PEST Analysis Research - SOM 122 - Perspectives of Business and Management (Fall 2019) - Research Guides at Syracuse University Libraries

PEST Analysis Research Overview

General Research Recommendations for the PEST (Political-Legal, Economic, Sociocultural, and Technological) Analysis:

Keep up with trends via a feed reader. Since PEST describes a framework of macro-environmental trends that have an impact on a business organization, we recommend that you increase your awareness of current events by setting up a feed reader for reputable news and business publications and websites. For feed reader tips, see the "Use a Feed Reader to Follow Trends" box at the end of this page.

Identify relevant industry classification codes. With industry classification codes, such as NAICS codes, you can locate industry reports and articles. See "Identifying Industry Classification Codes" box for industry code sources.

Find industry associations. Industry associations often gather industry statistics and data, create industry reports, and publish industry news and articles. This valuable industry information is sometimes made available to non-members either on the association's website or via the Libraries' research databases. Business Insights: Essentials, IBISWorld, and Plunkett are databases that are especially useful for locating industry associations.

Browse industry reports. The Libraries have several databases that provide overviews and in-depth industry information, such as IBISWorld and Business Insights: Essentials.

Read industry articles and publications. Discover industry articles and publications via your feed reader, industry associations, and by using the advanced search of business article databases, such as Business Source Elite and ABI/Inform, to search by NAICS code.

Identifying Industry Classification Codes

With industry classification codes, you can find business statistics, compare companies within the same industry, and locate industry reports and articles.

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
This current U.S. government standard to classify businesses was developed to allow for comparability in business statistics among North American countries. NAICS groups together establishments that use the same or similar processes to produce goods or services. (NAICS superseded SIC codes. Go to the FAQ on the NAICS website for more info about NAICS and SIC.)
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) System
Although superseded by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), SIC codes may still be used to search some research databases and some local government statistics.
Industry Research Part 1: Identifying Industry Codes
Learn how to identify NAICS industry codes with this video tutorial. Since this video covers a lot of material, it has been subdivided into shorter chapters, which can be reached by using the chapter navigation feature in the upper left corner of the video player.

Quick research tip: If you are having trouble determining the appropriate NAICS or SIC codes, try searching for a few companies within your industry of interest in a company database. Note the industry codes associated with those companies and then go back to the industry classification system to review the official industry code definitions in order to determine which codes may be most appropriate for your research.

Research Starting Points for the Entire PEST Framework

Below are research databases that are relevant for more than one PEST section.

Please also see the "Research Starting Points for Specific PEST Sections" box.

Industry databases:

Business Insights
Includes company profiles, financials, and SWOT analyses, industry reports and associations, market share reports, business publications, and more. Search "Industry" section by keyword or NAICS code.
IBISWorld
Industry and company reports, industry outlook and risk rating reports, market share, and business environment profiles, and more, searchable by keyword or NAICS code.
MarketLine
Includes company, country, industry, and product intelligence as well as business strategies news and opinion. For country reports that include PESTLE analysis, switch the dropdown search menu in the database from "All Research" to "Country Reports" and then search for a country, such as the United States. For industry reports, use the "Analysis" dropdown menu (at the top of the main page of the database) to select "Industry Analysis" and then "Industry Profiles," where you can apply "Sector" filters to see reports relevant to your industry.
Mergent Intellect
Provides access to information about U.S. and international public and private companies, company news, key business ratios, Indeed job search, Nielsen demographics, and a residential directory. Click on "First Research" and enter your syr.edu email address to search industry reports by keyword or NAICS code.

Additional recommended industry research databases

Current Issues Reports database:

Article databases:

Business Article databases:

ABI/INFORM Collection
Business and economics article database with international coverage. Also features industry-focused reports. Search Hints: Click "Browse" to find BMI and First Research industry reports. Click on "Advanced search" for the option to search articles by NAICS code.
Business Source Elite
Features business and economics publications (trade and academic), including the world's top management and marketing journals. Search features include the option to search by NAICS code.

