Mcgraw hill primis custom publishing

Running head: PRIMIS SYSTEMS 1

PRIMIS SYSTEMS 10

Primis Systems

Ashford University

INF 620: Management of Information Systems

Karen Ivy

February 22, 2015

Thesis Statement: In this paper I will examine book publisher McGraw Hill and their usage of the Primis system. Textbook editors, such as McGraw Hill want to develop custom textbooks using Primis information system to allow professors more flexibility in how they work with their classrooms. McGraw Hill also wants to assess Primis technical, economic and political feasibility of being able to implement the new system within their organization for delivery of textbooks. Primis is being used to increase book publishing and has provided an opportunity for growth based on being able to offer more content, tailor made, specific to each student’s specific course. Improvements in technology have enabled programs like Primis to keep content current and have changed how books are published because organizations are able to offer more content due to being able to offer custom textbooks.

Primis Systems

McGraw-Hill is a worldwide information services provider that specializes in book publishing among many of its service offerings. The company is headquartered in New York City, New York and at present employs over 6,000 people in 44 countries and publishes in over 60 languages. In 1989, McGraw-Hill in collaboration with Eastman Kodak and R.R Donnelley created the first known publishing system that was computerized, Primis (PRIMIS). Primis was created to provide custom publishing to academia and address the problems of college professors not having more flexibility in textbook offerings to their classrooms as well as increase speed and efficiency in their delivery of new text material.

Other issues college professors needed to address were how to work their text books into classrooms that utilized supplemental materials with traditional textbook that PRIMIS also addresses. McGraw-Hill’s reputation and desire to expand operations into all areas of digital learning platforms such as online education, corporate space and international markets along with a history of favoring academic the needs of some educators, administrators and students lead to the system innovation of customizing college textbooks and development of PRIMIS (Adobe Systems, Inc., 2002).

Analysis and Design

According to McGraw-Hill, it is a long and tedious process to have textbooks published in higher education. This process involves several academics and authors who are required to write in advance so it can be reviewed by a panel of instructors prior to publication. Once the photos are researched, permission for the information is requested, the material will be reviewed again to insure accurateness before the final content will be approved.

Thereafter, compositors will be able to produce a book, a page right after the next to ensure accuracy. The printing will occur after a second proofing of the material. The completed texts are cataloged, stored in warehouses and ultimately shipped from the plant is essentially the way textbooks were produced before Primis (McGraw-Hill MIS Video Clip, 2005).

In analysis of the traditional model of book publishing a problem that exists is the inability to modify content so that it’s specific for each course. Therefore Primis entry into the market opened up options not previously available to publishers. It was an editor at McGraw-Hill who proposed in 1988 that the company move into custom publishing due to the logistical issues with getting books published. The concept of custom publishing textbooks that allowed professors to tailor content according to their individual course needs is in high demand within academia. Initially McGraw-Hill didn’t make any projections as to what it could offer and based its early analysis of their capabilities on years of accumulated experience in book publishing.

In looking at organizations and the business process they follow in determining the feasibility of a project such as Primis, specific general guidelines for system analysis and design (SA&D) should be followed for organizational efficiency and effectiveness. (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011). The system analysis process as stated by O’Brien & Marakas (2011) consists of the following steps:

· Identification of a business problem

· Proposed solutions to the identified problem(s)

· Design and implementation of proposed solution (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011).

There are two main approaches to systems analysis and design, object orientated analysis and design and the lift cycle approach (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011). The most common method of approach by organizations is the Systems Development Life Cycle approach (SDLC). The system development life cycle approach is used within organizations and details a series of steps organizations must implement in their design process. The activities in the system development life cycle process are; investigation, analysis, design, implementation and maintenance as stated by (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011).

A feasibility study is where an organizations information needs and resource requirements are accessed to determine the viability of a project as stated by O’Brien & Marakas (2011). McGraw-Hill in assuring the feasibility of PRIMIS will have to review several questions and concerns of instructors to best determine its application within organizations. In addition a cost benefit analysis will have to be completed showing tangible and intangible benefits of the new system (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011). Some question I would ask in this phase includes but are not limited to:

· How to market to client (students, faculty…etc) for potential growth

· Cost benefit analysis

· Explanation of tangible and intangible benefits

Some additional questions McGraw-Hill might have asked as part of determining feasibility of the Primis idea were how difficult it may be for sales representatives to push custom publishing, what percentage of college professors might be interested in adopting custom published textbooks or what accommodations could be included to attract greater student interest. What content could be included to aid student comprehension is another question the Primis team could have posed.

Upon project approval that Primis would be funded, the project team should begin detailing those things that would be necessary to bring the custom publishing idea to fruition. Cathleen Matura, Manager of Custom Publishing whose been apart of McGraw-Hill since 1987, states that some considerations surround sufficient funding, the technological means, and the justification of such a new kind of project. Other considerations included ways to keep content fresh and whether the company would be successful at printing whole textbooks on demand. Pricing and the overall quality of custom published textbooks were other concerns. Therefore, the Primis team immediately used the systems approach into action to solve the problem. (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011).

