A PROJECT REPORT ON

Competitive Advantages in the Publishing

Industry: Success through–

Content development Product Life Cycle (PLC) Management Marketing strategies

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMTNT CALCUTTA

Submitted by:

OM S. TRIVEDI

EPSM-02,

ID- 2212245

1

DECLARATION

I, Om S Trivedi, hereby declare that this project report entitled, Competitive Advantages in the Publishing Industry: Success through–

1) Content development 2) Product Life Cycle (PLC) Management & 3) Marketing strategies

is the result of my own efforts. It has not been duplicated from any other earlier works. This report is submitted in partial fulfillment of ‘Executive programme in Sales and Marketing-02’. It has not been submitted to any other university or for any other degree

Date- 08/09/2009 (Om S Trivedi)

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

CALCUTTA

2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Completion of task is never a one-man effort. It is often a result of direct or

indirect valuable contribution of a number of individuals. My project is also a result of that.

The project comes out to be a great source of learning and experience. Hence,

it will be appropriate to thank each and every member of the team of Macmillan Publishers India Ltd, who rendered me all possible help and

assistance in the completion of this project.

I am immensely grateful to Mr. Sunil Patki, Ex. Sales and Marketing head MPIL

and Managing Director, BPI Pvt. Ltd. who has provided me the opportunity of working under his guidance and complete the project at Macmillan Publishers

India Ltd. The completion of this project would have been impossible without his support and guidance.

I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to my very close

friends from the publishing industry, Ms. Anubhuti Jain (Assistant Commissioning Editor- Sage), Ms. Surabhi Khare (Manager, Sponsoring-

McGraw Hill), Mr. Binit Shukla (Area Sales Manager-North, Pearson Education) and Mr. Kunal Sengupta (Territory Manager, Oxford University Press) for

providing all possible help and encouragement, which was the main force behind the execution of different surveys of the project.

I would also like to extend special thanks to my project guide Prof. Prashant

Mishra (Chairman-PGP) and HOD- Marketing under whose able guidance I am

able to complete my project.

Lastly, I would like to thank all my class-mates who have helped me in many ways to complete my project and to all those who have directly and indirectly

contributed towards completion of this project.

(Om S. Trivedi)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Title Page No.

CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

4-5

CHAPTER-2

MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS INDIA LTD- A

PROFILE

6-7

CHAPTER-3

RESEARCH DETAILS

8-11

CHAPTER-4

OBSERVATION AND FINDINGS

12-15

CHAPTER-5

RECOMMENDATION

CONCLUSION

BIBLOGRAPHY

16-17

CHAPTER-6

SWOT ANALYSIS

MARKETING RESEARCH

SYLLABI MAPPING

COST SHEET

Attachment

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INTRODUCTION

INDIAN PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

Publishing and printing industry in India has developed into a highly competitive field. The

INDIAN publishing market is estimated at Rs 20,000 crore. It consists of books, magazines and newspapers. The book market is segmented into education and non-education books market.

Believing in a story and publishing it requires a mix of vision, sound subject knowledge and

business acumen. On one hand a book that hits the drains may cost a publisher all his money.

While on the other hand a hit would definitely mean soaring to the top. Publishers, thus, face a lot of competition and have to undertake project that are high on risk quotient.

Apart from publishers there are other key members of this industry the printers, binders and

paper suppliers who form an indispensable part of the printing and publishing industry. With

time and with the advancement of technologies, publishing and printing has become a purse-

friendly indulgence. Today, the age is arousing to a new beginning of online publishing and

printing which has widened the domain of printing and publishing industry further. India is 7th

largest publisher in world; 3rd largest in English language. Estimated number of titles

published in India last year are 82,537. These are just those which are registered. There are

16,000 publishers, with 1,000 publishing over 50 per annum.

TYPES OF PUBLISHERS

Trade: Most of the books you find at the bookstore and are intended for the general

public. Often divided into "adult trade" and "juvenile trade."

Professional: Books specific to a particular industry or even a particular company.

Textbook: Books specifically targeted at students. This sector is divided into "el-hi"

(elementary and high-school publishers) and "college."

Scholarly: Specialized books, primarily published by the university presses.

Religious: Books published by religious organizations for their members or potential members.

