11 Best Business Decisions of 2011

In a time of significant flux in the industry, publishing executives are faced with more pressure than ever to examine their businesses and make decisions that will lead them to a profitable future. Book Business checked in with the leaders of publishing companies of various sizes and scopes to find out what their best business decisions of the year have been. Here's what they said:

Richard Robinson

Chairman, President and CEO
Scholastic Inc.
Scholastic is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books, and a leader in educational technology and children's media.

"The big strategic decision for Scholastic in 2011 was to drive forward with the transition to technology-enabled reading in our children's consumer book business, estimating that one-third of Scholastic revenue will be digital by 2015. Scholastic's online ordering system, NEW COOL (Clubs Ordering Online); an evolving e-bookstore of exciting digital products; and Scholastic's new, exclusive e-reading app are pillars of the strategy. We are building Scholastic's e-commerce experience, digital reading app and e-bookstore based on the trusted relationships we have with our customers, who have told us that they expect and need Scholastic to deliver an excellent e‑commerce and e‑reading experience, alongside traditional print books.

Our product strategy for digital reading is founded on the same principles we use in print: offering the very best books from all publishers and developing original content, which will empower children, and their parents and teachers, to choose books that children will love to read and which will make them successful readers."

Maureen McMahon

President and Publisher
Kaplan Publishing
Kaplan is an international education leader with 31,000-plus employ–ees worldwide and reaching more than 1 million students annually. Kaplan Publishing is one of the nation's top publishers of academic and professional development resources, and is the leading provider of test prep materials for most standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, SAT, PSAT, MCAT, TOEFL and more. Its titles focus on test preparation, college and graduate school admissions, and academic and career development with emphasis on the legal, medical, education and general business fields.