Wiley-Blackwell, the STM and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., US, recently conducted a study examining the potential impact of the economic downturn on its society publishing partners. Sixty percent of professional and scholarly societies believe that the global economic downturn might be a stimulus to introducing efficiencies within their organisations, according to the survey. Fifty-seven percent think it might provide opportunities for launching new activities or services for their members.
Sixty-eight percent characterised the global economic downturn as moderately negative, while 17 percent stated that it would have minimal negative impact or may even be beneficial. Asked to rank the expected impact of the economic downturn on each category of their organisation's revenues or assets, more than 75 percent of society officers believed that there would be a very or slightly negative impact on their membership dues and conference income. The most concern was expressed about endowments and investments. Thirty-two percent did not anticipate any change in income from publishing, forty-seven percent believed it could be slightly affected, while 17 percent felt this area may be very affected.
In terms of strategies to ride out the economic crunch, 41 percent said that they would consider downsizing while a further 41 percent said they would consider expanding. More than half felt that the way to navigate the recession was outsourcing some of their core activities, such as publishing. Two-thirds thought that their publishing needs would not change during the recession, while one-third thought they would. Typical of the feedback was the comment to 'Help us to weather the storm - you all have a lot more collective experience than we do individually' and the request for 'more guidance and monitoring of the economic climate and proactive recommendations'.
The study was presented at the recently held Wiley-Blackwell Executive Seminar at the Royal Society in London. This was the second Wiley-Blackwell seminar for society executives based on the theme, 'Journal Publishing in an Uncertain Market,' each of which attracted more than 100 delegates to hear a range of speakers and to participate in panel discussions. The previous seminar, held in May 2009 in Washington, D.C., included a keynote by Wiley author Clint Swindall, who spoke on leadership and, in particular, how organisations can maintain employee engagement during times of change.
The survey, carried out by Wiley-Blackwell in Spring 2009, was completed by 47 officers from scholarly and professional societies ranging in size from less than 500 members to more than 25,000, and from a variety of subject disciplines. The majority of respondents were based in Europe and the US. The Wiley-Blackwell Executive Seminars are run annually in the US, UK, Scandinavia and Asia, and are a forum for society executives and journal editors.
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