Business Model Sustainability in Book Publishing

Xuemei Tian • Bill Martin

Published online: 14 March 2012

� Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Abstract In an earlier paper (Tian and Martin in Publ Res Q 27(3):230–246,

2011) we identified ongoing developments in business models for book publishing

consequent upon changes in such areas as those of organizational structure and

culture, technology, publishing and the marketplace. However, it was already clear

that book publishing, like every other industry would have to face up to the incipient

challenges posed by the growing global phenomena of organizational sustainability

and corporate social responsibility. Clearly this would require a response of a dif-

ferent order than before, not least in view of the greatly expanded range of potential

factors involved. Our treatment of sustainability addresses two main themes: sus-

tainability in the context of global concerns about resource depletion and destruction

of the biosphere, and organizational sustainability in the at times adversarial rela-

tionship between profit seeking and good corporate citizenship. This paper begins

with a look at some of the key terminology around sustainability in order to rein-

force its relevance and applicability to the publishing industry. This necessarily

limited treatment is confined to four key concepts namely: corporate sustainability,

corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and corporate measurement

and reporting. We then present some evidence for industry response to the princi-

ples and practical challenges of sustainability and relate these to implications for the

design of appropriate business models. Finally we model the ongoing process of

business model innovation for sustainability in book publishing.

Keywords Book � Business model � Corporate governance � Corporate social

responsibility � Corporate measurement and reporting � DRM � Publishing �Sustainability

X. Tian (&) � B. Martin

Faculty of Higher Education, Swinburne University of Technology, Lilydale, VIC 3140, Australia

e-mail: stian@swin.edu.au

B. Martin

e-mail: wjmartin@swin.edu.au

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Pub Res Q (2012) 28:100–115

DOI 10.1007/s12109-012-9258-3

Sustainability

Although issues to do with the social responsibilities of business have quite a

lengthy pedigree, the notion that businesses should respond to the needs of

communities well beyond those comprised of their shareholders really took root

during the 1990s. By then there was broad acceptance of the argument that ethical

and socially responsible business could also be profitable business and with this, of

the need for a range of reporting mechanisms to ensure transparency and

effectiveness in social accountability. Corporate sustainability essentially involves

adoption of a holistic and systems-based approach that promises the creation of

long-term value for the organization by incorporating economic, environmental and

social dimensions into its corporate values, strategies, core business decisions,

operations and relationship management. More widely, it involves the efficient use

of resources and the generation of wealth so as to contribute to a healthy economy,

society and natural environment. This can be presented in terms of a Triple Bottom

Line (TBL) strategy: economic ensuing that the organisation is financially

sustainable, social ensuring that internally it creates a supportive and developmental

environment for staff and externally meets the legitimate expectations of key

stakeholders, and environmental ensuring that it eliminates any negative impacts on

the natural environment and actively contributes to the health of the biosphere [3].

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Although it is still hard to come up with a universally accepted definition of CSR, it

seems clear that two things have happened to the construct over the past 20-odd

years. First, it has transitioned from being perceived as a philanthropic activity to its

current status as a strategic contributor to company value. Second, this core

construct is perceived variously in relation to specific stakeholders. For present

purposes these developments can be summarized in terms of a genuine effort by

business to combine changes in ethical behaviour and corporate governance with

improvements to both public image and overall business performance. The

emergence of CSR represents a kind of social contract between business and

society, and one in which real business benefits can be obtained. The recently

published Blacksun research report recorded dramatic growth in acceptance of

corporate social responsibility among FTSE 100 companies in the U.K. in the period

2006–2011, with 97% of them including coverage of corporate responsibility in

their annual reports. In addition, 56% of companies were integrating corporate

social responsibility into group strategy, a figure that was up from 36% in 2010 [40].

Corporate Governance

Corporate governance refers to the mechanisms and frameworks necessary for

corporate decision-making, mechanisms that direct and monitor firm effectiveness

[2]. Like governance more generally, corporate governance integrates the three

elements of effectiveness, legitimacy, and security, principles that are concerned

fundamentally with how and in whose interests a firm is run. From a CSR

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perspective, concerns with mission, ownership and management mandate the

accommodation of competing corporate interests for the wider good of society, for

the organisation and for the planet as a whole [3].

