Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes, Inc.

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes, Inc.

University of Phoenix

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

This paper addresses Harrison-Keyes' (H-K) need to have a clear strategy to create a project plan and follow the best practices in project implementation. Some of these best practices will be identified as committing to the use of adequate resources, dividing H-K-s e-publishing initiative into smaller, manageable projects, and rolling out the project in phases to make sure issues are eliminated early in a project's life cycle.

When Harrison-Keyes started the e-publishing project, they did not have a formal implementation plan. They had an idea of where they wanted to be, but did not have a roadmap to get there. The benchmarking in this paper will show where Harrison-Keyes must improve at to become a successful e-publisher.

Describe the Situation

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Harrison-Keyes, Inc. (H-K) is a global print publisher that specializes in scientific, technical and business books, along with various other materials. H-K holds the publishing rights for 22,700 active titles and publishes 2,000 new titles each year.

In recent years H-K has suffered the similar woes that plague the entire print publishing industry of low profits due to generous return policies from low-cost retailers. The H-K board has recently hired a new CEO, Meg McGill to help turn the company around. Meg has her sites set on e-publishing as a future contributor to profits (University of Phoenix, 2006, p.1).

Issue Identification

H-K faces multiple issues requiring examination. H-K does not have a company wide implementation strategy for their new initiative. H-K does not have buy-in from its traditional authors, the general public, and with some H-K leadership. H-K does not have terms and conditions that would allow them to publish previous works from their authors. Lastly, H-K's current technology is not robust enough, and its software does not have adequate functionality to support their e-publishing initiative.

Opportunity Identification

H-K has several opportunities relative to the scenario. H-K has the opportunity to prove to the authors that there is a great deal of money to be made in e-publishing industry. If they point to the DVD industry, and how they are making money by creating DVD sets of not only last year's movie and television products, but they are also making money from films created 60 years ago. H-K needs to explain that DVDs have duplication protection and that H-K will find a way to make the authors' work just as safe. If the authors assign their digitization rights to H-K for their past published efforts, both the authors and H-K can make a great deal of money in the process. H-K has the opportunity to upgrade their e-commerce infrastructure. This will allow orders placed on their site to be more profitable since they would not have to split the profits with another online store such as Amazon.com.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

Only one potential ethical dilemma is identified. It is between Asia Digital Publishing (ADP) and Pete Ross. Pete Ross is the Production Manager who has outsourced the formatting of the e-books to India. ADP has missed past deadlines, and they are poised to miss the next important deadline in a few weeks, ADP and H-K are 10 time zones away from each other which may contribute to the communication problems between the two companies. The scenario also stated that Pete Ross does not like dealing with people from overseas. The dilemma would present itself if Pete's feelings of "foreigners" would be a factor in terminating the contract with ADP. The dilemma is being negated in Table 6, where Pete Ross is identified as a team member, not the leader. It is hoped that the team leader would not have Pete's "baggage".

Frame the "Right" Problem

After a review of the issues and opportunities, a problem statement was created that reads as follows: Harrison-Keyes will become a successful e-publishing company by creating a project plan for the implementation of their e-publishing effort and successfully implementing the plan.

Describe the "End-State" Vision

After considering all of the issues and stakeholders' perspectives, I have formulated the following end-state vision for H-K: Harrison-Keyes will have become a leader in the E-publishing industry by realizing their sales goals and by having a large portfolio of secure E-book offerings obtained from enthusiastic authors.

Identify the Alternatives and Benchmarking Validation

Analysis of the benchmarking data revealed the following four possible solutions: (1) H-K should follow best practices in project implementation by dividing their e-publishing initiative into smaller, manageable projects. Florida Hospital headquartered in Orlando, FL accommodates more than one million patient visits each year. Their initial strategy attempted to automate documentation and clinical best practices in one major implementation. After three years, the project coordinators gave up on the "big bang" approach. Florida Hospital decided the best way to reach its goal was to break the project into a series of smaller projects; each with the coordinator's own goals then bundled in to one big project which was rolled out to six other hospitals using the repeated process (Hamilton, Koch & Quammen, 2004, p. 40f). In the Harrison-Keyes (H-K) scenario, it might benefit the company to focus on one aspect of e-publishing before moving on to the next. They might have bitten off more than they can chew at the moment. At the present time, the company is trying to implement more than just the standard e-book format using Adobe PDF files. The other types such as Microsoft Reader and VRML should have been implemented as separate projects after completing and having time to evaluate the standard e-book implementation. H-K should return and revisit its scope and re-evaluate the importance of each of these formats and their impact to the company. Right now they run the risk of missing their deadline and implementing a plan that does not meet quality standards or company objectives.

(2) H-K should follow best practices in project implementation by spending extra time planning and rolling out the new product in phases to make sure all issues are eliminated before they go live company wide. Lawson Software is implementing an activity