Comparing Two Similar Businesses Amazon and Borders books history and the core business of each company will be discusses. A comparison of the companies will be done to analyze each company’s management approach they took to internet marketing, and sales. At least three reasons will be given as to why Amazon is successful.
Three reasons will be given as to why Border’s ended up in bankruptcy although they were initially successful. How Amazon and Borders books management adapted to changing marketing conditions will be analyzed.To sum everything up at least three recommendations on how a company should build in flexibility to back up its decision making process so they can adapt to changing market conditions. Description of the Businesses A description of the history of Amazon and Borders books will be discussed.
When we understand the history of Amazon and Borders we will look at the core business of Amazon and Borders. Amazon. com Before we discuss the core business activities of Amazon lets learn a little bit about the history of Amazon.Having background information on how Amazon got started before we discuss the core business of Amazon will help us to understand their core values. Amazon. com was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezo’s who named his company after the Amazon River.
Regret started to settle in with Bezo’s from not taking claim in the internet gold rush at the time which is what provoked him to start Amazon. com. Amazon headquarters resides in Seattle Washington. Although Amazon is a multinational electronic commerce company now it started out as just an online bookstore.
When the year 1997 rolled around the company went public and they decided to add CD’s and movies to their website. In 1998 Amazon decided they needed to be more versatile and add more items to their roster such as software, electronics, video games toys, and home improvement items. Although Amazon growth was slow and they did not turn a profit for the first five to six years they finally made their first profit in the first quarter of 2001 because of Bezo’s brilliant idea. Recruiting other companies to sell their products online through Amazon was his brilliant idea.Today, Amazon is one of the most popular online vendors in the world today.
Amazon believes that if they do things accurately their greatest contribution to society will come from their core business activities (Amazon &, 2011). Amazon core business activities include: lowering prices, expanding selection, driving convenience, driving frustration free packaging, creating kindle, innovating in web services and other initiatives will work hard on in the future (Amazon &, 2011). Amazon believes in giving back to their community by supporting local and national nonprofit organizations by giving product and cash donations.Amazon’s vision is “to be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
” Borders Books The history of Borders begins with Louis and Tom Borders who founded Borders in 1971. Borders started out as a small bookstore in Ann Arbor Michigan that served the academic community of the University of Michigan and other small colleges. Book Inventory Systems was which was a sister store that was founded in 1976 and served as a wholesaler for the brothers custom inventory system to independent bookstores.The year 1975 came around and Louis and Tom bought out the stock of an old bookstore and hired Michael and Harvey to run the bookstore. In 1992 Borders was acquired by Kmart which acquired Waldenbooks in 1984. In 1997 the first international store was established in Singapore and they continued to expand abroad.
Not long after their stores were established abroad they were sold off. As of February 2011 Borders applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and they began to liquidate stores. Border’s vision was “to create richer, more satisfying lives through knowledge and entertainment. Management Approach Understanding a business’s history and core values will help one to better understand their management approach. Shopping in stores is beginning to be a thing of the past. In this day and age anyone can purchase just about anything online so it can be extremely difficult to maintain a business selling goods online.
Amazon Jeff Bezo’s is considered a visionary in the eyes of some and as a goofball to others. Leadership is the process of influencing others to achieve group or organizational goals (Williams, pg 252 2010).Jeff focused on his vision, mission, goals and his objectives. In Amazon’s press releases they do not say much about what their marketing approach is but there is a focus. Amazon (2011) states “we direct customers to our websites primarily through a number of targeted online marketing channels, such as our Associates program, sponsored search, portal advertising, email marketing campaigns, and other initiatives”.
Amazon has the competitive edge over other companies with their free shipping offers and Amazon Prime which are definitely effective marketing tools.The aim of Amazon’s communication strategy is to: increase customer traffic to their websites, create awareness of their products and services, promote repeat customers, develop incremental product and service revenue opportunities, and strengthen and broaden the Amazon. com brand name (Chaffey &, 2011). Borders Borders goals were to be effective Amazon Successful The big question is how Amazon became so successful even though they did not turn a profit for the first five to six years. Jeff’s approach consists of working backwards which is an approach that is widely used at Amazon (Chaffey &, 2011).
This approach consists of working backwards from the customer instead of starting with an idea and they focus on the value that is delivered to the customer. Focusing on the value and what is delivered to the customer. They are focusing inward on the customer instead of outward on the customer. Amazon listens to their customers and they focus on what they want instead of starting with an idea which is a big contributor as to why they are successful.
Bezo’s view from the very beginning was that he was creating something new and revolutionary and his biggest key to success is his ability to innovate (Vogelstein, 2003).Bezo’s stated “in the physical world it’s the old saw: location, location, location but he says the three most important things for us are technology, technology, technology. ” Bezo’s knew from day one when he created the company that it was about technology and innovation that would make the company succeed. Amazon has a huge benefit from their marketing strategy which is that the revenue is almost pure profit (Vogelstein, 2003).
Amazon’s revenue being almost pure profit is another reason why Amazon is successful.Focusing on the customer, being innovative, and having revenue that is almost pure profit is three reasons why Amazon is successful. Borders Unsuccessful The closing of Borders Books demonstrates the fate of companies that adapt to change rather than lead change. “The companies that follow, rather than lead in today’s fast-changing market put themselves at a huge disadvantage,” says Clay (PRWEB) Borders failed to shift with the market when the market was changing therefore it put the company at a disadvantage and it caused them to be unsuccessful.Borders failed to invest in the internet which put them at a huge disadvantage considering the market was shifting more towards the internet.
{Discuss how each business leader has made an impact on the world through his or her vision, businesses, and other areas. } References Cockerell, L. (2008). Creating magic: 10 common sense leadership strategies from a life at Disney.
New York, NY: Doubleday. Williams, C. (2011). Management: 2010 custom edition (3rd ed. ). Masonon, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