Initially, the systems approach did not seem to work all that well because it left the team wondering if it should go on or simply halt the project. In the preliminary stages, the team could have asked questions as to how the new system would be fully implemented. Had this been done early on, the Primis system may not have been a success. Success in any field necessitates a certain amount of risk. That is why I think I would have implemented the system armed with the information the team had at the time. A main point of focus would also be on the cost benefits of being able to tailor my instructors input to specific class needs and the organizational benefits and improvements in learning outcomes and efficiency due to greater collaboration with instructors.

Once the opportunity for business has been defined and the overall solutions identified, other project details needed to be discussed. Matura adds that in 1987, the company had a single fax machine, therefore, the Primis team wondered if the company had the technology to accomplish its goal. Also, it needed to know what would be entailed systematically and the thought processes necessary to correctly prepare the material. Questions revolving around storage, printing and shipping also need to be considered (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011). McGraw-Hill had not been aware of the challenges it would have to face when it pledged to fund a custom textbook publishing project. Even though the goal was to establish a system which was capable of supporting mass customization of textbook content, the technology to accomplish custom printing was limited. Furthermore, major publishers had never attempted this type of project; therefore, McGraw-Hill was acting in the role of publishing trailblazer. In spite of this knowledge, the Primis team felt strongly that any work on the project to combat barriers would justify any funds expended in the end. After completion of the initial feasibility study, the team started the process of developing and evaluating alternate systems solutions by taking a close look and comparing the current publishing process to the one that was proposed. Then they went on to identify a solution that would best meet McGraw-Hill’s (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011).

System Development

As the Primis team began contending with the details of the new system, the process necessary to custom publish textbooks began to take on a more defined form. For instance, the design of the content database was derived and the requirements for printing and for documents were determined. Matura declares that the team would have to make sure that content was stored in a medium that was reliable and that could be printed. In essence, it had to be capable of being read by a digital press or copy machine. So the company settled on Xerox and IBM to meet its needs. When the process engineering activities and requirements were completed, the team went on to develop, evaluate and select the best system configurations. It gave special attention to ways to integrate the new Primis system with existing back-end systems when it came to print, managing inventory, managing ISBN’s, fulfilling orders and royalties (O’Brien & Marakas, 2011).

Ginny Moffat, Vice-President of Content Delivery, contends that Primis needed to interface with several back-end systems, which was the prime challenge for implementation of the new system. Having Primis interface with front-end systems was easier because it involved putting things on the web and having individuals select specific items. However, it would be more difficult to have the system automatically interface with back-end systems. The main systems it has to interface with were the royalties system, the ISBN system, the metadata system and the sales rep database

To achieve competitive advantage, cost, quality, speed and service all served as driving forces in the development of the Primis system for McGraw-Hill. The Primis system’s design was aligned with the business customer in mind because it made it relatively easy for college professors to pick and choose the content based on individual preference on demand. The turnaround time for orders is fast and cost has been reduced to meet business customer’s needs. I believe prototyping may have helped the Primis team because it would have given it the opportunity to discover the many challenges it would encounter in advance of spending large sums of capital. End users should have played a great part in the development of the system since they are the ones who will be interacting with it. McGraw-Hill used teams of employees at every level throughout the company to have a hand in creating and developing the system, thereby increasing the chances of success for the system. The relationship of Primis to back-end systems was crucial because it was through this relationship that royalties got paid, and ISBN’s were identifiable, and inventories and databases were accessed. If I were the project manager for Primis, I would have used a prototype in order to get a real idea of what barriers might arise while trying to launch such a new type of project. Maintenance

System maintenance involves monitoring, evaluating and modifying an operational system in order to remain relevant technologically and competitively. Once the Internet came on the scene in the 1990’s McGraw-Hill realized it needed a web presence. It gathered a high-level team of company officials within the company’s higher education group, such as the heads of editorial, marketing, sales and even workers in production to make sure college professors knew that Primis was what they needed. They searched to find if there were any other alternatives when it came to online delivery and online web interface. Outside vendors were considered and other projects that were taking place at McGraw-Hill were mentioned. The vision for what the team wanted college professors to be able to do or not, was discussed. Even though much time was spent to achieve support at every level of the company, the success of the Primis project was on the line. Now with the web-based front end order entry interface, a tremendous demand for custom products is occurring. Further, the Primis system is yet evolving. The addition of eBooks is now a reality In Conclusion

Accordingly, McGraw-Hill Education, a global company which provides information services, took the lead with the creation of Primis Custom Publishing in 1989. An editor with a keen vision saw a need among college professors in the delivery of adequate coursework content and came up with the idea of publishing custom texts. Many college professors can now choose precise content they need to teach their courses and don’t have to rely on texts that only partially meet their needs.

References

O’Brien, J.A. & Marakas, G.M. (2011). Management Information Systems (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. ISBN: 978-0-07-337681-3

Hammond, K. (2000). Textbook publishers get digi with it. Quill & Quire, 66(11), 17. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/235646878?accountid=32521

Design books online. (2000). T.H.E.Journal, 28(4), 54. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214807021?accountid=32521

(McGraw-Hill MIS Video Clip, 2005)