Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

Garry Hammit

University of Phoenix

MBA 590 - Strategic Implementation and Alignment

Dr. K. Ofori-Brobbey

October 6, 2006

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

Harrison-Keys is an old publishing company trying to step into the 21st century with E-publishing. They know that if they do nothing, they will decline. There are many lessons learned from the mistakes made by Harrison-Keys. By not including stakeholders in the original plan, an authors opposition group has been created. By not ensuring all resources and communications abilities and weaknesses were identified, unbudgeted money is spent on last minute computer upgrades and delays due to communication failure have occurred. Harrison-Keys must know when too fold their hand on this project and address the problems before things get any worse. Convinced that the future growth in publishing is in E-books, Harrison-Keys must explore various methods and tactics for publishing E-books. Harrison-Keys can determine which best practices are best suited to their needs. Harrison-Keys examines acquiring another company with the ability, paying someone to do the work or outsourcing, attempting to repair the existing plan or scraping the plan in favor of starting over and not repeating the previous mistakes. Harrison-Keys will address issues of Digital Rights, stakeholder interests, unified management support and logical progression of a critical path.

Describe the Situation

Issue and Opportunity Identification

In the University of Phoenix scenario one for MBA 590, Harrison-Keys is a century old publisher. Like other publishers, they are experiencing margin squeeze as print retailers consolidate, and generous return policies have squeezed margins father. Sales are declining at a 6% rate. Harrison-Keys has followed the lead if many other publishers by attempting to boost sales and revenues through E-publishing. Publishers such as McGraw-Hill have been providing E-content for over a decade. Harrison-Keys has implemented an E-book project to convert select titles to an E-book format then to begin offering all new publications in dual format and some in an E-book format only. Harrison-Keys hopes to reduce costs through avoiding the expensive print process and materials. The E-book concept offers many benefits such as no raw materials, no returns, and on demand sales from the companies website. The project however has run into some serious problems. The Authors are disappointed that they have not been included in the project and have concerns about the protection of their intellectual property. One of the primary authors Will Harper is leading an opposing authors group. Harrison-Keys internal IS department is struggling to identify the proper requirements for the E-book program and there is communication trouble with the company converting existing print titles into an E-book format. The senior management of Harrison-Keys is not unified in their support of this initiative. Meg McGill the newly hired CEO is the driver behind the push to join most other publishers in establishing an E-content portion of the business however; the rest of the management team is not sold on the idea. (University of Phoenix. 2006).

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

The ethical dilemma of can a publisher protect the rights of authors in the same way or better in E-publishing as they can in print is addressed but not answered. By including the authors in the strategy their interest helped to form the strategy however; there are numerous methodologies for protecting digital rights however; there is no one standard. Once the authors were on board with the fact that increased sales in any media or platform means more royalties they were able to look at the issue more objectively. The ethical dilemma of the split in management is addressed and answered in the solution. By including all the stakeholder interests in the strategic vision, Harrison-Keys was able to include the whole management team in the strategic objectives, and tactical objectives.

Frame the "Right" Problem

Harrison-Keys must leverage their strengths and compensate for their weaknesses to become a successful publisher in competitive platforms.

Describe the "End-State" Vision

Harrison-Keys will become the "must have" content provider to targeted interest communities across multiple platforms. The company will have competitive policies and practices with Authors, employees, distributors, vendors and customers. The organization will have competitive capabilities and skill sets to provide content in the media of choice for users. This vision can be translated into four goals.

Harrison-Keys will acquire and become proficient in new processes, technologies and skills. Harrison-Keys will reverse the market-share decline. The E-book initiative will allow the company to tap into a new revenue stream. Harrison-Keys will reverse the declining profitability. Harrison-Keys will bring the stakeholders together in support of providing "must have" content across multiple platforms.

Identify the Alternatives and Benchmarking Validation

Harrison-Keys can benefit from best practices in project implementation. By first determining the strategic goals and objectives and gaining the buy-in from the stakeholders and by communicating the correct message of importance throughout the organization, Harrison-Keys can determine the best alternative to reach the end-state goals. All of these alternatives are mutually exclusive and can easily be broken down into numerous sub-projects and solutions. All of these solutions attempt to address the problem statement and reach the end-state goals. Harris-Keys can acquire and existing E-book publisher with established Authors and established production and distribution channels. Learning from the mistakes of Pavonis by not re-inventing the system that has brought the company success (Roberts, 2000). E-books are a relative untested product in the market. Authors already feel uncomfortable with the piracy and copyright issues that e-books bring therefore; the Company should consider and address writers' concerns prior to launching the plan. In fact, prior to starting any implementation plan, strategists should consider all stakeholder perspectives and ethical