Study for the Organization of the Greek Publishing Enterprises at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Book is indeed a unique commodity. The book publishing industry internationally is deeply influenced by the changes resulting from the increasing competition and the rapid introduction of novel information technologies and the Internet. In that framework, new departments, activities, roles and responsibilities are indeed emerging. This paper discusses issues for the organization of book publishing companies and provides an overview of the Greek publishing industry. Thereafter, the results of a survey concerning the structural organization of the publishing companies in Greece are presented. The study has been conducted during the second quarter of 2007 through a specially designed semi-structured questionnaire. In the study participated 123 representatives of Greek publishing houses, of all sizes and categories, from a total of 239 publishing houses that took part at the Pan-Hellenic Book Exhibition organized by the Athens Book Publishers Association.