Barnes Noble - Essay Example

Introduction

Barnes & Noble was established in 1917 in New York City as a book retailing store. Five years later, the company established superstores, selling wholesale and retail materials to businesses in the United States (Gregory, 2018). The company owns several other companies like B. Dalton bookstores and Sterling Publishers. Additionally, Barnes and Noble operate 800 stores, with some stores operating food services and Starbucks coffee products (Stonig, 2020). Most of their stores sell magazines, children's books, mass-market gifts, music, and movies (Gregory, 2018). Besides, the company has a webpage where they sell a variety of books and music albums.

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Problem Statement and Scope

Over the number of years, Barnes & Noble has reported a significant reduction in profits due to competition. However, the company has survived despite the challenges making it an exciting company to research (Stonig, 2020). The project's scope will majorly focus on addressing significant competitors such as Amazon, Borders, and Books-a million-stores that have negatively affected the sales in Barnes &Noble (Gregory, 2018). The focus will be on online platforms such as e-reading and e-books that have significantly affected the sales of hard copy books and how this has affected the company.

Data collection will focus on annual reports and other relevant information from the company's website. The website contains adequate information on current capital, assets, and liabilities present in the companies and how they have changed over the years. Reports and other relevant information within the company's premises will be useful in the data collection process (Stonig, 2020). However, authorization is required before accessing such information. Apart from the information available on the website, with authorization, accessibility to even more relevant information is possible, and this will provide accurate results for the study. COVID-19 is expected to affect data collection within its premises (Stonig, 2020). The data collection will be based on sales within the premises and sales on its online platforms. The risk of data trustworthiness was posed with the qualitative data dfrom the online surveys and questionannires with restricted member checking.

Additionally, a comparative study with one of the competitors will be essential in acquiring results that can suitably address the differences in sales between Barnes & Noble and its competitors. Questionnaires and other survey materials are known to be efficient in data collection. In the research, questionnaires can be used to identify factors and other reasons that predispose the company to stiff competition and possibly provide solutions to such challenges. With open-ended questions, it is easy to gather opinions and suggests remedies towards organizational change. However, this method can be affected due to COVID 19; these calls for online surveys that are ineffective due to small sample sizes as few participants take part in the study.

Demonstrating Outcomes

The management has a critical role, especially in the management of the competition. Therefore, this topic will allow the showcasing of leadership abilities from many perspectives. Business systems such as payroll, personnel, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and inventory system are available in the organization are directly influenced by the management and can be adjusted to combat the competition (Gregory, 2018). In times of stiff competition, the leadership might adopt some or all business systems, which will help the organization combat negative influence from the market environment. More so, the leadership's role in ensuring the integrations of information across all disciplines is fundamental in demonstrating measures against the competition. The management is responsible for analyzing and providing evidence-based solutions to competition (Stonig, 2020). Innovation and strategic planning towards a business's sustainability are paramount for any business's survival. Strong leadership has the capabilities of initiating rapid technological adjustments that are in line with the constant evolutions taking place in the market structure. With relevant technology, it is easier for the business to remain functional, positively reducing competition.

The leadership abilities can also be based on how effective they lead and collaborate in global, virtual, and culturally diverse market environments and how they affect the business (Stonig, 2020). Lastly, ethical considerations in decision-making indicate how effective leadership is about combating unhealthy competition. In that case, devising an effective business system, engaging in practical and evidence-based processes, and technological inputs effectively ensure that Barnes & Noble remains effective in the market (Gregory, 2018). Additionally, the company should focus on innovations as the market structure has dramatically shifted towards e-commerce. With a well-developed online infrastructure, the businesses will gain a competitive advantage. This will help the company boost its sales and profit levels and surpass its competitors in service and product delivery.

Conclusion

From the discussion above, there are several mitigations to the problems Barnes and Noble faces. Nonetheless, they need to focus on changing their system and mode of service delivery. Since most businesses have shifted towards online platforms, Barnes & Noble should enhance its online dominance to diversify the market and the diversity of the products. More so, modifying the products into softcopies and other e-books will improve product differentiation and attract more sales globally.

References

Gregory, W. (2018). Barnes & Noble: Business Analysis.

Stonig, J. (2020). Barnes & Noble: Turning the Page to Compete in a Digital Book Market.