Leadership and Management of Strategic Change - Assignment Example

Leadership and Management of Strategic Change s Submitted by s: Introduction Strategic leadership can be seen in three vital places in an organization and these places include the top, in the middle and at the department level. At the top, strategies for various business units are developed over a period of time while in the middle, the top down approach is interpreted into a business unit or strategy while creating goals. Consequently, the strategy goals that are associated with the business unit are interpreted at the department level to become individual objectives which can then be executed (Michigan State University Online, 2014). At the three main levels, strategic leadership is tasked with providing the scope and direction that is needed to assist in the pursuit for success in the organization. A key component of this success is derived from the effective management of continuous change through improving both people and procedures. Therefore, all the executives as well as the managers should possess the necessary instruments needed for strategic creation and execution while being ready to use the same instruments rapidly. Managing in an environment that is characterised by change and uncertainty needs leaders who are strategic con steadily maintain a sense of direction while at the same time developing ownership objectives as well as goals within the groups they are supposed to lead. The blend between an analytical perception that is used to develop processes for a winning strategy and a human element that enables the managers to create effective, inspired and accomplished teams is important to the success of strategic leadership. More often than not, strategic leadership fails since the right equilibrium between the two perspectives is not achieved. In the event that there is a high concentration on the execution as well as the outcome while disregarding the human dimension, the leader will be perceived as a task master and the individuals who are demoralized will not have the motivation to perform. If the leaders pay more attention to the human dimension and forget about the process and the work ethic, then the situation at work will be similar to one at a country club which is a good place to work with very little distinction about what people are supposed to do. Therefore, successful strategic leadership should be carefully balanced between analytics and the process development as well as the human dimension. Description of beIN SPORTS In June 2011, Al-Jazeera made an entry into the European television rights market through is purchase of a package of live Ligue 1 matches that would last from 2012 to 2016 for a cost of ninety million pounds per year. This makes them joint broadcasters of the domestic top-flight football together with Canal+ who have been holding the rights for a long time. The broadcaster also made an acquisition of the pay TV rights to the UEFA Champions League as well as the Europa League that will run from 2012 to 2015, the Euro 2012 and the Euro 2016 that will take place in France. Al-Jazeera targeted France when it was making its initial entry in to Europe since there were no dedicated sports channels that were in existence in France as compared to the United Kingdom. Early 2012 saw the revelation of the name beIN Sport and according to Al Khelaifi, who is the director of Al-Jazeera Sports, the title stands for the minds of two channels which are seeking to provide live and special broadcasting of the major actions. Al-Jazeera employed Charles Bietry formerly of Canal+ to launch the new channels which will be accessible on all cable and IPTV providers as well as a number of satellite providers though CanalSat which is under Canal+ Group has refused to carry the channels from March 2012. The launch of beIN Sport 1 took place on the 1st of June 2012 and it was scheduled to coincide with the broadcast of Euro 2012 while beIN Sport 2 was launched on July 27th the same year with the aim of broadcasting the French Ligue 2 season that proceeded the Ligue 1 season of 2012-2013. Al-Jazeera went on to change its name to become beIN Sports Arabia in the beginning of 2014 and all the channels that were previously referred to as A-Jazeera Sports were given a new title that is beIN Sports to make sure that all the channels share the same branding. Leadership and Management of Strategic Change Fans of soccer all over the globe have started noticing that a number of quality soccer matches are not available on their televisions and beIN SPORTS has taken this opportunity to become a soccer leader in terms of broadcasting. Many people are not familiar with the channel but eventually they will begin to take notice that beIN SPORTS has acquired the rights that allow it to broadcast most of the major soccer leagues and this will make them pay more attention. beIN Sports is an English language specialty channel that airs sports content of an international nature especially top-level soccer. It features exclusive coverage of Ligue 1, La Liga, Serie A as well as The Football League together with content from other leagues in Europe while also airing matches that include Auto Racing, Motorcycle racing, Tennis, Rugby as well as Volleyball (beIN SPORTS US, 2014). beIN prides itself as being the multi-platform sports destination that provides all the live game action, news and analysis of the top leagues around the planet to the passionate fans. It also provides exclusive and previously unavailable content to the fans that yearn for