Barnes and Nobel is playing catch up with Amazon and launched a new webpage with significant glitches and problems. The end result is a 22% drop in sales and left with only a little cash on hand. The digitization strategies are failing and the company now faces serious risks of having to either make a last ditch effort to change, sell off unprofitable stores, or liquidate assets.
It is a shame. I loved B&N and the years of reading at their coffee shops. I still buy from them and am a little frightened they are moving down a path of going out of business. With Border Books taking a nose dive a few years ago books stores are becoming specialty shops and novelties.
You can almost foresee small mom and pop bookstore coffee shops springing up to fill the void. The grand bookstores some of these large chains offer are trying to buck the trend. Someone will need to fill the smaller but more robust niche book loving crowd.
What happened to B&N and to Border Books does highlight the trend of the market moving to electronic books and those that offer the best prices and platforms win. When companies don't adjust quickly and stay ahead of the market they have a harder time playing catch up later.
If they are going to survive then radical change is needed. This may require downsizing their large stores and focusing on demographics that buy the most books. That would require an adjustment of their strategy to focus on a smaller but more condensed relationship with the market.
They might have also offer comparable services that fulfill the needs of their core book reading market. Free electronic readers that app to your smart phone, shared discounted services with other large entities, and advertised more effectively online.
The immediate future looks a little bleak for B&N and with some great stroke of luck they could turn around their situation. Hopefully they do. The market seems to be saying that it no longer wants to touch and feel the paper launching us into a new era of paperless books. Books have become gifts and collector items.
Friday, December 4, 2015
American Businesses Still Not Exporting Enough
Its wet, slippery, and continues to go down like a game of Chutes and Ladders. Its the trade deficit again. American companies are still not exporting enough products to lower the gap. The commerce department said that the deficit rose 3.4 percent to $43.9 billion from $42.5. Industrial goods and food exports declined marking slower trade. Even though it has been this way for some time it doesn't have to be.
The economy is very much tied to our ability to develop and export products that people want. Whether we are talking about Middle Class jobs or corporate profits the problems are related to the same fundamental business environment. I am believe that if we create the right environment our businesses will do a better job competing and hiring.
This means getting two political camps, left and right, to agree on some fundamental principles about what is important. Regardless of their personal agendas, it is important to create a strong business environment that maximizes the puts Americans into meaningful jobs. How this done is a point of contention as each has a focus on one aspect or another of the economy.
Getting back to the idea of corporate tax reform, I believe it is beneficial to lower taxes for companies; especially if they reinvest that money to expand their operations within the U.S. to provide American jobs. Only dying entities raise taxes while growing entities expand their tax base. It is much better to have more companies and people paying in then to simply raise the amount of money.
Slowing exports has been part of the American economic landscape for decades but is preventable. Encouraging companies to invest, innovate, develop, stay, train and hire is beneficial. The incentives for doing so is should be because the American business environment is the best place to start and develop companies. Until we solve that problem everything else will be a gimmick with short term gains.
The economy is very much tied to our ability to develop and export products that people want. Whether we are talking about Middle Class jobs or corporate profits the problems are related to the same fundamental business environment. I am believe that if we create the right environment our businesses will do a better job competing and hiring.
This means getting two political camps, left and right, to agree on some fundamental principles about what is important. Regardless of their personal agendas, it is important to create a strong business environment that maximizes the puts Americans into meaningful jobs. How this done is a point of contention as each has a focus on one aspect or another of the economy.
Getting back to the idea of corporate tax reform, I believe it is beneficial to lower taxes for companies; especially if they reinvest that money to expand their operations within the U.S. to provide American jobs. Only dying entities raise taxes while growing entities expand their tax base. It is much better to have more companies and people paying in then to simply raise the amount of money.
Slowing exports has been part of the American economic landscape for decades but is preventable. Encouraging companies to invest, innovate, develop, stay, train and hire is beneficial. The incentives for doing so is should be because the American business environment is the best place to start and develop companies. Until we solve that problem everything else will be a gimmick with short term gains.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
CEO's Not Happy About Next Few Quarters-Frustrated with Slow Pace of Tax Reform!
