Random House CEO Markus Dohle

In a Publishers Weekly cover story, Jim Milliot takes a look at what MarKus Dohle has done to America’s biggest publisher, Random House, in the two years he’s been at its helm — under what many thought was a mandate to radically alter the company:

… it is clear that Dohle has accomplished an overhaul of Random that was more evolutionary than revolutionary. With the recent creation of the Ballantine Bantam Dell unit and further realignment of the Crown Publishing Group, Dohle has done what Random outsiders said was necessary to re-energize the company — made Random’s bureaucracy easier to navigate; consolidated the mass market imprints into one group; simplified the publishing groups and given them a better identity; and brought in new blood.

Still, the big question is what’s next, observes Milliot — in particular, Random has been the sole hold-out of the big six publishers from accepting the agency model necessary to work with Apple’s iPad:

Finding the right digital business model is obviously a key to the future, and Dohle said the model continues to evolve. Noting that the 25% royalty rate on e-books is significantly higher than the average rate for print books, he called the percentage “a reasonable number at this time.” Regarding Random’s reluctance to move to the agency model, Dohle said that was a major decision that needs more study, but added, “I’m in close contact with Apple. They could be one of my biggest customers one day.”