them. The channel is a newcomer to the American television as it started in 2012 and is owned by Al-Jazeera (Goal.com, 2012). The channel made a splash in the first season it was up by taking broadcasting rights of the major leagues in Europe and it continues to buy rights to many other games (Dunmore and Murray, 2013, p. 273). The channel has not been broadly carried in the same way as Fox Soccer so the availability of the channel may not be everywhere but it is growing at a tremendous rate. The channel makes available to its fans American, Latin American and European live games as well as generals sports news and detailed analysis while guaranteeing first-row access to the top leagues and the bigger sports events through television, mobile platforms with games that cannot be found on any other channels. Rebranding of A-Jazeera Sport into beIN SPORTS Al-Jazeera Sport was rebranded into beIN SPORTS on the midnight of Tuesday 31 December 2013 in an effort by the Al-Jazeera Media Network to bring together its worldwide sport channels under one name before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil commenced. The viewers who will have subscribed to beIN SPORTS in the Middle East and North Africa region will be able to access more than nineteen high definition channels that will include twelve which will be broadcasted in Arabic language. The rebranding allowed the subscribers to have access to two channels that are broadcasted in French as well as one that is broadcasted in Spanish while having further access to two channels in English that include Fox sports and NBA TV (English.alarabiya.net, 2013). beIN considers the unique power that sports has in uniting people and seeks to propel the fans into a new age as far as programming of sports events is concerned by the provision of unmatched global sports coverage to all its customers and subscribers. The new networks will seek to transform the normal viewing of television into portals that will unlimited immersive sporting activities that will appeal to all the fans in the languages they understand while at the same time enabling the events live on after they have concluded. The rebranding tries to provide the viewers more chances to watch the sports they like all over the world and it wishes to give the fans front row seats to all the live action in the FIFA World Cup in Brazil as well as coverage from other sporting events all over the world. The rebranding has developed a new age sports broadcasting and the viewers will not miss any sporting action as far as beIN is concerned through its digital multi-screen platform, the high definition channels are also available in all the devices and this will give fans an experience that will appeal to them at home and on the move. The launch and rebrand is poised to change the game and thus come up with an experience that is more interactive while improving the spectator engagement by creating more opportunities for the viewers and subscribers to share thoughts through social media enhancing the broadcaster’s experience too (English.alarabiya.net, 2013). beIN’s momentum in Eastern Canada BeIN SPORTS CANADA, which is a premium international English language sports network that broadcasts throughout the day every day, is progressively gaining momentum in Canada and the channel has added the Quebec and East Coast market to its list through Eastlink and Videotron. Through beIN SPORTS CANADA, viewers and enthusiasts all over the nation will view special reportage of soccer celebrities including Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani in the French league and other European leagues. The Canadians are typically big fans of sports, their reception of the network has been great and this has encouraged beIN SPORTS CANADA to continue providing coverage for other games including a national broadcast deal with the National Basketball League in Canada that will last for four years. According to the Deputy managing director of beIN SPORTS in North America, the network is greatly excited to make available sports coverage especially of an international nature that is exclusive to eastern Canada as well as Quebec. The viewers who have subscribed to Videotron as well as Eastlink will be able to enjoy beIN SPORTS CANADA through a paid service that will be available as an add-on with the subscriptions that they will have made. beIN has chosen the Ethnic Channels Group to be its exclusive programming and distribution partner of beIN SPORTS CANADA and this has significantly its rate of growth in this region. The current distribution that is associated with the channel includes Bell Fibe, Rogers, Bell TV as well as MTS and Eastlink and Videotron has been added to the list of distribution partners. This new carriage is progressively allowing beIN SPORTS CANADA to secure its place as the channel that is preferred by the viewers as far as sports is concerned in Canada. For the viewers who may want to stream sports content on their computers, Smartphone or tablets beIN SPORTS CANADA has developed the beIN SPORTS PLSY CANADA that will be made available through an online monthly subscription. The Ethnic Channels Group is a television broadcasting station that is based in Canada, which is also involved in distribution and communication while specializing in multicultural television channels that are meant for the viewers in North America. Apart from having more than one hundred in-language channels in its television broadcast, the channel group handles the distribution of a number of channels that are under Foreign