Q&A with Ronnie H. Davis, Ph.D.

After 23 years of examining and researching the printing industry, Dr. Ronnie Davis thought it was time to assemble the insight, knowledge, and lessons he learned about the printing industry into one resource, his new book: Competing for Print’s Thriving Future: Understanding and Taking Advantage of Emerging Economic and Industry Forces.

Here, he has compiled a “soup-to-nuts” reference book on key economic and management issues for the printing industry, including how various economic and market forces have shaped competition and performance in the industry in the past and how the industry will look in the future.

It also provides readers a plan to take the analysis and turn it into a sustainable competitive advantage in order to compete for print’s thriving future. By focusing on the future—the emerging printing industry—the book helps ensure readers are looking to the future potential of the industry and not at the past.

It is ideal for printing firm executives, industry supplier executives, college and secondary school instructors and students, and others interested in the future direction of the printing industry and key success factors for surviving and thriving in the future.

We asked Dr. Davis to share some insights, highlights, and background information on the analysis and features within his new book.

To begin, what do you see as the main takeaway after reading Competing for Print’s Thriving Future?

The key message of this book is that, contrary to all of the negative information about the current state of America’s printing industry, and in spite of the very serious challenges facing print at this time, there is still a lot of life and opportunity in print’s future. Indeed, a case can be made (and is made in this book) that print could undergo a reversal of fortune and grow long-run revenues in the foreseeable future. Even if this most optimistic view does not materialize, our backup future scenario is one of a thriving future for at least a significant proportion of the printing industry and printers.