Corporate tax rate is at 35% and CEO's are frustrated! So frustrated they might just slow down on investments in the near term. According to a report released by the Business Roundtable from 74.1 to 67.5. CEOs are concerned about volatile global markets and the lack of movement on tax reform.
Corporate tax reform is an important issue that helps companies grow and hire employees. When offered more competitive tax rates overseas by hungry countries many large companies moved their headquarters to other shores in an effort to dodge U.S. tax bills.
We can argue about it and get upset but.....the problem is that we are in a global world and this means we don't have captive companies. Companies can put their headquarters just about anywhere they want while retaining the ability to manage large global networks. When push comes to shove----- they can leave.
This is bad news for investment. Creating the right framework for growth means reforming the tax rate in a way that encourages further investment in the U.S. Politicians are squandering an opportunity to get it right and set up a new tax structure that attracts businesses, encourages greater investment and fosters a stronger labor market.
It is also an opportunity to expand employment and raise wages. Sounds counter productive doesn't it? However, if the tax rate goes down, companies invest their differences in expanded operations to take advantage of the investment environment, foreign companies become attracted to improving business prospects and qualified labor moves into a demand position.
Combining hot topics such as reforming the public education system and encouraging higher education innovation could further developing higher skilled workers that command higher wages. It would be an important goal to increase investment, raise wages, and improve the demand for American workers. It is possible to support corporate needs while enhancing labor through tax reform.
Corporate tax reform is an important issue that helps companies grow and hire employees. When offered more competitive tax rates overseas by hungry countries many large companies moved their headquarters to other shores in an effort to dodge U.S. tax bills.
We can argue about it and get upset but.....the problem is that we are in a global world and this means we don't have captive companies. Companies can put their headquarters just about anywhere they want while retaining the ability to manage large global networks. When push comes to shove----- they can leave.
This is bad news for investment. Creating the right framework for growth means reforming the tax rate in a way that encourages further investment in the U.S. Politicians are squandering an opportunity to get it right and set up a new tax structure that attracts businesses, encourages greater investment and fosters a stronger labor market.
It is also an opportunity to expand employment and raise wages. Sounds counter productive doesn't it? However, if the tax rate goes down, companies invest their differences in expanded operations to take advantage of the investment environment, foreign companies become attracted to improving business prospects and qualified labor moves into a demand position.
Combining hot topics such as reforming the public education system and encouraging higher education innovation could further developing higher skilled workers that command higher wages. It would be an important goal to increase investment, raise wages, and improve the demand for American workers. It is possible to support corporate needs while enhancing labor through tax reform.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Changes in the Higher Education Market Show More Consolidation and Less Variability
Changes in the higher education fields that show shifts are occurring that lead to greater consolidation and less market variability. A recent report on HigherEdJobs website, using data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, show that total number of jobs in Q3 2015 continued to decline but advertised jobs increased.
There were less faculty per administrator and a noticeable shift toward hiring full-time faculty. Many universities are becoming top heavy and loosing their core responsibility to teach students. Shifts toward more administrators and less faculty show the bureaucratic nature of universities that will likely cause problems down the road with changing market trends.
More legislation is typically the result of the higher concern profile of higher education in recent years. Costs have skyrocketed and government is trying to get a handle on it. Some ideas may be beneficial but other ideas that create too much "red tap" may actually do the opposite.
Community colleges were quickly loosing jobs and are having a hard time keeping up with their budgets. Smaller entities may not be able to command higher tuition rates or secure alternative funding sources. Their limited resources and small local populations may lead them to go out of business. We have seen this trend grow with small private universities.
In the past many universities hired part-time adjuncts to keep costs low. In recent years, there has been a greater push by stakeholders to ensure that full-time faculty are hired. Some universities are replacing aging, retired, and shifting faculty with new full-time recruits. Hiring full-time faculty helps to keep the incentives alive for people to move into academia.
