Cover Story: Embracing a Different Publishing World
Noelle Skodzinski: Has the internal structure or culture of OUP changed to adapt to a shifting marketplace?
Niko Pfund: Yes, dramatically. Approximately three years ago, we underwent a press-wide reorganization, during which we reconfigured the press from a vertical structure—[where] each publishing unit had a separate editorial, design and production unit, a separate marketing department, etc.—to a horizontal one, whereby these functions became press-wide. This was intended to acknowledge the changes in the marketplace where "type" of book or online content matters less and less … and where we really needed to start focusing on new business models, online products and services, and licensing opportunities. We also wanted to rededicate ourselves to the [press's] core functions, which are to serve our academic constituencies, as a books publisher, journals publisher and publisher of online services. And I suspect we'll need to continue to shapeshift in the years ahead, as the needs and demographics of that audience continue to evolve.
- People:
- Niko Pfund
- Places:
- Oxford