LUCY KÜNG ( ed LUCY KÜNG (ed.) .) LUCY KÜNG (ed.) Leadership in the Media Industry Changing Contexts, Emerging Challenges Challenges Emerging Contexts, Changing – Industry Media the in Leadership The topic of leadership in the media industry is a compelling one. While other Leadership in the Media Industry industries have leaders or captains, the media sector has moguls, magnates and barons. Randolph Hearst, William Paley, Henry Luce and Robert Maxwell Changing Contexts, Emerging Challenges represent some of the most controversial and fl amboyant business leaders of recent times. And the current crop of contemporary media industry leaders – Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner and Steve Jobs – is no less charismatic. However leadership is also a sprawling area of management theory characte- rised by ambiguity and controversy. This volume presents a selection of papers Media Management and Transformation Centre from an international conference on ‘Challenges at the Top: Leadership in Me- dia Organizations’ which brought together researchers from around the world to confront these ambiguities, and explore and exchange opinions about this intriguing issue. The diversity and richness of the contributions in this book refl ect the diversity and richness inherent in the practice of leadership as exer- cised in the media sector. The topic is still an under-researched fi eld, and this book makes a contribution towards developing new theory, identifying fruitful areas for future study, and aiding understanding of the drivers of performance of media fi rms. JIBS Research Reports No. 2006-1 JIBS Research Reports ISSN 1403-0462 ISBN 91-89164-63-6 No. 2006-1 LUCY KÜNG ( ed LUCY KÜNG (ed.) .) LUCY KÜNG (ed.) Leadership in the Media Industry Changing Contexts, Emerging Challenges Challenges Emerging Contexts, Changing – Industry Media the in Leadership The topic of leadership in the media industry is a compelling one. While other Leadership in the Media Industry industries have leaders or captains, the media sector has moguls, magnates and barons. Randolph Hearst, William Paley, Henry Luce and Robert Maxwell Changing Contexts, Emerging Challenges represent some of the most controversial and fl amboyant business leaders of recent times. And the current crop of contemporary media industry leaders – Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner and Steve Jobs – is no less charismatic. However leadership is also a sprawling area of management theory characte- rised by ambiguity and controversy. This volume presents a selection of papers Media Management and Transformation Centre from an international conference on ‘Challenges at the Top: Leadership in Me- dia Organizations’ which brought together researchers from around the world to confront these ambiguities, and explore and exchange opinions about this intriguing issue. The diversity and richness of the contributions in this book refl ect the diversity and richness inherent in the practice of leadership as exer- cised in the media sector. The topic is still an under-researched fi eld, and this book makes a contribution towards developing new theory, identifying fruitful areas for future study, and aiding understanding of the drivers of performance of media fi rms. JIBS Research Reports No. 2006-1 JIBS Research Reports ISSN 1403-0462 ISBN 91-89164-63-6 No. 2006-1 LUCY KÜNG (ed.) Leadership in the Media Industry Changing Contexts, Emerging Challenges Media Management and Transformation Centre Jönköping International Business School P.O. Bos 1026 SE-551 11 Jönköping Sweden Tel. + 46 36 10 10 00 E-mail: [email protected] www.jibs.se Leadership in the Media industry - Changing Contexts, Emerging Challenges JIBS Research Report Series No. 2006-1 © Lucy Küng and Jönköping International Business School Ltd. ISSN 1403-0462 ISBN 91-89164-66-0 Printed by ARK Tryckaren AB Contents Preface 5 Lucy Küng Part I: Changing Contexts 9 An Exploratory Study of the Impact of Leadership Behavior on Levels 11 of News Convergence and Job Satisfaction Angela Powers Middle Managers’ Identity Work in a Media Context 29 Tomas Müllern Free Dailies: Success the Machiavellian Way? 41 Piet Bakker and Ingela Wadbring Leadership Characteristics in the Graphic Arts and Media Sector 59 Anastasios E. Politis Part II: Emerging Challenges 75 The Normative Challenge: Balancing the Long-Term Social Capital 77 Created by News with the Demand for Short-Term Profit Lee Wilkins Leaders as Builders of Great Teams 93 Alfonso Sánchez-Tabernero The Magician and the iPod: Steve Jobs as Industry Hero 107 Robert Alan Brookey Credentials, Strategy and Style: The Relationship between Leadership 123 Characteristics and Strategic Direction in Media Companies Dan Shaver and Mary Alice Shaver Interactivity and Leadership Effectiveness: A Concept