Will Technology Save the Publishing Industry free essay sample

The internet has affected newspapers and book publishers in various ways. More so in the past, the internet has had more of a negative effect on newspaper and book publishers. In regards to advertising and people actually reading handheld newspapers and books, there has been a recent decline. But in regards to online news sites and people reading with handheld devices such as an iPad or Kindle, it has increased and grown tremendously. According to Michael Porter’s competitive five forces model, a company must perform each step in the model in the most efficient way possible to achieve the most that they can within the company. This is to add value to the company. Some of the main values to get across in this model are the service, marketing, sales, logistics and operations. The internal environment of a company is also vital to achieve success for the overall company. This includes things such as the various departments, like human resources and the technology departments. Since many companies fail at adding these values to their company it results in an overall loss in profit. Subsequently, the value of actions in the value chain fell short of the values that the companies had to offer. Due to the increase in internet users, there has been a great lack in books and newspapers since the value of the internet exceeds the value of newspapers and books. Personally, hardcover books will always be a personal favorite to myself. However, to the general public, they no longer have the want or need for hardcover books or newspaper subscriptions; because overall, they could be found online for a reduced or free price. Generally, no one cares for hard copies of anything anymore. Essentially, there is no competitive edge in publishing companies. Therefore, the publishing companies have not succeeded in preserving their cost advantage against other competitors, such as the internet. In regards to Porter’s model, a successful company uses the five forces in their industry. Threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of customers and suppliers and the intensity of competitive rivalry are the forces in the model. Failure or loss of profit in a company or industry would come about if one of the forces in the model were used incorrectly. So when using this model, one must be sure that they are using it properly. Seeing as how publishing companies and newspapers have had such a decline, it is safe to say that they have failed to correctly use Porter’s model. Overall this leads to hardships within the industry. In regards to the publishing industry, the internet has been the leading the competitor. Since the internet took over, it is used in replace for newspapers and books. Any information seen online is easier to access and more so free than having to subscribe to newspapers, or going into a store to purchase books. The publishing companies have to find new ways to compete to eliminate their revenue decline. Newspapers and publishers are changing their business models to deal with the internet and e-book technology in various ways. Some of the devices that consumers are using are things like smart phones, iPads and tablets; all which replace newspapers and hardcover books. In regards to newspapers, there made it so that consumers can access their products and reports easier and it’s quicker than going out to buy a newspaper. As well as newspapers, book publishers are also going about by turning their work into digital material making it so that their products can be distributed via online. By online I mean the internet, apps, and online books. Some of the major companies for online books are companies such as Amazon, Google, Kindle, Apple (iBooks) and Google. The most popular types of e-books are Kindles and Google versions. Since newspapers and books are more popular by being accessed online, the costs for any distributions and printing are fundamentally gone. Since most people get there information and the likes via internet, it is a way for publishers to raise revenue by having other companies pay them for using their sites to advertise their products. For instance, Pandora at some point was about to go under until they realized that if companies kept paying them to advertise on the Pandora app and website, it would help them generate revenue since Pandora for the most part is free. Advertising is seen as easy when they can find their target markets and modify their advertisements to fit the customer’s wants and needs. Since the costs of printing and distribution are essentially gone, newspapers and book publishers can now generate revenue online with the help of advertisements. Newspapers and book publishers can take better advantage of the internet in numerous ways. A main way is to take advantage of online applications and devices such as e-books. Digital media seems to be less expensive than anything being printed on paper and having to be distributed, so this would bring about profit to publishers. To benefit from e-books, it will take good marketing strategies and innovation. There are numerous things to enhance e-books such as animation, sounds, pictures and videos. If publishers learn to partner with major companies associated with e-books it can also help generate additional revenue. As long as publishers meet the demands of consumers, they can stay ahead of the industry and basically make a new competitive advantage. They just have to make sure that the e-books are easily accessible, not too expensive, and faster. Essentially, as long as the publishers continue with innovation it be easier for them to get ahead and to also take better advantage of the internet. I believe that technology will be able to save the newspaper and book publishing industries. Technology will help bring back newspapers and books by creating a new market which is a digital one. These publishers need to create a new market and target market. They need to make sure it can be accessed by anyone who is willing to go for this type of market. They must simply alter the way they go about business and create new advertising and fundamentally this will generate new revenues and hopefully will get rid of any unwanted prior costs. Although the paper and printing presses may no longer exist, as long as the publishing industries remain inventive, they can continue to grow as technology begins to take over our lives, and in doing so create a new market.