CASE STUDY
Applying Organizational Design to EDP Workflow
at Johns Hopkins University Press
Case Study: Organizational Design
Reimagining the Editorial, Design, and Production Workflow
The Brief:
The employee groups tasked with managing the editorial, design, and production (EDP) processes at Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP) determined to thoroughly review their book publishing workflow during the summer of 2020. Studiolo Secondari guided them through this process, applying the Organizational Design* (OD) approach to question assumptions about how to develop, design, and produce books. Studiolo Secondari’s assessment resulted in a report which included market comparisons as well as new strategies for even greater workflow efficiency and transparency—to the benefit of both the business and its employees.
Snapshot:
Studiolo Secondari, with our deep knowledge of the publishing industry and experience navigating change management, dove right into strategic analysis of JHUP’s EDP workflows by applying the OD approach to the following steps:
Research: Reviewing JHUP operations data, publishing program, and department structures, informed by comparison with comparable publishers
Facilitation: Interviewing key principals, on-the-ground staff members, as well as internal and external collaborators
Recommendations: Providing thoughtful, realistic solutions based on best- in-class approaches.
* Organizational Design (OD) utilizes a human-centered, design thinking approach to problem solving in order to improve people’s work experience and organizations’ adaptation to change. The OD framework includes goal defining, environment evaluation, systems thinking, empathy, and experimentation.
Studiolo Secondari’s EDP report contained valuable and actionable insights into our current book production methods and included practical opportunities for change and improvement.
— Barbara Kline Pope, Director, JHUP
Research, Facilitation, and Recommendations (Oh My!)
Research
To kick off data reviews, Studiolo Secondari analyzed costs and related them to books’ categorizations to build a deep understanding of different book types’ costs. With these findings in mind, Studiolo Secondari then analyzed JHUP’s organizational chart to evaluate how to enhance the organization’s EDP workflow management. This research helped inform upcoming interviews with essential stakeholders in the EDP processes.
Facilitation
Having built a comprehensive knowledge base of JHUP’s EDP workflow and costs through purposeful data reviews, Studiolo Secondari conducted meaningful interviews with the:
Director and associate director, who helped identify key success criteria for evaluating operational and structural changes as well as author management;
Design and production heads, who shed light on their respective strategies, resources, budgets, and schedules;
Managing editor, who mapped out manuscript editorial workflows;
Marketing/sales directors, who clarified consumer/customer expectations and operational strategy requirements; and
Staff members, who shared their perspectives on specific workflow aspects and voiced ideas on ways to build on efficiencies or improve current processes.
Recommendations
Based on these reviews and interviews, as well as research on best-in-class solutions to EDP challenges (i.e. workflow, opportunities for standardization, and outsourcing support for in-house staff), Studiolo Secondari produced a detailed report with immediate action steps JHUP could take to achieve operational efficiencies with business and staffing benefits.
Based on these reviews and interviews, as well as research on best-in-class solutions to EDP challenges (i.e. workflow, opportunities for standardization, and outsourcing support for in-house staff), Studiolo Secondari produced a detailed report with immediate action steps JHUP could take to achieve operational efficiencies with business and staffing benefits.
— Barbara Kline Pope, Director, JHUP
Based on these reviews and interviews, as well as research on best-in-class solutions to EDP challenges (i.e. workflow, opportunities for standardization, and outsourcing support for in-house staff), Studiolo Secondari produced a detailed report with immediate action steps JHUP could take to achieve operational efficiencies with business and staffing benefits.
— Barbara Kline Pope, Director, JHUP
Results
Studiolo Secondari produced thoughtful, realistic, and actionable recommendations for JHUP’s EDP work in the form of a report—with key findings to support the organization’s suggested next steps towards maximizing workflow efficiencies. The report included defined structural changes to achieve operational efficiencies (as well as the associated benefits); revised organizational structure to illustrate impact on staffing and work fulfillment; and cost-saving measures to implement within the fiscal year. Some suggested next steps were a reimagined reporting structure, to include EDP representation at the executive level; an Expectations Summit, a third-party- hosted interdepartmental meeting with goals centered on creating a shared lexicon; and a Workflow Process Diagram, to ensure that, throughout the JHUP, processes are transparent and easily understood by employees at every level.
