Oxford University Press Stock Planning Away Day

by Rebecca Burke

In November 2017 fifteen MA Publishing students from the Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies at Oxford Brookes University joined the Global Academic Stock Planning department for their annual away day

I must admit, it was a little nerve-wracking, but very exciting, knowing that I would be spending the good portion of the day with staff from Oxford University Press. I had to do some frantic journey-planning and set my alarm super early the night before. I was indeed nervous on the day but we received a warm welcome on arrival. Everyone was incredibly friendly and encouraging. We each had one member of OUP assigned to work with us and this was instantly reassuring.

The tasks were tackled in groups and the day built up to final presentations. In these groups we had to look at the life-cycle of books from different categories, and report back on anything interesting we found. For example, if there was a sudden decrease or increase in sales we were supposed to think about this and consider the reasons. We had access to a database full of sales data, which also showed us when OUP decided to do additional print-runs; this meant we could see if they were always meeting the demand of consumers - or if there had been an underestimation. It was good to see real life examples of what we have covered in marketing and editorial. There were laughs and jokes, and my group ended our presentation with a sing-a-long! I am so glad I got the chance to go, and we were spoilt rotten with endless cups of tea and cake. 

Edited by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 15 Nov 2017 around 3pm

Last edited: 04 02 2018