FAQs—Plunkett Research Online:
How does Plunkett Research differ from competitors and other data providers?
Plunkett Research was developed from the ground up with the following core thought:
The focus at Plunkett Research is to make it easy for the general reader to readily access and understand the most vital trends creating change within given industries—even if the reader has no current expertise in that industry.
Most other business database publishers fall into one of the following categories, making them vastly different from Plunkett Research:
1) They are “directory” publishers, publishing corporate contact information gleaned from yellow pages or similar sources, without any supporting industry analysis or statistics.
2) They focus primarily on providing corporate contact information for use in supporting sales people, often without providing readers with background knowledge of the industries they are trying to sell to.
3) They aggregate and coalesce data that was originally published by other firms—often in the form of newspaper or magazine articles, rather than conducting research and analysis in house. This can make their subscriptions more expensive, while making search results much less targeted and search screens much less user-friendly.
4) They originated as departments within bond-rating companies focused on providing extremely deep financial numbers and financial ratios for corporations or industry segments.
5) They generally do not provide forecasts of future industry size, forecasts of growth or analysis if industry trends.
How would you best describe the position of Plunkett Research in the marketplace?
No other firm does what Plunkett Research Ltd. does. We help you understand how industries work today and where they will be tomorrow.
Our philosophy is that several core sets of data should be presented in one comprehensive tool to give the reader the best total picture of an industry. That data must be user-friendly: easy-to-access, easy-to-understand, easy-to-use. That data must be affordable and represent extremely high value for the buyer/subscriber.
The foundation of these data sets is our analysis of industry trends (including finances, markets, technologies, deregulation, research/development and globalization). We empower the reader to better utilize knowledge of these trends by adding our industry statistics, profiles of leading companies, glossaries and a database of industry associations.
We never assume that the reader is an expert. Instead, we are careful to use language and explanations that are easy to understand. At the same time, we provide comprehensive information to give a broad, accurate and innovative picture of an industry and its players.
We understand that there is intense competition in the business reference/business information marketplace. Our goal at Plunkett Research at all times is to provide:
Accurate, Timely, Innovative Business and Industry Information, with:
Better Industry Data
Better User Interface
Better Tools
Better Prices
What methods does Plunkett Research use for data gathering and validation?
Plunkett Research Ltd. has been a highly respected source of business and industry data since 1985. Our data development evolved from research methods originally established by founder Jack Plunkett for his first book, The Almanac of American Employers, published by Contemporary Books, Inc., later a division of Tribune Companies, the publisher of The Chicago Tribune.
Through the years, Plunkett Research has evolved a research methodology based on strict guidelines used to build and maintain the content of five proprietary business and industry databases:
1. An industry trends database
2. An industry statistics database
3. A companies database
4. A business and industry glossary database
5. A industry associations and professional societies database
Plunkett analysts are trained to follow research formulas and methodology. They use company-approved sources in their work, and post their findings daily to Plunkett’s proprietary databases. All research results go through multi-step editing processes. And, all results are date-stamped.
How many researchers/analysts does Plunkett Research have?
We maintain a staff of about 30 people.
What are the qualifications for Plunkett’s researchers?
Our criteria is that our analysts be extremely bright, very curious about how things work, and exceptionally good communicators. They must have very high written language skills and research skills. Generally, our analysts hold a masters degree (from a wide variety of disciplines). Often they are doctoral candidates.
Does Plunkett have specialized researchers for each industry in the database?
No, we intentionally train our people to be generalists so that they recognize the synergies, similarities and differences between various industry segments and industry leaders.
How does Plunkett’s approach to research differ from others?
The focus at Plunkett Research is to make it easy for the general reader to readily access and understand the most vital trends creating change within given industries—even if the reader has no current expertise in that industry.
Our philosophy is that several core sets of data should be presented in one comprehensive tool to give the reader the best total picture of an industry. That data must be user-friendly: easy-to-access, easy-to-understand, easy-to-use. That data must be affordable and represent extremely high value for the buyer/subscriber.
Who/what are sources of Plunkett’s data?
Primary sources include
· Over 2,800 industry associations, professional societies and government agencies worldwide with which Plunkett maintains relationships and/or from which Plunkett obtains industry-specific/country-specific data.
· Financial analysts, industry executives and industry experts with whom Plunkett maintains communications
· Corporate disclosure documents and financial statements
· Industry conference proceedings
· Analysis of white papers, reports, periodicals and publications
Where does Plunkett Research get its information on privately held companies?
With the exception of corporate disclosure documents, we use the same methods and sources for private firms as we do for public firms. Information on privately-held firms can be difficult to obtain on an accurate and objective basis. At Plunkett Research, we take pride in the depth of information we are able to provide on private companies.
How much and how often is research updated in the database?
Our update and rewrite procedure is as follows:
1) All of our data is date-stamped. We do not allow data to pass more than 12 months without rewriting and/or updating.
2) Important changes to industries and companies are added to the database as they occur.
3) All of the work that our analysts and researchers conduct daily is posted to internal databases on an ongoing basis. Each Friday evening, the latest changes from those databases are posted to our online subscription service so that subscribers have prompt access to them.
4) The median rewrite/update for our data is approximately 8.5 months.
5) Some types of data, such as year-end industry statistics, are available several months past year end due to delays in reporting and/or gathering of full-year data.
How many companies are in the Plunkett companies database? At what rate is this list growing? Will it keep growing?
Approximately 8,000 firms are in our companies database. This number grows every year. These firms are comprised of both mature, industry-leading firms, and growth companies that we think will be of the greatest interest to our readers. We add approximately 1,000 new companies to the list yearly.
What percentage of these companies are private companies? International companies?
About 18% of these companies are privately-held. About 20% are headquartered outside of the U.S. Recently, we have been focusing on adding companies in Canada, India, China, Singapore, Japan and Korea.
Does Plunkett Research plan on adding any new industries? What will be next?
New sectors into which we are presently conducting research or gathering data include defense/security, services for the aging/elder care, consumer products, environmental/green products and services. All of these may eventually become industries that we cover on a continuous basis.
What is the average increase in subscription cost from year to year? How is this determined? Our philosophy is that our products should always be affordable and that they should always represent extremely high value for the dollar spent. Subscription pricing to Plunkett Research Online generally increases no more than 4% or 5% yearly. Upon request, we will negotiate a multi-year price guarantee for major subscriptions.