Strategically Speaking: Surviving Volatility
As for higher-education, a former colleague suggested that the year-to-date decline may be the first clear evidence that textbook rental is taking hold, and with digital textbook options growing exponentially, who knows what the fall rush will bring.
What does all this mean in practical terms? It certainly doesn't mean that you should be selling off what's left of your 401K, but this is perhaps the time to start looking at your business—the fundamental processes, the organizational structure, and the bricks-and-mortar infrastructure—and evaluating all of those elements against a future that's likely to be very different three to five years from now. Start evaluating the possible outcomes, and your personal and organizational options for responding to an industry landscape that's unlikely to have any of the predictability we have come to expect.