Global HR Forum 2014-"Print on Demand Allowed Publishers to Deliver Books in a Much Faster and More Economical Way"
Global HR Forum 2014-"Print on Demand Allowed Publishers to Deliver Books in a Much Faster and More Economical Way"
  • Korea IT Times (info@koreaittimes.com)
  • 승인 2014.10.20 23:46
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SEOUL, KOREA - Global HR Forum 2014, which will take place in Seoul from November 4 to 6, 2014, The Korea Economic Daily had e-mail interviews with several distinguished speakers on various subjects. Below, we highlight our forum's keynote speaker, Youngsuk Chi, Chairman of Elsevier Inc. As an academic publishing company, Elsevier publishes medical and scientific literature. Based in Amsterdam, the company has operations in Korea, the UK, US, Mexico, Brazil, Spain and elsewhere.


1.       It’s very rare for a company to prosper for hundreds of years especially in Korea. What attributes to Elsevier’s success and prosper the most

Elsevier has had a very strong succession of leaders throughout its history, starting with LowysElzevir, founder of the House of Elzevir, the publishing house from which our company takes its name. Jacobus Robbers continued this tradition of leadership when he founded the modern Elsevier company three hundred years later in 1880, emphasizing the need to publish high-quality content. More recently, Elsevier has benefited from a succession of strong leaders that are willing to take risks and make the bold decisions necessary for success in this time of transformation for the publishing industry. Our successful transition into the digital age is in large part thanks to this leadership.

 

  1. Elsevier has very close relationship with universities and their research institutes. In your opinion, what are the positive impacts the very relationship has on a society

Universities and research institutions have a long-term vision in the goals they set and the questions they seek to answer. Through their various research programs, they tackle the grand challenges of our society—health, energy, the environment, human ethics, poverty, peaceful coexistence, etc. As they work to address these issues, they need the help of a partner who can bring their discoveries and advancements to the rest of the world. That is our role, and it is one that any good publishing house has to play. Our relationship with research institutions and universities is a very critical partnership, in which we act as a bridge between those who engage in research and those who apply research.

 

 

  1. Elsevier now has turned into a world-leading provider of information solutionsproviding web-based directory for thousands of academic journals and bilateral communication tool for various people. Could you tell us little bit about Elsevier’s future business plans

Over the past few years, we’ve gone from being a purelyprint content provider to a digital content provider. This transition has allowed us to offer content that is more easily accessible and richer in the information it delivers. But today, it’s no longer enough to just provide content, we need to provide solutions. Moving forward, we are working on combining our content and data with sophisticated analytics and technology to create targeted solutions that answer questions for our users, rather than just provide information. We are really moving towards becoming a content-based, analytics information provider. This journey actually began several years ago. It’s brought a lot of exciting changes, but ultimately it’s fraught with the same successes and failures that all risk-taking ventures face.

 

  1. What do you think is the fundamental essence when promoting the contents industry in U.S.

Right now, there is an overload of content in the market. Content is more available than ever, and even more is being continuously generated. Amidst this overwhelming amount of information, it is increasingly difficult for users to identify what content is most important and relevant to their specific needs. When promoting content in the US, we therefore have to put ourselves in the place of the user and focus on what insights they want to gain. As publishers, we need to help our users get more out of our content and extract the specific information that they need from the sea of available information. We increasingly are doing this by focusing on providing answers, rather than just information, through customer-centric solutions. Today, we need to focus on helping people find the right content at the right time in the right context.

