Abstract

The paper aims at reviewing the organization and business approaches of Reed Elsevier, which is among the FTSE 100 firms with a noticeable global reach. By and large, this is a publishing entity dealing in technological innovations and legal issues, risks and mitigations, healthcare and commercial sectors. By developing a strong brand, the organization has earned the loyalty and trust of a wider clientele base, an aspect that guarantees economic growth. This has been attained by investing heavily in current content that distinguish and enhance the goods and services offered, hence venturing into new market environs. Moreover, the paper evaluates some of the problems the company grapples with, such as slow global financial growth and new entrants into the market. Additionally, the document presents proposals on the areas of company approaches that should be enhanced.

Introduction

Reed Elsevier is touted as the best functioning international organization. It is listed at position 64 in the league of FTSE 100 organizations and has a market capital of 6.34b. Reed Elsevier is predominantly a research and publishing entity that deals with technological advancement, legal issues, risks and mitigations, healthcare and commercial areas. It consists of Reed Elsevier NV as well as Reed Elsevier PLC, forming a twofold listed entity. With its international presence, the company’s main goal is to offer information, research, and data analysis to its wide clientele base globally.

The organization is online based, and offers information particularly to its registered clients. The company has a profound business model that ensures it satisfies client needs. Most of the company’s clients deal in research, legal issues, and technological innovation, thus making it a business and educational entity. Challenges facing Reed Elsevier include; the uncertainty of its shares falling and market rivalry that makes it a risky business.

Organization strategies

The aims of the organization are to offer its clients top class information and authentic services to meet their professional and company needs. The company has hundreds of thousands of articles in its repository making it ideal and strategic to many clients.

By developing quality brands, the organization commands a huge and loyal clientele share, which is significant to ensuring growth. Huge investment in resources of updated content, which differentiates and expand the products and services provided, has been one of the approaches used to realize this goal, hence expanding in new geographical areas and market divisions as a result. The company has advanced its international reach by way of mergers and associations. As a result of mergers and acquisitions, Reed Elsevier has been able to enlarge its fiscal portfolio and clientele base, lured new clients, and introduced new items that meet the current patterns across the market. The company ‘s modus operandi is geared towards delivering innovative as well as authentic services that are anchored in the client’s workflow, hence making them significant associates (Edward, 1994).

Cost effectiveness is a key corporate strategy applied by the company. However, through technical advancement, a cluster of skills and shared experience, the company has streamlined price proficiency benchmarks that have curtailed wastes and enhanced profit margins. Through informed financial disclosure approaches, the company has been able to manage human capital as well as time for its benefits (Brian, 2009).

Profile enhancements and reshaping has helped the organization in apportioning wherewithal and finances through careful acquisitions, in addition to internal outlays, hence advancing the company’s progress and business development. On the other hand, key acquisitions commenced by the company include; Choice Point in 2008 valued at $4.1 billion and buying of United States online information company from investcorp valued at $530 million (Edward, 1994).

Managing company finance profile has been crucial in building income thrust, high profit generation, margin enhancements, and growth attuned returns for every share, growth on capital returns. Moreover, the professional financial control has helped the company to develop at an even faster rate, create new brands, acquiring and buying other companies, and financing its expenses.

Following a culture of best practices, Reed Elsevier has developed various strong points that include; sustaining a huge international market share by improving demand for scholarly information, offering top quality and reliable content, generating a huge income through registration and other income creating channels such as ads. The company has emphasised on operational performance that enables the organization to finance new business ventures, and training and recruiting experienced and human capital that is experienced and has the capability of serving client's demand and managing the establishment in professional and enterprising way (Edward, 1994).

Even though the company approach guarantees its exceptional development, it suffers from various shortfalls including hefty prices for rendered services and publications, and ads that support arms mores. Additional challenges include; slow international financial development and increasing competitors (Brian, 2009).

Business strategies

Essentially, the organization operates in more than 200 locations internationally; this is instrumental when it comes to guaranteeing its enhanced annual income and working capital. The major fraction of earnings made is from payment of it’s identify and rendered services. With more than thirty thousand workers engaged in various departments such as; editorial, marketing, IT specialists, sales and client support staff, the company has a wide pool of expertise which is a plus.

To concentrate on meeting the clients’ expectations, Reed Elsevier is clustered into five core departments. These include; Elsevier which is tasked with publishing health issues and scientific discoveries necessary for future research, LexisNexis Risk Services which presents analytical information allowing clients to control and assess risks associated with transactions and improve performance, LexisNexis Legal and Professional, which offers custom, regulatory, legal as well as business and data research to various companies, legal bookkeeping, administration and educational sectors, Reed Exhibitions which organizes exhibitions, symposiums and occurrences for many industry areas, and Reed Commercial Hub, which creates blogs, trade publications and web directories that offer information to international users.

A significant facet of the business approach applied by the organization is embedded on core values that shape the behavioral traits of its human capital towards offering appropriate goods and services, this allows the organization realize exponential growth. These principles also impacts positively on the approaches that it formulates for both interior and exterior drivers. It concentrates at meeting the clientele expectations by creating novel services and alternatives.

Areas that need improvement

Owing to the reality that online frameworks have become an international issue, any company whose items are stored online experience advanced levels of ingenuity, technological evolution and competitive edge. This is to say, Reed Elsevier should improve its company approach to sustain a huge demand for services across the market. The organization is faced with several difficulties including slow international financial growth and new entrants into the market that enhance the competition (Norton-Taylor, 2005).

The international financial growth constraint is out of the company’s control measures, which is expected to deal with the market uncertainties. It can deal with increasing competition by constantly introducing new items suitable across the market, both top quality areas and low class areas, lowering its subscription costs by espousing the approach of low cost and huge sales, coming up with free online portals for some publications to route potential leads to its website, and working in partnership with other significant websites for its business wellbeing. Moreover, the company should put more emphasis on its merging and acquisition approach to promote business growth, acquire new expertise as well as experienced employees and create a user friendly infrastructure that to almost everyone including people that are not computer literate.

In conclusion, Reed Elsevier stands as an authority when it comes to its operations and control of a huge clientele platform. So, for Reed Elsevier to enhance and draw more clients, the company should not cease to rebrand its products while introducing new ones, while improving its technological advancement to have a competitive edge over its business rivals.

References

Norton-Taylor, R .2005. "Banned stun guns and leg irons advertised at arms fair". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 21 February 2007.
Brian, S.2009. "Even Media About the Media Are For Sale, New York Times, 31 July 2009.
Edward , G .1994. "Reed-Elsevier Building Big Presence in the U.S.". New York Times. Retrieved 18 February 2008