Corporate Measurement and Reporting

Performance measurement and its reporting remain essential activities for all

organisations. Key examples of such activity in a sustainability context include the

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a transparent and reliable exchange of

sustainability information that promotes organisational disclosure of economic,

environmental, and social performance as a contributor to organisational success [1]

and Elkington’s Triple Bottom Line (TBL), intended to facilitate the measurement

and reporting of corporate performance in terms of economic, social and

environmental outcomes and impact [13]. Also prominent are the London Financial

Times’ FTSE4Good index and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index which is based

upon five principles of corporate sustainability: innovative technology, corporate

governance, shareholder relations, industrial leadership and social well- being [3].

Applying Sustainability Concepts to Book Publishing

In addressing the issue of book publishing sustainability we anticipated the

possibility that talking in terms of principles might be ambitious enough without

reference to broad-based practice. Arguably there are few industries more

vulnerable in sustainable business terms than is book publishing. Here is an

industry beset by rising costs, unrelenting competition (including that from non-

industry sources), disrupted supply chains, value chains and business models and the

inexorable double-sided presence of accelerating technological change. Faced with

potentially existential threats it would not be surprising to find less than

overwhelming acceptance of the message that environmental sustainability is good

for business. However, there would appear to be widespread acceptance that change

in many forms is inevitable and that in relation to organisational sustainability this

must mean the end of business-as-usual [15]. Accepting this important caveat in

seeking to identify trends in organisational and environmental sustainability in book

publishing, we have conflated the potential range of sustainability principles into a

combination of those identified by [9] and [14] (Shown in Fig. 1):

• Corporate governance (to include ethical and transparent behaviour) (openness,

treatment of outsourced staff (fair trade))

• Shareholder relations (economic dimension but no longer the only one)

• Industrial leadership (extent to which they are leading edge)

• Value of products and services (tangible and intangible)

• Employment practices (treatment of their own staff)

• Community involvement and social well-being (openness to and genuine

commitment to local communities)

• Protection of the environment (green credentials)

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It seems clear that any attempt to implement these principles, either at broad

industry level or within individual firms, will require the widespread application of

new and existing technologies [45], notably the Web and social computing, Cloud

Computing and the ever-expanding spectrum of mobile technology. This said it is

important to add the familiar caveat that technology remains an enabler and that

more fundamental organizational and management issues need to be addressed. In

this regard some relevant questions were posted in a recent industry blog [30] to

which we add some additional detail:

• How do we define sustainable publishing?

• What are the major environmental issues in publishing, costs as well as benefits?

• How are practices and processes in book publishing contributing to

sustainability?

• In technology terms are electronic solutions really more environmentally

friendly than paper and ink?

Fig. 1 Sustainability tree for book publishing

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• How can publishers assist communities and contribute to social well-being?

• What can readers do to help shape the way the industry approaches sustainable

practices?

• Can Digital Rights Management (DRM) contribute to book publishing

sustainability?

What Do We Mean By Sustainable Publishing?

Answering our own question we would reiterate the themes of environmental and

organisational sustainability, supported by [15] call for a rejection of business-

as-usual approaches in the quest for an industry that is both growing and viable. It is

also clear that this refers to an industry that, while still containing minority

elements of print-based legacy publishing, has moved not only to the e-book

domain but largely Web-centric [15]. However, it may well be that this Web-centric

environment will vary in both shape and substance depending on the country and

region involved. This will be the subject of a forthcoming paper. We also recognize

the considerable challenges faced by publishers desperate to stabilize or re-invent

their bottom line, and to whom in many cases external calls for environmental and

corporate responsibility could be an unwelcome distraction. In such circumstances it

is not unreasonable that some might fret about the attendant risks of throwing out

the corporate baby with the environmental bath water. On this basis we turn first to

consideration of some of the major environmental issues and what book publishing

can do about them.

Environmental Issues in Book Publishing

We begin with books as objects and as products and specifically with the traditional

hard copy format composed largely of paper (and variants) and ink and the materials

employed in their production.

Paper

In the United States, book publishing consumes approximately 30 million trees

every year and the paper industry is the fourth largest industrial source of

greenhouse gas emissions in the country [30]. As in other industries, recycling has

been promoted as one response to such depredations of societal resources, one result

of which has been the Green Press Initiative, which among other things has helped

to bring about a six-fold increase in recycled fibre use in the U.S. book industry, or

put differently a reduction of over 1.4 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and

nearly 3 million trees per year [30].

