HANCOX, Ralph

Author Tags: Publishing

From a press release, 2009:

The Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing, under the aegis of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, has published Managing the Publishing Process, a 250 page text by Ralph Hancox, Professional Fellow and Adjunct Professor Emeritus at the Centre.

Hancox, who retired after some 50 years in the publishing industry in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and Italy - - - including 16 years as CEO, chairman and president of The Reader's Digest Association (Canada) Ltd. - - - taught Topics in Publishing Management at SFU's Master of Publishing program for almost ten years upon his retirement. He turns 80 this year.

The book, an outcome of his lecture and seminar notes, is organized along the lines of the Topics seminars. It opens with the Nature of Management that, says Hancox, must take into account not only societal and ethical values, but at the same time produce an efficient organization, achieve results in ways that optimize the requirements of employees and, for profitability and survival, achieve the objectives of the organization's purpose and mission . The Topics to achieve these ideals of management dealt with the details of: Management Strategies, Publishing Functions, Organization of the Enterprise, Motivation, Salary Structures, Financial Models, Publishing Markets, Production Management, and Business Environments.

In his Foreword to the book, Dr. Rowland Lorimer, Founding Director of the CCSP, said: "(Hancox's) influence has been felt, not just by students, but by the (Master of Publishing) program as a whole. A concern for helping management permeate the program, not only in courses that deal directly with management, but in courses on editorial; design and production; law, policy, and practice; history; and technology, as applied to books, magazine, and on-line publishing.

"Managing the Publishing Process," says Professor Lorimer, "preserves the foundation of Hancox's valued contributions. It brings research, and theory to publishing management, as befits professional training. No book can embody the richness of the experience Hancox brought to his classes, but this one - - - with its theoretical models and real-life examples - - - provides a foundation and inspiring environment for instructors and students to learn management principles and practices.

As Managing the Publishing Process makes clear, in publishing, it is the process that must be managed - - - not the people, nor the various tasks that make up the process. Hancox never tires of pointing our that purpose and mission drive strategy; strategy drives operational planning; operational plans drive management; management drives process organization; effective organization drives results; and results drive survival and continuity. His success as a manager and mentor is a tribute to this philosophy."

[BCBW 2009] "Publishing"