The Harrison-Keyes Strategy

The Harrison-Keyes Strategy

  • Submitted By: daddybcat
  • Date Submitted: 12/29/2008 12:18 PM
  • Category: Business
  • Words: 1884
  • Page: 8
  • Views: 468

Harrison-Keyes Strategy
Harrison-Keyes, Inc. (HK) has set about recovering from recent years of publishing industry woes by moving into electronic publishing, which CEO Meg McGill and the Board of Directors consider to be the company’s salvation. However, under McGill’s management, the e-book publishing plan has not gone well. Six months of poor planning, insufficient technical knowledge and resources, and ineffective management of outsourced digital publishing has led to missed deadlines, reduced budgets, and anxious Board members. Sales were projected at $16 million for the period, but the project has only realized $3 million. High profile authors are considering leaving the publisher and employees are moving on to other situations. The Board has decided to remove McGill as CEO in favor of William Guardo, who has 30 years of publishing experience, but little technical understanding and a soft view of e-books. Guardo has expressed an open mind to the possibilities of e-book publishing but has given project manager Jan Peters one month to turn around the problems or face the termination of the e-books effort (University of Phoenix, 2008).
Scope, Time, Resources
Harrison-Keyes lacks the technology and necessary IT resources to implement fully the e-Publishing initiative. The competition has already entered the e-Publishing market; therefore, HK cannot afford to delay the implementation of the new initiative. The company has to develop a clearly defined project plan to implement the e-book strategy.
In order to ensure success, Peters must bring together her team and get all of them to believe in the e-books project. With each department apparently moving in its own direction, a statement of work (SOW) must be developed that will detail the project scope and major deliverables. The SOW “stipulates the deliverables or services required… and it defines the task to be accomplished or services to be delivered in clear, concise and meaningful terms” (Health...

Similar Essays