Barnes & Noble: Turning the Page to Compete in a Digital Book Market

This short case covers the recent strategic developments of Barnes & Noble, the largest US book chain, and puts them in the context of its peers worldwide (in the UK, Canada, Germany and France). The perspective of the case is the one of James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble since August 2019. Readers are put in his shoes and are asked to analyze Barnes & Noble's response strategy to an increasingly digital book market. This short case is intended to serve as part of a course session on digitalization strategies or strategic change responding to macro trends. The case can support a full 45-minute class session, or can be integrated into a 90-minute session that also includes theory input by the lecturer. The case questions are open-ended but intended to introduce frameworks to assess strategic change and response strategies to exogenous shocks.