Harley-Davidson

Foster Business Library

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Harley-Davidson, Inc.



Assignment:    Harley-Davidson, Inc.:  case analysis of Harley-Davidson, with industry comparisons, statistics, etc.; an outside analysis of the company including performance and management; how they plan to attract new customers as their current customer base ages; market information as well as information on their factory operations in Brazil (and elsewhere, if they have recently expanded); where they are now, and where they intend to be in the future, and how they plan to get there.   (BPOL 470, 26 October 2002)

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Foster Business Library Databases:

    The Foster Business Library offers an extensive collection of business databases on its homepage; see under Business Databases; see also the four folders at the top of that list for lists of Foster databases by topic:  Books, Articles—Full Text, Articles--Citations and Abstracts, and Company and Industry.   For more information on the three dozen Foster business databases, click here.   For more information on which of the three dozen Foster business databases to use, click here.   For more information on accessing Foster databases from off campus, click here.   For information about responsible database usage, click here.

  • Hoovers Online:   Under Business Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. Hoovers Online offers information about 14,000 public and private companies worldwide, with links to company homepages and annual reports, charts, company capsule, competitors, divisions, earnings, financials, Fortune and Forbes rankings, history, industry information, insider trading, mission statements, news links, press releases, officers, patents, products, SEC filings, splits, subsidiaries, etc. Most information on this site is free and available on the Web (not just through the Foster Business Library homepage) but, via the Foster homepage, you can access the more detailed Premium Content.

    See the company fact sheet for Harley-Davidson, Inc., Inc. as well as the longer Company Overview; see also the link to Financials. See also their Competitive Landscape and the the list of companies (and competitors) in the Motorcycle & Other Small Engine Vehicle Manufacturing industry.

  • Investext:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases; also listed under Company and Industry. Investext contains indexing and the full text of company and industry research reports prepared by leading Wall Street firms, as well as regional and international brokerage and financial firms. All reports are in PDF format. (This database is available widely on campus and may be accessed from home via the U.W. connectivity kit or via the Libraries' proxy server.)

    A company search for the ticker symbol HDI produced a list of 717 reports.

  • Lexis-Nexis Academic:   To find company information, go to Business and then to Company Financial where you can obtain financial and other data for companies. Information is available from twenty different sources (each of which must be searched separately). Included among the sources is Hoovers Online, with members' access to company profiles. SEC filings, particularly company 10K annual reports, are a particularly rich source of company as well as industry information. Use your browser's Find command (or Control-F) to locate references to particular terms of interest in 10K filings such as trends, strategy, competitors, industry, etc. (This database is available widely on campus and may be accessed from home via the U.W. connectivity kit or via the Libraries' proxy server.)

    A search for SEC 10-K reports for HDI, for all dates, retrieved 89 filings or parts of filings. Typically, these reports are a gold mine for company, industry, and market and market share information. For instance, the latest company 10-K report notes:

    "Studies by the Company indicate that the average U.S. Harley-Davidson motorcycle purchaser is a married male in his mid-forties, with a household income of approximately $78,300, who purchases a motorcycle for recreational purposes rather than to provide transportation and is an experienced motorcycle rider. Over two-thirds of the Company's U.S. sales of Harley-Davidson motorcycles are to buyers with at least one year of education beyond high school, and 31% of the buyers have college degrees. Approximately 9% of the Company's Harley-Davidson U.S. retail motorcycle sales are to female buyers." There are also nearly a dozen references, in this filing, to Brazil.

  • Lexis-Nexis Statistical:   Under Business Databases on the Foster Business Library homepage. Statistical Universe is an index to statistical data in commercial, international and U.S. government publications. Try the Power Tables for quick access to tables of data in GIF format.

    A search in this database for Motorcycles retrieved 384 Power Tables; a search for Motorcyles and Sales retrieved 26 tables.

  • ReferenceUSA:   On the Foster Business Library homepage, listed under Business Databases; also listed under Company and Industry. Directory information for 12 million companies in the U.S.  Companies can be searched for by name, business activity, size and location. With this database, it is possible to identify businesses by geographic area and type of business, as well as by number of employees and gross annual sales. (This database is available widely on campus and may be accessed from home via the U.W. connectivity kit or via the Libraries' proxy server.)

    A Company Quick Search for Harley-Davidson retrieved 719 records, arranged alphabetically by state.

Web Resources:

Foster Business Library Reference Collection:

    The Foster Reference Collection is located behind the Reference Desk in Foster.

