...Amazon vs. Barnes and Nobles vs. Borders Allison Foster Instructor Steven Brown BUS 508 – Business Enterprise April 30, 2011 Week Four Originally named “Cadavera”, Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994. The purpose of this company was to provide the largest online bookstore ranging from compact discs, books to electronics and apparel. Amazon made it’s own individual mark in 1994 when the owner created a business plan that had no predicted profit for the first four years. According to (wikipedia.com), by the year 2001 Amazon turned a five million dollar profit. The Pros and Cons of the Amazon Business Today Amazon has grown more than just the worlds largest bookstore. Amazon created many different entities such as; Amazon Marketplace, Amazon Fresh Market, Amazon MP3, Amazon Payments, Amazon Prime, Amazon Kindle, and Amapedi. Amazon.com is also eco friendly by promoting the Go Green campaign. This company partners with American Red Cross and raise funds for national and environmental disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, Hati Earthquakes, and 9/11. Although Amazon.com has grown to be successful, the company still endures advantages and disadvantages of diversification of business and specialization. Advantages of Amazon.com are the business to consumer relationships, vast amount of diverse product selections, low cost of merchandise, convenience, personalization, and free delivery . Over the years, Amazon has dominated the e-business and internet...
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...Envisioned by its company founder and CEO Jeff Bezos since 1994 as "Earth's most customer-centric company" Amazon.com today, with more than 17 million customers and over a billion and a half dollars in annual sales, stands as the world’s largest E-commerce E-tailer. Named after the Amazon River, one of the largest and most exotic rivers in the world, Amazon.com started as an online bookstore but quickly diversified its selling efforts to DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads, computer software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, and toys with the aim, as implied by its logo “A to Z with a smile,” to attain customer satisfaction and carry every product from A to Z. Although it was a slow starter, not showing a profit for the first five years, and enduring the dot-com burst, Amazon.com persevered and now profitable it is recognized as having popularized online shopping (Schneider, 2011). Without any experience in the business of selling books, Jeff Bezos realized that the books had a great potential shipping profile for online sales. Always believing in the economic network effects, he decided to setup his company in Seattle, WA, very close to the largest book distribution warehouse and talented computer programmers in the U.S. According to a quote that Bezos said in an article publicized in U.S. News, “While we're crossing the desert, may we be thirsty, but we sincerely believe there’s an oasis on the other side" (Jeff Bezos, 2008, "Living on the Edge, "para. 6), Bezos always...
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...Borders was begun by two brothers who where University of Michigan students. Their concept was ahead of it’s time “mega” was not a buzz word when the original store opened in Ann Arbor. The brothers had a great idea for its customers to come to a different kind of bookstore that would offer any and every book imaginable. Borders Books (aka Borders Group) was opened in 1971 by the Border brothers, Tom and Louis, two University of Michigan students. The first location was in Ann Arbor, a book store that would have the best selection of books around. That was a good start but they also came up with the masterful “BIS” (Book Inventory System), this was later sold to other vendors to help them with their inventory processes. Let’s not forget their “superstore”concept and their use of the “location, location, location” tactic as well. Amazon.com is the brainchild of Jeff Bezos and came to be more than a decade later in 1994. One sharp comparison, Amazon was never a brick and mortar location. It has always existed online exclusively. Borders had the cozy reading nooks, overstuffed chairs, coffee… all the things to make you want to stay and read awhile. Somewhere along the line the two took very different paths, one ending in demise and the other ending in megamillions in profits. Borders seems to have taken a change management approach instead of the change of leadership approach. Borders “fought to the end” but to no avail. (Edwards,...
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...customers because they can order products wherever they are, and they don't have to deal with things like traffic, parking spaces and useless trips when items are out of stock. Consumers can also compare information about different or competing companies more easily because information, Companies can also stay in touch with their customers and suppliers by creating web pages and setting up internet addresses to receive e-mail from customers worldwide. Amazon is an American multinational which was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 and based In Seattle, its Main activity is online trades as books, DVDs, CDs, MP3 downloads, computer Software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food, and toys. The company has sites For many countries (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and China) and is planning to open new sites for other countries. Amazon began to grow fast since 1998, at this period it wasn’t no more a small online book seller, nevertheless, Amazon faced big losses to grow up fast and was exposed to threats from other competitive companies . The first year the company made profit was 2004, before that stock-holders complained because they were not making any profit but after many...
