Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Industry analysis
This page takes you to three key information sources for strategy analysis:
- Market information that is already published by market research publishers.
- Company information
- Business press, including:
- trade magazines
- news sources and social media
- tradeshows and information from government
- the regulatory body and any relevant trade association.
Market information
a. Market research publishers
- Mintel This link opens in a new windowAccess consumer and market research reports on a wide range of topics including the automotive industry, clothing and footwear, food and drink, health and beauty, homes and lifestyle, leisure and wellbeing, media, technology and travel.
- Marketline Advantage This link opens in a new window
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Identify marketing information, including company reports, case studies and finance information, by industry, country or company. - Passport This link opens in a new window
A worldwide market research database supporting the analysis of industries, economies and consumers.
- Croner-i Library This link opens in a new window
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Up to date information for accounting, auditing, finance and tax professionals.
b. Statistics
You may need to provide statistics as evidence to support your solutions in the second-year Leading Engineering Endeavours module or to support your design as part of the final year individual honours project module.
Statista is a global data and business intelligence platform with an extensive collection of statistics, reports, and insights on over 80,000 topics from 22,500 sources in 170 industries. You can access this through the A-Z of Databases. The subject guide to Company Information provides links to free sources of statistics.
- Statista This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Statista is a global data and business intelligence platform with an extensive collection of statistics, reports, and insights on over 80,000 topics from 22,500 sources in 170 industries.
Company information
- Company information LibGuideGuide to company information
- Fame This link opens in a new window
Search for finance and accounting information on companies based in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Business press
1. News sources
Use Nexis to search for news sources from across the globe.
Select your region, use the advanced search and filter by date.
- Nexis This link opens in a new window
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Search or browse Nexis for news, business and companies information including from UK and International local and regional newspapers
2. Industry magazines
Use the advanced search option on the home page of Library and Learning Resources. Search all items using your keywords or company name. Filter to magazine articles. Otherwise, search ProQuest One Business and Business Source Premier for business-related articles from news sources and industry magazines.
- ProQuest One Business This link opens in a new window
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Search or browse for abstracts and citations, including many with full-text, of academic and trade journal articles, books, dissertations, newspapers, market research reports and videos on business, leadership and management topics.
- Business Source Premier This link opens in a new window
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Search for abstracts and citations of journal articles, including some with full text links on accounting, business, economics, finance, human resources, leadership, management and marketing topics.
3. Trade associations
Use the Trade Association Forum's Member Directory to find a listing of 180 trade associations in the UK. News sources or industry magazines may well help to identify trade associations in specific countries. However, this listing is only of members of the Forum.
The Directory of British Associations was the most reliable source of information but was last published in 2012 in its 20th edition. This lists 7,200 associations, institutes, federations, and chambers of commerce in the UK and Ireland.
The Association Management Company therefore set up the UK’s only free Online Directory of UK Trade Associations. This contains 1,250 trade associations from internet searches and checking of the above sources.
4. Trade shows
These are often the place to meet representatives from companies operating in particular industries, both in the UK and overseas. The Department for Business & Trade hosts events, details of which are on their calendar of events. Otherwise consult the web pages of sites such as:
- Expocart which provides a UK trade show calendar and gives links to venues such as the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), London Olympia and ExCel London Convention Centre.
- EventsEye: listing UK trade shows as well as trade shows from across the world.
- TradeFairDates: listings of trade shows by country
5. Regulatory body
The UK Government has set out guidance on UK regulated professions and their regulators. Regulators carry out a range of functions in relation to the professions they regulate, including making sure individuals have the necessary qualifications and/or expertise to practise their profession. Check the website of the regulators as they often publish reviews of the profession.
Similarly, regulatory agencies are non-ministerial government departments or executive agencies set up to strengthen and improve safety and standards, such as the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted); to protect consumers, such as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA); or to protect the interests of consumers, often a utility, promoting competition and ensuring security and reliability of supply, such as the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets (OfGem) or the Water Services Regulation Authority (Ofwat). The regulatory regimes vary by country and industry but they usually provide publications that give an overview of the industry or utility.