Business Strategy Formulation for Publishing Company (Case Study: ABC Press)

Abstract

With emergence of technological and social change, rivalry between firms in the publishing industry is becoming more intense. Number of publishers in Indonesia keeps increasing, while switching cost of customer is low. ABC Press is a university publisher that has a volatile revenue, where they experienced revenue decrease in 2016 by 1,73% and in 2019 by 19,36%. Besides that, the business also has not grown much, where the average revenue growth from 2015 to 2019 is only 15,93%. ABC Press needs to formulate and reinvent their business strategy and model to improve their performance, remain competitive and sustainable in the publishing industry. This study uses primary data based on interview with three representatives of ABC Press and examine related secondary data to map the current Business Model Canvas (BMC). Then internal and external analysis is carried out to perform SWOT analysis in BMC, followed by strategy and new BMC formulation. To create value innovation, author used Four Action Framework in the strategy formulation. Cost leadership is deemed as the most appropriate business strategy, which demands ABC Press to conduct process innovation through developed production and distribution methods. Meanwhile, long tail business model combined with multi-sided platform is the appropriate business model, where ABC Press needs to focus on offering large range of niche products through their website as their main platform.