A lack of sufficient market variability can be dangerous for the industry is some major market shift occurs and there isn't enough diversity to provide adequate models that can compete. International, cross-border, schools are growing and too much restrictive legislation could limit options for future competition. Ensuring America maintains a place in the higher education fields means balancing the need for quality and variability.
https://www.higheredjobs.com/career/quarterly-report.cfm
There were less faculty per administrator and a noticeable shift toward hiring full-time faculty. Many universities are becoming top heavy and loosing their core responsibility to teach students. Shifts toward more administrators and less faculty show the bureaucratic nature of universities that will likely cause problems down the road with changing market trends.
More legislation is typically the result of the higher concern profile of higher education in recent years. Costs have skyrocketed and government is trying to get a handle on it. Some ideas may be beneficial but other ideas that create too much "red tap" may actually do the opposite.
Community colleges were quickly loosing jobs and are having a hard time keeping up with their budgets. Smaller entities may not be able to command higher tuition rates or secure alternative funding sources. Their limited resources and small local populations may lead them to go out of business. We have seen this trend grow with small private universities.
In the past many universities hired part-time adjuncts to keep costs low. In recent years, there has been a greater push by stakeholders to ensure that full-time faculty are hired. Some universities are replacing aging, retired, and shifting faculty with new full-time recruits. Hiring full-time faculty helps to keep the incentives alive for people to move into academia.
A lack of sufficient market variability can be dangerous for the industry is some major market shift occurs and there isn't enough diversity to provide adequate models that can compete. International, cross-border, schools are growing and too much restrictive legislation could limit options for future competition. Ensuring America maintains a place in the higher education fields means balancing the need for quality and variability.
https://www.higheredjobs.com/career/quarterly-report.cfm
Monday, November 30, 2015
The Importance of Selecting the Customer and the Channel
Businesses can't and won't succeed without marketing. Whether the business is as simple as a lemonade stand or as complex as a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, the marketing plan is the main avenue of communicating with and attracting potential customers. Ensuring the marketing plan is focused on the "right" customers and reaching them through the proper channels is what ensures a company can achieve.
The "Right" Customer:
The "right" customer is one who has the most need for the product and has the will and way of paying for it. The target customer is selected after extensive market research that ensures the company is focused on attracting those who have the most interest in the products/services. Most companies build a customer profile and use this as a guide in their marketing decisions.
Some of the considerations a company chooses in selecting their target customer are age, income, interests, geographic location, related purchases, and market size. The market is sliced up based upon some characteristics. Companies often focus on only a small percentage that constitute their most lucrative buyers. Each marketing campaign has a return on investment, conversion rate, and other metrics to ensure it is maximizing resources.
Customer Channels:
The target customer demographics will also determine which channels are best. For example, older Americans may prefer certain print media formats while younger generations are more reachable using online advertising. Because a large percentage of Americans use the Internet, online marketing has exploded many times over in the past decade.
It isn't only the channel that is important but the words, symbols and methods transferred across the channel that counts. Specific words and images are going to attract the target customer more than other ones. Knowing how they like to receive messages and what images most appeal to them can make a big difference in ensuring they respond accordingly.
The "Right" Customer:
The "right" customer is one who has the most need for the product and has the will and way of paying for it. The target customer is selected after extensive market research that ensures the company is focused on attracting those who have the most interest in the products/services. Most companies build a customer profile and use this as a guide in their marketing decisions.
Some of the considerations a company chooses in selecting their target customer are age, income, interests, geographic location, related purchases, and market size. The market is sliced up based upon some characteristics. Companies often focus on only a small percentage that constitute their most lucrative buyers. Each marketing campaign has a return on investment, conversion rate, and other metrics to ensure it is maximizing resources.
Customer Channels:
The target customer demographics will also determine which channels are best. For example, older Americans may prefer certain print media formats while younger generations are more reachable using online advertising. Because a large percentage of Americans use the Internet, online marketing has exploded many times over in the past decade.
It isn't only the channel that is important but the words, symbols and methods transferred across the channel that counts. Specific words and images are going to attract the target customer more than other ones. Knowing how they like to receive messages and what images most appeal to them can make a big difference in ensuring they respond accordingly.
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