Robin Ash and Printzof Press

Printzhof Press
Most important division of EEH Published college level textbooks Accounted for 35% of EEHs 2010 revenue Accounted for 43% of net earnings before taxes Most prestigious textbook publisher in country

History of Printzof Press

Eric Nyren founded in 1948 Nyren emphasized the importance of treating everyone-employees, customers and suppliers with decency and respect Vision - to promote educational excellence Company focused on long term relationship than short term profits Became market leaders

Higher education publishing after World War II

GI bill altered societal belief about college education 2.4 million enrolments in 1947 -> 17.5 million in 2005 Publishers started to provide educational experience that suited students expectations Ancillaries- study guides for students and test banks for instructors

 Students responded positively to multimedia presentations in class rooms Advent of internet based learning aids and self testing programs in 1990s Custom publishing programs resulted in course specific texts for students

Effects on Printzof Press

Printzhof Press was slow to respond to changes in the higher education publishing market Failed to adapt to the customer requirements or demands By 1992 growth declined considerably Nygren Earnest decided to sell the company to EEH

Printzof Press as a subsidiary of EEH

Initially Printzof Press performed well in financial terms But lack of ancillary package to support textbooks impacted the company No. of profitable first editions decreased from 14% in 1992 to 11% in 1995 Several Printzof schools switched to other publishers Signing new authors became difficult

Concerns of top managers at EEH

Salaries and administrative cost at Printzof Press were very high Printzof Press was not adapting to external environment Other companies began producing eBooks, eliminating raw materials, manufacturing cost etc. Printzof Press was not serious about this

Robin Ash as COO of Printzof Press

Part of EEH for 11years and was a rising star In her assignment at Charlottes Play, she managed quarterly growth of 3 to 4% In her next assignment at Print Play she was able to increase employee satisfaction by 19% Under her leadership revenue and net earnings of Print Play increased substantially These success at Charlottes Play Space and PrintPlay gave her a chance to head Printzof Press

Cultural and Business challenges

Culture at Printzof Press
Non- adaptive culture All employees were given good ratings regardless of performance More levels of hierarchy

Business scenario:
External competitive environment Public complaints against textbook costs Government regulations New competitors entering market

How organisational culture affects the performance?

Organisational Culture
Culture creates organizational climate that enables learning and innovative response to challenges or new opportunities A strong culture that encourages adaption and changes enhances organisational performance Creating and influencing an adaptive culture is very important The right culture can drive high performance Strong culture that dont encourage adaption hurt the organization

 When organisation becomes successful the values, ideas and practises that helped attain success become institutionalized As environment changes these values become detrimental to future performance Printzof Press become victim of their own success clinging to outmoded and destructive values and behaviours Healthy cultures provides smooth internal integration and also encourages adaption to external environment

Adaptive vs. Non-Adaptive culture

Main challenges in front of Ash

Ash had to get Nygren and Kross on board with the changes that need to be made in the organisation culture and operations Responsible to make employees move more quickly and in new direction Product development Change the laid back attitude in the employees

Recommendations
Printzof Press needs to move to an adaptive culture
Company should focus more on new opportunities Environment should be competitive

Company needs to focus on product development.

E.g.: From 2009 e-texts market increasing by 50% YOY Competitors are focussing more on ancillary products

Performance evaluation
Rating scales should be created with measurable performance targets Rather than ratings employees should be ranked based on performance

Thank You