Leabhair go Leor - Book Shop Case Study

Leabhair go leor (from the Irish meaning ‘Books enough’ or Plenty of books’) is an independent bookstore in Galway City. It was established by Cornelius O’Connor in 1985 and simply known at that time as O’Connor’s Bookshop. Cornelius was born and raised in Connemara in Co Galway and graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1979 with a degree in English and Irish. After graduating he worked in various fields including as a labourer on a motorway in England, as a barista in a coffee house in Rome, as a stable hand with a racehorse trainer in Co Kildare and finally as a junior editor with a publisher in Dublin. In 1985 he unexpectedly came into a small inheritance from an uncle in New York, after whom he was named. This Uncle Cornelius, who had fought in the War of Independence and subsequently taken the Republican side in the Civil War had emigrated to the US to escape capture by the Free State Army. He had done well there, eventually owning a small construction company, but never married or had a family so left his estate to his namesake, his sister’s son. The money enabled the young Cornelius to buy a small rundown barber’s shop in a side street off Shop Street in Galway’s city centre and start up a business as a bookseller - something he had always dreamed of doing. He also got married that year to Olivia, a Cuban girl, whom he had met while working in Rome.

The book stocked popular titles in English from authors from across the English- speaking world; it also had a smaller section of works in Irish. Although Cornelius believed it would not be economically feasible to stock books of a specialist nature, he put up a sign in the shop window offering to seek out and supply any book on any subject at the request of customers. Not long after opening the shop quite by chance the poet, Seamus Heaney, happened to walk into the book shop asking if he had a copy of Beowulf. Heaney was staying with friends outside Galway and had taken a fancy to re-read the Anglo-Saxon classic saga.

Cornelius told him that he didn’t have a copy in the shop but would endeavour to have one for him by the next day. When Heaney had left, he immediately rang around all the booksellers he knew across Ireland and located a battered old copy in Limerick. That evening, after he had closed the shop, he drove to Limerick to collect the book. When Seamus Heaney arrived the next day, he was very impressed by such good service and they got talking. When he realised that Cornelius was only starting up, he offered to do a poetry reading and a book signing in the shop. This was the start of several similar readings and signings by Heaney and led to Cornelius being able to attract other writers to undertake
similar ventures - popular writers like Maeve Binchy, Mariann Keyes as well as literary figures like Sebastian Barry and Joseph O’Connor, and Booker Prize winners like Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright and Anna Burns.

Key Recommendations

1. An Executive Summary of your key recommendations. (1-2 Slides) (This is a crucial element of the presentation as it demonstrates the ability to communicate information clearly and concisely).

2. A list of the key criteria (knowledge, skills and attributes) which you believe the new CEO should possess with a clear explanation as to why each of the criterion has been chosen. It is not enough to simply give a list. You should provide 10 criteria and give each criterion a score so that the total adds up to 100. Scores for each criterion are likely to vary depending upon the importance you attach to it; (i.e.) they do not all need to be worth 10 points. (2-3 Slides)

3. A list of factors which ought not to be considered in the selection decision with a full explanation as to why certain factors should not be considered. (1 slide)

4. A slide on each candidate showing how they score against your criteria with a full explanation of why you have given each score. (3 - 6 Slides)

5. State clearly which candidate you believe would be the best ‘fit’ for the position of CEO. Justify your decision. (2-3 Slides)

6. Undertake a SWOT analysis of the proposal to establish a second bookshop in Belfast. (1-2 Slides).

7. A draft Vision, Mission Statement and Statement of Values for Leabhair go leor for the candidates to comment upon as part of the second interview process. (3-4 Slides)

8. Identify areas in your proposed candidate which you believe will benefit from

a personal and professional development plan candidate (1-2 Slides)

9. Draw up an outline plan for his/her personal and professional development suggesting the areas for development which you believe that person should undertake over the next three years. (3 Slides)

10. Identify the key challenges which you believe will face the new CEO over the next three years. (1-2 Slides)

11. Bibliography and references. (Slides as required) B. Presentation and Scoring of your team members’ presentations (10% of overall module grade is for this element of the assignment)

1. You will be required to deliver your presentation to the other members of the group to which you are assigned. Your presentation should last for a minimum of 10 mins and a maximum of 15 mins.

2. During the presentation, you are required to evaluate the presentations of your group members using evaluation sheets distributed to you in class. You should give a score out of 10 and state the reasons for giving that score for each of the presentations given by the other members of your team taking account of each of the above elements of your colleagues’ presentations. You should provide your name, your colleague’s names and an explanation.