An Industry Analysis project provides a high-level overview of a specific industry.

Industry analysis is conducted to assess the business environment in a specific industry. Clients use this information to understand the different variables (e.g., economic variables) within the industry and how these variables can assist them in gaining a competitive advantage.

An industry analysis project can be of two types:

• One that looks into the industry as a whole e.g., industry/market overview, segmentation in the industry, key products and technologies, end-users, new developments and innovations, current state, or outlook of the industry.
• One that compares the competitive positioning of a company with respect to the market e.g., whether a specific company is performing better than the market, at par with the market, or is worse off than the average market benchmarks.

A vast majority of Industry Analysis projects at Wonder focus on the first type.

Minimum Requirements

• You will cover one industry per 3-hour request. This is a high-level overview of the industry.

• Types of information to provide:

  • A brief explanation of the industry. Explain the industry in terms of historical background, the geographic area it services, and/or its products. (A minimum of 3-5 sentences).

  Provide 2-3 of the following:

  • Trends or growth patterns that are precompiled
  • The market size or market growth if precompiled.
  • How much competition there is in the market
  • The size of the industry (as publicly available, do not triangulate)
  • Barriers to entering the industry or factors that are affecting the industry. These might include government regulatory policies and competitive practices of other businesses.
  • A brief overview of key competitors (as publicly available, do not triangulate)

• Provide a minimum of one image per 3-hour request. If possible, add an image for each concept discussed.

Locating Information for an Industry Analysis ****

• Always start with a direct search using keywords and search strings. If you cannot find information through a general search, use more specific search strings, Boolean, and X-ray searches, as well as filters to pull relevant results.

  <aside> 🧠 Note: Search strings and advanced search methods e.g., X-ray and Boolean search are tools, not strategies. Do not mention these in your research reports. Instead, mention the publishers of the resources, reports, and databases consulted (e.g., International Data Group (IDG)).

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• Use market research and business databases such as IBISWorld and ReportLinker to find market research reports for your industry. MIT Libraries and UBC Library provide a comprehensive list of industry-specific market research databases.

• Most market research reports provide a high-level overview of an industry in the preview section, even if the full report is paywalled. Use these reports as a starting point and then corroborate and enhance your findings using reputed news and media articles.

• Review publications such as annual reports, whitepapers, surveys, newsletters, and magazines from trade associations in the industry. For example, the American Dental Association publishes the Economic Outlook and Emerging Issues in Dentistry survey every month that can provide valuable information for the dental industry.

• Explore your assigned industry using the NAICS tool.

• Look for industry reports from key players and consulting firms such as EY, Deloitte, PwC, and Accenture. These reports often provide an overview of the industry, the current state of the industry, the future outlook of the industry, and/or innovations in the industry.