These sections closely resemble the 47 categories developed by the Book Industry

Systems Advisory Committee. The BISAC categories are:

Antiques/Collectibles

Architecture

Art

Biography/Autobiography/

Letters

Business/Economics/Finance

Computer Technology &

Software

Cookbooks & Cookery

Mathematics

Medical/Nursing/Home Care

Music

Nature & Natural History

Occultism/Parapsychology

Performing Arts

Pets & Pet Care

Philosophy

Photography

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Crafts and Hobbies

Current Affairs

Drama

Education & Teaching

Family/Child Care/Relationships

Fiction/Literature

Foreign Language Instruction &

Reference

Games

Gardening & Horticulture

Health & Fitness

History

Home Improvement &

Construction

Humor

Juvenile Fiction

Language Arts

Law

Literary Criticism & Essays

Poetry

Political Science &

Government

Psychology/Psychiatry

Reference

Religion/Bibles

Science

Self-Actualization/Self-Help

Social Sciences

Sports & Recreation

Study Aids

Technology & Industrial Arts

Transportation

Travel & Travel Guides

True Crime

Statistical data of the books published in India from different categories:

60% educational

40% trade, folk, religious, spiritual

25% of titles are published in Hindi

20% of titles are published in English

20,000 Hindi titles

19,000 English

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MACMILLAN PUBLISHERS INDIA LTD

A PROFILE

OUR VISION

“To contribute towards the upliftment of education in India and to provide highest quality education materials”

Market

Education is one of the critical requirements in India today. As the country strives to become

an economic superpower, need for high-quality education, at all levels, will increase.

Macmillan is one of the largest and best-known publishers in the world. It is characterised by

high-quality academic, educational, fiction and non-fiction publishing in many forms:

educational course materials, science, technology and medicine, college textbooks,

dictionaries, monographs and reference materials. A unique player in India’s education market,

Macmillan India enjoys a cutting-edge niche as partner-in-progress in the socio-economic

development of the country. It is in this field that Macmillan's flame burns the brightest –

publishing educational books and materials for over 100 years.

The company has the distinction of continuity in India’s fragmented educational market –

which is also amongst the largest and the fastest growing in the world. India has a million

schools however, a large part of the school market is closed to private publishers since the

state governments themselves publish books for state board schools. It is hoped that state-

level educational publishing will be opened to private publishers in due course. This would be a

huge and an exciting opportunity. The Indian publishing community consists of over 5,000

publishers but major and organised players are few.

Macmillan India has over 2,500 titles in its list and has played a significant role in the growth

and success of Indian writing. The company has relationships with over 15,000 schools all over

India and with its 23 offices and showrooms, possibly the widest all-India network.

As a major player in providing typesetting, data coding and conversion and editorial services to

publishers globally, Macmillan has been a pioneer in the information technology-enabled

service (ITES) space. It started its export-oriented typesetting operations in 1975. Mainly

British and European publishers have driven the market so far but now US publishers are

looking actively at outsourcing to India. This will have a positive impact on the current export

market estimated to be around Rs 8,000 million (US$ 181.82 million) (Source: Industry

estimates). Macmillan employs 3,354 staff with about 1,500 in the ITES activity.

Macmillan also offers web-based solutions and IT services to publishers globally through its

dedicated software services unit ‘emacmillan’. The market opportunities for this sector, too,

are growing rapidly.

With a company-owned press in Chennai delivering high-quality production, Macmillan has

possibly the best editorial resources in the country. It focuses on publishing innovative, need-

based, stimulating and enlightening books, which are true companions to teachers and students.

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Achievements

It is probable that almost every child in India who has studied in a public school in the

last 100 years or so has studied from some Macmillan India book. Macmillan is

synonymous with high-quality educational publishing and is the first choice of discerning

school teachers and principals.

The company has also made a mark in higher education, particularly in the areas of

management and has published enduring best sellers like Shiv Khera's ‘You Can Win’,

‘Living with Honour’ and ‘Freedom is not Free’ – having sold more than a million copies.

Macmillan has won 25 awards for excellence in publishing and production in the last five

years. The company has also won the Capexil Award for highest exports in its category

continuously for the last 22 years. The company is rated amongst the top 200 most

valuable companies and also amongst the fastest growing small-size companies in India

(Source: Business Today).

Brand Values

Macmillan is a top brand worldwide and has been a leader in its category for over 150

years. In India Macmillan symbolises high-quality educational materials. It has been the

original publisher of some of the world’s greatest authors – Lewis Carroll, Lord

Tennyson, Henry James, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, H G Wells, John Maynard

Keynes, Margaret Mitchell, WB Yeats and Rabindranath Tagore.

