Learn more about Plunkett Research Online

FAQs—Plunkett Research Online:

1. How does Plunkett Research differ from competitors and other data providers?
2. How would you best describe the position of Plunkett Research in the marketplace?
3. What methods does Plunkett Research use for data gathering and validation?
4. How many researchers/analysts does Plunkett Research have?
5. What are the qualifications for Plunkett's researchers?
6. Does Plunkett have specialized researchers for each industry in the database?
7. How does Plunkett's approach to research differ from others?
8. Who/what are sources of Plunkett's data?
9. Does Plunkett provide data and analysis covering business and industry outside of the U.S.?
10. Where does Plunkett Research get its information on privately held companies?
11. How much and how often is research updated in the database?
12. How many companies are in the Plunkett companies database?
13. What about private companies? International companies?
14. Does Plunkett Research plan on adding any new industries?
15. What is the average increase in subscription cost from year to year? How is this determined?
16. How does Plunkett determine “Hot Spots for Advancement for Women and Minorities” and other “Corporate Culture”?
17. How does Plunkett choose companies to add to the database?

1. 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, technologies and companies creating change within given industries—even if the reader has no current expertise in that industry.

In contrast, 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 originated as departments within bond-rating companies focused on providing extremely deep financial numbers and financial ratios for corporations or industry segments.
4. They generally do not provide forecasts of future industry growth or analysis of industry trends.

2. 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 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 providing additional, vital data sets: our industry statistics, industry analytics, 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

3. 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 six proprietary business and industry databases:

1. An industry trends database
2. An industry statistics database
3. Industry Analytics (deep financial data for hundreds of Industry codes)
4. A leading companies database
5. A business and industry glossary database
6. 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.

4. How many researchers/analysts does Plunkett Research have?

We maintain a staff of about 20 people.

5. What are the qualifications for Plunkett's researchers?

Our goal 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Who/what are sources of Plunkett's data?

Primary sources include

• Internal research, analysis, fact checking and data gathering by the Plunkett Research staff.
• Over 3,500 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.
• Multiple proprietary, government, industry and financial databases developed by Plunkett.

9.Does Plunkett provide data and analysis covering business and industry outside of the U.S.?

• Plunkett Research has a growing number of international subscribers and readers. This customer base includes some of the world’s leading universities and corporations, as well as government ministries in top nations. Consequently, we are careful to make certain that our data is of vital use to non-U.S. readers.
• 16,614 of the 29,066 companies that we profile are non-U.S. (57%). 4,602 are located in Asian nations.
• Approximately 20% of the industry Statistics that we cover are non-U.S. (import-export specific, country-specific, etc.).
• Approximately 50% of the market research Trends that we analyze have direct effect on international business and industry.

This means that approximately 50% of the Plunkett system is U.S.-only, and about 50% has a direct effect on international industries. Our European, Asian and International data is of great importance to our readers worldwide. At the same time, our U.S. data is vital to universities, companies and government ministries that want to better understand conditions within the U.S. or conduct additional business or investments within the U.S.

10. Where does Plunkett Research get its information on privately held companies?

Information on privately-held firms can be difficult to obtain on an accurate and objective basis.  We work hard to maintain relationships, sources and methods that enable us to deliver excellent data on private firms worldwide.  At Plunkett Research, we take pride in the depth of information we are able to provide on private companies.

11. 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. Some types of data, such as year-end industry statistics or government-provided numbers, are only available several months past year end due to delays in reporting and/or gathering of full-year data.

12. How many companies are in the Plunkett companies database?

We have approximately 30,000 firms in our companies database, thanks to a continual addition of new data.  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.  The data includes all of the world’s leading companies.

13. What about private companies? International companies?

We take care to cover the most important and exciting privately-held and leading global firms.   Private Companies: we profile about 4,000 of the world’s leading private firms, subsidiaries and joint ventures.  Non-U.S. Companies: : We profile approximately 16,600 of the world’s top non-U.S. companies. (That is, firms that are headquartered outside of the United States.) Also, please keep in mind that many of the U.S.-based major firms that we profile also have a very large presence in other nations.

14. Does Plunkett Research plan on adding any new industries?

Yes.  We add new vital industries on a continual basis. For example, we recently added Research Centers for the Artificial Intelligence Industry and for the Sharing & Gig Economy Industry.

15. 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 5% yearly.  Upon request, we will negotiate a multi-year price guarantee for subscriptions.

16. How does Plunkett determine “Hot Spots for Advancement for Women and Minorities” and other “Corporate Culture”?

“Hot Spots” are companies with either a) 3 or more apparent female or minority officers/directors --this is our best evaluation, but is not 100% accurate, or b) companies that our research shows to have a reputation for promoting women or minorities. We gather “Corporate Culture” data from company recruiting sites, recruiting brochures, business and HR magazine articles and other resources. We are not able to supply this information for all companies.

17. How does Plunkett choose companies to add to the database?

1. All publicly-held companies with stocks that are traded on U.S., Canada and Mexico stock exchanges are included. This includes companies that are headquartered in Europe, Asia and Latin America that list their shares on U.S. exchanges.
2. Emerging companies that we believe are going to be of importance to the industries that they work in. (For example we were early to add Google and Uber to our database when they were startups.)
3. Private companies, subsidiaries and joint ventures that have substantial revenues and that we believe will be of the greatest interest to our readers.