Multidisciplinary Article databases:

EBSCO
Search across EBSCO hosted databases, covering journal literature, ebooks, images, archival collections, numerous subjects and formats, across the humanities, social sciences (including business), and sciences. Includes the Business Source Elite database.
ProQuest
Search across ProQuest hosted databases covering a broad range of subject areas such as: business and economics; medical and health; news and world affairs; science; education; technology; humanities; social sciences; psychology; literature; law; and, women's studies. Includes the ABI/INFORM Collection business database. Search Hint: Since ProQuest is such a broad database, remember to use the sidebar options in your search results to narrow your results by useful limiters, such as date range and publications type.

Additional recommended business article databases and multidisciplinary article databases

News databases:

Access World News
Features world-wide news sources, including local and regional newspapers, magazines, blogs, video and audio. For trends, see "Special Reports" and "Hot Topics" under "Current Events." See also the "Business and Economics" section in "Find a Topic."

A Dozen News Databases That Every SU Student Should Know
Learn how databases such as Library PressDisplay, Factiva News Pages, SCOLA's "World TV Online," Television News Archive, Alt-PressWatch, GenderWatch, Ethnic Newswatch, AP Images, New York Times, Access World News, ProQuest Historical, Newspapers, and LexisNexis Academic can help keep you informed 365 days a year.

Sample Industry Specific Article Search

See example below of searching by NAICS code 312120 (which is the industry code number for breweries) and the geographic term San Diego in the advanced search within the business article database Business Source Elite. Additional search fields, such as relevant keywords or a company name, can be added to narrow search results further.

The following screenshot shows an Advanced Search with three rows in the database Business Source Elite. NAICS code 312120 has been entered into the first row and IC NAICS Code or Description has been selected from the dropdown menu for that row. San Diego has been entered into the second row and GE Geographic Terms has been selected from the dropdown menu for that row. Nothing has been entered into the third row.

Using keywords in the Advanced Search in a database such as Business Source Elite to discover articles about an industry in a certain area will reveal many more articles than a NAICS code search, such as the one outlined above.

Research Starting Points for Specific PEST Sections

Below are research databases that are recommended for specific PEST sections.

Before exploring these specific resources, make sure you have already explored the resources in the "Research Starting Points for the Entire PEST Framework" box on this page. The resources recommended in "Research Starting Points for the Entire PEST Framework" include information relevant to all PEST sections.

Political-Legal Trends

Nexis Uni
Access more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis—including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790, together with extensive current and historical U.S. state and federal statutes, published court decisions and regulations. Registering for a free ID and password within the interface is recommended for those looking to take advantage of personalization features such as alerts, saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents. Search Hint: Once you are in Nexis Uni, for business content, click on "Business," under "Discover topics."
Westlaw Campus Research
Provides access to law and regulatory resources, such as the U.S. Code Annotated, federal and state cases, the Code of Federal Regulations, and more, plus business, company, news and global resources.

Economic Trends

Economist Intelligence Unit
Objective and timely analysis and forecasts of the political, economic and business environment for almost 200 countries. Includes reports on certain strategic industries and on the latest management thinking. Search Hint: Click on "Country Navigation by Topic at EIU.com" to focus on a country, such as the United States.
Continuum Economics
Searchable site that monitors and aggregates information on global economic and geostrategic issues. Search Hint: Click on "Economies" and then select the country you want to focus on, such as the United States.

