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Comparing Two Similar Businesses

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Submitted By Tasha28
Words 1886
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Title: Comparing Two Similar Businesses
Name: Latosha Faust
Course: BUS 302 Management Concepts
Date: 7/25/12
Instructor: J. Angles

Describe the history and core business of each company. Jeff Bezos, vice-president of the Wall Street firm D.E. Shaw, left his job in 1994, moved to Seattle, and began to work on a business plan that would become Amazon.com. After reading a report that projected annual web growth at 2,300 percent, Bezos drew up a list of 20 products that could be sold on the internet. He then narrowed his list to what he felt were the five most promising: compact discs, computer hardware, computer software, videos, and books. Bezos eventually decided his venture would sell books over the web, due to the large worldwide market for literature, the low price that could be offered for books, and the tremendous selection of titles available in print. A businessman by the name of Nick Hanauer believed in Bezos' idea and invested $40,000 in his venture. When Amazon first debuted online in 1995, its layout was not as flashy as it is today. In fact, the site looked very plain and unattractive to most visitors, causing the business to start on shaky ground. A man by the name of Tom Alburg decided to invest $100,000 in Amazon in 1995, which helped the company fund a better-looking website and hosting capabilities. If he wanted people to come back as customers, Bezos new he had to create more than just a bookstore. The option of buyers to write their own book reviews was added, which is a huge credit to Amazon's success. By 1997, Amazon.com had generated $15.7 million in revenue. The company went public that same year and decided to add CDs and movies to the website. Once the company began showing signs of success, people became skeptic and claimed that Amazon was getting too large in too short an amount of time. At the end of 1999, Amazon had raked in over a billion dollars in sales. However, in 2001, Amazon reported a fiscal loss of $1.4 billion, and laid off a total of 1000 employees. Not giving up, Bezos came up with the idea to recruit other companies to sell their products online through Amazon. As a result, companies such as Target, Toys R Us, Old Navy, and many others have agreed to sell their items through Amazon. Although Amazon is not directly responsible for inventory through these companies, they do get part of the sales, creating a profit for all involved. Since the inception of the idea, Amazon is now back on its feet and remains one of the most popular online vendors in the world today (essortment, 2009)
Brothers Tom and Louis Borders opened their first bookstore in Ann Arbor in 1971, while they were students at the University of Michigan, and called it Borders Book Shop. The brothers opened additional stores in Michigan, Atlanta, and Indianapolis, and developed a sophisticated system that enabled them to track bookstore sales and inventory. In addition to using it in their own bookstores, they sold their Book Inventory Systems (BIS) to other booksellers as well. In 1985, they opened their first "superstore," a large-scale bookstore (with a coffee bar) that was to become the prototype of many that came afterward. In 1998, they hired Robert DiRomualdo, a Harvard MBA with retail experience, to help expand the business. Under his leadership, the Borders bookstore chain grew rapidly in the next four years (Peterson, 2012)
In 1992, Kmart purchased Borders and created the Borders-Walden Group. However, book profits proved not to be as robust as anticipated and Kmart was having its own retail troubles so, in 1995, they divested themselves of the chain of bookstores, spinning off the Borders Group with an initial public offering. As it became clear that online book retailing, begun by Amazon.com, was changing the bookselling business, Borders created their own online presence. However, after their initial e-retail resulted in losses for investors, Borders scraped its website. In 2001, due to less-than-expected profits, poor decisions, and poor management, DiRomualdo was replaced as CEO. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, The Borders Group seemed to have trouble finding its footing in the book marketplace. After the first failed attempt to establish an online e-retail infrastructure, it collaborated with amazon.com from 2001 until 2008, to run its online sales business. From 2002 to 2004, funded largely by book publishers, Borders mounted a time-and resource-consuming exercise in category management retail theory, but never fully implemented the resulting intelligence into its store layouts (Peterson, 2012).
On February 16, 2011, the Borders Group filed for chapter 11 in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan and announced it would close 200 stores. Borders announced the closing of 28 additional stores on March 17, two days after a Manhattan bankruptcy judge granted them a 90-day extension on their deadline to renegotiate the leases for more favorable terms. Bankruptcy proceedings continued throughout the spring and summer of 2011, when the Borders Group entered into a preliminary agreement with Direct Brands. However, a committee of creditors rejected the proposal by Direct Brands, citing that, as a direct marketing service, they feared the company would effectively liquidate Borders' bricks-and-mortar store stock, without giving the proper financial remedy to Borders' creditors.
On July 18, 2011, the Borders Group announced that, in the absence of bidders, the company would sell to liquidators Hilco Merchant Resource and Gordon Brothers Group, close the remaining 399 stores, and "separate" the approximately 10,700 Borders employees by September 2011 (Peterson, 2012).
Compare and contrast the management approach each took to internet marketing and sales.
