Digital convergence and collaboration culture:

Publishing in the context of the wider creative

industries.

Frania Hall
University of the Arts, London,
London College of
Communication

 Alarming macro-trends
Bhaskar, (2013) The Content Machine

 The Media and Content Industries.

are among the industries that have
been first and heavily hit by the
digital shift
Simon and Bogdanowicz, (2012) JRC
Policy Brief

Changing Industry
Technology changes production and
product
New intermediaries
Prosumers direct to market
Blurring boundaries, format shifts
Consumer behaviour purchasing
patterns and expectation of free
Proliferation of business models &
pioneers

 Media Convergence is more than

simply a technological shift.
Convergence alters the relationship
between existing technologies
industries, markets, genres and
audiences. Convergence alters the
logic by which media companies
operate and by which media
consumers process news and
entertainment.

This presentation
Context for my research the wider
creative industries
Agenda for my research the nature
and style of collaboration within
publishing.
Collaboration here focusing on
digital product development.

Publishing through the lens of

creative industry thinking
1.
2.
3.
4.

4 models of creative industries

Characteristics of creative industries
Similar challenges
Wider creative industry theory,
economics and networks
5. Studying collaborations similarities
and differences
6. What the research will do

 The publishing value chain has

remained relatively consistent since
the invention of the printing press
The traditional value chainis being
disrupted and disintermediated at
every stage
Ray Murray and Squires (2013)

 Technological advance in publishing

has centred around solving supply
Nash (2010)

 In a publishing version of if we build

it they will come publishers
understand that it is no longer
possible, or sensible to continue with
business as usual Tian and Martin
(2011)

 Lacking definition leave publishers

horribly exposed to the whims of
history and technology Bhaskar,
(2013) The Content Machine

 A business about reading and

writing Stephen Page, CEO, Faber
(2011)
Its still a book business and it needs
to become a reader business
Michael Calder (quoted by Sara Lloyd
2009)
Reader-centred business Healy

 We recognize that digital books and

journals at best substitute revenues
previously derived from print
In order to drive growth we need to go
beyond the two dimensional experience
of a digital or standard ebook
Stephen Smith, CEO Wiley, (2013)

 The blurring of roles in the book

industry looks set to continue Healy
2011

Why look at the wider

context?
Creative industries face similar
challenges in digital age
Developing and sharing knowledge
from these other industries
Collaboration appears to be
becoming wider
Understand position and find allies to
transform effectively

Model 1
DCMS
Individual creativity
Wealth creation opportunities
Publishing is a creative content
producer
Ad hoc Flew, (2013)

Model 2
Concentric Circles, Throsby, (2008)
Creativity of created product at the
centre
Production and distribution further
out
Publishing in an outer layer
Centrality of cultural value Flew

Model 3
WIPO
The IP based model
Publishing central
Intellectual property as the
embodiment of creativity UNCTAD,
(2010)

Model 4
Symbolic texts Hesmondhalgh,
(2013)
Cultural texts at the centre
Including those that are engaged in
production and circulation of those
texts
Publishing central
Directly involved in production of
social meaning Flew (2013)

Issues with models

Separation of activities
Going wider - creativity in other industries
The art-commerce relationship
The problems of drawing lines.
The creative industries sit on the cusp of
significant transformation.
Banks and OConnor , (2009)

Characteristics of creative industries

Issues around value, cultural
production and symbolic texts
The art/commerce debate/paradox
Distinctive market behaviours

 Work/experience of labour/working
conditions
Management and organisational
practices

Challenges faced by all

Copyright
Consumer behaviour
Discoverability
Prosumer
New competitor landscape
The democracy of the internet

 The successful organisation flexible

enough to change their means as
rapidly as goals change, under the
impact of fast cultural, technological
and institutional change; and to
innovate as innovation becomes the
key competitive weapon Cassells,
(2010) The Rise of the Network
Society

 In most industries, including the

creative sector, innovation is key to
gaining competitive advantage and
enhancing growth prospects.
Bakhshi and Throsby, (2009)

 Where innovation is critical, the

organisational ability to increase its
sources from all forms of knowledge
becomes the foundation of the
innovative firm Cassells (2010) The
Rise of the Network Enterprise

The phenomenon of new styles of collaboration

New because:
Broader in scope (cross creative
industries)
Entrepreneurial and experimental in
vision
Structurally different: partnership,
shared outcomes, measurement

Study these collaborations to

ascertain:
If they are different
And if they are, do they reflect a
more fundamental change in
structure of the industry
Along the way consider:
Network theory
Innovation theory

Collaborations around
renewal
Explorative: renew their own knowledge
levels
Entrepreneurial: promote invention and
development
Partnerships that are: Future oriented and
flourish in environments with an abundance
of entrepreneurial behaviour, creativity and
innovative strength Kaats and Opheij (2014)

Research approach

Multiple cases approach (6)

Cases when exploring context and phenomenon
Variety of companies in size and publishing sector
Each case stands alone then look for replication in
other cases
Mixed methods approach for each case
Design tests for validity
Feedback loop as develop next case to refine
theory
Underlying processes emerge
Multiple relativist opinions cross-case conclusions

Theoretical frameworks
Specific characteristics of
collaboration within creative
industries
Lens of collaboration
Innovation theory
Network theory
Identity and distributed creativity
theory

To explore
Shared ambition
How everyones interests can be appropriately
served
How working relations are developed,
Organisational behaviour as they plan it out
Behaviour and sensemaking while in action.
What makes a successful collaboration?
How far are they repeatable?
How far are they flexible?
Do they genuinely reflect an industry attempting to
be more nimble around experimentation?

From that will assess:

Are the collaborations definitely
different/new?
If so how?
What is the fit with the other creative
industries?
Is this significant enough to reflect
structural change?

The results
If the results show that there isnt
significant difference in the
collaborations, given the context,
should there not be more movement
towards cross-sector collaboration?

If the results show there is

change..
This may indicate not just that it is a
reflection of structural change but a
driver?
What wider economic/organisational
effects might it have?
And what about the changing
consumer.?
Do they notice (or need to)?
Can we get ahead of the curve?

 About similarities between industries

But also about differences - for
learning and experimentation

 A need to form more partnerships

with sister creative industries
Stephen Page, CEO, Faber (2011)
The model for tomorrow is try
everything, make mistakes, fail, fail
better Neil Gaiman, Author (2013).

 Questions?