 

  1. In Korea, people are not yet familiar with the recent technological advancement, POD (Print on Demand). Could you tell us about it and the potential benefits of using a POD solution

Print on Demand has allowed publishers to deliver books to consumers in a much faster and more economical way. By digitizing books and keeping the files in an electronic image, we were able to quickly manufacture a high-quality book right from the point of purchase and then ship it directly to the customer. Not only does this allow publishers to deliver books to consumers at a much faster rate, but it also eliminates concerns with inventory, cuts losses, doesn’t tie up capital and requires less movement during the delivery process. Today, we can’t imagine a world without print on demand, but would you believe these developments took place already 15 years agoThis rapid adoption reflects how adaptable our industry is to change and how unafraid we are of embracing technology to solve problems. It’s important to remember that Print on Demand is one solution amongst many even more advanced digitally-based solutions for gathering, curating, organizing and disseminating content. There is still much to be done for the Korean information business to reach the point where it can fully take advantage of the advancements in technology that are revolutionizing the industry, but these advancements will surely bring great benefits when the time comes.

  1. With Amazon, American publishing market has been growing exponentially. However, Korean publishing market remains almost the same. Comparing the two markets, what is your opinion on this difference What do you think is the reason for it

Amazon is just one important component that can explain the growth in the American publishing market. There are three major segments in the publishing industry: professional, educational, and consumer (content published for a general audience). Amazon has allowed for significant growth in the digital dissemination of consumer books, but it cannot explain the growth in the professional and educational segments, which together account for a larger share of the market. What explains the continual growth of information and content sales in the United States is the investment in technology and progress made by all segments of the publishing ecosystem—from authors to publishers to aggregators to disseminators to e-tailors. Every player has made the appropriate investments to take full advantage of the increased efficiencies and innovative features that are now available to us with advancements in technology.

 

  1. Korean publishing market is very much interested in Amazon coming to Korea saying that its advancement to Korean market will bring great change in nation’s publishing market. However we understand there arealso conflicts between traditional publishing companies and Amazon currently. What is your personal opinion on this issue

Amazon has made the acquisition of consumer books very simple and convenient. However, if a player in Korea can emulate that type of experience for Korean consumers, there’s no reason for Amazon itself to be in Korea. It really comes down to whether there is a player in the Korean market who is willing to create that sort of consumer experience. Korean e-tailors are already quite advanced, so we should not underestimate their ability to expand the range of options already available to Korean consumers.

 

  1. There are no large distributors of physical and digital content like Ingram. What are the benefits of having such a large distributor

A large distributor is capable of providing a standard service that will allow a wide range of suppliers—whether they are small, medium or large publishers—to reach a large array of retailers and consumers. I believe that in a country the size of Korea, physical distribution is not the challenge. What’s really challenging is the financial responsibility of absorbing credit and debt from customers effectively. With the current size of the Korean market, it would not be easy to have one single, large player.

 

 

 

 

  1. Printed books will not be easily disappeared in a short period of time. What do you think about the fate of traditional printed paper books And what do you think the direction of the printed book market should continue to pursue

So long as there is a generation that is accustomed to reading on paper, paper books will last. The fact remains that there are things paper can do—qualities paper books have—that no digital format can emulate. I think printed books will continue to exist to serve those needs. While getting rid of paper entirely might increase efficiency in the publishing community, it wouldn’t be the right thing for the consumer market. I expect that as long as people like me who appreciate paper arearound,printed books will continue to be an important part of the publishing industry alongside the digital options.

 

  1. As a founding Chairman of Random House Asia, you experienced three years of Korean publishing market. What advice would you give to Korean publishing companies for improvements of a whole publishing market

There is an enormous amount of fragmentation in the Korean publishing market, and this makes it difficult for small publishers to take bold risks and invest in rich content-based technologies. As such, I would like to see more consolidation in the market so that a handful of larger leaders in the Korean publishing community can begin to pave the way and set trends for the effective adoption of technology. These larger leaders can afford to take risks and design solutions that most benefit consumers. This isn’t to say that small players wouldn’t be able to survive in this environment. In fact, it would be quite the opposite. When there are strong, leading players that can establish order in the market, it allows smaller players to thrive in niche ways, making the ecosystem stronger as a whole. Also, we all know that sometimes small players are willing and able to take more risks than the larger players. This may be the case in Korea, where an entrepreneurial, nimble and smart small player might make bold innovations that will be followed by the rest of the publishing community.