Another problem has to do with the type of paper used. Greater use of recycled

paper will decrease other environmental impacts of the book industry. Making paper

from recycled paper is generally a cleaner and more efficient process than making

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paper from virgin fibre, as much of the work of extracting and bleaching the fibres

has already taken place. The results are less air and water pollution and lower water

and energy consumption (20–30% less energy). This results in paper that is more

sustainable, and a production process involving greater efficiency, reuse of material,

and conservation of fossil fuels through the use of biomass electricity [17].

Assurance of paper sustainability is available through the Forest Stewardship

Council (FSC) certification process, and also of The Paper Calculator [38] which

allows users to calculate and compare the environmental impacts of different paper

choices and their eventual disposal.

Ink

At the most fundamental level, ink should not contain materials that are harmful to

human health through exposure or ingestion. Ideally, the inks employed would

allow easy recycling of the paper involved and would not release toxins when buried

or left exposed. As things stand, ink routinely contains heavy metals such as barium,

copper and zinc, all of which can create health hazards for workers and can leach

out of the paper or packaging after disposal. Frequently, also inks contain a

petroleum base, which is non-renewable. Innovative responses to these problems

include the use of soy-based inks in which vegetable oil replaces traditional

petroleum-based oil, and the control of the potentially harmful pollutants contained

in volatile organic compounds [24]. It is also important that ink users take a holistic

view, from composition and source, to use and eventual disposition [6].

Carbon Footprints

Other opportunities to address environmental concerns include the use of renewable

energy (such as that generated by wind power) thus avoiding creation of greenhouse

gases [22], along with environmentally friendly production and cleaning materials

and the recycling of all waste [23]. Indeed, at they are reducing their carbon

footprint both locally and globally by replacing light bulbs, banishing Styrofoam,

limiting unnecessary travel, and reassessing how they ship products. They are also

taking care to manage the short- and long-term impact of their daily operations on

their neighbors and the world. And in a clear link to the Triple Bottom Line they are

aiming to make sustainable decisions that are good for business, good for customers,

and good for the environment [7].

How are Practices and Processes in Book Publishing Contributingto Sustainability?

It is vitally important not only that book publishers perform all operations and

processes effectively, but also that they perform the right operations and processes.

Major areas for consideration include: date management, supply chain, partnering,

returns, marketing, and human resources management.

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Data Management

Publishers have not always been quick to understand the core value that resides in

the masses of data lying around in repositories of various kinds, from old legacy

systems to the latest digital storehouses. As appreciation of the importance of

metadata has grown however, issues of search and discovery have become

increasingly urgent and with this recognition of the potential value of the Semantic

Web, which enables machines to understand, filter and make searchable the mass of

data and information. Academic publishers are already engaged in using semantic

data, but this is predicted to become essential for the industry in general within the

next 5 years [44].

One fundamental feature of the use of semantic data is creativity in the

development of digital content that can exploit the opportunities inherent in

information commerce. This form of product development should incorporate print,

digital and online, and could also involve customized products, directed towards

individual consumers [27]. At the heart of such initiatives lies the practice of

metadata management which if conducted effectively through implementation of

new data models and business processes will energize supply chains, improve

product discovery and enhance the customer experience [26].

Supply Chains

Indeed, on the matter of supply chains there is much more involved today that when

in essence they concerned the efficient delivery of a finished physical product (book

or journal) to a customer. Today supply chains are as much a publishing function as

an operations function, and involve not just the physical/digital delivery of product,

but also of fragments of product, and pre-release content. Furthermore, once seen as

owned by customer service and operations directors, ownership now extends to

Rights directors, Production directors, Digital directors, Publishing directors,

Distribution directors and even the CEO [26].

Partnering

Traditionally book publishers have always partnered with complementary firms

along the value and supply chains, and in the digital domain things are no different.

Today links have developed with a range of new players from social publishers to

apps developers and content convertors [31] to digital book lenders. Although some

might see a potential conflict of interest between companies who publish books for

sale and others whose business is to rent books, experience in the rental DVD

market has shown that there is room for synergies between the two. It is claimed that

cooperative arrangements between rental firms and DVD producers has all but

killed of the second hand DVD market in the U.S., something that might auger well

for publishing attempts to confront the second hand book market [37]. Potential and

existing arrangements between rental companies such as Paperspine, Booksfree and

Bookswim include revenue-sharing programs, co-marketing of new titles, promo-

tion of author events, and paid search results on book rental sites. [37]. There are

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other possibilities including improved arrangements with traditional public libraries,

but the link to second hand books could make digital lending libraries a particularly

attractive partnering prospect for book publishers.

