Barnes & Noble

July 20, 2005

Dr. Lavelle Mills

MGMT 3330

Barnes & Noble

The publicly traded company I have chosen for my web project is Barnes & Noble. It is a Fortune 500 Company and is the world's largest retailer of books. It operates 821 stores in 50 different states and serves over 200 countries worldwide (For Investors).

The Original Barnes & Noble

Charles M. Barnes started it in 1873 when he opened a bookstore, which he ran out of his home in Wheaton, Illinois. In 1917, his son, William, went to New York where he partnered with G. Clifford Noble to create Barnes & Noble. The flagship store was opened in New York City during the height of the Great Depression and it remains there today. This flagship store helped Barnes & Noble to establish a worldwide reputation for excellence. It served millions of customers with its comprehensive selection of books ranging from general trade books to textbooks, including academic and medical books (Barnes & Noble History).

Acquisition & Expansion by Leonard Riggio

In 1970, Leonard Riggio acquired the rights to Barnes & Noble's trade name and flagship bookstore in New York City. It continued to expand with each passing era through the 1970's and 1980's. Through these years Barnes & Noble experimented with different store formats and sizes seeking to develop a book "Superstore." In 1987, the company made its largest acquisition when it purchased B. Dalton Bookseller, which consisted of 797 retail bookstores. This acquisition thrust Barnes & Noble onto the national scene, making it the second-largest bookseller in America (Barnes & Noble History).

The Book Superstore

In the early 1990's Barnes & Noble was a pioneer in the concept of the book "Superstore," Barnes & Noble superstores represent 96 percent of today's retail sales in books. The book superstore sought to combine a vast inventory of books, music, DVD and magazines in a comfortable and spacious atmosphere. In 1993 Barnes & Noble became a publicly traded company (Barnes & Noble History).

Internet Retailing

By the mid 90's Barnes & Noble executives launched a website, www.barnesandnoble.com, which fast became its biggest "store," enabling customer to purchase items from anywhere around the world at any time they chose (Barnes & Noble History).

Main Businesses

Barnes & Noble has three main businesses retail stores, internet and publishing. There retail stores average around 25,000 square feet and carry up to 200,000 titles and wide selections of music, DVD/video titles and magazines. Their internet site Barnes & Noble.com has the largest in-stock selection of in-print books with access to approximately one million titles. It also offers customers the chance to find rare and out-of-print books by providing a link to rare and used book dealers. Barnes & Noble.com offers its customers easy and secure ordering and fast delivery. Barnes & Noble's newest business is its publishing program, which offers books not found elsewhere, for prices not matched anywhere (Our Main Businesses).

Environmental Forces; Organizational Cultures

"No organization can exist in a vacuum." This statement is in reference to the fact that no organization can exist without interference from the outside world and the external environment. This outside interference influences an organization on how it operates and how and what it produces. Key dimensions of the general environment that have the ability to bear on an organization include international, technological, administrative/legal, sociocultural, and economic.

International Dimension

The international dimension of the external environment plays a major role in Barnes & Noble's success on a global level. The opportunity to compete on an international level is something every company has and must take advantage of in order to be a successful business. Barnes & Noble has taken advantage of this as they compete on a global basis in 200 different countries (For Investors).

Technological Dimension

The technological dimension also plays a major role in Barnes & Noble's success. It is through technological advances, such as the internet, that has allowed Barnes & Noble to compete on a global level. Also, without the advances that have been made over the years regarding the area of computers and sales software Barnes & Noble would not be as efficient in their sales department.

Administrative/Legal Dimension

This area includes government regulations at the local, state, and federal levels. While the U.S. encourages capitalism, the government does set certain rules and regulations regarding businesses. The federal government influences organizations through regulations such as import and export restrictions. This would have a major influence on Barnes & Noble considering that they do business in over 200 countries around the world (For Investors). Barnes & Noble must accept these and put them into practice in order to be a part of the U.S. business environment.

Sociocultural Dimension

This dimension represents the social and cultural forces that have a profound impact on the way organizations do business in a particular area or region. In order for Barnes & Noble to be successful all across America, they must take into consideration the different lifestyles and values that different regions of the country have. For example, people in the Southwest have different culture and social beliefs than say those of people living in the East. Barnes & Noble would have to take into consideration what books might sell better in these particular destinations. People in Texas are going to be more inclined to purchasing books about Texas and the Southwest than people in New York.

Economic Dimension

The economic environment has a direct impact on the type of business being conducted in a country or region. Because organizations are operating on a global level, the economic dimension has become more and more complex. The economies of a country are going to have a profound impact on the amount of business a company can do