Assignment 1

Use Assignment 1 (turn in here) to submit your assignment. Click on View/Complete to submit your assignment (Do not use the red submit buttons). This should be the only place you will need to submit your assignment. Students, please view the “Submit a Clickable Rubric Assignment” in the Student Center. Instructors, training on how to grade is within the Instructor Center. Assignment 1: Comparing Two Similar Businesses Due Week 4 and worth 280 points Access articles about the history, business approach, management, and marketing of Amazon. com and Borders Books.

Amazon (primarily an online book and product sales site) started in the mid 1990s and was not profitable in the first few years but has grown and become very successful and highly profitable. By contrast, Borders bookstore, which started in 1971, was successful and profitable up until 2004. Borders filed for Chapter 11 in 2011. Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you: Describe the history and core business of each company. Compare and contrast the management approach each took to Internet marketing and sales. Analyze three (3) reasons for Amazon’s success despite not turning a profit for the first five to six (5-6) years.

Discuss three (3) reasons Borders, although initially successful and profitable, ended up in Chapter 11. Discuss the extent to which the management of each company adapted to changing market conditions. 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. Use at least three (3) quality sources to support the content of the paper. Your assignment must: Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format.

Check with your professor for any additional instructions. Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are: Explain the decision-making process management uses to develop viable courses of action to a variety of management situations. Use technology and information resources to research issues in management. Write clearly and concisely about management using proper writing mechanics.