Marketing

Marketing is another key activity responding to the challenges of sustainability. [23]

reported on the need engage in green marketing in order to meet customer demands

for products made from renewable resources, with recycled content, and reduced

use of materials. Unfortunately the trend towards greenness has been adversely

affected by the practice of greenwashing whereby some companies mislead

customers about the environmental impact of their products or services. Potential

customers can be reassured where the company makes use of third-party sources for

verification, for example, their Web sites or the Environmental Defence Paper

Calculator. Customers can be targeted through advertisements on Websites that

cater to environmentally-conscious consumers, as well as through direct mail and

outreach activities at community events and social networking [23].

Returns

One of the major threats to publishing revenue has long been the cost of returns of

unsold book. In environmental terms, the threat is just as bad with the eventual

pulping of the books leading to further waste. One obvious change in practice that

can help here is to migrate from hard copy editions to print-on-demand (POD). This

is already happening with smaller publishing houses with for example, firms such as

Schiel and Denver in the United States employing digital printing facilities there

and in Europe for the electronic routing of on-demand orders placed in bookshops.

This not only saves on paper but also contributes to the reduction of greenhouse

gases generated by transporting the books to the point of order. The company also

exploits technology such as Skype and email to obviate the need for travel to

meetings and to reduce paper consumption, while engaging in environmentally

friendly practices ranging from the use of electric cars to the recycling of rubbish

[25].

Human Resources Management

In achieving this kind of change, be it in supply chain structure or apps

development, it is clear that human resource issues will play a major role. This

brings us back to the recurring issue of internal versus external, of the respective

claims of those with publishing experience as against others with technology or

marketing expertise [46]. It would be imprudent to underestimate the nature of the

challenges involved here not least those of reconciling centralized editorial-led

approaches with the team-based, user-centric sharing models required [21].

Even a cursory survey of publishing websites will show that book publishers are

not exactly complacent with regard to such matters. For example, Penguin/Pearson

Australia specifically mention their recognition of creative, ethical staff and the

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company’s efforts to create a workplace that is inspiring, that encourages learning

and truly represents their global community [39]. Likewise at Wiley, attention is

drawn to their collaborative and open culture that embodies corporate values of

dignity and respect and which has regularly resulted in the company featuring on

lists of best companies [7]. Clearly future sustainability depends on continuous

individual and organisational learning with for example, anticipated changes within

academic publishing requiring the incorporation of new skills and indeed, of new

kinds of staff in the quest for search engine optimization, particularly of Google and

facility in Facebook and Twitter [15].

Case Study: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

This global academic publisher is responding positively in the key process areas of

digital content creation and workflow management, notably in the modification and

tagging of legacy content [34, Part 5]. This involves the re-creation through

disassembly and reassembly of educational learning objects and creation of tools

and the workflows both internal and external. The reconciliation of front and back-

end workflows also carries implications for new product development. There are

also rights and royalties problems which arise where they are co-creating material

with teachers [34, Part 5]. Additionally they are creating not just of content, but

applications to help extend the education process beyond what is available through

textbooks, with content that is more dynamic, interactive, and is easily and more

profitably distributed.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have adopted a hybrid version of cloud technology,

with data management and archiving going into a public cloud, and data storage and

business community sites located in a private cloud [34, Part 3]. The tradeoff here is

between services that must be secure, reliable, and very high performing (located in

the private cloud) and others where these features are much less a concern for those

things (for which the public cloud is sufficient).

On the distribution side also, the company is moving into the Cloud, with sales

via Amazon have tripled, especially sales of trade and reference books. They are

nonetheless aware of the potential for market disruption and even disintermediation

through new innovations and are keen to work with innovative entrepreneurs to help

mitigate the risks [34, Part 7].

At Houghton Mifflin Harcourt there is also strong interest and growing

involvement in mobile technology from phones to tablets. This is restricted to

some extent by the company’s own legacy environment and by basic incompat-

ibilities amongst available systems. Although they are currently leaning towards the

Android operating system, the iPhone and the iPad, the intention is to be device-

agnostic. They are aiming to equip their sales force with these devices in

environments where it is difficult to have a fixed line or laptop connection and to

enhance levels of customer care and sales effectiveness.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt also has a number of outsourcing relationships,

including those with Cognizant in Chennai and Hyderabad, the former housing the

advanced development group for publishing operations and the latter being the hub

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for technology support. They also use Capgemini for hosting their SAP platform

[34, Part 1].

