Wharton Digital Press publishes its first e-book

Wharton Digital Press, an all-digital publishing program launched in April, released its first e-book on Tuesday.

The book, The Leader’s Checklist: 15 Mission Critical Principles by Management professor Michael Useem, outlines 15 tenets to help individuals lead and manage organizations.

In an effort to establish WDP’s presence, the book will be available as a free download until Tuesday at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Sony and other e-retailers, according to Stephen Kobrin, professor of management and publisher and executive director of WDP. After Tuesday, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble will sell the book .

“The book, which is intended to help leaders make good and timely decisions in unpredictable and stressful environments, is based on [Useem]’s extensive research and his work with a wide array of organizations globally,” Korbin wrote in an email. “The Leader’s Checklist is a good example of what we want to accomplish at Wharton Digital Press.”

Management professor Mauro Guillén explained the formation of WDP and the shift to an all-digital publishing program as the result of technological advancements in the publishing industry and the convenience of using digital books, as opposed to print versions.

Guillén said he sees a future for e-books in the classroom because students tend to prefer accessing material from their laptops. Professors could also choose to embed hyperlinks in their books, which would allow students to access external resources that the professor deems relevant.

“For the past ten years, professors have been fighting digital books but we are now embracing it more than ever,” he said. “When I look at my bookshelf now, I find myself wishing that I could store everything on my laptop.”

Janice Bellace, chairwoman of Wharton’s Legal Studies and Business Ethics department, said that her department rarely assigns full books for students to read, but assigns “bulkpacks” instead, which consist of selections from a variety of different books. She noted the use of Study.net, a website through which Wharton students can access digital bulkpacks, as “a great resource because it takes care of copyright issues” associated with using content from a variety of sources.

But digital books do have their drawbacks.

“I personally am not a fan of e-books, as my head hurts when I read a computer screen for too long,” rising Wharton and College sophomore Krishen Somers wrote in an email.

Rising College sophomore Tanisha Hospedale disagreed. “[Digital books] are convenient. And it is easier to haul them around than your text book,” she wrote in an email.

“Piracy is probably the biggest concern when it comes to digital books,” Guillén said.

Also, some students may dislike the intangibility of e-books. “Some students like having the ability to write and underline in their textbooks,” Guillén said. But there is a solution.“For students who prefer physical versions of their books, the print-on-demand feature is also available for them.”

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