Case Study: Marketing Analysis of Harvard Xerox Book in Time 9,599 119

Marketing analysis of Harvard Case Study (Xerox Book in Time) #9-599-119

It is simply a matter of costs. The Book-in-Time equipment allows for a publishing company to produce a 300-page book for $7, something which could have been previously reached only for lots larger than 1,000 copies. A significant decrease in publishing costs, given the fact that these cover up to 20% (including the paper and binding the book), would create the possibility of an increased profit margin.

The Book-in-Time solution provided by Xerox is one of the most efficient solutions for publishing companies running on-demand, short-books. The reason for this is provided by the fact that the Xerox solution is able to provide a cost-advantage on this segment of consumers.

Further more, if we look at Table E, providing an analysis of the on demand conversion potential, several long-runs can be targeted by the equipment Xerox provides. Subscription references, for example, have a 100% conversion potential (on the other hand, they only have 1% of the overall market). College textbooks, the university press and professional textbooks all have a 50% demand conversion potential.

So, in order to be able to estimate the market size for the Book-in-Time, one needs to take into consideration the conversion potential, in addition to the actual number of books. In this sense, we may estimate the on demand market to around 600.000 books per year.

3. Basically, Xerox has two separate options at this point, given the performances of the Book-in-Time and these were clearly expressed by the senior managers at Xerox.

The first option refers to sticking with what Xerox does best, printing and copying and delivering exclusively the product itself. This would mean selling the Book-in-Time equipment to all those elements of the value chain that may be interested, including publishers and book printers.

The main advantage such an option provides is the fact that it allows Xerox to operate on a market it fully knows and controls. As we have seen from the case study, Xerox has already gained an edge over IBM, the main competitor, and the invention and development of the Book-in-Time system will bring a new product on the market, an innovation that could significantly reduce the publishing costs, consolidating Xerox's position and market share.

The second advantage we may… [END OF PREVIEW]