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Usa Today: Pursuing the Network Strategy Essay

Decent Essays

1) The “network strategy” is CEO Tom Curly’s vision to integrate USA Today’s three main business units or media channels: Newspaper, Online and TV. The Online unit currently operates independently with their own sources of news content, editing, production and distribution. Tom Curly believes that by integrating the three channels they can better leverage the USAT brand as well as its news gathering, editing and distributing capabilities across the multiple channels. The success of this strategy is based upon the assumption that the three units, 1) have some overlap of target customers that would find value in the same news content,
2) have systems and processes that align with each other and enable the sharing of news content and …show more content…

The Online group is much younger, fast paced, casually dressed and techno savvy.
Tensions exist between the two groups and in fact the article mentions that the reporters in the newsroom were making no effort to “interface with Online’s Operation” and were ignoring the
Online staff. Also, the Online group had been fighting to spin off from the parent group. They have a different vision for their unit altogether which conflicts with the strategy Curly is suggesting. They want to work autonomously and be their own laboratory for rapid new product development. 3) If I were Tom Curly I would make minor modifications to the organizational structure to execute his network strategy. The company is clearly resistant to significant restructuring but some modifications can be made to leverage the company’s capabilities across the three channels. Due to the major differences in culture and operations and the existing tensions, I would have the three media channels continue to operate as separate business units. Online wants to run its own website and operations, have a dynamic culture and be their own laboratory for rapid new product development. Therefore, their division would require a much flatter, looser structure than the Newspaper group. Essentially I would model the allocation of work like that of Mintzberg’s Divisional form (B&D). However, to ensure the company is leveraging its brand name, news gathering and distributing capabilities

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