This document provides guidance for a consulting project assignment on a top U.S. retailer. It outlines the 5 steps of the project, including researching the selected retailer, conducting a SWOT analysis, analyzing omni-channel strategies, choosing a key competitor, and making recommendations. The document then describes library resources for conducting the required research, emphasizing databases for company information, SWOT analysis, and relevant articles. It demonstrates how to search specific databases like Mergent Online, Business Insights, and ProQuest Central Business to find financial data, history, and articles about the selected retailer and its competitors.

1. FAS 335:
Consultation Project
Library Resources

2. Your Fashion Liaison
Hi, I am Kelly Bennett, your Fashion Liaison
Librarian.
You can contact me for assistance with your
research assignment, my contact information
is below.
kelly-bennett@berkeleycollege.edu
732-750-1800 Ext. 2201

3. Your Assignment
• You will “act in a consulting capacity”
for a top 100 U.S. based retailer. You
select one of the top 100 U.S. based
retailers and analyze in depth the
overall strategy of this retailer. You
will make recommendations for how
the retailer can improve, grow, and
become more competitive in the
industry.

4. 5 steps
1. Research
2. Conduct a SWOT analysis
3. Analyze the effectiveness of the retailers’
application of omni-channel strategies
to achieve a customer-centric experience
4. Choose a Key Competitor and Predict
their future
5. Recommendations for making retail
bigger and better
This presentation will cover how to conduct research, SWOT analysis &
locating key competitors.

5. Don’t forget…
You’ll need a minimum of five articles. The
articles may come from the following
resources: refereed journals, Business Week,
Fortune, Forbes, Stores, and Wall Street
Journal.
You will need to cite your sources using
MLA format.

6. Where to start?
• Use the databases
– Reliable, credible information that does not need
to be evaluated
– Available at no cost through the library website
• Don’t Wikipedia
• You must evaluate every website you intend
to utilize – for more information on
evaluating website visit:
– http://berkeleycollege.libguides.com/evaluating

7. Need help? Click here to launch a
live chat with a Librarian !
Mon-Thurs: 8:30am – 11:30pm
Fri: 9am – 9pm
Sat: 9am - 2pm & 7 -11pm
Sun: 7:00pm – 11:00pm
To access the Library’s Databases log into your BlackBoard Account &
select the Library Tab at the top of the page.
Then click on Research/Explore and select the Database link.

8. The Databases are organized by subject. Since we know we are looking
for the Mergent Online Database select the “A-Z List”.

9. Scroll through the list & click on the Mergent Online link

10. This is the Mergent Online homepage. Enter your Company Name to
begin your research.

11. One this page you will see a summary of your company , scroll down for
additional information.

12. Key Financial
Data
Stock
Performance
Recent
News

13. Explore each Sub- heading and Tab at the top of the page for additional
information about your company.
Let’s explore the History of
Ralph Lauren

14. Key historical information is displayed here and you can navigate by year
for more detailed information or sort by topics
Select a topic from the drop down list to learn about a particular aspect
of your company’s history.

15. Click on the Competitors Tab to find information for
Step 3: Choose a Key Competitor

16. Competitors
If you choose one of the competitors listed you can access their company
profile by double clicking on the company name.

17. Now we are going to switch gears and find Ralph Lauren’s 10K report.
This report will be located on the company’s website.

18. Company’s 10K Report
• Publicly traded companies are required to
file a 10K report annually with the SEC
(Securities & Exchange Commission)
• Published on the company’s website

19. Go to your company’s website and look for the “About Us” or
“Investor Relations” link.

20. Often these links will be located at the very bottom of a company’s
homepage.

21. Company Profile
Mission Statement
You may have to search around the company’s site to find the 10K report
– look for Investor Relations, Financial Report or Government Filing links.
Your company’s website
is also a good source of
information required for
this project

22. Double click on the company’s most recent 10K report to open and
explore the document.

23. You can search for
keywords by using the
“Control + F key”
command or on a Mac
the “Mac +F key”
command.
Search for sales and
profit growth, marketing
strategies, financial data,
etc..

24. SWOT Analysis – We have a guide
for that!
SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities & Threats
http://berkeleycollege.libguides.com/SWOT

25. This LibGuide details what a SWOT is and where to locate information on
your Company’s Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats.

26. On the ‘Strengths” Tab you can see several databases to search for
information & videos below on how to navigate them.
Let’s explore the
Business Insights
Database

27. This is the Business Insights: Global Database homepage, you can also
access this database from the library’s list of databases. Enter your
company name to start researching.

28. Click on the your Company’s Profile.

29. This database contains similar information to Mergent: company history,
financial data, etc.. and also contains sample SWOT analysis.
Let’s switch gears to the ProQuest Central Business database.

30. This database contains articles from Forbes, Business Week, the Wall
Street Journal and other refutable journals.

31. The Databases are organized by subject, simply click the Business link to
access the database.

32. This is the homepage – select the Advanced Search Option to search
more efficiently for articles.

33. We’ll search for an article that contains the terms Coach, Inc.,
brand and strength
Click “Full Text” to only
find complete articles,
not citations.
Choose a date range to
find only the most
recent articles.

34. We found 248 articles using our search for full text articles from the last
3 years which contain the terms Coach Inc., brand and strength.
Notice each result lists the title, author,
publication title, page numbers, and
publication date. It shows where search
terms are used in the article, and shows
that the article will be in full text.
Click the title to go to the full article.

35. Here is the full text article.
Use tools to print, email it
to yourself, download or
cite the article. Click on
the cite option to access
the citation.

36. • Kelly Bennett
–kelly-bennett@berkeleycollege.edu
–732-750-1800 Ext. 2201
• Online chat from Library Homepage &
LibGuides
Remember Librarians are
here to help!