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Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc.
A leader in publishing for more than a century, Harrison-Keyes, Inc. is a successful company on many fronts. Some of the company's earliest publishing accomplishments included renowned authors, and they still maintain certain author relationships. Finding their niche in the 1950s, Harrison-Keyes selected a viable means for increasing market share by focusing on educational materials. With nearly 23,000 current publications, the company strives for an additional 2000 new titles annually. As with several publishing firms, stiff competition and low-cost retailers are eating into margins and Harrison-Keyes is once again seeking additional venues to increase profits and cut costs (University of Phoenix, 2006).
In the University of Phoenix scenario, Harrison-Keyes recently hired a new CEO, Meg McGill, to "revitalize the company". While there are truly several opportunities to turn around the declining sales and address market share, Meg has focused on one primary factor, e-publishing. With advancing technology, many publishing companies are turning to the option of print once and distribute many. The Harrison-Keyes board of directors has agreed to pursue this venue, and an extensive Gantt chart shows production schedule with critical factors for achieving this lofty goal. It appears that the chart may have been put together from a top-down perspective, as many of the efforts lack cohesiveness. There are a number of critical success factors that must be met in order for Harrison-Keyes to realize the full potential of e-publishing. Other top management needed to be fully supportive of the initiative and strategies aligned. While there are several project opportunities to a ...