Re: Study Predicts Impact of Downturn on Learned Societies

[Adam Hodgkin <adam.hodgkin@gmail.com>]

If this study is important and some extract from it merits being 
posted to the list, surely it deserves and moreover needs some 
form of citation?

Or did I miss this?

Adam

On 1 Jul 2009, at 05:33, Molnar, Amy - Hoboken wrote:

> New study predicts impact of economic downturn on professional 
> and scholarly societies
>
> Oxford, UK, June 30, 2009 -- Sixty percent of professional and 
> scholarly societies believe that the global economic downturn 
> might be a stimulus to introducing efficiencies within their 
> organizations, while 57% think it might provide opportunities 
> for launching new activities or services for their members, 
> according to a new study presented at the Wiley-Blackwell 
> Executive Seminar held at the Royal Society, London, on June 
> 19th 2009.
>
> The study, carried out by Wiley-Blackwell, the leading 
> publisher for professional and scholarly societies, examined 
> the potential impact of the economic downturn on its society 
> publishing partners.  Sixty-eight percent characterized the 
> global economic downturn as moderately negative, while 17% 
> stated that it will have minimal negative impact or may even be 
> beneficial.
>
> Asked to rank the expected impact of the economic downturn on 
> each category of their organization's revenues or assets, more 
> than 75% of society officers believed that there would be a 
> very or slightly negative impact on their membership dues and 
> conference income, with the most concern 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% 
> said that they would consider downsizing while a further 41% 
> said they would consider expanding.  More than half (54%) 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".
>
> "It's clear from the survey that many societies are looking to 
> publishers for expert guidance in managing their costs and 
> protecting and growing their revenues during these anxious 
> times," said Dr Andrew Robinson, Vice President and Managing 
> Director, Medicine at Wiley-Blackwell.  "We take a proactive 
> approach and are working with our society partners on a range 
> of strategies and actions which will ensure that they and their 
> journals prosper".
>
> The study was presented at the Wiley-Blackwell Executive 
> Seminar held at the Royal Society in London on June 19th 2009. 
> 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 on May 28th 2009 
> at the Press Club in Washington, D.C., included a keynote by 
> Wiley author, Clint Swindall, who spoke on leadership and, in 
> particular, how organizations can maintain employee engagement 
> during times of change.

[snip]