Book Publishing and Technological Development: a Study on the Book Market and Business Practices of Selected Publishers in Malaysia
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BOOK PUBLISHING AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY ON THE BOOK MARKET AND BUSINESS PRACTICES OF SELECTED PUBLISHERS IN MALAYSIA FADLI BIN ABDULLAHMalaya of FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA KUALA LUMPUR University 2018 BOOK PUBLISHING AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY ON THE BOOK MARKET AND BUSINESS PRACTICES OF SELECTED PUBLISHERS IN MALAYSIA FADLI BIN ABDULLAHMalaya of THESIS SUBMITTED IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA KUALA LUMPUR University 2018 Malaya of University ii BOOK PUBLISHING AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT: A STUDY ON THE BOOK MARKET AND BUSINESS PRACTICES OF SELECTED PUBLISHERS IN MALAYSIA ABSTRACT The advancement of technology over the past few decades has tremendously changed the the lanscape of book publishing industry. In book market, some of these changes included the coexistence of printed book and e-book in the market, the development of online bookselling, and also the increased competitions in the industry. The publishing supply and value chain are also no longer the same. This has created new challenges to the industry. As a developing country, Malaysia is now in the process of adapting to this new environment. Despite the fact that Malaysia is aggressively trying to improve the production of books, the industry has remained stagnant.Malaya In term of academic research, there has been reasonably small numbers of comprehensive research focuses on Malaysia, regarding how the industry is changing oftoday and the impact experienced due to technological developments. Taking all these issues into consideration, the main aim of this study is to to explore the development in Malaysia by focusing on the current situation in its book market and the responses among local publishers in the industry. By concentrating on trade publishing sector, this study hopes to provide a comprehensive picture of its current state in Malaysia and how far technological developments have changed the business practices among local publishers in the industry. In achieving this, theUniversity perspective of strategy and its relation to technology from the viewpoint of media economics and management is used as a theoretical foundation of the study. For methodology, this study relies on qualitative research approach through the analysis of documentary sources and case studies. The finding of the documentary sources analysis shows that, the emergence of e-book has brought alternative options of reading and book buying to Malaysian readers. However, the market remained stagnant and yet to show iii any significant growth. Meanwhile, online bookselling is observed to be growing noticeably, especially through e-commerce and social media platforms. Apart from that, there is also a substantial increase of small independent publishers in the industry impacted by the emergence of the Internet and social media. As for the case studies, from the analysis of the six local trade publishers, it is evident that technological developments have completely changed their business practices in the industry. The impact is apparent, but it is not fully on the end-product of the production, which is the switch from printed to e-book format. Instead, the changes are obvious in other parts of book production, such as content planning and development, marketing, and distribution. The finding reveals that, all companies are adopting multi-platform strategy in their business practices, as a response to technological developments. The Internet, computer technology and social media are becoming rather important in the companies’Malaya book publishing practices. In discussing about the issues and challenges faced by all six companies, the study manages to identified at least three main issues, namelyof the declining of book sales in physical bookstores, the stagnation of local e-book market, and the disadvantages of technologies and reduction of editorial skills among editors. Keywords: Malaysian book industry, Technological advancements, Trade publishing business, Publishing chain, E-book University iv PENERBITAN BUKU DAN PEMBANGUNAN TEKNOLOGI: KAJIAN TERHADAP PASARAN BUKU DAN AMALAN PERNIAGAAN PENERBIT TERPILIH DI MALAYSIA ABSTRAK Perkembangan teknologi yang berlaku sejak beberapa dekad yang lalu telah banyak mengubah lanskap industri penerbitan buku. Dalam pasaran buku, perubahan-perubahan yang berlaku termasuk kewujudan bersama buku bercetak dan e-buku di dalam pasaran, perkembangan penjualan buku