Services licenses through acting as the official distributor on behalf of the original broadcasters. Rogers Cable, Telus, Cogeco as well as Bell TV in Canada among others and a variety of dish networks in the United States are responsible for the provision of the services of Ethnic Channels Group throughout North America (Eastman, 2014). Affiliate agreement with Verizon FiOS TV beIN being the fastest growing American television network that is dedicated to live and exclusive coverage of the best soccer in the world as well as international sports launched itself on Verizon FiOS TV on March 19 2014. Verizon FiOS TV is the most advanced video network in America having almost five million video customers all over the nation and it has thus added to its FiOS TV line up both beIN SPORT HD and beIN SPORT en Espanol HD. Through beIN SPORTS HD, FiOS TV customers will be able to watch all the top soccer leagues as well as tournaments from South America and Europe such as France’s Ligue 1, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, the Copa America 2015 as well as the South American World Cup Qualifiers. The network will also air the away games that will be played by the United States Men’s National Soccer Team during the 2014 World Cup as well as international rugby, motorsport, volleyball, golf and many more games. This affiliation will enable the customers that have subscribed to FiOS TV to enjoy exclusive international sports programming that is only available on beIN SPORT en Espanol and the management appreciates the importance of the channel to its many customers. The addition of beIN SPORT is included in the continued and progressive commitment by the network to enable more people access the sporting events they consider most exciting as well as the multicultural content that is most popular. Broadcast of the 2014 FIFA World Cup beIN has two studios and people in their hundreds on the ground so that it can have a considerable presence in Brazil as the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off. beIN holds rights for the World Cup for in France and the Middle East and it sent more than four hundred members to Brazil among them fifteen who people who are dedicated to its United States service that televises soccer action from the major leagues in Europe in both English and Spanish. According to Antonio Briceno who is the deputy-managing director of beIN SPORTS in North America, the United States programming networks is supposed to present two daily shows that will last an hour each all through the World Cup period. The shows are supposed to comprise content from Brazil, as well as the studios that are in Miami that will have both players and coaches sharing the insight they have on the World Cup. A show known as the Express Extra Brazil will be aired every night on the two services with different start times while a show that will deal with highlights and analysis will be aired in English everyday followed by one in Spanish all through the World Cup period until when it ends. The content that beIN will air is aimed at catering for the variety of audiences from different regions such as the ones in North American that are approximately twenty two million in number. Of this, seven million watch its service that is in the Spanish language while fifteen million watch its service broadcasted in the English Language. The network has completed deals with nine of the top ten distributors in the United States and it focuses on including Charter to its list prior to the commencement of the 2014-15 European season later on in the 2014 summer. The viewers who are currently subscribed will be able to access reports that will be broadcasted from the beIN studio that overlooks Copabana Beach, which will be the biggest studio that will be covering content from the World Cup. Together with this, the company also has a studio that is within the International Broadcast Station that is set up by FIFA in Rio de Janiero. Interactive Touchscreen Applications Reality check systems delivered several custom interactive touchscreen applications to beIN channels all over the globe in 2013 and on 1 January 2014, the same team assisted the network in uniting channels in Miami, Paris, Jakarta and Doha, which were under beIN. These activities were part of a project, which required the development of four hundred graphic elements as well as a database based on a cloud that would be used for populating the graphics in every location. Reality check solutions have been able to simplify the manner in which beIN producers as well as the editorial team works while giving the network a consistent aesthetic throughout the different channels, which it broadcasts. According to the beIN management, the Reality check systems team did a commendable job and was brilliant to work with and the network is still exploring the advantages and benefits that came about because of employing their innovation. The first activity that Reality check solutions was involved in was the automation of the touchscreen applications for four distinct beIN studios that were in two different continents and in Arabic and English language versions. Through the culling of a real-time feed data that is broadcasted through Opta Sports and rendering with the Virst Engine, each particular system is able to allow the on-air talent to rapidly and simply identify, manipulate and make a comparison of real-time information that is on any of the touchscreens. They are also able to prepare and make reviews of various team formations, as well as the statistics of players