Essay on Case Study Barnes and Noble

In contrast to Borders Group, Barnes & Noble which is a leading bookstore in the US recorded an 11% increase in their share value in the past year with the introduction of their e-book reader “Nook”. It is clear that Barnes & Noble were not “Myopic” in their approach and were able to retain and even grow their customers as well as profits by embracing a new product.

1) Should Wal-Mart be expected to protect small businesses in the communities within which it operates?

The bookstore chain has been decreasing in profit in the US over the past 20 years. Most of the books retailers are shutting down their operations and only a few are still operating in the country. Barnes and Noble has become the largest bookseller in the book retailers industry. The firm has integrated its business philosophy into web presence though eBook marketplace. This business strategy assisted the firm to be able to reach a large scale customers and remain as a strongest competitor in the book retailing market.

Strategic planning is a critical element of an organization’s annual business plan. A strategic plan consists of a number of components. In addition to analyzing a company’s strengths and weaknesses, a strategic plan also includes implementation and control techniques. While this may seem easy enough, implementing a strategic plan into an organization can be challenging. Barnes and Noble, like a number of corporations are seeking ways to improve productivity and profitability. This essay will identify business alternatives for the bookseller which will enable them to diversify their product offerings.

Barnes and Nobles is one of the biggest bookstores that has a brick-and-mortal store concept. In the past they were know as a “big bully” that drove small book stores to close down because of their aggressive tactics to have competetetive advantage over them. Nonetheless, with the evolving circle of technology they have had a hard time in keeping up with the E-book era. In 2014 E-books increased its reader subscription by 28% compared to 23% in 2013. This number will continue increasing because 50% off American’s have access to devices that are either an e-reader or a tablet. B&N changed its business model to adjust to this new setting before it suffered a

Yes, I do believe Wal-Mart is doing enough to become more sustainable. Wal-Mart is one of the most powerful companies internationally. As with all things that come with power, Wal-Mart’s business practices are scrutinized thoroughly. This includes their relationships with suppliers, employees, consumers, and the environment. In recent years, the environment has become such a big issue that Wal-Mart, as well as other companies have had to respond to this growing concern.

GameStop’s value chain model allows for the strategic decisions makers to see the areas in the company where they can apply competitive strategies that will allow for the information systems to have an impact across the organisation. GameStop’s model has given them the ability to see where information technology can be utilised, we see this with GameStop looking to utilise the Apple ecosystem. GameStop’s value chain model has allowed them to add value to their producst and to identify to products as the value chain model breaks down the organisation into smaller basic activities. GameStop’s model breaks down these activities into either support or primary activities. The primary activities would be the products and the distribution of these products and the customer service they offer.

Wal-Mart is a world-wide active American retail trade company and currently the largest retail company in the world. Beginning in 1962, Wal-Mart has made the transition from a small firm in Arkansas to the largest employer with 3, 800 store units in the United States with record revenues today. But nevertheless, since Wal-Mart launched its online branch, it had to suffer from substantial setbacks from competitors such as Amazon.com or Ebay.

The Industrial Revolution reshaped the world and expedited how business was conducted through the use of railroads and steam engines. Department stores soon evolved after and revolutionized how shopping was done and centralized a variety of merchandise at one central location (Tayan, 2003). With the introduction of 20th century operational management strategies such as Just in Time (JIT) and Lean Manufacturing, companies had to alter its operational efficiency and the way it conducted its business in order to grow and stay competitive. Costco Wholesale Corporation entered the wholesale club industry in the early 1980s (Tayan, 2003). The idea behind a wholesale club was to maximize profits by minimizing operational costs

Barnes & Noble, Inc. operates as a content, commerce, and technology company in the United States. It provides access to books, magazines, newspapers, and other content through its multi-channel distribution platform. The company sells its products directly to customers through its bookstores and on barnesandnoble.com. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com, one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, which also features more than 3 million titles in its eBookstore.  Through Barnes & Noble’s NOOK eReading product offering, customers can buy and read eBooks on the widest range of platforms, including NOOK eBook

A1: Dollar General's main business strategy is to focus on being the leading distributors of consumable basics, with 30% of the merchandise at $1.00 or less. Dollar General believes in maintaining an assortment of consumable merchandise and making shopping for everyday items hassle free and simplistic.

In 1966, Richard Shulze opened a small business in St. Paul, Minnesota called Sound of Music. In the next 17 years Shulze's small store rapidly grew into a multi-million dollar outfit. In 1983, Sound of Music changed its name to Best Buy Co., Inc and the first superstore was opened in Burnsville, Minnesota. With the new name the store also began carrying more name brands, appliances, VCRs and offering central service and warehouse distribution. Throughout the nineties Best Buy became pioneers in offering the newest technology such as DVDs and high definition TVs. In 1999, Best Buy and Microsoft combined to cross promote each other and also offered a two for one stock split. Now in 2005, almost 40 years after the first store

(1) What marketing orientation or approach does Office Depot appear to be using now? How does Office Depot create value for its customers? Describe two things it could do it move it more toward implementing the marketing concept.

Heath and Heather’s marketing department has failed to execute any thorough marketing or strategic planning exercises, amidst challenging economic conditions. This has consequently resulted in negligent decisions towards the company’s progress.

Businesses are established with the sole reason to provide a product or service to a customer with the intend to make a profit. The amount of time, effort, and resources spend should generate a profit. Then, the profit depends “on its effectiveness in performing these activities efficiently, so that the amount that the customer is willing to pay of the products exceeds the cost of the activities in the value chain” (NetMBA.com).