Running head: BARNES AND NOBLE ESSAY (INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CLASS) 1

Barnes and Noble Essay (Information Technology Class)

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BARNES AND NOBLE ESSAY (INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CLASS) 2

Barnes and Noble Essay (Information Technology Class)

Should Barnes & Noble stick to Nook? Or would it be better off to be a content provider
for other e-readers? In other words, should Barnes & Noble be a platform owner or
platform participants? What are the pros and cons of each strategy? How likely for Barnes
& Noble is successful using this strategy?
I may not be a good idea for Barnes and Noble to stick to nook considering all the negative
sentiments that their e-reader unit has garnered. Initially it was the best strategy that the company
had adapted since it made it a large e-book reader business but later the company started losing
money and the sales fell to twenty eight percent. Given the performance of the nook and the
resources it has been siphoning away, it may be time to pull away from it. The fact that the e-
reader business has been shrinking it is a demonstration that it is time to pull out. Nook should be
scraped entirely and instead Barnes and Noble should engage in developing a better online
platform and apps which better promotes its business.
Barnes and Noble should adapt platform participants’ strategy to get better into the e-publishing
game. The company plans to make self-published authors gain access to the world’s number one
book seller. It is a clever way to drum up for both new content and Barnes and Noble and e-book
platform. Increasing their online presence through making themselves as community gathering
place may be a good way to increase their chances of competing with Amazon considering that it
is their greatest threat. It is impossible for the company to operate indefinitely with a loss.
The platform owner strategy has its advantage which is; segregation of nook from its main
business it would be possible for Barnes and Noble to be insulated from the bumps and jolts of
the e-reader business. Also, even if the business is not out rightly sold it may be possible to spin
it into a separate business controlled by Barnes and Noble. This is because investors like this
form of arrangement and for that reason the company may get a bump from such a move. The
disadvantage associated with this strategy is that the unique relationship with publishers establish
by Nook may not be transferred after the spinoff. On the other hand the platform participants’
strategy allows for an international expansion and hence it is very important for the company
survival. However, getting into the technology business would be a costly move and might shake
the company’s financial stability. With this strategy Barnes and Noble stands a chance to
compete with its major competitors such as Amazon.