Books, Bytes and Business: The Promise of Digital Publishing

Bill Martin · Xuemei Tian

Apr 2016 · Routledge

About this ebook

How are businesses responding to global changes in markets driven by changes in technology? Whatever the industry, the trends are familiar: globalization and the rise of industrial conglomerates, mergers and acquisitions, the networking of businesses and markets, outsourcing and shifts in the distribution of resources and production, all reflected in the emergence of new players, new products and services and new forms of competition. As arguably the first knowledge-based business, book publishing provides an ideal setting for the study of challenge and opportunity. The industry is currently experiencing fierce levels of competition, extreme financial pressures, restructuring and the threat of technology-induced obsolescence. Added to these are the challenges posed by new and potential entrants to the market, the emergence of new products and services, new ways of doing business, including trading in virtual markets, and the vulnerability of traditional business models. The suitability of book publishing as a context for researching the emergence of knowledge-based business becomes all too apparent. Through combining primary research with secondary analysis drawn from the relevant literatures, Books, Bytes and Business is both a readable and informative account of business in the knowledge-based economy.

About the author

Professor Bill Martin is formerly Research Director of the School of Business IT at RMIT and is currently attached to the Department of Information Technology and Management at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. He has been active as a consultant in the fields of information and knowledge management, and has published widely in professional and business journals. Dr. Xuemei Tian was formerly employed in strategic management positions at Samsung in both China and Korea. On completion of her master's degree and PhD, she has held teaching positions at various universities in Melbourne. Currently she is employed as a lecturer in eBusiness and IT management at the Department of Information Technology and Management at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia