Book Publishing free essay sample

This paper is about Book publishing industry in the USA. Main analysis are done using Porter’s five forces analysis. First analysis is on industry before e-books while indentifying main levels of threats for industry from existing rivalry, new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers and substitutions. Also, same research is being conducted for industry after ebooks emerged. Next part is looking to the future of industry and identifying main opportunities and threats looking forward. Finally paper is concluded with suggestions for suppliers how to sustain their business. Introduction Book publishing business recently has been going through lots of changes. New technologies opened doors for new competitors in industry and started to reshaping many processes. To sustain long-term profitability publishers now must respond strategically to new competition. Natural thing to do is to track your established rivals and react accordingly. However, as you scan competitive arena, are you also looking beyond your direct competitors. We will write a custom essay sample on Book Publishing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As Porter explains four additional forces can hurt your prospective profits. (1) †¢ Savvy customers can force down prices by playing you and your rivals against one another. Powerful suppliers may constrain your profits if they charge higher prices. †¢ Aspiring entrants, armed with new capacity and hungry for market share , can ratchet up the investment up the investment required for you to stay in the game . †¢ Substitutes offerings can lure customers away. (1) Industry prior e-books revolution Before e- books publishing industry was highly fragmented, which was also very highly labor intensive. However, as many mature industries faces significant changes with emerging new technologies, so did and publishing. Internet and self-publishing technologies brought more fierce rivalry into market. Here is the industry analysis using Porter’s five forces aproach Threat of new entrants – High/Low depended on segment. High number of competitors (over 87 000) implies that entry barriers ware low. However since it’s was very fragmented industry each segment had different threat level of new entrants with K- 12 and college being the most difficult for new entrants to get in. It required significant upfront investment and strong negotiation power for publisher. Also, big publishing houses had higher barging power and get to publish the most popular authors with the biggest batches of orders. To challenge these few big publishers was very difficult therefore for them entrants threat was relatively low. The most vulnerable were small, niche publishers. To start this small publishing business you did not need big upfront investment and for new rivals it was easy to enter to the market. Rivalry among Existing Competitors High Market consisted of many publishers with no one being as distinguished leader, which means it was strategic rivalry. As a result fight for market share was fierce. Moreover, books were pretty similar among top competitors, and customers switching costs were very low. Customers chose the books according the book title or author, but not because particular publishers, so publishers couldn’t build loyal consumers base. Threat of substitute products or services High It was big threat for substitutes, according to the data, average American spent around 7 minutes per day reading books versus 2 hours of watching TV. Moreover, there were many possible substitutes, like video games, cinema and etc. Bargaining power of customers (buyers) High Publishers sold books to brick-and-mortar, online or to through wholesalers. Retailers controlled books’ marketing in stores, displaying (shelf and internet), and shelf time, which had tremendous impact on demand. As a result retailers had significant impact on publisher’s profit. Also, retailers purchased in bulk and generate the biggest part of revenue for publisher, therefore they had strong negotiation power. Finally, books from different publishers usually were similar therefore buyers could easily switch among publishers. Bargaining power of suppliers – High for Manuscripts of popular authors/ Low for material Production: Two of major costs for publishers ware paper and printing. Both paper and printing services were easily accessible and publisher could easily switch from one supplier to another. As a result, bargaining power of suppliers was low. In addition, in terms of printing, publishers could choose either to outsource printing or to build their own printing facilities, which put even more pressure on suppliers. Manuscripts: Bestselling authors had a strong bargaining power; publishing houses even went to auctions to buy new manuscripts. Meanwhile, new and unknown authors had low bargaining power. For them it was important to get on the book store shelves. Industry after advent of e-books Threat of new entrants Increased. Internet and e-books lowered barrier to enter. There are more and easier ways how publishers can reach consumers. People have electronic devices everywhere (phones, tablets and etc. ) and small companies can reach bigger audience much easier. Rivalry Among Existing Competitors Decreased E-books and online publishing had a significant impact on industry. Some companies failed to keep up with technological advancement and had to run out of business. Industry became less concentrated with fewer but stronger publishers. Threat of substitute products or services – Increased In terms of books itself, to traditional book substitutes can be paperback, or e-book. E-books readers brought convenience for consumers and switching is relatively easy, since it can be read on variety of devices. Also, if we take TV, radio, cinema as substitutes for books, threat remains high from this perspective. Bargaining Power of customers (buyers) – Increased The increasing power of huge online retailers such as Amazon, Apple books store, Nook, increases buyer power. Also, the availability of free e-books (piracy) makes publishers’ products less attractive. Bargaining power of Suppliers – material suppliers Decreased/ Manuscript increased. Materials: E-books do not require neither purchasing paper nor physical printing. Therefore those two most expensive elements of publishing has been eliminated and power of suppliers decreased further. Manuscripts: In terms, of book content suppliers, authors have more alternatives for self publishing therefore their bargaining power has increased since substitution easily available. Opportunities and Threats Opportunities: 1. New marketing channels – For example suggestions for customers similar products to the one they like straight to their reading device. Also, more customized promotions, like blogs reviews for particular niche market. 2. New distribution models More variety of members clubs, package offered, ability to buy parts of the books, subscription to content. This would allow consumers to get their content straight to device without hustle of going anywhere to buy it physically. 3. Additional content – Since new devices have more than enough space publishers can offer additional content to increase value of product. For example, more information about author, places in book’s plot, multimedia enrichment to make content more valuable, engaging and interactive. 4. Cooperation Publishers should seek to cooperate with different technology suppliers to publish their content on as many as possible platforms 5. Increase in reading First, the shift to digital publishing could boost book consumption. More than 40 percent of readers equipped with a reading device say that they read more than before. Granted, the novelty of the experience may wear off. (2) Threats: 1. Illegal products, piracy – Many current bestsellers are available for people who wish to download them. But also people can download illegal copies. (3) Therefore publishers can lose big part of revenue 2. Increase in labor cost If publishers decides to add additional content like multimedia, it is necessary to hire additional staff to make it possible technologically, also more designers, psychologist needed to improve overall experience. Closed systems – Too many different formats can be confusing and slow down penetration of e-books. 4. Self-publishing Authors can go straight to retailers without publishers and put their books on stores. 5. Cultural perception – Overall younger generation has too many substitutions for books now, such as video games, cinemas and etc. Therefore, less and less young people are reading books and demand might go down in the future. 6. Pricing power – big player such as Amazon, can set price and leverage price by stopping selling products on their stores. That would give them more negotiation power. Suggestion Publishers must find the ways to fight the expansion of online retailers such as Amazon and apple book store, who enable self-printing on a much larger scale. Also, new technologies as well as e-books itself has helped to decreased manufacturing price significantly, therefore publishers should spend more on marketing. Moreover, with much easier publishing process the supply of books will increase, as a result it is crucial to provide the best marketing services to authors to help them to stand out of the crowd. They should also focus on adding value to the customers’ experience, engagement, something that should be easily achievable with the Internet and difficult for large retailers like Amazon. For example additional educational tools, maps and multimedia regarding book content. Another important step is, to expand the market exciting . Young generation is reading much less in nowadays and most of e-books clients are the one who used to buy hardcover books before. By bringing new types of content would help to target new customers which could improve the profitability. Since e-books are priced much lower, even if sales increase profits may not follow as much. It is crucial for publishers to address piracy issue. There are technologies that can be attached to e-books for tracking where the content been shared. By diminishing level of piracy publishers can protect their profits and encourage authors to use their services. Finally, publishers should adopt more flexible solutions in order to build loyal consumer base. For example different clubs, subscriptions for unlimited content, possibilities to by parts of the book for educational purpose would add more to their value proposition.