The Macmillan India slogan ‘Redefining Learning’ symbolises the innovative, customer-

focused and forward-looking spirit of the company.

www.macmillanindia.com

www.macmillan-india.com

Business focus:

Macmillan India publishes a wide range of books for schools, colleges, individual buyers,

corporates and academic books for reference and research. The company issues approximately

250 new titles each year and has evolved a large number of new Indian authors.

The company's titles include books which have been selling for more than 50 years like

Nesfield’s Grammar, Hall & Knight and Loney’s Mathematics books. Also included in its list are

a wide range of dictionaries and encyclopaedias.

The company views its social responsibilities seriously. All books are thoroughly reviewed and

processed to ensure they are accurate and the right message and content is passed on to

young learners. Not surprisingly, it was chosen by UNICEF as a critical partner in the

publication of the ‘Meena’ books – a venture of high social impact aiming at empowering the

underprivileged girl child.

Macmillan India has been a pioneer in e-learning and runs two web-based portals, one on

English Language Teaching and the other on Executive Development Programmes on

important and emerging management areas. These are in association with premier institutes

like IIM Calcutta, MDI Gurgaon and IIT Delhi. In the Information Processing sector, the

company primarily offers IT and IT-enabled services, though occasionally also develops

software products for the international publishing community.

Distribution network:

National Distributors: 128

Sub-Distributors : 205

Retailers : 2635

Branches:

The company has one of the largest networks of branches and showrooms, employing over

3,354 staff across 23 locations in India. MPIL has four VP offices in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and

Mumbai and MD’s office in Bangalore. MPIL’s head office is in Chennai.

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RESEARCH OUTCOME

TOPIC OF THE RESERCH:

Competitive Advantages in the Publishing Industry: Success through

1) Content development

2) Product Life Cycle (PLC) Management

3) Marketing strategies

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:

A strong correlation exists between the PLC management and marketing strategies of a

Publishing company. There are clear indications that after opening of the Indian economy, to

achieve a higher degree of integration with the world economy, it is imperative that the Indian

Publishing becomes globally competitive.

This study is to find steps, plans, strategies and implementation procedures on the competitive

advantage of the Publishing Industry in India. The position will be gauged by the following

resources and capability parameters:-

Availability of Content (Text or Reference)

Editorial Capabilities

Product Life Cycle Management

Customer base, addition, retention and satisfaction

Brand Equity

Cost-effective Print-run

Pricing model

O/I and DSO

Financial health of the Firm

Sales and Marketing Strategies

Market Share and revenue

Special Publishing Project

ISSUES:

How to take competitive advantages at product development stage?

How to obtain the leadership position in any product category?

Challenges related to segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Product: A Textbook on Security Analysis and Portfolio

Management

Time: 6 Months

Sampling procedure: Simple random sampling technique will be used.

Sample design: Focus is to interview the people from the publishing

industry, distributors and doing in-house research.

Sample size: 12 books and 50 people.

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RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

Publishing related reports and data, being published by various research agencies, publishers

& bookstore associations and independent researchers worldwide. It includes the collection of

Secondary data from the sources like Annual reports, Gazette of India, CII, FICCI, Yellow

pages, Marketing white books and various other reports published on website. The Primary

data will be collected through typical questionnaires, personal interviews, open- ended

questions, motivation research and various other observation techniques.

ANALYSIS OF DATA: The data was analyzed through different statistical tools like

percentage, charts using Microsoft Excel.

RESEARCH DESIGN: Descriptive research design has been adopted. Quantitative approach

for primary data collection has been used. Some secondary data collected from publishers has

been used.

A PROJECT MODEL OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES IN PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

Resources

Distinctive Competencies

Capabilities

Cost Leadership

Or

Differentiation

Value Creation

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ACTION PLAN TO TAKE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

COMMISSIONING

Need List

Best-Case Scenario/What-ifSales/Marketing

Call Reports

Leads

Primary Evaluation

Rejects

Call Reports

Comm. Editors

BPF/TOC/Sample Chapters

Syllabi Research/Syllabi MappingContent Research

Market Research/Marketing StrategiesCompetition Analysis/SWOT Analysis

Initial Reviews

1st P & L

Complete Reviews

Author Contract

Reworked MS

Cover design

NBI

Pub Plan;@ Year

PEF

Costing

2nd P & L Transmittal to Dev. desk

Rejects

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Cover design

NBI2nd P & L

Transmittal to Dev. desk

DEVELOPMENT

Development Editor

Syllabi Research Review Analysis

Competition Analysis

CopyeditingPhoto Research

Permissions

Gold/Platinum Reviews

3rd P & L

Supplements/CD ROM

ADV PROMO COPIES(Cover, ToC, sample

chpters)

Template/stylesheet

Final Manuscript with Stylesheet

Comm Editor

Production Editor

Manufacturing

Sales & Marketing

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OBSERVATION AND FINDINGS

Why a title on Security Analysis and Portfolio Management?

