Readings Description:

McGraw-Hill has introduced a new way of publishing textbooks which may significantly alter the nature of their industry. Their Primis system allows instructors to essentially create their own textbook from a database of chapters, other articles, and even their own materials. The new system requires a re-thinking of the roles of virtually every step in the value-chain of textbook publishing. This redefinition holds important lessons for other industries as well regarding the scope of transformation which may be enabled by IT. Some of these lessons are summarized and generalized in Venkatraman's article on business transformation.

The B and C cases describe, among other things, attempts by other vendors to provide their own customized text book offerings, most notably the Xerox DocuSP platform for digital scanning and printing.

Written Assignment (For those that deferred MM#1):

Put yourself in the shoes of Lynch (or his trusted protégé). The DocuSP seems like a fairly serious potential threat, and other new digital information delivery mechanisms loom just on the horizon.

How well positioned do the you think the Primis system is against the DocuSP platform, and other emerging digital information distribution approaches? What do you think Lynch should do in the future to respond to these threats?

Please prepare a one page memo (350 words) outlining your conclusions and explaining your reasoning.

Study Questions (All students):

Be prepared to answer the following questions in class.

1. What are the competitive dynamics in the traditional textbook publishing business? Where are the competitive threats coming from?

2. What are the cost drivers in the traditional textbook publishing? What does the traditional value chain for book publishing look like? What are some alternative ways to use IT to improve this value chain? What options are there for lowering costs?

3. What is the basic architecture of the IT systems involved in Primis?

4. What are the roles of the editors, authors, and customers in the new system?

5. What is McGraw-Hill really selling? Who is the ÒcustomerÓ? Who has the most power in the new value chain?

6. How does VenkatramanÕs concept of business transformation compare to reengineering?