Between Silence And Light Essays - Phillips Exeter Academy, Khan

Between Silence And Light Essays - Phillips Exeter Academy, Khan Between Silence And Light Between The Silence and The Light Introduction Architecture is a meeting place between the measurable and the unmeasurable. The art of design is not only rooted in the aesthetic form, but in the soul of the work. In Phenomena and Idea, Stephen Holl once wrote, The thinking-making couple of architecture occurs in silence. Afterward, these thoughts are communicated in the silence of phenomenal experiences. We hear the music of architecture as we move through spaces while arcs of sunlight beam white light and shadow. Undoubtedly, Holl adopted this concept from its author, Louis I. Kahn. Unquestionably, I am referring to Silence and Light, a concept created and nurtured by Khan, and one that dominated the later half of his work. Kahn had chosen the word Silence to define the unmeasurable or that which has not yet come to be. According to Khan, the unmeasurable is the force that propels the creative spirit toward the measurable, to the Light. When the inspired has reached that which is, that which known, he has reached the Light. Eloquently expressing the architect's passion for design, Khan wrote Inspiration is the of feeling at the beginning at the threshold where Silence and Light meet. Silence, the unmeasurable, desire to be. Desire to express, the source of new need, meets Light, the measurable, giver of all presence, by will, by law, the measure of thing already made, at a threshold which is inspiration, the sanctuary of art, the treasury of shadow. Khan believed that in order for architectural theory to be credible, it had to be constructed. Thirty years ago, Khan began one of his most successful executions of the Silence and Light with the Library at Phillips Exeter Academy. This New Hampshire landmark physically illustrates and ideologically embodies many of Khan's concepts and incorporates many of his beliefs, synthesizing them into a tight little package with a powerful punch. The subtleties of materiality coupled with multiple plays of light truly embody the spirit of Khan's philosophy at Exeter Academy. As Stephen Holl concisely expresses Architecture is born when actual phenomena and the idea that drives it intersectMeanings show through at this intersection of concept and experience. It is exactly Khan's blending of idea and design that makes this building a model for theoretical execution in design. The following essay will explore the many architectural implementations of Khan's theories from materials, to form, to function and to the Silence and Light. This investigation shall probe the ideology in conjunction with its realization to the approach, the circulation, the enclosure and the details. Additionally, the Library at Phillips Exeter Academy shall be analyzed in relationship to his theories on education, institutions and learning. As the quote I asked the building what it wanted to be has been often attributed to Louis Khan, I shall ask the question, What did Khan want the building to be, and how did he approach this challenge? Institutions and Education Khan believed that Institution stems from the inspiration to live. This inspiration remains meekly expressed in our institutions today. The three great inspirations are the inspiration to learn, the inspiration to meet, and the inspiration for well being. The architecture of Exeter Library captures the essence of these inspirations, offering opportunities for all of them to blossom. Khan continued They all serve, really, the will to be, to express. This is, you might say, the reason for living. It is this inspiration that enlivens the spirits of the students, and motivates them to study and learn. I may suggest then, that if the purpose of the institution lies within the Silence, then its physical materialization becomes the Light. If we assume that the desire to seek truth and universal knowledge is rooted in the Silence, then we may accept the school building to be the Light, more precisely spent light. Khan believed that the first schools emerged from the Silence, from the desire to learn. Schools began with a man under a tree, who did not know he was a teacher, discussing his realization with a few, who did not know they were students. The students aspired that their sons also listen to such a man. Spaces were erected and the first schools began. Since