Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

Running head: PROBLEM SOLUTION: HARRISON-KEYES INC.

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

Elaine Vanderland

University of Phoenix

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

For over 100 years, Harrison-Keyes has been a successful publisher able to adapt with the changing market needs. The company is currently a leader in the publishing of business, scientific and technical information. However, the competition, market demands and technological advances are bringing challenges not previously faced by this successful business. The corporate strategy, proposed by the new CEO and agreed upon by the Board, is to move into e-publishing. With the attempts to implement this new technology, several issues have arisen, requiring additional attention and priority to projects in support of the strategy. Harrison-Keyes' problem solution includes developing an approach for estimating project time and cost, developing a resource scheduling process, and analyzing the implementation planning process. The solution is designed to support the strategy of e-publishing implementation through the problem-solving approach.

Describe the Situation

Issue and Opportunity Identification

As the corporation ventures into the implementation of e-publishing, multiple issues have surfaced. Asia Digital Publishing (ADP), the vendor with which Harrison-Keys has contracted to complete the technical formatting and digitizing of their published works, has thus far demonstrated less than anticipated quality and has been late on deliverables. The second issue emerging from the implementation thus far is the lack of confidence the authors contracting with Harrison-Keys have in the e-publishing process. The last major concern arising with the implementation is inadequacy of the current e-commerce software and hardware with regard to meeting the anticipated market demand.

These three issues, however, may only be symptoms of an underlying problem, surfacing as a result of an implementation gap which is defined by Gray and Larson (2005) as a "lack of understanding and consensus of organization strategy among top and middle-level managers" (p. 29). As with many companies that do not have short product life-cycles, Harrison-Keyes culture tends to encourage strategy development at the top of the organizational chart, with implementation and detailed tactics left to middle-management and functional management. "The fact that these objectives and strategies are made independently at different levels by functional groups within the organization hierarchy causes manifold problems" (Gray & Larson, 2005, p. 29).

Many opportunities exist for Harrison-Keyes, the most prominent being related to developing a corporate-wide implementation strategy for e-publishing including all levels of the organizational structure. The other opportunities can be incorporates into this major opportunity. Those include improving communication and quality review processes with ADP, increasing authors' trust in copyright security related to e-publishing, and identifying the most cost-effective response to the e-commerce insufficiencies. Developing a corporate-wide implementation strategy that includes all these elements offers a well-rounded and integrated approach to resolution. Refer to Table 1 for additional details.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

Based on the communication from Will X. Harper and a subsequent article published, this author is determined to gain satisfaction regarding the protection of his copyrighted works (University of Phoenix [UOP], n.d., pp. 5, 15). Copyright protection could be a major ethical issue for Harrison-Keyes if not handled appropriately, and the confidence of authors in the protection of their work is crucial to the survival of the publisher.

ADP is a major stakeholder as the vendor chosen to provide Harrison-Keyes formatting for e-books. The Harrison-Keyes team has not discussed the perspective of ADP. However, from the dialogues, evidence exists supporting that communication between the two companies is strained by potentially two factors; time zone differences and definitions of verbiage in the work schedule. Although ADP has missed several interim deadlines and has provided less-than-anticipated quality results, the rationale for these shortcomings has not been determined or discussed with the vendor. Without ADP's perspective, Harrison-Keyes will have a difficult time mitigating.

Marsha Goldfarb Senior Vice President of Marketing has been designated by Meg McGill, CEO, as the project manager. Marsha is a major stakeholder, responsible for developing a solution set within one month. In fact, all those in senior leadership positions have a vested interest in the outcome of this strategy. While most hope to see it succeed, some who are reluctant to see the company engage in e-publishing may not support the initiative fully. The whole employee base should also be considered stakeholders, as the strategy is considered by most to be the company's only future, and therefore, their job security.

As consumers become more technologically savvy, the expectations of the market will follow. The company's research has demonstrated a consumer trend moving towards the desire for e-publishing. With Harrison-Keyes being a leader in business, scientific and technical information, consumers of this type of literature are stakeholders in the corporation's new strategy. Refer to Table 2 for additional stakeholder information.

Frame the "Right" Problem

Analysis finds the primary problem for Harrison-Keyes as a lack of a corporate-wide implementation strategy for e-publishing including all levels of the organizational structure. "Strategy is implemented through projects" (Gray & Larson, 2005, p. 21). The company currently does not have appropriate project management to plan, execute, control, and prioritize the multiple projects necessary to realize the strategic goal. Multiple symptoms exist due to this one problem, and all symptoms must be addressed in synchronicity, balanced for priority and combined for resource management when possible.

Describe the "End-State" Vision

The end-state finds Harrison-Keyes as a leader in e-publishing through the use of an efficient formatting vendor, strong copyright protections, and appropriate e-commerce software and hardware support,