As we get set to collect data for the sixth edition of the annual World Newsmedia Innovation Study, it seems prudent to reflect again on last year’s findings which showed that change is on the agenda for the vast majority of organisations (82.4 percent) - but that the fire is not burning as hot as it might.
WNIS Study participants receive the full report. |
Responses
to the 2013-14 survey also suggested that the senior management teams in media
organisations have work to do to convince their colleagues that they are up to
the challenge of successfully managing their companies, and many seem to doubt
it themselves.
When ask to indicate to what extent they had confidence in the
senior executive team – including top managers (owners, CEOs), along with
senior editorial, commercial and IT managers – less than a quarter of
respondents strongly agreed that they are able to deliver what is required to
ensure their business enjoy future success. Top managers had the full
confidence of just 21.7 percent of respondents, followed by editorial, 18.6
percent; IT, 14.3 percent; and commercial, 11.2 percent.
More
than a third of all respondents either disagree or are neutral about the
capacity of senior executives. Some may put this down to the nature of the organisations
themselves, but there may well be more to it.
Of
course, there’s the view that the arrival of any new boss will be met by a
third of the staff who will support them, a third who will doubt them and a
third who need to be convinced. But these findings may indicate something more
profound. After all, the respondents to this study are themselves decision
makers.
While it’s important for leaders to be self-reflective and questioning,
when that tips over into crippling self-doubt it paralyses organisations. And
this much is clear: at times like these, the industry does not need to keep
drifting down the same river with an executive team too afraid to chart a new
course.
Respondents
are generally positive that the culture in their organisations encourage
innovation, but only 14.2 percent strongly agree with that view.
The
starting point for overcoming doubt and fostering a culture of innovation is
much the same. The leadership must have clarity about the purpose of their
organisation and be able to articulate a compelling - and convincing - vision
of the direction of travel.
News
International CEO Mark Darcey spoke at the Times CEO summit in June 2013
shortly after taking over the reigns of what he had previously described as a “refreshed
executive team” at News UK in the wake of the closing of the News of World, the
Leveson Inquiry and the reorganisation of News Corporation.
In times of
profound change when change is the only constant, everything is up for grabs,
Darcey observed. Then he paused. “Well, everything?” he asked quizzically.
“Surely there must be some limits, some essential elements that must be
preserved or the business has lost track of what it’s about at a fundamental
level, perhaps even lost its soul,” he said.
“Some
businesses do seem to be happy to transform themselves utterly, even finding
themselves in quite a different sector. But many others ask themselves a
simple, but important, question: Deep down what am I in business for? What is
the thing that if it were lost in the pursuit of survival in success it would
all have become a little bit pointless?”
Whatever
else senior executives need to do to transform their businesses, findings from
the last World Newsmedia Innovation Study highlighted that they should not lose
track of this: As a matter of urgency, the newsmedia leaders worldwide need to
reaffirm their visions of what future success will look like and articulate it in
ways that convince not only their staffs, investors and other stakeholders, but
also themselves. Or else, as Darcy observed, the pursuit of survival and
success may all be a little pointless.
Over the next 10 weeks we’ll again be surveying news media decision
makers, which we define as those with executive control of resources, to find
out how they have been navigating change inside and outside of their
organizations. And, again, participants can choose to receive a summary of both the current 2014 report as well as the full 2015 report when
they complete the 22-question survey, which is available in 11 languages until 30 June 2015.
1. English: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015English
2. Spanish: https://es.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Spanish
3. Finnish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Finnish
4. Chinese: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Chinese
5. Arabic: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Arabic
6. German: https://de.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015German
7. Russian: https://ru.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Russian
8. Portuguese: https://pt.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Portuguese
9. French: https://fr.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015French
10. Turkish: https://tr.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Turkish
11. Persian: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Persian
2. Spanish: https://es.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Spanish
3. Finnish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Finnish
4. Chinese: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Chinese
5. Arabic: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Arabic
6. German: https://de.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015German
7. Russian: https://ru.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Russian
8. Portuguese: https://pt.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Portuguese
9. French: https://fr.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015French
10. Turkish: https://tr.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Turkish
11. Persian: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WNMIS2015Persian
Of course, we welcome any questions about the study and am particularly keen to hear from academic researchers, industry associations and sponsors who are keen to help support the project.
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