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Many books have been written about competitive strategy, but we have yet to see one that deals specifically with information businesses. Our work with clients over the years has led us to believe that information businesses require their own competitive framework because of their special characteristics.
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Having survived the holiday season, we now turn to the year ahead. Based on our consulting work with clients over the past year, we think the following trends are likely to be among the most important drivers for information businesses this year:
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It is often taken for granted that new technology “changes everything.” But that is definitely not the case in scholarly publishing, as illustrated in a major study that Greenhouse Associates recently completed for the University of California, the largest university system in the US. Our study shows that despite a widespread view that the current system of scholarly communication needs to be changed, academic scholars overwhelmingly continue to publish in traditional outlets, such as print journals and books, rather than in alternative dissemination channels, such as open-access journals and institutional repositories.
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Information businesses present an unusual set of
challenges. By its nature, information is intangible,
and the value of the same information can vary
widely by type of user or application. Technology can
drive rapid change in information markets, allowing
new products to spawn from the same core
information -- posing threats as well as
opportunities for existing players. In addition,
although information products have few physical
delivery costs, information companies face critical
choices in
their use of distribution channels, whether direct or
indirect, especially when seeking to reach new
market segments. Here are some key questions
culled from our work with information companies:
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Google's new web-based spreadsheet service launched June 6th amid some reporters' and bloggers' cries of glee that the company was emerging as a potential Microsoft-slayer in office applications. But the significance goes deeper.
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Many of the nation’s scholarly societies and associations are up in arms about a proposed law that would require research conducted with federal money to be made available to the public free of charge
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Somewhat under the radar, a recent California court case recognized bloggers’ rights to protect their sources, even as mainstream journalists face challenges to their rights to shield their sources.
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With so many information businesses undergoing
change, planning is back in vogue. But the breadth and
depth of change call for a fresh view of how to
achieve
effective planning.
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One of the amazing aspects of the information
business is that entirely new concepts and services
can be generated from existing services. In an
intriguing phenomenon, data about the usage of
information can itself become valuable information
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A recent report by the European Commission calling for reforms in the scientific publishing system joins a chorus of critics on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy thinks the principles of open source software development can improve education.
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Government can play a large, often inadvertent, role in the information industry. The latest example is a clash between the Bush Administration and a group of the largest employers over the release of Medicare’s patient claims information.
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Advertising is undergoing revaluation as a result of
multiple changes in technology and consumer
behavior.
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Government policy can have a huge impact on
information businesses. As it puts more free content on the web, the government is a potential competitor to traditional publishers. At the same time, many of these publishers benefit from the government.
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Here are a few signs of our times and the disruptive
force of technology at the Rocky Mountan News, Konica Minolta, and Western Union.
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In the past few months, we have seen a number of developments that may foreshadow a more open environment in which content and services can be inter-mingled more easily, enabling developers to create new applications.
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Dow Jones’ results for fourth quarter 2005 show that its electronic strategy, particularly last year’s acquisition of MarketWatch, is having a transformative impact.
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Wikis are emerging as a new platform for creating content. Beyond Wikipedia, the collaboratively-authored encyclopedia, and internal company collaborations, wiki technology is being deployed to generate serious new content.
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Last January we published 10 predictions for 2005. As the year comes to a close, we look back and grade our predictions. Were we on target?
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Amazon’s just-announced program to sell book
content on a component or “pay-per-view” basis is
the latest in a series of events moving books at last
into the digital content business.
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New electronic submission requirements imposed on
drug companies by the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and its counterparts in other
countries are an example of how the government can
change the competitive landscape for information
companies.
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Taking a page from the content industry, Microsoft
has announced a new service providing hosted
software applications that are that free to users and
entirely supported through online advertising.
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