Section 3: PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION

1. What activities need to be performed? The value chain is a very useful tool when you need to figure out how different parts of the company are likely to be affected. What are the implications of your plan with respect to both primary activities (e.g., operations and sales/marketing/service) and support activities (e.g., human resources and infrastructure)?

Answer: Barnes & Noble Education hopes to corner the market on affordable education services by working extensively on the high variety/low-cost digital inventory each college would require for their offered courses; brokering partnerships with Nook (owned by Barnes & Noble main) to create the Nook Student, AT&T or Verizon for powering the must needed 5G network, and affording the change by contracting with individual college boards to include the price of the new device in their tuition is a revolutionary idea for every student and educator involved.

For Barnes & Noble to turn their outdated forum into a modernized and revolutionary tool for students across America, they must embrace digital platforms as the future. The operations department would partner with Nook, a device that has been manufactured in China for years by Netronix, who has worked extensively with Barnes & Noble for color, design, and function; software developers working with BNEDs LoudCloud and Bartleby should be consulted with for the interior capacity the Nook Student must boast to support a fully functioning 5G network, the RAM to run BNEDs software smoothly, and the memory to store downloaded textbooks.

Business to Business sales would prosper while Business to Consumer book sales would plummet; this will be due to the new and improved relations with accredited universities across America, where BNED would send representatives to renegotiate current contracts held at each location. The brick-and-mortar stores, whose sales have been suffering extensively due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would be analyzed individually to conditionally preserve the most profitable locations; most of the 1,419 stores would be permanently closed as leases are either renegotiated, terminated, or sold to third parties.

BNED would market the new Nook Student through each university and a bundled deal with tuition; each unit would sell for approximately $400, ultimately hurting laptop sales for HP, Apple, and Dell, with monthly service being a very affordable $20 a month for full 5G access; since only some students take Summer and Winter semester classes, the subscription can be paused and resumed at the beginning and end of the typical Spring and Fall semesters. For the average college student only taking Spring/Fall semesters, this brings the total service cost to $160 a year, while the average individual home Wi-Fi plan start around $50-60 a month without tax, thus saving the students a minimum of $440 a year, excluding the initial sale of the device (Dilley, 2021). Making internet access available and widespread helps to abolish a classist system that hurts rural college students or those who live paycheck to paycheck.

The service provided by Nook Student would encompass BNEDs current software LoudCloud and Bartleby to provide tutoring services, practice quizzes and homework to each student, as well as Wolfram Alpha to boost Americas poor placement in math testing scores. The software would be built into the device, so compatibility would never be a problem (such as the problems Mac users endure) and students can work on homework and quizzes directly from a convenient mobile device, which cannot currently be done on cell phones. The services provided will also put a spotlight on Human Resources providing customer support as well as off-site technical support.

Redesigning the entire inventory system and brick-and-mortar stores into nearly strictly online services negates the need for on-site salesman/cashiers and creates a need for off-site tech support. Business to business sales will still be utilized, but the infrastructure of BNED will be dramatically reconstructed to fit a business style more reminiscent of Amazon, with smaller distribution centers out of universities and a mostly online presence. Some brick-and-mortar stores will remain conditionally intact due to promised profitability or the universitys demand for the projected handicapped or older students in need of a physical copy.

2. What is the timeline? What steps must be taken first and why? Which ones are most critical? Which activities can proceed simultaneously, and which ones are sequential in nature? How long is your plan going to take?

Answer:

Submit strategy and gain approval from Board of Directors

Gain financial means (to boost Nook manufacturing/pull physical copies from shelves/shut down brick-and-mortar stores/marketing for new system)

Broker partnership with Nook through Barnes & Noble main for collaborative Nook Student

Partner with major telecom services (probably Verizon, but variable based on location and university choice?)

Software developers (hopefully those who already overlook LoudCloud and Bartleby to better incorporate them) given notice of the big project; nook manufacturers also notified.

Enter into new contract-based sales with college campuses and assure the college boards that this new method is far more affordable for both the colleges and the students attending; possibly fold the cost of the Nook into tuition???

On-campus stores/campuses must be notified about the switch (the busiest/most profitable can stay open)

Current inventory must be taken and reported to a central database, returned to the manufacturer, or sold at auction. (Possibly keep a small force on hand for handicapped/older students who need physical copies??)

Actual manufacturing

Distribution of product

tutorials/set-up costs

3. How are you going to finance your proposal? Does the company have adequate cash on hand, or does it need to consider debt and/or equity financing? How long until your proposal breaks even and pays for itself?