In Technology Terms are Electronic Solutions Really MoreEnvironmentally Friendly Than Paper and Ink?

In some cases electronic solutions and practices are more environmentally friendly,

for example generic approaches such as substituting green power and electronic

vehicles for fossil-fuel alternatives, or holding more meetings by videoconferencing

rather than consuming scarce resources in land and air travel. However, all

technology leaves an environmental footprint when used and this is as true of the

Cloud and of mobile technologies as of the internal combustion engine.

Recognizing this fact, the IT industry has addressed the issue of environmentally

sustainable computing and indeed, Green IT. Green computing refers to the study

and practice of designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers,

servers, and associated subsystems—such as monitors, printers, storage devices, and

networking and communications systems—efficiently and effectively with minimal

or no impact on the environment [35]. As already indicated there is more to solving

these problems than technology, and proposed solutions must address such human

and organisational concerns as end user satisfaction, management restructuring,

regulatory compliance, and return on investment (ROI).

Murgesan [35] sums up the route to Green computing in terms of green disposal,

green design, and green manufacturing. Importantly this goes beyond computing per

se to a search for the alignment of all IT processes and practices with the core

principles of sustainability, which are to reduce, reuse, and recycle; and finding

innovative ways to use IT in business processes to deliver sustainability benefits

across the enterprise and beyond. Finally, to put this into familiar everyday terms:

• The manufacture and disposal of computers accounts for some 70 per cent of

their carbon footprint

• Every Google search apparently releases 7 g of carbon dioxide (CO) into the

atmosphere [16], although Google puts it at 0.2 g of CO2 [20]

• Windows 7 ? Office 2010 require 70 times more memory (RAM) than

Windows 98 ? Office 2000 to write exactly the same text or send exactly the

same e-mail than 10 years ago [5].

Although still a miniscule segment of the overall IT market, the Green IT sector

is expected to reach US$5.01 billion by 2015 [18]. With industry in general striving

to improve its environmental performance, often at reduced cost and as much

through changes in behaviour as changes in technology [33], there is no reason why

book publishing cannot follow suit. Signs of progress emerged with publication of

the joint Book Industry Study Group (BISG) and Green Press Initiative (GPI) report

on book publishing’s ecological footprint (BISG [4]. This found that just over half

of the 150-odd publishers participating had set specific goals for increasing their use

of recycled paper, and that 60% either had a formal environmental policy or were in

the process of completing one [28]. The report also found that the industry was

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making meaningful progress in reducing its environmental footprint– with a six-fold

increase in recycled fibre at the mill level over the period 2004–2008 [29].

Encouraging as these reports might be they are offset by findings such as that out

of the almost 75,000 book publishers in the United States in 2007, a mere 250 had

signed the Book Industry Treatise on Responsible Paper Use [29]. However, the

trend is broadly favourable, with the Book Industry Environmental Council

announcing in April 2009 that it had set goals for cutting the U.S. book industry’s

greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 and was aiming for an 80% reduction by

2050 [12]. At the company level, in November 2009, the Hachette Book Group

announced a new policy that would reduce its carbon footprint by increasing their

use of recycled paper to 30% by 2012 [32] and with at least 20% of this being paper

certified by the Forest Stewardship Council [11].

Similarly, having set a 5 year timescale for sustainable paper practices in January

2008, Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books,

announced in July 2011 that it was increasing its goal for 2012 from 30% to 35% of

all paper purchased [42]. Similarly, in November 2007, Simon & Schuster

announced a new environmental initiative and paper policy that sought to increase

the amount of recycled fibre in the paper used to manufacture its books—an

incremental increase of the use of recycled fibre from its then 10% baseline level to

a 25% or greater aggregate level by 2012 for books printed and bound in the U.S.

[10]. All such targets can of course move in the opposite direction, as evidenced by

Random House’s extension of the original deadline it had set to raise the proportion

of recycled paper by 30% in 2010–2013 [12].

How Can Publishers Assist Communities and Contribute to SocialWell-Being?

It is clear from a look at corporate websites that book publishers have heard the general

message as regards corporate social responsibility. Typical of these would be

Scholastic Publishing whose stated mission and goals include seeking an improve-

ment in the well-being of children through outreach and a range of partnerships

including an education fund in Haiti [42]. At Wiley, in seeking to be a good neighbour

and give back to the communities in which operates, contributions include corporate

giving, providing content access to aid organisations, and engaging in volunteer

programmes [7]. Finally at Random House, they have established committees for

Charity & Community, Environment and Employees. In the U.K, the Group has

recently joined the Media Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Forum [8].

