Research Guides: MBAB 5P21: Business Strategy: External Analysis: Operating/Industry Environment

External Analysis: Operating / Industry Environment

The intelligence sources listed on this page can assist you in understanding your organization's industry or operating environment.

Analysing the Operating / Industry Environment (External Analysis Guide)
Key intelligence sources for competitive analysis of the operating and industry environment.

Best Sources for Industry / Market Intelligence

Websites:

Industry Sector Intelligence (Government of Canada)
Statistics, market intelligence and business resources for each industry sector.
Global Insights by Industry (Global Edge, Michigan State University)
"This is your source for international business-related resources, statistics, risk assessments, and events for 20 distinct industry sectors. You will find a wealth of information for each industry".
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The 20 sectors include: aerospace and defense, agriculture, apparel and textiles, business services, chemicals, construction, consumer products, energy, financial services, food and beverage, healthcare, hospitality and travel, industrial manufacturing, media and communications, mining, minerals, metals, pharmaceuticals, public services, retail, technology, and transport manufacturing.

Library Databases with Canadian, US, or Global content:

First Research Industry Profiles (via Mergent Intellect)

IBISWorld Industry Research Database This link opens in a new window Produces and publishes over 425 Canadian and 1,300 US Industry Reports at the 5-digit level of the NAICS code.Contains trends, statistics & analysis on market size, market share of major companies and industry growth rates.Permitted Uses
- The Library subscribes to the following modules in IBISWorld: Canada Industry Reports (NAICS), United States Industry Reports (NAICS), Canada Industry iExpert Summaries, United States Industry iExpert Summaries, United States Specialized Industry Reports, United States Specialized Industry iExpert Summaries, China Industry Reports (200 industries), Canada Industry Provincial Reports (50+ Ontario industries), and Canada Collection of Macroeconomic Business Environment Profiles.
Conference Board of Canada This link opens in a new window Reports on economic trends, industry outlooks, organizational performance, and public policy from The Conference Board of Canada and The Conference Board, Inc.Includes case studies, analysis of public policy issues, briefings, economic periodicals, executive action reports, conference e-proceedings, webinars from industry experts and practitionersNOTE: if you are having trouble accessing the site please create an account using your Brock emailPermitted Uses
Mintel Academic This link opens in a new window Canada and US market research, market analysis, product intelligence, and competitive intelligence reports.Coverage: Canadian Reports 2014-current ; US Reports 2008-current ; most reports updated annually; covers a wide variety of sectors, themes, and demographics.Permitted Uses
Passport This link opens in a new window Global market information that specializes in company profiles, industry reports, market share data, and consumer trend analysis of consumer products and services across 80 countriesPermitted Uses
- Includes Economies & Consumers, as well as Industrial-Canada reports for industries across the entire Canadian economy
Statista This link opens in a new window Contains more than 1 million statistics on over 80,000 topics.Contains Statista dossiers and industry reports for 170 industries and 150 countries.Includes market forecasts, as well as market, industry and country outlooks and insights.

Company Directories, Databases & Statistics

You can identify competitors using a variety of business or company directories, databases, and web sites. You can often identify competitors within the same industry by searching by NAICS code or by keywords in the NAICS description.

Statistics (website):

Canadian Business Counts and Statistics (Statistics Canada)
Statistics Canada gathers data through the Business Register Program to provide counts of active businesses by sector (two digit NAICS industry classification) and employment-size categories for Canada and the provinces and territories.

Canadian Company Directories (Library Databases):

Company Profile Canada (via Nexis Uni) Provides information on thousands of Canadian companies and organizations. 80% of the companies covered are privately owned. Each profile includes details on the company's location, size, year of incorporation, industry SIC code, and revenues.
Report on Business Company Profiles (via Nexis Uni) The Report on Business Corporate Fundamental Database created in 1985 contains information on more than 4,000 active Canadian Incorporated companies including approximately: - 2,700 Canadian incorporated public companies listed in Canada - 1,200 private companies, primarily federally incorporated Canadian companies (less timely as information on these companies generally must be obtained by yearly surveys). - 55 crown corporations, both federal and provincial large crown corporations that compete in the commercial sector. - 70 financial and non-financial co-operatives

Global/International Company Directories (Library Databases):

Mergent Intellect This link opens in a new window A deep collection of worldwide business information that enables companies to generate insightful business intelligence.Permitted Uses
Mergent Market Atlas This link opens in a new window Contains global business and financial data including company and industry profiles and annual reports.Coverage: Current plus up to 15 years of historical data.Until June 2025 this content is also available on the legacy Mergent Online platform.Permitted Uses
Factiva This link opens in a new window A current international news database from Dow Jones which provides access to premium content from 200 countries, in 28 languages.Users have access to a wide range of information from newspapers, newswires, industry publications, websites, company reports, and more.Permitted Uses
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window The Company Dossier search tool brings together hundreds of company information sources covering news, legal activity, financial data and more info a customized company report.The search template lets you search by NAICS code to identify competitors across a large number of popular company directories.