Sociocultural Trends

MarketResearch.com Academic
Market research reports in several categories, such as business services, consumer goods, food and beverage, demographics, heavy industry, life sciences, and technology and media.
Mintel Reports
Market research reports that combine data & analysis of the competitive landscape, market-share analysis, and consumer profiles. Complex demographic issues are broken into easy-to-understand sections, explaining consumer behavior and demonstrating the structure of the market.
SimplyAnalytics
Visualize data about the U.S. population in maps or numeric tables. Explore variables from the U.S. Census Bureau, Nielsen Claritas PRIZM, EASI (“Easy Analytic Life Stage”) and MRI consumer surveys. Map businesses by NAICS code, and measure consumer expenditures, incomes, retail sales, media viewing and brand name preferences, population demographics and crime statistics.
Social Explorer
Social Explorer enables the researcher to easily make maps and reports to visually analyze, explore, and understand the current and historical demography of the United States.

Additional recommended databases for sociocultural trends

Technological Trends

Insider Intelligence eMarketer
A repository of statistics and reports on digital marketing, media and ecommerce. Covers a wide variety of industries tied to mobile computing, online advertising, tablets, smartphones, mobile payments and more.
Faulkner Advisory for IT Studies : FAITS.
Information technology reports on subjects such as IT infrastructure, wireless communications, security, telecommunications, data networking, enterprise systems, technology vendors, convergence, information management, healthcare IT, government IT, and more. Also provides links to several online technology and business news resources such as TechWeb, NewsFactor, and MarketWatch.

Use a Feed Reader to Follow Trends

An RSS feed reader will save you time as you strive to keep up with current events and publications.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows you to "subscribe" to online content (such as websites, blogs, and news and business publications) via a feed reader.

Many different RSS feed readers are available, including readers that are part of your browser or email client, as well as readers that may be used with any browser or mobile device.

Guide to RSS Basics (feed readers)
feedly
Feedly is a feed reader that works in any browser and has a mobile app.

Feed Reader Tips:

Set up feeds for an entire website, as well as distinct pages or sections.

If you hit a "paywall" (the website asks you to pay for the full text) when trying to read an article brought to you by your feed reader, look up the publication via Summon or the Journal Locator to read the article for free.

Journal Locator
A list of print and electronic journals, magazines, and newspapers available through the Syracuse University Libraries. Search or browse by title, ISSN, or subject category.
Summon
A search engine for most of the Syracuse University Libraries’ collections and other resources beyond the SU Libraries. Includes articles, books, journals, maps, sound recordings, archival materials, government documents, and more. Use for searching for articles. Narrow or expand results using multiple search refinements.

Full-Text Versions of Recommended Publications

Although you can look up and find just about any title you can think of via the Journal Locator, for your convenience, here are direct links to the Libraries' full-text versions of publications on the "Recommended Sites for Your Feed Reader" list.

This list may come in handy if you hit a "paywall" (the website asks you to pay for the full text) when trying to read an article brought to you by your feed reader.

New York Times Digital Edition
This resource requires creating an individual account using your @syr.edu address and creation of password (do not use your NetID login/password). First time users, register here and see additional information on the New York Times guide, as well as New York Times Terms of Service and Privacy agreements.
New York Times print and digital content (1851-present), including current video, image and podcast content, as well as archival access from 1851-1923. ArchivalTimes Machine access has a five article per day limit from 1923 to 1980 for PDF viewing/downloading. Does not include crossword puzzles or recipes.

Wall Street Journal
This resource requires creating an individual account using your @syr.edu address and creating a password (do not use your NetID). First time users may register here . Please see additional information on this Wall Street Journal guide, and the Wall Street Journal Privacy Notice, Subscriber Agreement and Terms of Use, and Cookie Notice
Wall Street Journal digital content from 4 years ago to present, and print content for 90 days, with digital e-reader access for 7 days.
Wall Street Journal

Wired

SOM 122 - Perspectives of Business and Management (Fall 2019): PEST Analysis Research

PEST Analysis Research Overview

Identifying Industry Classification Codes

Research Starting Points for the Entire PEST Framework

Sample Industry Specific Article Search

Research Starting Points for Specific PEST Sections

Use a Feed Reader to Follow Trends

Full-Text Versions of Recommended Publications

Recommended Sites for Your Feed Reader

Business

News

Technology