  • International marketing data and statistics.
    Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania; companion volume to European marketing data and statistics.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA42 .I56. 2002.

    See Motorcycles on pages 360 to 362.

  • Statistical abstract of the United States.
    Information about many industries as well as demographic information; check index for references to tables. The sources for each table are often a valuable source of additional information.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA202 .U56 2000.

    See index page 967 for three tables concerning Motorcycles and accidents, foreign trade and racing.

  • European marketing data and statistics.
    Demographic trends and forecasts, economic indicators, labor force, trade, energy, environment, consumer expenditures and market size, and retailing information for European countries.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HA1107 .E87 2002.

    See Motorcycles on pages 333.

  • World consumer income & expenditure patterns.
    The first half of this volume covers socio-economic patterns, personal income, and consumer expenditures in the domestic market by commodity and by function for 52 major countries, with data from 1990 to 1998; the second half consists of individual five-page profiles for each country.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HB522 .W67 1999.

    See Consumer Expenditure on Purchase of Cars, Motorcycles and Other Vehicles, 1990-1998 on pages 137 and 138.

  • U.S. industry & trade outlook.
    Industry by industry overview of the U.S. economy, with numerous tables, charts, industry reviews, forecasts and analyses.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC101.U543 2000.

    See Harley-Davidson on pages 39-1, and 39-20 to 39.22.

  • Standard & Poor's industry surveys.
    This three-volume set provides 30-page profiles on 52 industries with a focus on the current economic environment, trends, regulation and outlook for each industry. Major companies in each industry are profiled, with references to sources of additional industry information.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HC106.6 .S74 March 2002.

    See Autos and Auto Parts in volume one; see Harley-Davidson in the Comparative Company Analysis on pages 30 to 35.

  • The ultimate book of business brands.
    This slim paperback covers 50 companies from a brand perspective, with three to six page essays on each company.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD69 .B7 .C722 2003.

    See Harley-Davidson on pages 66 to 69.

  • International directory of company histories.
    Studying the history of leading companies in an industry is a good way to learn more about the history of an industry. This set of more than thirty volumes covers over 4,700 company histories worldwide, with each history running just two to four pages; check the company index in the latest volume to locate a specific company history or update as well as any other references to that company in other company histories. There is also an index by industry.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2721 .I57

    See Harley-Davidson in volume 7, page 211 to 214, as well as an update in volume 25, pages, 196 to 200.

  • Notable corporate chronologies.
    This two-volume work covers 1,500 major companies worldwide, with one- or two-page timelines marking major events in each company's history.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD2721 .N67 1999.

    See Harley-Davidson in volume one, pages 794 to 795, for the company's chronology to 1996.

  • Ward's automotive yearbook.
    The primary sourcebook for current information about all aspects of the automotive industry.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HD9710 .U5 .W3 2002.

    See Motorcycles in U.S. Operation on page 280.

  • Market share reporter.
    Annual compilation of market share data on U.S. companies, products and services, arranged by SIC code and with indexes by product, company and topic.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5410 .M35 2003.

    See Harley-Davidson in tables 1067 and 1069 on pages 235 and 236.

  • World market share reporter.
    An annual compilation of market share information for worldwide companies culled from thousands of periodical articles; use the company, product or brand indexes in the back of the volume to identify the company that you are researching.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5410 .W67 2001-2002.

    See Harley-Davidson in tables 1049 and 1051 on page 307.

  • U.S. market trends & forecasts.
    This large volume provides an overview and projections for 400 significant industries and their component products or services, arranged alphabetically by industry name. For each product or service, there is a brief indication of the value of the U.S. market in 1998 and the compound U.S. market growth rate from 1993 to 1998 as well as a graph depicting market value in dollars and the growth rate. There is also a brief analysis of the market sectors for the product or service and a description of the market segmentation by volume for 1997, plus U.S. market share and market forecast information.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5415.1 .U8 2001

    See Motorcycles on pages 126 to 128.

  • The lifestyle market analyst.
    Market analysis information including demographic, geographic and lifestyle information to identify who customers are, where they live, how they spend their time and money and how to reach them.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5415.33 .U6 .L54 2002.

    See the Lifestyle profile for Motorcycles on pages 830 to 833.

  • Standard directory of advertisers.
    This annual two-volume publication, also known as The Advertiser Red Book, is the most comprehensive source for information on the advertising practices of 24,000 U.S. and Canadian companies spending a minimum of $200,000 on national and regional advertising. See the company index on pages A-1 to A-49.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5805 .S7 2001.