What Can Readers Do to Help Shape the Way the Industry ApproachesSustainable Practices?

The answer may well be relatively little, but it remains to be see. Anecdotal

evidence from other industries suggests that for example, voluntary contributions to

environmental protection initiatives invited when people are purchasing airline

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tickets are far from popular with consumers. Perhaps more relevant is the fact that,

whether for reasons of cost or convenience, the infrastructure of bricks-and-mortar

bookshops has crumbled under the onslaught of online competitors. Here seemingly,

readers have been unable or unwilling to play much of a part. This said a 2005 study

of American book and magazine readers reported that almost 80% of consumers

were willing to pay more for books printed on recycled paper, 42% willing to pay $1

more per book [12]. Perhaps greater potential for consumer input will come within

the eBook sector, where there is currently talk of a tipping point in revenue terms in

2012, with 40% of trade publishers predicting that eBooks will make up over 10%

of revenue by then [44].

Can Digital Rights Management (DRM) Contribute to Book PublishingSustainability?

DRM remains a contentious issue both in terms of its perceived effectiveness (or

ineffectiveness) and its impact on customer relations [36]. There is also the view

that current focus on technologies such as the Cloud, less attention will be paid to

piracy and DRM [43] and more on the need to integrate the plethora of mobile

devices vying for uptake in book publishing [41]. However, not only would DRM be

relevant to any eventual integration but also, its absence could contribute to data

security risks and eventuality the commercial viability of companies. There is an

obvious tradeoff between the costs, financial and relationship costs (the loss of

goodwill from customers alienated by what they see as intrusive systems) of

installing a modern DRM system and the protection of valuable content. Not for the

first time there could be lessons here from the music industry. The success of anti-

pirating activity in the music industry lay in music publishers coming up with a

cheap and simple way for the majority of consumers to acquire the music legally.

They found that providing a legitimate purchase path for electronic versions not

only generates revenue, but also reduces illicit copying.

Implications of the Sustainability Movement for Business Models in BookPublishing

Over the last decade, the business model domain has been in a state of considerable

flux, especially owing to the impact of digitization. This turbulence remains with for

example, debate continuing over the respective validity of the Agency and

Wholesale models, and the influence of new players and processes on both the

mainstream and indie section of the industry. [19] points out that just as the Internet

has led to disintermediation in other industries and particularly the removal of

middlemen, his Domino project can have the same effect on distribution, storage

and sales channels within book publishing. Although it makes sense for indiepublishers to pursue niche markets for eBooks with no distribution and returns costs,

and the potential for distribution deals with social publishers such as Scribd, the

same need not necessarily be true for mainstream publishers. Although there has

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been a measure of disintermediation of mainstream publishing models, fear of

channel conflict remains and in many cases, new intermediaries have arrived on the

scene. Meanwhile Amazon.com continues to present challenges to mainstream

publishing most recently through reports that it is exploring a form of subscription

model for books whereby instead of consumers purchasing (or renting) a book from

Amazon, they would pay a subscription for which they would get a number of

enhancements [15].

Interestingly, [15] also predicts that as the academic publishing sector becomes

ever more Web-centric, a new digital business model will emerge and it too will be

a subscription model characterised by a shift from the sale of discrete objects

(books) to ongoing sales based on the identification of customer lifecycles and Web-

marketing [15].

In the circumstances it would be premature to attempt to present even a generic

business model embodying current developments in organizational and environ-

mental sustainability. Instead in Fig. 2 below we model the major elements in the

ongoing process of business model innovation for sustainability in book publishing.

Conclusion

In seeking to bring a better understanding of the issues involved in book industry

sustainability we realised at the outset that this would not be some kind of greenfield exercise. Already aware of a number of initiatives, we sought to add flesh to the

bones in terms both of organisational and environmental sustainability. In the end

we were greatly encouraged by what we found. It is clear that book publishing as an

industry has absorbed the sustainability message, and is as aware of the business as

well as the social responsibility significance of the Triple Bottom Line approach. It

is particularly encouraging to see that whatever the response by individual

publishers, large and small, the key focus is emerging at the human and social level,

rather than being left to technology-based initiatives. Although sustainability within

Fig. 2 The process of business model innovation

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book publishing remains very much a work in progress, the trend is clearly positive

and we are confident that in say 5 years’ time, things will be looking even more so.

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