Internal Analysis of Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble is the world's largest bookseller and describes itself as

the only bookseller with a fully operational multi-channel strategy -- with retail locations from coast-to-coast and an online subsidiary, Barnes&Noble.com. In addition to innovations in retailing, Barnes & Noble has also expanded its approach to bookselling and the products it offers through its self-publishing program (1, 1).

The purpose of this report is to present an internal analysis of this publicly held company, identifying the factors that have contributed to the development of competitive advantage and long-term company success. Exploration of core competencies and the company's value chain, as well as its resources (via the VIRO framework), and questions of alignment will be included in this study.

Barnes & Noble has three primary business units. According to the company, its retail stores include not only flagship Barnes & Noble businesses but also B. Dalton Bookseller, Doubleday, Bookstop, and Bookstar stores that are regional mall-based entities focusing on the mainstream consumer book market (Barnes & Noble, 1, 1). The company's online channel, Barnes&noble.com, "offers the largest in-stock selection of in-print book titles with access to approximately titles for immediate delivery, supplemented by more than 30 million listings from its nationwide network of out-of-profit, used book dealers (Barnes & Noble, 1, 1).

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f cost effective book distribution and retailing to capitalize upon the emerging opportunities presented by the Internet. Its successful business model has co-evolved with new media, even as the company committed to building more superstores to expand its bricks-and-mortar presence throughout America. According to Schrage (1Q16), as the 1990s ended, Riggio claimed that his company was better positioned than any publisher, bookseller, distributor, or entrepreneur to link its sales networks to digital networks due in part to its market capitalization advantages and its expertise in direct marketing. One of the principal assets of the firm is that it is extremely adept at book distribution, something achieved through proactive relationships with over 20,000 publishers. This certainly ads value to the firm's core competencies and to its entire operation; lower costs for inventory acquisition are a very significant source of value for any firm dependent upon ready access to diverse inventory on an ongoing basis. Over time, as Barnes & Noble has expanded into cyberspace, it has nevertheless continued to focus its strategy on bookselling while carefully adding extensions that appeal to its core customers, e.g., DVDs, music, news

Category: Business - I