LibGuides v.2: SWOT Research: Opportunities

What are Opportunities?

Opportunities refer to favorable external factors that could give an organization a competitive advantage. Opportunities are elements in the environment that the business or project could exploit to its advantage.

The "O" & "T" part of SWOT analysis refer to the external analysis within the company's situational analysis. (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/swot.asp)

An opportunity could be an unfilled customer need, a loosened trade or government regulation, arrival of new technologies, demographic shifts, resource price shifts, or a possible merger or venture. The external environmental analysis may reveal certain new opportunities for profit and/or growth.

In order to identify opportunities and threats, research the industry in which your firm operates. Look for industry trends and forecasts which highlight changes in the economic, technological, social, and political environments.

Where to find information for the company's "Opportunities"

Review each tab in this box to discover what source types will be most useful to you when searching for information on the Opportunities for your company.

Industry reports help you to find information about the trends within the industry. You can find industry reports in several library databases.

In the industry report you can look for:

What are the key trends within this industry?
The outlook - is the industry in decline or is it growing?
How competitive is the industry landscape - is the market concentration high or low ? (If it's high, that means fewer opportunities for new businesses).
Is there a consumers' market for this industry?
Is there a trend for mergers and acquisitions - can your company be purcahse by or merge with a larger company?

ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
ProQuest’s Business Collection.
Journals, magazines, news, and reports in areas of business, international business, management, marketing, human resources, human relations, social responsibility, business ethics, and company or industry research. Includes company reports and SWOT analysis.
IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Search by major industry area and explore key statistics, trends, financials, competitors, and external factors. Both US and global reports.
Plunkett's Research: Industry statistics This link opens in a new window
Industry profiles, statistics, data, and market research trend articles.

Searching Industry reports in Plunkett

Industry information can also be found in many business and scholarly articles.

Searching for articles about your company, its competitors, and the industry it operates, will help you to find more relevant information about the company's business opportunities.

When exploring company's "opportunities" consider using broad keywords that can be applied to many industries, as well as specific ones pertinent to your industry.

Broad Keywords	Specific (to industry) keywords
Revenue / Profits	Customers/Demographics for hospitality or retail industry
Expansion / Growth	New technologies for education or tech. companies
Collaboration / Partnership	New materials in fashion or construction
Investment / Expenditure	Protective loans in real estate or automobile industry

ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
ProQuest’s Business Collection.
Journals, magazines, news, and reports in areas of business, international business, management, marketing, human resources, human relations, social responsibility, business ethics, and company or industry research. Includes company reports and SWOT analysis.
Business Insights This link opens in a new window
Company and industry profiles, including a SWOT analysis for many public companies.
Popular companies: Amazon, Walmart, Starbucks, Costco, Apple.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Extensive news, business, and legal sources. Includes federal and state cases and statutes, and millions of company profiles, reports and SWOT analysis.
Popular companies: Amazon, Walmart, Starbucks, Costco, Apple

Industry resources such as trade organizations and/or professional organizations that have information for your industry may also be helpful. Associations collect industry data, publish industry surveys, monitor regulatory changes, and keep their members up-to-date on industry news.

In addition to the links below, you can also use Google or another search engine to find industry association websites.

Bureau of Economic Analysis - Industry Economic Accounts
The industry economic accounts, presented both in an input-output framework and as annual output by each industry, provide a detailed view of the interrelationships between U.S. producers and users and the contribution to production across industries. These accounts are used extensively by policymakers and businesses to understand industry interactions, productivity trends, and the changing structure of the U.S. economy.
Bureau of Labor Statistics by Industry
Data on employment, productivity and wages by industry from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Start with the profiles found in the Industry at a Glance reports.
Doing Company Research
This LIbrary of Congress guide provides ideas and strategies for researching companies, with a focus on more common sources that may be of use for those looking for information on companies that are active and for those looking for current information.
Small Business Administration
A federal agency that provides advising, financial, and contracting expertise and advocates fro small businesses.
Us Census Business and Economy
The Census Bureau produces economic data across the entire economy on a monthly, quarterly, yearly, and five-year basis. Data on number of firms, sales, employees, and payroll. Covers industry sectors in manufacturing, retail trade, construction, and services.

When searching for industry information, it helps to know about the industry codes.

The industry codes: SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) had been first established in the United States in 1937. These four digit codes were assigned to major industries. With the development of new industries, an additional classification - the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) - has been developed and in 1996 replaced the SIC codes. Recently, a new classification, that includes services in addition to industries, have been developed. This new classification is called North American Product Classification System -(NAPCS).

NAICS standard is used by "Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy."

Various industry reports are organized according to NAICS classification. Using the NAICS code may help with finding the industry information for one's company.

Note: Companies might "belong" to more than one industry. This depends on the company's products and services. For instance Microsoft can be classified into such industries as: 51913a - Search Engines in the US as well as 51121 - Software Publishing in the US.

When selecting a specific industry for a company that does business in several industries consider the topic of your assignment/paper:

For instance if your company is Disney, are you going to write about the amusement parks (industry code 71311), or about cable networks (industry code 51521)or movie and video production in US (industry code 51211a)