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...Describe the history and core business of each company. Amazon was founded in 1994 by a man whose name is Jeff Bezos. Mr. Bezos originally started Amazon in his garage. He believed that only the internet had the ability to grant consumers the convenience of being able to browse a myriad selection of book titles in the shortest amount of time. In 1995 he started the website Amazon.com which was primarily an online book store at the time. “During the first 30 days of business, Amazon .com fulfilled orders for customers in 50 states and 45 countries- all shipped from his Seattle-area garage” (Overview, n.d.). In Two years later in 1997 Amazon went on to become public being listed on NASDAQ under the trade symbol of AMZN. Since then Amazon has expanded its consumer base by adding multiple products, features, and upgrades. The company now employs over 43,200 employees worldwide and is considered a world-class e-commerce platform. Borders bookstore was founded in 1971 by two brothers by the name of Tom and Louis Borders while they were attending college at the University of Michigan. Borders bookstore was once a leading retailer of books and educational items with stores located throughout the United States, Australia, and Puerto Rico. In 1984 Kmart acquired a company by the name of Waldenbooks and in 1992 Kmart acquired Borders only to merge the two in hopes of generating greater sales (Borders Book Store, 2011). In 1997 Borders launched its first international store in Singapore that...
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...Identify the potential barriers you will face during the change process. Border’s lack of technology has kept the company from taking flight during an era that technology rules. Borders demise was caused by management errors. There are many potential barriers Borders will be facing. The company will now have to hire new CEO’s and supervisors in different department areas. It’s not an easy task to hire knowledgeable individuals with the drive to revamp a company and impede failure. Another barrier facing borders would be adapting employees to the new management and their strategies. All the employees need to be onboard with the changes that will be occurring, because if not then Borders can face dissention within the staff. Some staff member’s can cause resistant to changes, communication would have to be the key to fixing this resistance. Employees would need to know their roles and responsibilities, and a timeline. A timeline is critical, and if not implemented can be difficult during the transition process. There’s also planning. Without step by step planning, the organization can face even greater barriers, because it needs to understand the changes that need to take effect and how will they occur. These barriers would have to be overcome in order for the progress of Borders. Evaluate the power and political issues within the organization and describe how you will address these issues. With new management the Organization will be weak. Restructuring a company always has...
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...The Success of Amazon Fully discuss the pros and cons of Amazon’s growth and diversification of business and specialization, and recommendations about what Amazon could have done differently Amazon.com was founded in 1994 as online book retailer. Now, the largest retailer of books has also become the largest online retailer with a customer base of over 30 million people. Amazon completes in a vast array of markets including: books, movies, digital readers, computers, electronics, pet needs, groceries, health and beauty aids, toys, clothing, jewelry, shoes, sporting goods, tools, automotive, hardware, building supply, and more. Despite their large product offering, Amazon has maintained its strong brand. Amazon has grown and evolved with the growth of the internet. They market their website to an audience that is typically tech. savvy and educated which typically means that their clientele have the money to spend on their products. One of the biggest pros to Amazon’s diversifications strategy is that they have created a one stop shop that offers almost anything that a person is looking for and have been widely successful. Amazon has made it supper easy for anyone to get started with making money online. The products are easy to find, and the ads are easy to incorporate into any blog or website. And the best part is that they even provide you with step-by step instructions on how to do it. Amazon allows you to open up to 100 Amazon stores which you can link to from your...
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...recommendations about what Amazon could have done differently. Amazon.com started out as a large online book retailer. It has transformed itself from the little bookstore on the corner to the mega-super-duper-full-of-stuff store that squats at the end of a monstrous parking lot! You can search inside books, read customer reviews of books, etc. They have managed to keep their pricing low. Their product list has grown to include music, electronics, toys, home improvement and the list goes on. It seems that their goal of providing products for every aspect of life is working. Over the past year Amazon has seen growth along with struggles. Financially they have seen an increase in their business. Amazon has expanded their business pretty rapidly over the past fifteen years and they are still trying to expand further. Amazon is innovative – it started by losing money on books. However, it quickly expanded into other products. Surprisingly, now it even makes money on books though it sells them at a deep discount. As previously stated Amazon began by allowing customers to write comments on the products it sells. There was great resistance from the sellers but the customers loved it. Now the practice has become an industry standard. http://seekingalpha.com/article/78257-the-case-for-amazon-com. It has becomes apparent that the company is so good at reinventing itself because it's gotten into a mode of continually doing so. I think the folks at Amazon come to work each day and think...
