case study is attached

1. What technological changes have occurred in the publishing environment during the case? 2. Who are the major competitors throughout the case and how did they react? 3. What competitive strategy does E. B> follow (use generic strategies and strategic clock) 4. Has this strategic position changed since the business model changed? s. How might blue ocean strategy have influenced the new strategy? reference and accelerate activity ia the Instead of getting mired Todsy bncyclopardia Initannica is grow K-12 market, Liloe many disroptive innoing on al measurest revenue, margins, staff, vations, Wikipedla was of lower quality if in a competition with contert, and reach. We must be ready to it were a video, if would be grainy and out Wikipedia, we focused adapt and quick to innovate we must stay of focus. But consumers didn't care about that, because Wildipedia has a vat number on editorial quality. of entries and easy, free acoess. We couldr't compete on quantity or price. Did we be. lieve that consumers preferred our referSo instead of getting mired in a eoen- cess for soliciting and using community in- players will get disfugted, not us. petition with wikipedia, we focused on jut to enlance encyclopedia entries. There are no gaarantees, of course, but editocial quality with Britannica Online and By the time Wikipedia took off, we Iraconfilent in Encydopordin Alritannica's used Wikipedia's quantity-over-quality weren't bead-to-bead competitors any- ability to endure in the digital age. That's approach and its chronic unreliability as more. We maintain a wotld-chass reference becaase our people have always kept the differentiators in oar favor. We knew that source with 500,000 houpebold subscrib- mission separate from the medium, which Britannica's long-standing missien to ens, and we talke a dearly differentiated ap- has allowed the company to handle one bring expert, fact based knowiedge to the proach to informing pociety, but we're no competitive threat after another. As long beneral public met an enduring beed for loeger an encyclopedia-only company. as Ive been bere, I've felt that may job was, society. This resonated deeply in the eduatlon market dit's now standard practice Coming Disruptions sion and ro develop and apply business defot teachers to instruct shudents not to rely Over the past flve years, we've seen 17%4 cisions that suppott it. on Wildpedia as a reference source), and it compound annual growth in our digital Even now, a year after the last bound belped boost sales these. Today more than education services business and a 95% re- volumes of the Encyclopardia Aritannice half af U.S. students and teachers bave ac- newal rate, while sales of the print wersion were sold, people ask if we would seconcrss to seme Aritannica conteat, and glot- of the encyclopediasteadily declined, from sider and perbaps print limited editions ally we're growing even more rapidly. 6,000 in 2006 to about 2,200 in 2011 . Pro- as a kind of iconic collector's inen. The anPartof this effort was anaggessive over- ducing the bound vohumes wase't passing swer is no. We don't want to be like an old haul of our editorial operation, a propect we. basic cost-benefit analysis. It was, frankly, actor trying to hold oa to his youth. You get called Britannica 21. We engaged teams of a pain. In February 2012 the management on with the times, and our times are digischolars around the world in a wide range team had to make a call-either get the tal Some people may be nostalgic, but it of disciplines to review, revise, and refresh next fovired peinting undes way, with all makes no sense for us to ptint books. As an the encyclopedia's content. We changed the work that would entail, or bring the organination, we're over it, of cur editcrial metabotism so that we could printeditice to anend. We chose the latter. HEh heprint hasasa sales fell to 51,000 in 1994 and to juga 3000 | editorial investment. With our busibess / educators wanted ptoducts that tacluded in 1996 , whenl arrived. This was purely the declining, we could easily have jastified assesament tools and that supported incompany's mot vulnctalie time. eliminating long-tenured editoes from a dividualized of "differentiated learning cout perspective. Pat eclitorial quality has for various grade and reading lenels. We Radical Change alwiys been intrinslc to our valbe propcoi-. knew we had the brand and the editoBritannica was sold to the Swiss inves- tion, and we knew that it woeld continue fial resources to meet this need. We save a market shifts, we had to make several ma- market would have further debilitated icurricuhum specialists in every key departjor transformations that would ultimately Bncyclopacdia Eritannica, and perhaps 1 ment of the company cditorial, product cost teas of miflions of dollars. The most wooldn't be writing this. leat internet ac: developenent, and maeketing. painful obe involved changing the way we. cess exploded, as we had expected (and as bad as our timing had been with cosold our products. The Britannica direct- boped, and the bleseit threat to our coen- RoM, it couldn't have been better for the males force was at the center of the basiness fasy, the CD.ROM, was itself disupted by deciulon ao focus on leazning petoducts, be structure, the vast majority of company online access, jast when we needed it tobe: cause socmething had arrived that acoul ul. revenue catne from this door-to-door army Britannica was allle to reestabliah a steong timately remake the consamer market for that fanned out across the world, But that direct relationship with connumers, and reference infoemation: wikipedia. sales method had become obsolete, so eur digital subsicription beatiness took off. we decided to abandon it and adogt ceher forms of direct masketing We dismantled Our Blggest Opportunity I had been following waipedia silnce the that part of the businesi in my fant months (Oar next two major ventures ont the inter- launch of its parest peoject, Nupedia, ia on the jot. net-a free, ad-suppoited conaumer ency 2000 . At the time, I thought Nupedia was As we changed our sales focus to drect clopedia and a miscoectived learning por- going powhere, because it was tryezeg to do marketing, we tested parice points on the tal for K-12 schools-ultimately bombed, exactly the same thing that fritansica was, CD-ROM encyclopedia and realised that bat they allowed as to see that the internet and I knew how much editorial soaff and our original peice was toohigh. Leve many was a far mote favorable place to do busi- budget ir took to do that. Nupedia didn't content producers, we had assigaed avalue nesthan CD.ROM had been. Mangins wete bave them. to our prodact oa the basia of content and much betiet, and we didn't have to offer When Nupedia adopted the wiki techproductioa costs. But customers were hage discounts towin basinest. Whea 1 be- nology and became vikipedia the followcharging. They could bet "gosd enoegh" came president, in aoos. I sought to trans- ing yeat, it seemed to me like aa act of descontent for much les - sometimes free. Iorm thecompany once apain in light of the peratien. Aeedless to ay, its success was a Within months we dropped the poice froen opportunities that widenpead internet ac- surpeise, not only to me, but to everyone St,2oo to lesa than $1,000, then to $150, cess opened up tous. Fve taliend to about it. As Wikipesiars artiand eveatually to less than $100. What my itaff and 1 reallaed was that clm, contributoes, and viaitoes skyrocketed We began seeking new online revenue we needed to go bejond reference prod- in aumber, and Googles search alporitha sources from subscriptioas and advertis- bcts and develop a full-fledged learning continued to tevard the site with top placeing, and we tapped reiellers such as AoL. buslies., Our growing K-12 cesteener hase ment, I understood that this was another to bring the CD-RDM encyclopedia to new helped us by telling as what it needed; af-. game charser for fncydopandia Biritannica. consumer channels. Because our bicand fordable lessons and learning materials, But far from creating panic, Wikipedia's and the quality of our products were tec- linked to the cunicalum, that cocild be success actually reinforced our strategic agnioed and appreciated by educatoen, we. ased in chassrocims and at home. These decision to reduce teliance on consamer focused on selling subseriptions to firitan: nica Online to colleges and later to the K-12 manket as they cime online Though we were hraded in the right. to whiper ten in ourcompetilisanasaint some customers could get "good the free Fncacta. During this period there