General questions and concepts in academic inquiry

Barnes & Noble Management

Communication with other departments:

Barnes & Noble has a pretty linear organizational structure at the store level. We have to report up the chain to the regional supervisors, and down the chain to the other people in the store, but when it comes to communication between departments within the store, we usually all hear important news at the same time and in the same way. Barnes & Noble has an established formula for operation that has brought them a lot of success. They don't seek out innovative ideas and are more trend-followers, for instance, adding coffee bars.

Courage:

think real leaders have to have courage. It takes courage to stick your neck out and propose new ideas. It takes courage to delegate responsibility to others when the outcome will be important to you. Without courage you'll make a good middle-manager, following the directions, but there's no gain to having good ideas if you're afraid to do what it takes to implement them.

Analyzing vs. over-analyzing:

By definition, "over-analyzing" would be too much. It isn't enough to analyze; you have to analyze while keeping the larger picture into perspective. Hiring and firing would be one example. If the store hires two clerks, for the short-term, we might show more profit. But would we over the long-term? If the store showed a pattern of not having enough help, if enough customers became frustrated, sales might well drop. Store reputation could be hurt. That would not be over-analyzing. Over-analyzing might include trying to give weight to factors when you had no reason to think they would be a part of the decision, spending energy and time on extraneous possibilities.

Trends:

Current trends in book selling are going to have a profound effect on how stores are managed. We are rapidly approaching a time when people can buy books without leaving their homes. They can be delivered over night, and companies are slashing delivery charges to minimize that negative of ordering online. More and more books will be sold as downloadable files. Bookstores are going to have to offer things that can't be found online if they are to stay competitive. Putting in things like coffee bars is just the beginning.

Management Differences - Men vs. Women?

The findings on the differences between men and women are probably accurate. However, the question should not be "do these differences exist?" But "Are these differences important?" In a well-running company, men and women will work together, enriching the entire decision-making process. When people work well together, sex differences will be unimportant. Results will count.

A act on whims but not in business. On a whim, I may call a friend and go to a movie. I would not make an important business decision on a whim. I don't think you can be certain of the outcome of any business decision, and some will involve risk, but you have to consider the opportunity that risk reflects. If you feel uncertainty, you need to identify the source. Uncertainty should have a specific reason, and often it can be explored or researched so it becomes more certain. I do deal with customers, but I don't think that makes my job any more demanding. People are just people, and the great majority just want to do their business and go on about their lives.

Multii-tasking:

that means considering multiple possibilities is a good thing. This is also why working with other people may be very beneficial. Multi-tasking when it means trying to do two or three complex tasks at once probably isn't really a good idea. I would not want to have to complete a quarterly report and supervise the sales floor at the same time.

The internet is a "primary source" of information because there's a lot of information there that has not been edited or changed in any way. Primary sources are often biased sources. Maybe some day all research can be done online, but we're not there yet, and it requires good critical thinking skills to use the internet, because a lot of the "information" on the Internet is worthless. The Internet is easy, and that can encourage us to rationalize its value to be more than it really is.

A manager has to encourage his or her employees, but in my opinion a good manager will have solid methods for employees to use, which makes him or her much more than a cheerleader. An effective manager should also recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each employee, and capitalize on each person's strengths. With a diverse staff, people should be able to work to their strengths most of the time.