menerusi dalam talian, dan juga peningkatan persaingan di dalam industri. Rantaian bekalan dan nilai penerbitan juga tidak lagi sama seperti dahulu. Perubahan-perubahan yang berlaku telah membentuk cabaran baharu kepada industri. Malaysia, sebagai sebuah negara yang membangun, masih lagi dalam proses penyesuaian kepada persekitaran yang baharu ini. Walaupun Malaysia, secara agresifnya sedang cuba untuk meningkat dan membangunkanMalaya produktiviti pengeluaran buku, keadaan industri kekal tidak berkembang. Dariof segi penyelidikan akademik, jumlah yang memberi tumpuan khusus dan komprehensif kepada Malaysia, terutama dari aspek perubahan dan impak yang dialami oleh industri penerbitan buku kesan daripada perkembangan teknologi, juga masih kecil. Mengambil kira isu-isu tersebut, matlamat utama kajian ini adalah untuk mengkaji perkembangannya di Malaysia dengan memberi fokus kepada keadaan semasa pasaran buku dan respon dalam kalangan penerbit di dalam industri. Dengan memberi tumpuan kepada sektor penerbitan buku “trade”, kajian ini berharapUniversity dapat memberikan gambaran yang komprehensif tentang keadaannya di Malaysia dan sejauh mana perkembangan teknologi mengubah amalan perniagaan dalam kalangan penerbit tempatan. Untuk mencapai matlamat dan objektif tersebut, perspektif strategi dan hubungannya dengan teknologi dari sudut pandangan ekonomi dan pengurusan media digunakan sebagai teori kajian. Untuk metodologi, kajian ini secara keseluruhannya menggunakan pendekatan penyelidikan kualitatif, melalui analisis sumber dokumentasi dan kajian kes. Dapatan kajian hasil daripada analisis sumber v dokumentasi menunjukkan bahawa kemunculan e-buku telah mewujudkan pilihan alternatif kepada pembaca di Malaysia untuk membaca dan membeli buku. Namun, keadaan pasaran e-buku masih tidak signifikan dan tidak menunjukkan pertumbuhan yang ketara. Keadaan menunjukkan sebaliknya untuk penjualan buku menerusi dalam talian yang menunjukkan perkembangan yang positif, terutamanya penjualan menerusi e- dagang dan media sosial. Selain itu, terdapat peningkatan yang ketara penerbit-penerbit kecil (bebas) di dalam industri impak daripada kemunculan Internet dan media sosial. Bagi kajian kes pula, analisis yang dilakukan ke atas enam penerbit tempatan menunjukkan bahawa perkembangan teknologi sememangnya mempengaruhi amalan perniagaan mereka dalam industri. Impaknya jelas, tetapi tidak begitu banyak pada produk akhir penerbitan, iaitu format buku (perubahan dari format bercetak ke format e- buku). Sebaliknya, kesannya jelas pada bahagian-bahagianMalaya lain dalam proses penerbitan, seperti pada bahagian perancangan dan pembangunan kandungan, pemasaran, dan pengedaran. Dapatan kajian menunjukkanof kesemua enam syarikat yang dikaji menjalankan strategi kepelbagaian platform dalam amalan perniagaan mereka sebagai respon terhadap perkembangan teknologi. Teknologi seperti Internet, teknologi komputer dan media sosial juga dilihat semakin penting dalam amalan penerbitan buku mereka. Dari segi isu dan cabaran yang timbul, kajian ini berjaya mengesan sekurang-kurangnya tiga isu utama yang dihadapi oleh mereka, iaitu kemerosotan dalam penjualan buku di kedai buku, keadaan pasaran e-buku yang tidak berkembang, dan kelemahan teknologi danUniversity pengurangan kemahiran editorial dalam kalangan editor. Kata Kunci: Industri buku Malaysia, Pembangunan teknologi, Perniagaan penerbitan buku “trade”, Rantaian penerbitan, E-buku vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and Foremost, syukur Alhamdulillah to Allah the Almighty for His blessings in giving me strength and health in completing this thesis. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisors, Professor Dr. Md Sidin Ahmad Ishak and Dr Siti Ezaleila Mustafa, for being patiently providing guidance throughout the time of this thesis writing. Also, to the lecturers and staffs in the Department of Media Studies for their constant assistance and support. I would also like to thank my family, especially my parents who have always been unconditionally supporting me. I am blessed to have a wife whose faith in meMalaya never wavered. I would not finish this thesis without her encouragement and help. Last but not least, my dearest son Muhammad Luqman for the happiness he broughtof to me during the most difficult time of my PhD journey. University vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................ iii Abstrak .............................................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... vii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................. xii List of Tables.................................................................................................................