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Problem Solution: Harrison-Keyes Inc

Introduction
Harrison-Keyes was founded in 1899 and made its early money publishing the works of literary giants. Throughout the years, the company's focus shifted to meet demand and by the mid-1950s, it was regarded as a leading publisher of business, scientific and technical information (University of Phoenix, 2007).
A global publisher of print products, Harrison-Keyes specializes in scientific, technical and business books and journals, professional and consumer books, textbooks and other educational materials for all levels of study. The company holds about 22,700 active titles and publishes about 2000 new titles each year. Harrison-Keyes has suffered the woes plaguing the entire industry. As competition from low-cost retailers eats into profits, publishing companies are finding success or even survival a challenge (University of Phoenix, 2007).
Issue and Opportunity Identification
The first issue is overseas outsourcing to cut down on some costs. There are certain areas of outsourcing business that need consistent attention. Concentrating on these areas will greatly increase control over the course of the outsourced project. The main attraction of outsourcing is its cost benefit element. However, cost is a very deceptive phenomenon. Companies might offer to do projects at very low costs, but there are chances of the initial cost running into a much higher overall cost. To avoid this risk, Harrison Keyes must analyze the scope and price right at the beginning of the project and arrive at a reasonable consensus on cost (Chilli Breeze, 2007).
The second issue is buy-in with customers when it comes to e-book technology. There are several models of e-books ranging from commercial e-books, and print-on-demand. In addition to these, there are agent vendors who package on-line journals, books and sell the database to industry bodies and universities with a mark-up over their cost, incurred for procuring rights. These costs would vary depending on whether...