At Amazon, Bezos focused on market share over profits, which made Wall Street uneasy and left analysts speculating whether the company would be able to turn a profit. Bezos found great success in online sales as new technology and e-commerce were embraced. While on the other hand, Borders strategy was to continue growth and increase profitability by focusing primarily on its superstores and continuing to develop mall and kiosk bookstores. Not only did Borders abandon management of its website and online sales, but it also failed to catch on and emphasize the importance of electronic books, which drastically hurt the company's sales and overall presence.
Analyze three (3) reasons for Amazon's success despite not turning a profit for the first five to six (5-6) years.
Bezos goal was to gather a strong market share in the online sales arena. After less than two years of operation, Amazon.com became a public company in May 1997 with an initial public offering (IPO) of three million shares of common stock. With the proceeds from the IPO, Bezos went to work on improving the already productive website and on bettering the company's distribution capabilities (History of Amazon.com, Inc). The announcement of the company's decision to enter into the online music business arena was a big change for the company in 1998. With music in the mix, Amazon.com ended the second quarter of 1998 as strong as ever.
During 2001, the company focused on cutting costs. It laid off 1,300 employees and closed a distribution facility. The company also added price reduction to its business strategy. Amazon.com inked lucrative third-party deals with such well-known retailers as Target Corporation and America Online, Inc. Products from Toysrus.com Inc., Circuit City Stores Inc., the Borders Group, and a host of other retailers were available on the Amazon.com site (History of Amazon.com, Inc).
Discuss three (3) reasons Borders, although initially successful and profitable, ended up in chapter 11.
Management errors during the company's weakest years helped with the demise of Borders. The company management made some risky moves when it changed the Borders Rewards loyalty program and closed the music and video department in each store. The company also continued to hire people who had little interest and knowledge about books and authors, including four CEOs who lacked book-selling experience. Being invested in too many stores was another contributor to the company's demise. Instead of developing its own e-commerce site and jumping on the e-reader bandwagon earlier, like competitors, Borders decided to add superstores and focus on its international business. Although Borders had hundreds of stores worldwide, too many of them were unprofitable. Outsourcing their website to Amazon.com in 2001 was a damaging business move for Borders. Amazon.com was responsible for running Borders website, which kept the bookstore from truly competing in the electronic book market. Outsourcing to Amazon.com also hurt Border's online presence, therefore, causing the bookstore to fall behind its competitors and the times (Writer, 2011).
Discuss the extent to which the management of each company adapted to changing market conditions.
Bezos, over at Amazon, fully embraced the changes in market conditions. As he continuously expanded the business, the focus remained on e-commerce. Whereas, Borders was busy focusing on its international business and not getting involved in e-commerce. While Borders did not change its business strategy during the decline of music and DVD sales, competitors that are more flexible embraced technology, Borders did not and the result was a dramatic decline in profits. With more people shopping online Amazon continued to expand the catalogue of products offered, Borders only sold books.
Recommend three (3) ways a company should build in flexibility to back up its decision-making process so as to adapt to changing market conditions.
The company could adopt an options-based approach. Options-based planning keeps options open by making small, simultaneous investments in many alternative plans (Williams, 2011). Analyzing a problem in broad terms rather than in a systematic progression allows for more flexibility in decision-making. Critical thinking is a systematic, comprehensive, well-reasoned process that leads to more innovative solutions. Flexibility in problem solving involves interpreting information, drawing conclusions and considering the implications. A decision maker must identify the potential weaknesses of his position, routinely assess the direction of the outcome, and take the steps necessary to improve the situation. Responding to change often requires adjusting your approach to meet the unexpected. Keeping an open mind is important when considering the overall situation. Building flexibility in decision-making requires that you be receptive to change. Even the best-laid plans hit unanticipated obstacles. The key is to know when to adjust your approach. Effective decision makers demonstrate the ability to shift priorities as the need arises and show a willingness to achieve objectives by taking advantage of new opportunities.

Bibliography
(2009). Retrieved July 25, 2012, from essortment: www.essortment.com/history-amazoncom
History of Amazon.com, Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved Juky 25, 2012, from FundingUniverse: www.fundinguniverse.com
Peterson, V. (2012). Borders's Group History- The History of the Borders Group Chain of Bookstores. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from about.com: publishing.about.com/od/BooksellersAndBookselling/a/The-History-Of-Borders
Williams, C. (2011). Planning and Decision Making. In C. Williams, MGMT: 2010 custom edition (3rd ed.) (p. 81). Mason,OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Writer, S. (2011). The 8 Reasons Borders Went Bye-Bye. Retrieved July 25, 2012, from Business Insurance: www.businessinsurance.org

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