OPERATIONS:Expert Interview

Below are notes from Scott a magazine publisher. My recording did not take – so I part of the interview is recorded and the rest is noted below.  

What are the main steps in the publishing process?

·         The main components of the publishing process are the editorial side and the sales side. There is also the distribution element.

·         On the editorial side we have a full time editor who works with the freelance writers. We also have a full time staff member who takes care of the distribution.

·         We mail about 7,000 magazines each month, and we print about 13,000

·         The most expensive part of the process is the printing

Where do things usually go wrong and slow down the schedule?

·         We can sometimes have trouble with finalizing the stories. We have a monthly magazine, but our customers don’t really notice if the magazine comes out on the first of the month or the tenth of the month.

2) Describe the most interesting and useful insights that you learned about operations.

That this publisher goes to the added expense of direct mailing more than half of his magazines. I’m surprised that it’s cost effective for his company to absorb those costs. But that also means that they are achieving acceptable margins.

3) Describe if there is anything you learned about interviewing process. How did you feel during the interview? Was it easy or not? Do you feel like you need to adjust any of your questions or your overall approach?

It was an easy interview. I wrote two questions for this interview regarding the operations process. I did not have to change the questions. This was an easy interview.