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...core business of each company. Amazon is considered one of the biggest retail internet companies of today.It is a plain and simple site that attracts an online community. Amazon opened for business July 16, 1995 by a young man named Jeff Bezos. It started out as nothing more than a few people packing and shipping boxes of books from a two car garage in Bellevue, Washington. The books were ordered on line then packaged and mailed away. Today, Amazon is one of the largest retail online companies in the world. Amazon started out as a only having books on sale to being able to purchase items ranging from music CD’s, to clothing. The best thing about Amazon would be the price of the products/ items. Many of the items are sold cheaper on Amazon than in a local retail store. Amazon has grown to be the easiest way of shopping online. Amazon’s core business is definitely good as well as keeping their promises. It has grown from books to products in over 30 categories but the business model are intact. Amazon’s goal is to attract customers with a competitive, cheap retail service that would be hard for any other retail store can compete. Amazon also offers many discount prices, is easy to navigate through for shopping, and has a quick, easy way to checking out. Due to the great shipping charges, great turnaround for shipping merchandise to the customers, and great prices, Amazon has and will continue to be the biggest online retail company. Amazon is one way for customers to purchase...
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...reaching beyond what they already know. According to Cornell University’s HR Spectrum, Amazon’s mission statement states: “Our HR mission has been quite simple: to find, grow, and keep the Earth’s best talents. Rather than be bound by a set of organizational competencies--which might help an organization duplicate its current successes but can ultimately be self-limiting--at Amazon, we stay focused on customer need and develop the new competencies that we think are needed to adapt to changing needs, that has helped us stay innovative, reaching beyond what we already know” (Cornell University, 2012). Amazon.com’s CEO, Jeff Bezo wanted his employees to be invested in the company, that means being 100% committed to the company and wanting success for everyone, not just themselves. The President of Human Resources, Tony Galbato, along with Bezo has a lot of faith in the company and its employees stating, “We have lots of smart people with lots of positive energy, driven by the need to build and continually improve the customer experience” (Cornell University, 2012). That seems to be the trend with Amazon; taking care of its customers and offering the best possible quality without the additional cost. To promote innovation within the company, Bezo relies on a group of skilled HR professionals to find the right individuals for the job. They focus on finding those who will take pride in their job and will want to continue to improve themselves as well as the company. Galbato...
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...Amazon.com’s E-Business Model Donna Lowther Dr. Kitoko Contemporary Business July 30, 2011 1. Discuss whether or not Amazon has lost its identity by expanding into markets well beyond books. According to Sandoval (2001) Amazon is losing its original identity because it is losing ground in the book selling department, for which it was created and because Amazon may have diverted its attention from books or, worse, spread the company too thin to compete effectively in any single area, by expanding into other areas. Though I do no ever remember a time when Amazon was just strictly books I would have to agree with Sandoval, since Amazon now sells items such as video games DVDs, toys, electronics, software, and home-improvement products as stated by Quittner (1999). Quittner (1999) also states that Bezos has further expansion plans such as: “washing machines, cars, rubber gaskets, Prozac, exercise machines, marmalade, model airplanes, everything but firearms and certain live animals.” Looking at this shows that Amazon has definitely lost its identity as strictly a bookseller. I think Amazon’s identity is becoming close to that of e-bay, in so far as the fact that Hof (1999) states that Amazon now has daily auctions. In their annual report for 2010 Amazon (2010) states “this expansion increases the complexity of our business and places significant strain on our management, personnel, operations, systems, technical performance, financial resources, and internal financial...
