&B Regional Business Directory - Ref. HG 4057 C2 D856 - Gives directory information for companies in Northern California. Find companies by industry, geography or name.
  • Reference USA - Access to this database is available at any branch of the Sacramento Public Library or from any computer for Sacramento Public Library cardholders (library card number required for remote database access). Best resource for finding companies in the Sacramento or any other city/county/region in the United States. Search by a combination of industry, location, size, etc.

Target Market

Demographic information for Sacramento can be found in the following resources:
Lifestyle Market Analyst - Ref HF5415.3 L5 - Provides demographic and lifestyle information.
Community Sourcebook of ZIP Code Demographics- Ref HA 203 S66 - County edition also available.
MPA:Market Profile Analysis -Sacramento - Ref HC108 S12 M55
American Factfinder - http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en - US Census data. Use the data under "American Community Survey" to find descriptive data about people in Sacramento. Use "Population Estimates" if you want population counts.

New Strategist Publications provide consumer spending information/market size information. A few are listed below, do a Keyword Search "new strategist" in Eureka for a more complete listing.
Best Customers : demographics of consumer demand - Ref HC 79 C6 R87
Household Spending:Who Spends How Much on What - Ref HC 110 C6 034
The Millennials : Americans born 1977 to 1994 - Ref HQ 796 M4797
Who's Buying at Restaurants and Carry-outs - Ref HF 5415.32 W4re 2004

For more resources see "Demographics" section of Sacramento Area Marketing Guide.

Library Databases

CSUS Library Home - http://library.csus.edu

  • Library provides access to many great business databases which you can use to find articles on your product or industry.
  • Go to the Database and Article Searching Page to select one or more of the following:

    Business Source Premier - Brings together in a single database industry overviews, company profiles, and magazine and journal articles.
    Check Articles to search for articles on your topic.
    Check Industry Overview to get a profile on your industry.

    ABI/Inform - Indexes and abstracts over 1,500 journals and trade publications in all areas of business and management, many with an international focus.
    Use the Advanced Search screen for more search options.

    Factiva - Factiva gives access to 1,000+ global and local newspapers, 6,500+ magazines, including industry-specific journals and newsletters, 270+ news wires, and 20,000+ Company Reports.
    Type search terms into Free Text box.
    Consult Examples for advanced searching techniques.
    E.g. Coca-cola same supply chain - Will find articles with both terms in the same paragraph.

    Mergent Online - Provides extensive financial information for publicly traded U.S. and International companies.
    Also includes Industry Reports.

    EUREKA - CSUS Library Catalog - Eureka is a catalog of books, periodicals, and other items owned by the CSUS Library. Do an Advanced Keyword search on your topic

Library and General Information

Remote Access Instructions - http://library.csus.edu/content2.asp?pageID=47
Journal Locator List - http://sfx.calstate.edu:9003/sacramento/az/default - How to find if the CSUS Library has a journal in print or if the journal is full text in a library database.

Suggested Resources for Team Product Case Requirements

B. What to Name Your Product or Service

Do a subject search in Eureka with "Brand Name Products". You will bring titles such as The Name is the Game: How to Name a Company or Product.

C. Legal Form of the Company

For books on the legal forms of companies do a SUBJECT search in Eureka with the phrases: "New Business Enterprises Finance", "Business Planning" and "Venture Capital."

D. Organizational Members

For examples of organizational charts, do a Subject search in Eureka using "Organization Charts."

F. Mission Statements

For examples of Mission Statements do a SUBJECT search in Eureka with phrase "Mission Statements"

Mission Statements are also found, sometimes, in Annual Reports or in the "President's Message to Stockholders" often containing statements of objectives and goals with some ethical content.

G. Objectives

Once again, books with subject heading "Strategic Planning" "Business Planning" and "New Business Enterprises Finance" should provide guides for creating your own strategic and financial objectives.

J. Acquisition Sources and Costs

Contact suppliers listed in some of the following sources:

Also consult Encyclopedia of Products & Industries--Manufacturing - Ref HD 9720.5 E53 2008 - Individual products get in-depth analysis including key producers, supply chain, distribution channel, adjacent markets, trends, and target markets. Not all products are covered, but you might get lucky!

N. Bibliography

Citation Style Guides - http://db.lib.csus.edu/guides/
Scroll all the way down the page to Writing Guides to find APA and MLA guides which show citation formats, examples, and additional web sites to help you properly compile your bibliography.

Updated 9/8/2010