What It Takes
Last Year’s Model
By Shawn Coyne
Published: February 17, 2012
A friend of mine is a business consultant. A damn good one too.
About ten years ago we went out for a couple of beers so that he could ask me my opinions about the state of the book publishing business. He wanted to know where I thought it was heading. What global strategic initiatives would I recommend he investigate for a “blue sky” presentation he was putting together? He and his partner had been put on retainer by a very powerful figure in the business (the head of one of the big six publishing companies) and were asked to look at it from the outsider’s point of view.
The Big Kahuna wanted to know what my friend would do if he were thrust into the position as head of a privately held book publishing behemoth? He was told to plan as if he wouldn’t have to worry about kowtowing to shareholders and he’d have the full support of the conglomerate’s board of directors. Assuming he could do anything he wanted, what course would he set? What would he do to a) increase profit margins b) secure the foundation of the business from the publisher’s point of view and c) prepare the company to take a leadership position in the inevitable digital revolution?
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