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...Management, and Marketing: Amazon.com vs. Borders Books BUS 302: Management Concepts April 29, 2012 Jeff Bezos, former vice-president of D.E. Shaw, founded Amazon.com in 1994. After reading an article that forecast an annual Web growth of 2,300 percent, Jeff Bezos decided to make Amazon.com’s headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Seattle, Washington was a hot spot for the rapidly growing high tech work force. Bezos had a hard time finding initial investors, because he did not project a profit for the first five to six years of the company’s formation. Bezos startup funds came from family and friends, he ultimately raised one million dollars for his initial capital. Amazon.com started its operations in Bezos garage selling books, but quickly grew to the Amazon.com we know today. Amazon.com sells DVDs, CDs, furniture, jewelry, electronics, software, video games, toys and even food. Amazon.com sells its products all around the world and can reach any consumer that has an interest connection. Borders, or Borders Group, Inc., started out as a single used bookstore in Ann Harbor, Michigan. Borders was founded by Louis and Tom Borders in 1971. In 1975, Louis and Tom bought out stock of Wahr’s an eighty year old bookstore that was closing its doors and moved their store to a much larger location. Borders was bought out by Kmart in 1992. Kmart tried to expand Borders into Canada, but failed because regulations could not be met. Borders did manage to expand internationally...
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...“Assignment #2: Amazon.com’s E-Business Model” Your name here BUS 508 Contemporary Business Professor name here Date here Amazon’s E-Business Model Amazon has broken ground on a new way of doing business. They have become the leader in their industry online and continue to lead the way in innovation and technology. To understand a bit more about the workings of this company and to discuss some key facts about why Amazon is where they are today, this paper will emphasize four key topics: Growth and Diversification; To Split or Not to Split; Can Barnes & Noble or Borders Keep Up; and Online Only. After review of the topics, one will be able to clearly see why Amazon is a company to model. Growth and Diversification (Discuss the pros and cons of Amazon’s growth and diversification of business and specialization, and make recommendations about what Amazon could have done differently.) When asked to discuss the pros and cons of Amazon’s growth and diversification of business and specialization, one finds it difficult to criticize Amazon for anything they have done so far. Amazon is leading the way in terms of growth and diversification. Amazon has a solid business plan and mission statement in place which they strive to adhere to at all times and at all costs. Jeffrey Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, is straight-forward in his approach to the shareholders as well as his customers, employees and business partners. Mr. Bezos initially began his company in 1994 with...
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...Amazon.Com E-Business Model Introduction “E-business or Electronic business involves the extensive use of computers, communication technology, networking technology and computerized data to perform business processes. E-business can assist a company in improving their business processes through improved customer service, increased sales, product and company promotion, and modern branding. Question -1 Discuss the pros and cons of Amazon’s growth and diversification of business and specialization, and make recommendations about what Amazon could have done differently Pros Using Amazon.Com to market products guarantees worldwide reach at a nominal price. Advertising techniques like pay per click advertising ensure that the advertiser only pays for the advertisements that are actually viewed. Affiliate marketing, where customers are directed to a business portal because of the effort of the affiliate who in turn receive a compensation for their efforts meeting with success, has emerged on account of e-business. Affiliate marketing has helped both the business and the affiliates. Amazon.Com engaging in e-business has managed to use cost effective online advertising strategies to their advantage. (Simonyi Business and Joint Ventures, 2011) List below are some Cost Effective Marketing and Promotions: • Confirmation email Except when they're part of a co-branded sale, Amazon's use of confirmation emails keeps users in the loop and increases their trust in the overall...
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...Amazon vs Barnes & Noble The Battle of the Bookstores and the Future of Electronic Commerce Amazon -Amazon.com opened to the public on the World Wide Web in July 1995 -Offers a variety of items from books, electronics, computers, music, movies, apparel, toys, computers, etc… -Amazon. has six global websites: Amazon.com, Amacon.co.uk, amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon.co.jp and amazon.ca -Amazon was incorporated in 1994 in the state of Washington and reincorporated in 1996 in the state of Delaware -Has been available to the public on the stock market since May of 1997 -Amazon.com works with companies such as Nordstrom’s, Gap, Eddie Bauer, Urban Outfitters, Osh Kosh, Footlocker Barnes & Noble 1873: From his home is Wheaton, Illinois Charles M. Barnes starts a small book business 1917: William Barnes, Charles’s son travels to New York to negotiate with G. Clifford Noble and from a partnership, then opening the first Barnes and Noble 1987: Barnes and Noble acquires B. Dalton 1991: Barnes and Noble pioneers the super store concept that has huge location, wide selections of titles, experienced bookstore staff, warm atmosphere and cafes in stores 1993: Barnes and Noble goes public on the stock exchange on September28, 1993 In May 1997 Barnes and Noble opens it public site on the world wide web barnesandnoble.com 1999: barnesandnoble.com goes public on the stock exchange and raised $468 million and unprecedented amount for an internet company Business Models ...
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