Huge market potential and very few books by Indian authors on this topic.

Compulsory paper for all the MBA and PGDBM (Finance) courses and taught at UG & PG

levels in the universities.

2 courses on SAPM are compulsory for PG students in Autonomous and Ivy-League

Institutions.

Textbook for Certification course of BSE as well AMFI Several Institutions run separate Diploma courses on SAPM.

Total Market Size in India & SAARC 1,80,000 (approx.).

Target Segment:

Primary Market: Core Textbook for PGDM and MBA (Finance)

Secondary Market: Core Textbook for M Com at university level.

Tertiary Market: Reference book for working professionals in Finance sector

NCFM and Certification course of BSE as well AMFI Market Research and Content Research:

Attached is the form of MS Excel Sheet (Market Research for Security Analysis and

Portfolio Management). Attachment - I

SWOT Analysis:

Attached is the form of MS Excel Sheet (Market Research for Security Analysis and

Portfolio Management). Attachment - II

Syllabi Mapping:

Attached is the form of MS Excel Sheet (Market Research for Security Analysis and

Portfolio Management). Attachment - III

Cost Leadership:

Attached is the form of MS Excel Sheet (Cost Sheet for Security Analysis and Portfolio

Management). Attachment - IV

Editorial Capabilities:

4 Commissioning Editors

4 Development Editors

6 Copyeditors

3 Production Editor

2 designing experts

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Product Feature: Exhaustive and comprehensive coverage of all topics on investment, security analysis

and portfolio management

Step by step discussion of the function of stock market, depository and derivatives

market

Detailed coverage of money market, financial services, capital market and derivatives

trading – stock, index, currency, commodity and interest rate derivatives

Practical approach to derivatives and their valuation using Binomial and Black Scholas

approach

Anatomy of recent financial crisis and sketch of Lehman Brothers’ failure

Financial engineering – securitization, reverse mortgage, auction rate debentures, ETF

and others

Technical analysis using real life stock market data by depicting MACD, ROC, RSI,

Support and Resistance level of market in case study approach

Case studies on technical analysis, interest rate theorem, random walk hypothesis,

portfolio management.

Presentation about Haridas Mundra, Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh scams supported

by concepts and anatomy.

Expanded glossary of most commonly used investment and portfolio management

terms.

SAPM’s USP in General:

Instructors’ Manual

Box items mentioning some interconnected interesting facts

Illustrations

Photographs-Events, Famous Scholars, Architecture, etc.

Maps, Graphs and Data-sets

Critical thinking or Let’s Ponder over boxes

Analytical Questions, Notes and Glossary

Financial Scams in India since 1947

References, Bibliography

Author’s Profile: Dr. Dhanesh Kumar Khatri, MBA, Ph. D. (Finance), PGDFM, has over SIXTEEN years of

teaching experience in MBA and postgraduate programmes. Beginning his career with the

Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd., Mumbai (SHCIL) in the year 1989, has had a vast

exposure to practical aspects of money market and capital market operations with special

focus on the functioning of depository system for four years. At present he is designated as

Associate Professor – Finance, Head Department of Finance at Institute of Management

Studies, B J S Rampuria Jain College, Bikaner. His first book titled “Investment Management

and Security Analysis” was published in 2006 (reprint in 2007 and 2008). He is visiting

professor,Institute of Agri Business Management, RAU, Bikaner; Faculty of Management

Studies, MLS University, Udaipur; Faculty of Management, JECRC, Jaipur; ICAI Bikaner

Chapter, and many other institutions. His articles on contemporary issues, research on capital

market and money market have been published in leading journals. He is continuously

engaged in the research work and completed two minor research projects sponsored by UGC

and also organized one national level seminar sponsored by UGC. At present seven candidates

are pursuing their Ph. D. degree under his guidance. He is continuously engaged in the

research work on capital market and money market.