Review and 137 Analysis of Email as an Interactive Leadership Tool Paul Murschetz Part III: Applying Leadership Theories to Media Leaders 155 Introduction 157 Aldo van Weezel Do Traits Matter? - Applying the Leadership Trait Approach to 159 Rupert Murdoch Min Hang A Behavioural Approach to Leadership: The case of Michael Eisner 169 and Disney Aldo van Weezel Robert Maxwell – A study of power in media leadership 179 Anders Bjurstedt Transformational leadership in practice? – The case of Steve Jobs and 187 Pixar animation Studios Patrik Wikström The staging of ‘Captain Outrageous versus the Australian Scumbag’ - 195 An analysis of Media Mogul Ted Turner and his feud with Rupert Murdoch Maria Norbäck Contributors 203 Preface Preface Lucy Küng This volume presents a selection of papers from an international conference on ‘Challenges at the Top: Leadership in Media Organizations’ which was hosted by the Media Management and Transformation Centre at the Jönköping International Business School from 30 September to 1 October 2005. The topic of leadership in the media industry is a compelling one. While other industries have leaders or perhaps captains, the media sector has moguls, magnates and barons. Randolph Hearst, William Paley, Henry Luce and the First Viscount Rothermere, and Robert Maxwell represent some of the most controversial and charismatic figures in business history. The personalities and activities of the current crop of contemporary media industry leaders –Rupert Murdoch, Ted Turner, and Steve Jobs, for example – are no less fascinating. The conference could therefore be expected to generate some stimulating contributions. This was indeed the case, with a very broad range of papers by scholars from a variety of disciplines and geographic regions being presented. Less predictable perhaps was the challenges it exposed in terms of researching the issue of leadership in the media field. From a scientific standpoint, leadership is a sprawling but inchoate area of theory characterised by ambiguity, theoretical and methodological controversy, and a dearth of commonly-agreed constructs or definitions. Despite decades of research, fundamental questions remain concerning what leadership is and where it occurs. Different researchers representing different theoretical schools define leadership in very different ways. In this volume we explore leadership as practiced by CEO’s such as Stenbeck at Metro or Jobs at Apple, by board directors of media firms, by those representing the European graphic arts sector, by managers in US newspaper or television newsrooms, and by middle managers in Swedish media firms. Thus it would appear that leadership can be found at every level and both inside and outside of organisations. Similar variety can be found in the theoretical models and tools used to investigate and analyse leadership in the media sector. This is evidenced by the wide variety of conceptual approaches displayed in this book which include, amongst others, a leadership-behaviour questionnaire, analysis of newspaper discourse, the Boston Consulting Group’s growth/market share matrix, and institutional analysis. Empirical research is also problematic. Those at the very top of media organisations are a difficult population to gain primary access to - partly because they are extremely busy and move around a lot, but also because they tend to be sensitive about outcomes and have the ability to block unfavourable 5 Jönköping International Business School analyses, as evidenced by attempts by Murdoch, Maxwell and Jobs to block publication of biographies. Secondary data sources are plentiful but not always ideal. Much stems from journalistic sources, and as a past, current or potential employee of a media organisation, the journalist is not, or cannot always be, objective. Further, the leader of the media firm often has an unusual ability to influence what is published. Plus journalists are writing for other audiences than research scientists. Perhaps as a result, in this volume, when analysis is focused on leaders at CEO level we see extensive use of secondary sources. Researchers focusing on leaders at mid-levels rely far more on primary data, often generated by questionnaire or survey instruments. This book falls into three parts. The first, ‘Changing Contexts’ explores the changes that are taking place in the media landscape and their implications for leaders. Angela Powers identifies how news managers are bringing competitors together in converging broadcast and print newsrooms and implementing fundamental changes in the structure of news. Tomas Müllern describes how middle managers in media companies find themselves in a situation of continuous and pervasive change, with strong consequences for how they view themselves in front of others. Piet Bakker