MGT Strategic Planning at the Chribicle Gazette Essay

Now, with the advent of the internet greatly transforming the information-gathering sector, the newspaper industry is fighting a tough battle for profitability.

For decades, the Los Angeles Tribune was a driving force behind the news in Los Angeles. The emergence of the internet and of video news blogs and e-commerce have diminished the importance of printed media and greatly increased competition in the newspaper marketplace. Problems such as the rising cost of paper, and an aging customer based have affected the relevance of the Los Angeles Tribune. Also with the decreased advertising revenue, these have caused the paper to revise its goals.

As we begin to strategically plan for our business, it is important for us to take a deep dive into our competitive environment to understand where we are strong competitively and where we are weak competitively. An analysis of the forces driving industry competition using M.E. Porter’s Five Forces Model will assist us in determining where the power lies in a business situation as we begin to plan. We must understand how they work in our industry and how they affect our particular situation. Whatever the collective strength of these forces is, our job as the strategists of the organization is to

Problem Statement: The advent of internet brought about both challenges and opportunities for the newspaper industry. On one hand, it required redesigning a new product suited for online customers and on the other it was an opportunity to reach to 123 million potential customers in this category. Thus to keep up with the pace of emerging digitization in every field, like all newspapers, New York Times also added online reading in their product portfolio. However it only worsened the crisis the newspaper was already going through. The operating profit declined by more than 76% from 234Mn$ in 2010 to a mere 57Mn$ in 2011. The circulations were steadily declining and the new online advertising could not compensate for print advertising

In the article, “The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy,” Michael Porter argues that the five forces are an important element for managers and investors in the business industry. Porter stated that it is important to “understand the competitive forces, and their underlying causes” which many companies will use to determine if they will gain profit or not (Porter 80). Companies determine their profitability of the industry through the level of the force that they face. For instance, when the forces are favorable, most companies will be profitable. Porter gives a detail description of the five forces and explains the importance of each force. The five forces are the threats of new entrants, the power of the buyers, the power of the suppliers, the threats of substitute for products or services, and the rivalry among existing competitors. Porter believes that “a company strategist who understands the competition extends well beyond existing rivals will detect wider competitive threats and be better equipped to address them” (Porter 93). In other words, when strategists understand the different forces it will benefit them to make better decisions and to be ready to face the different challenges between competitors. In the article, Porter’s main goal is to present the importance of the five forces to the audience.

Opportunity is the key word for the newspaper industry right now. According to experts, neither digital advertisement revenues nor paywall subscriptions are the answer. Innovation needs to be present in order to define the future of the industry. For example, some added value needs to be present to merit the payment for content that was previously free or can be found using numerous substitute products free of charge.

The newspaper industry is undergoing a radical change in three primary areas caused by technology. First, the underlying two-sided business model is changing. With the Advent of internet, news content is easily and freely available from various sources but lacks quality journalism and credibility. Revenues from online advertising are not large enough to compensate for decline in revenues from print advertising & subscription. Newspaper industry is experiencing new realm of new content delivery and in process of understanding and establishing sustainable sources and

In his article “The five competitive forces that shape strategy“, Michael Porter (2008) updates and extends his “five forces” framework he first introduced in 1979 and which has influenced the academic and business research for decades. He reaffirms that “THREAT OF ENTRY”, “THE POWER OF SUPPLIERS”, “THE POWER OF BUYERS”, THE THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES”, and “RIVALRY AMONG EXISTING COMPETITORS” are the forces that shape every single industry, and a thorough understanding of such forces help analyze everything from the intensity of competition to the profitability and attractiveness of any industry. The framework has two dimensions; the vertical dimension that connects

With the decreasing market, the profitability of newspaper industry is declining. Newspaper revenues came from two sources: advertising and circulation representing approximately 80% and 20% of revenue, respectively. But between 2000 and 2010, annual

Transformation is an adjective unique to the cultural diversity across the globe. The fact remains inevitable that the media is a strong agent that serves to shape the lifestyles of the individuals. In the preceding decade a dramatic transformation has been observed in the newspaper readership habits of the Americans. The newspaper readership preferences of the average American are transformed from the traditional newspaper to the jet paced E-Papers. The following paper tends to discourse all the possible symptoms of this cultural transformation. The compact time and space settings are contributing drastically to the content as well as the reading preferences of the readers. The case study presents a detailed and structured analysis of how the preferences of the newspaper reader shifted from the newspapers to the E-papers. The case tends to shed light on the newspaper publishing house, The Chronicle Gazette. Susan Feinman is one of the senior publishers in The Chronicle Gazette. The newspaper enjoys a significant rather an immense paid circulation of 225000 customers. The Chronicle Gazette is a first class newspaper of the city and the writers of the newspaper are splendidly recognized as per their literally achievements. The scenario explained in the case study tends to indicate that The Chronicle Gazette is a much demanded newspaper by the citizens and is in a profitable state. But Susan is experiencing hard time as the subscription rate of her newspaper s

The Chronicle Gazette is one of today’s leading newspapers in the United States, with a circulation of 225,000 customers. Over the past few years, it has been facing a steady decline in its customer base and revenues. This is mainly due to the increase of people using the internet as their means of gathering news and information. The

In 1760, The Boston News-Letter was the first newspaper to be continuously published in the United States. A 250-year legacy of printed news could not have lasted if it newspapers didn't not have it uses. Aside from the entertainment value, newspapers exist for the main purpose of bringing news of international, national, and local news to the doorsteps of the people. Without such frequent and stable form of communication, it would be difficult for any nation to call itself a free democracy. Today however, it cannot be expected that newsprint will last forever. Statistical data firmly suggests newspapers around the world are falling both in number and circulation. The past several years have been difficult for newspapers as other news

Porter's Five Forces can be applied to particular companies, market segments and industries with the step-by-step analysis of market structure and competitive situation. First of all, when implementing this module in organizations, it is necessary to determine the scope of the market to be analyzed. Following, all relevant forces for this market analyzed and key forces are identified (Gerry and Kevan, P.117). Actually some organizational strategy and the longer-term goals are mainly based on or consistent with the key forces. Hence, it is not necessary to analyze all elements of all competitive forces with the same depth. Moreover, the key forces in the competitive environment will vary in different industry. Different forces take on prominence in shaping competition in each industry (Porter,

The Chronicle Gazette, a leading newspaper in San Francisco with paid circulation of 225,000 customers. It is a first-rate newspaper and over the years, its writers have won awards for their work.

In conclusion, new technologies nowadays have a negative impact on newspaper. It can be said that newspaper will become outdated in next future because it would be more convenient and easy to use other media such as Internet television and radio instead of using newspaper. New media can help people access the information and find the source faster than reading a newspaper. However, by comparison to other industry, newspaper has had long cycle. Therefore, newspaper could find the way out to increase the growth of revenue for sustainability. (930 words)