    See Harley-Davidson on page 196.

  • Encyclopedia of major marketing campaigns.
    This massive 2,000-page reference profiles 500 of the most notable advertising and marketing campaigns of the twentieth century, from Adolph Coor's Zima to Zenith Electronics' The Quality Goes in Before The Name Goes On. Arrangement is by company name and, if the company name is that of a person, by their first name. For each campaign, there is a four-page chapter with an overview, historical content, target market, competition, market strategy and outcome, as well as a few suggestions for further reading.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HF5837 .E53 2000.

    See the Harley-Davidson, Inc. on pages 715 to 722.

  • Value Line investment survey.
    This large two-volume investment advice service provides regular reviews of 3,500 company stocks and their expected performance. The arrangement is not alphabetically by company; instead, use the index in a pocket in the front of the standard or expanded volumes to locate which volume your company is in and the issue number in which it appears.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4501 .V26

    Find Harley-Davidson in the standard edition, issue number 12, page 1849, dated August 23, 2002; see also page 1841 in this issue for the Recreation industry, which includes Harley-Davidson.

  • Directory of American firms operating in foreign countries.
    This three-volume annual publication lists 2,600 U.S. companies with 35,000 branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates in 190 countries. Volume one lists the firms in alphabetic order, detailing the countries in which the companies operate. The companies section is followed by listings by country, with Albania to Egypt in volume one, El Salvador to Mauritius in volume two, and Mexico to Zimbabwe in volume three.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4538 .A1 .D5

    Volume one lists Harley-Davidson among the U.S. companies doing business in foreign countries, on page 164, in England, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan.

  • Mergent industrial manual.
    This two-volume work covers all companies listed on the New York and American stock exchanges, with extensive information about companies, including history, chronology, acquisitions, mergers, spinoffs, properties, joint ventures, subsidiaries, officers and directors, consolidated income and balance sheets for three and two years, respectively, long term debit, options, etc.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4961 .M67 2001.

    For Harley-Davidson, see volume one, pages 3604 to 3605; among the company's properties is one in Brazil. There is also a company subsidiary located there.

  • Mergent industry review.
    Statistical data on 3,000 companies in 137 industries, with ranking, key financial information, operating data and ratios.
    Foster Business Library Reference, CALL NUMBER: HG4961 .M68

    See Harley-Davidson in the 052, Automobiles & Trucks.

Foster Business Library Books:

Foster Business Library Corporate Annual Reports:

Foster Business Library Articles:

    In addition to the 800 journals in the Foster Business Library Periodicals Collection, the Foster Business Library offers access to 11,000 full text periodical articles through its full text article databases such as: ABI/Inform Global, Factiva, and Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. These article databases may be found on the Foster Business Library homepage, listed alphabetically under Business Databases or in the Articles: Full Text folder.

    Of these three main sources, all but Factiva are available from any computer on the campus network (as well as from home) via the UW Connectivity Kit or via the Libraries' proxy server. The easiest of these databases to use is ABI/Inform Global. For more information about accessing Foster Business Library databases from off campus, click here. For more information about business databases, click here.

  • ABI/Inform Global:

    This database offers full text articles for over 800 journals. To find articles on specific topics, search by word or phrase by keying your search phrase into the search box. ABI/Inform Global includes journals but not national or Washington state newspapers (though the Wall Street Journal is included). It also does not include valuable trade and industry and other periodicals. Your searches will span the widest possible array of publications by expanding your search to all databases in ABI/Inform. To expand your search to include all collections in this database, click on Select Multiple Databases, to the right of the search box. Click then on Select All Databases.

    Your search terms will be highlighted in red in each article. For tips on searching this database, click here.

    For example, a search in this database, in all collections, for CO(Harley-Davidson Motor Co), for articles published since 1999, produced a list of 128 articles. Repeating this search in Backfile, for articles published from 1986 to 1998, produced a list of 673 articles. Limiting the post-1999 search just to peer-reviewed articles cut this total to four articles.

    A similar search in all collections for CO(Harley-Davidson Motor Co) and strategy, in citations and abstracts, produced a list of just three articles, published since 1999. Repeating this search in Backfile, for articles published from 1986 to 1998, produced a list of 29 articles. A similar search for CO(Harley-Davidson Motor Co) and Brazil retrieved no articles, searching throughout the full text of all articles published since 1999; repeating this search in Backfile produced just one article.

Help:
21 October 2002; updated 21 October 2004.   Peter Stevens, Business Librarian, Foster Business Library, at stevens@u.washington.edu.