Harrison-Keyes Solution

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

Brett Bartels

January 23, 2008

MBA 590

Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.

Harrison-Keys is an established publisher of scientific, technical and business books and journals, professional and consumer books, textbooks, and other educational materials. The company’s success has historically relied on the publishing of well-known authors. Over the years, however, the company’s focus has shifted to publishing business, scientific, and technical information. Recently, the publishing industry as a whole has suffered from the rise of low-cost retailers. Survival in the industry is challenging and Harrison-Keys (HK) has attempted to meet changing demands by formulating a plan to establish e-book offerings (Harrison Keyes Scenario, 2008). In the following paper, issues and opportunities facing Harrison-Keyes will be presented, a problem statement proposed, and end-state goals defined. Four alternatives for Harrison-Keyes will be proposed and narrowed. The risks associated with the narrowed list of alternatives will be explored and an optimal solution will be proposed. Finally, an implementation plan will be defined and the evaluation metrics presented.

Describe the Situation

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Five major issues and opportunities are present in the HK scenario. First, HK has hired a new CEO that does not support the e-book effort. Bill Guardo was hired in place of Meg McGill to deal with the reoccurring problems associated with HK. Bill has extensive experience in the industry but is not a supporter of the e-book project. Bill has given Jan one month to turn around the failing e-book project. Every project needs to be evaluated for its contribution to the organization’s strategic plan (Gray & Larson, 2005). HK can use the new CEO’s experience to guide the company to success. If the e-book project cannot be salvaged and revitalized, the project may be terminated and ultimately save the company the time and financial resources that would be better used for another initiative.

A second issue that HK must face is the lack of a contingency plan. Risk is inevitable when executing a project. Developing a contingency plan that can identify, minimize, and respond to events is crucial to the success of a project (Gray & Larson, 2005). Coastal floods occurring in India greatly affected Asia Digital, the digitizing company that HK has employed. A timeline for Asia Digital’s recovery is unknown. Already, HK is four weeks behind schedule due to Asia Digital missing critical deadlines. HK can take advantage of this situation and terminate its relationship with Asia Digital. A more experienced and reliable company can be found for digitizing the works in order to eliminate many of the problems associated with the Asia Digital relationship. Additionally, HK’s staff will be forced to come up with a contingency plan to deal with situations such as this as they arise.

A 20% budget cut is another issue that HK must deal with. Originally $3 million was available for the e-book project but with the budget cut, the e-book implementation team must work with substantially less. Approximately one third of the budget has already been used for the project and hiring a marketing consultant. “Because perfect planning doesn’t exist, some contingency funds should be agreed upon before the project commences to cover the unexpected” (Gray & Larson, p. 437, 2005). HK did not plan for the budget constraint that now threatens the success of the e-book project. HK’s staff will be forced to work with the reduced budget in order to launch the e-book project. The opportunity for HK’s implementation team however, is to revise the budget and ensure contingency reserves are included. The budget can also be examined to ensure resources are being used wisely.

A fourth issue affecting HK is the failed marketing tactics. HK’s team hired a consultant that specialized in marketing products such as e-books. The consultant recommended electronic marketing tactics that have largely failed. Original market research showed that the e-book project would result in sales however, this research is being viewed now as insufficient. Periodic monitoring of the effects of the marketing campaign could have provided an early indicator that the actual effects of the campaign were not reflective of the expected (Gray & Larson, 2005). Marketing efforts have also been split between the e-book project and a major book campaign. HK can work to redefine the original market research in order to target a more applicable