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Production and Printing Quality: State-of-the-Art prepress systems

Best in production quality

Company owned press in Chennai

Sales and Marketing Strategy:

Sales Team:

Revenue Targets

Universities on radar to achieve Maximum Sales Targets:

IIMs- Core Paper for PGP students, Executive Programmes and online courses

Ivy league Institutions- Core Paper in MBA (Fin) and PGDM courses

All other Universities and Technical Universities teach this subject as a Core paper

Semester on Focus:

Tech. Univ. – Odd Sem. (3rd ) for MBA (Finance) as a Core paper

PGDM - 5th trimester as core paper

IIMs- 4th trimester as core paper.

Region 2009 2010 2011

North 1500 cps 2000 cps 3000 cps

South 1500 cps 2000 cps 3000 cps

West 1000 cps 1500 cps 2000 cps

East 500 cps 1000 cps 2000 cps

Total (In Units) 4500 cps 6500 cps 10000 cps

Net Price/unit 312.5 312.5 312.5

Total (In Rs.) 14,06,250 20,31,250 31,25,000

Senior V P

V P (West)

V P (East)

V P (North)

V P (South)

R M (North)

R M (South)

R M (East)

R M (West)

7 Sales Reps

12 Sales Reps

6 Sales Reps

8 Sales Reps

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Coverage Plan and Sampling Strategy:

Category No. of Inst.

Mgt. Inst 2200

IIMs 14

Ivy League 100

Universities with PG (Commerce) 326

Total 2640

Coverage of 40% of the institutions of India and SAARC countries in the 1st year, 40%

during 2nd year and 20% during 3rd year of publishing of the title.

The coverage will be 100% by the time book is due for revision and for the next edition.

Sampling plan for 80% of the institutions covered during the year 2009.

Each sales rep. will be accountable for sampling of 25 titles of the new title,

immediately after the title is published.

All the library suppliers to be covered for push sales in the libraries.

Promotional Efforts:

Book jackets to be mailed to all 36 sales reps, RMs, VPs and branch managers. Mailing of Promotional brochures to 2,500 faculty members of Finance of B-schools

across the country. Mailing of Promotional brochures to 3,500 libraries across the country. Mailing of Promotional brochures to all distributors, sub-distributors, retailers and

library suppliers. Centralized sampling of books to all the references provided by the author. Book launch at 15 seminars and conferences across the country.

Supply Chain Management:

Huge network of supply chain operators.

The books are made available at all the locations, showrooms, branches and

distributors within 10 days of release.

Books are available with retailers within 15 days of release.

Best courier services of the country are available for timely supply of books at prime

locations.

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RECOMMENDATION

PROPER MARKET RESEARCH

DELIGENT SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING

PRUDENT NEED AND GAP ANALYSIS

BETTER SYLLABII COVERAGE

AUTHOR WITH GOOD AFFILIATION

CONTINUITY BETWEEN CHAPTERS

ORGANISATION OF TEXT MATERIAL

NON INCORPORATION OF PERSONAL VIEWS

ATTRACTIVE COVER

AGGRESSIVE SALES TEAM

TIMELY ADOPTIONS

BETTER QUALITY PROMOTION MATERIALS

CONCLUSION

As part of my project, I had worked on topic titled ”Competitive Advantages in the Publishing

Industry: Success through Content development, Product Life Cycle (PLC) Management And

Marketing strategies”. To be more specific through this I concentrated to understand different stages of

product development, editorial research and development, costing of the project and sales and marketing

strategies. The preparation process of this project , gave me immense opportunities to bridge the gap

between customers’ expectations and the services provided by the publishers. I also did sample surveys

to understand the inside story of the publishing industry. The surveys and analysis are based on facts

and figures collected from Macmillan India Ltd and different publishers.

I tried to analyse the facts through which an organization can take a competitive advantage on a

particular product. It is really a dynamic situation where we need to understand the real threats and

create products with competitive advantage.

Through its huge infrastructure, good research potential and sound financial position, Macmillan

Publishers India Ltd. is able to take a competitive advantage in the industry with best of its product line.

However, at the same time, MPIL needs to put more focus on the sales and marketing department for

aggressive market penetration setting more benchmarks for the publishing Industry.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marketing research: By Naresh K. Malhotra

Product Manager’s handbook: By Gorchels

60 years of Publishing Industry in India: By J. Malhotra

Marketing research:

By Churchill and Brown Competitive Startegy:

By Michel Porther

Financial management:

By Smart and Megginson

www.macmillanpublishers.com

www.google.com

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