 

  1. What do you think was the most important stepbecoming a leader in the media and technology industry

For me, the most important step was finding like-minded people that were willing to partner with me as our industry made the transition from print to digital and, more recently, to super analytic. Having the right people by you—people who have a long-term vision for the market and are willing to take risks—as you navigate a changing industry like ours makes all the difference.

 

  1. In publishing industry, having qualified applicants is very crucial. What is your philosophy on human resources

This is absolutely true. We would not be able to thrive as an industry if we weren’t able to attract the best, brightest, most visionary, most ambitious, hard-working talent from industries like finance and consulting. Without this top talent, our industry would steadily become less and less important. It is with this conviction that my colleagues and I have always made certain that we create an environment in which the best and boldest talent have a compelling reason for wanting to join our industry. We need to offer people the opportunity to be a part of significant change with rewards that are worth their attention. Today, we enjoy the ability to attract people who might have gone to any other sector. Instead, these people are choosing to join the publishing community and take the chance to help reinvent the future of this industry in an exciting and sustainable way.

 

  1. Seeking qualified applicants in all areas of publishing, is there special training program Elsevier conduct for employees and their creativity

Yes, in fact, we have multiple training programs at different levels, in different geographies and for different functions. With this diversity of training, we tackle the skill sets required for embracing—and creating—the future of the publishingindustry. However, not all of the necessary skills can be taught easily or quickly enough, so we sometimes need to acquire specialized talent from outside. Regardless, we can move forward with most of the projects we are undertaking today by using special training resources internally to build on our existing talent base. We also often look at external training programs, especially those conducted by industry associations. These can serve as a good supplement to our own internal programs.

 

  1. The main theme of 2014 Global HR Forum is Human Resources for Trust and Integration. Is there any project running to train and educate future talents regarding the issue of trust and integration in a company level

Yes, there are projects running to address both of these issues. I’ll first start with trust. Particularly for professional academic publishers like Elsevier, ethics and trust are of paramount importance. If we fail to execute both of these on a daily basis, we undermine our entire reason for existence, so as you can imagine, we have extremely rigorous and uncompromising training around business ethics. This training is conducted for all employees of Reed Elsevier, not just the executive or operational staff.

Now, to address the topic of integration. Today our industry operates with a great deal of codependence on partners, external and internal. In either case, one’s ability to work not alone, but in a team—often a team that contains different functional skill sets and is very far apart geographically—requires skills that are not taught in schools. People need to be able to work together virtually and influence people over whom they have no formal authority. We strongly emphasizethese skills, among others, for all people coming into our companies. This theme is very appropriate for the world we operate in and we seem to be lucky enough to have started getting our work force ready for that some time ago.

 

 

  1. You are currently working as a mentor for over 300 young people. How does it work and is there any mentee that you personally feel attached to

I feel attached to every single one of them. My relationship with my mentees is best described as a two-way street. It’s not organized into any sort of program, but instead relies on both the mentee and myself, the mentor, making an effort. As the famous Korean saying goes, it takes two hands to make the sound of a clap. My mentees can always reach out to me if they have questions, need advice or just need someone to talk to. I started mentoring young people because I was the beneficiary of wise mentoring during my career, and my mentor’s advice often was the difference between making a poor or a wise decision. I hope that what I’ve learned through my thirty years of work can benefit others who might otherwise make the same mistakes that I did.

 

  1. What is the most important thing you are planning on stressing for this year’s Global HR Forum

As the theme of the Global HR Forum dictates, I’d like to stress the idea of working in four environments:

  1. Globalenvironment
  2. Collaborative environment
  3. Trusting environment
  4. Changing environment

 

These factors will dictate whether a company or organization is successful in addressing the demands of consumers. Furthermore, it’s rare that a company will have all the skill sets that these environments require, so they will test how well a company or institution can find partners with whom to accomplish the complexities involved in addressing the questions, demands and challenges that the future will bring.


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