and the teams they play for. Even though the technology was initially designed for match broadcasts that covered the English Premier League, the technology has been expanded to cover all the major leagues including the Champion’s League and the Europa competitions. Presently, reality check solutions is re-architecting beIN systems that will allow the network to be able to cover Formula 1, Rugby, National Basketball League, National Football League as well as Boxing games. At the time when the network initiated its roadmap for the rebranding, beIN employed the expertise of Reality Check Solutions so that they could come up with a design for four hundred integrated sports graphics that were supposed to air in four different languages. The languages were Spanish, English, French as well as Arabic and to make the output of these graphics streamlined once they were on air, Reality Check Solutions developed a turnkey cloud-based SQL database that took data from Opta Sports in real-time through an internet connection. The data is consequently made to populate a graphics model and afterwards control a software script that has been tailor-made to input the information right in to the workstations that are manned by machinists. A team working for the network in Paris was responsible for beginning the design of the new graphics that were needed for the rebranding and Reality Check Solutions worked closely with the team to develop the designs into a modern, dynamic and steady aesthetic. This graphics were meant for all the on-air graphics in the different areas, the numerous sports as well as the multiple channels. The Reality Check Solutions team went on to create a custom software script that would generate the required graphics in English, French and Arabic, vary the hues of the graphics and decide the manner in which each of the graphics will be read on the screen whether right to left or in the opposite direction. Cake Studios who have collaborated with it for a long time in different projects assisted reality Check Solutions in the design of the promo graphics package elements for the project (Realitychecksystems.com, 2014). Introduction of a La Liga channel in the United States Real Madrid as well as Barcelona and the rest of the La Liga was made available to viewers in the United States on a different channel from August 2012 when the league got a new home as a result of the launch of beIN Sports USA. beIN Sports USA is new twenty four hour channel that is affiliated to the Al Jazeera that was based in Qatar which was rebranded to become beIN Sports (Cardenas, 2012). In March 2012, beIN Sports, then Al-Jazeera won the broadcast rights for La Liga in the United States even though since 2004, the league has been broadcasted on GolTV. According to the MD of beIN Sports USA Youssef Mohammad al-Obaidly, the stations that were launched were supposed to create a fresh manner of viewing sports which was improved. By the beginning of 2012, the network was in the concluding stages of negotiations with various providers after having secured two main deals that would allow the channel to be available to the subscribers by the beginning of August the same year. As at the time, DirecTV had not given a response to the management of beIN Sports on whether they would carry the channel (Cardenas, 2012). Around the same time, beIN Sport USA was tasked with the production of the pay per view broadcasts of the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers to the United States viewers. When beIN Sports USA began its broadcast of the La Liga games in the United States, ESPN 2 and ESPN Deportes which had acquired sublicenses from GolTV for some La Liga games could not be able to continue carrying the broadcasts as a result of the contract that beIN had acquired (Cardenas, 2012). The management of beIN Sports USA had the intention of bringing the channel in pairs and thus the channels that were introduced in the United States were beIN Sport 1 and beIN Sport 2 to match the beIN Sport franchise in France which are beIN Sport 1 and beIN Sport 2 that were launched for the football fans in France on June 1st. The channel was also set to carry broadcasts of the Italian League as well as the French League whose rights were initially held by Fox Sports in the United States. Fox still maintained its rights to the Broadcast of the Barclay’s Premier League and later the same year, they started their broadcast of the Europa League since they had acquired the rights to this broadcast in the United States in 2011, initially, GolTV had the rights to the transmission of the Europa League. Prior to the expiry of Fox’s contract with the EPL at the end of the 2012-2013 season, there was all indication that beIN Sports was looking to make a purchase of the rights for its broadcast. beIN could not be able to make an acquisition of the right s to broadcast the UEFA champion’s league since Fox owns the rights to the championship up to 2015. According to critics, Al-Jazeera and beIN Sport that belongs to them wanted to purchase all the football television rights in the United States. The viewers were also skeptical about the personalities who were to be on the channels but one face was familiar since Phil Schoen had resigned from GolTV earlier in 2012 and made an announcement on his Twitter page about his move to beIN Sports. beIN’s High-tech channel-changing Vuvuzela In an effort to give control to soccer viewers, TBWA/Chiat/Day NY came up with a vuvuzela whereby with one huge blow, changes the channel on the television directly to beIN Sports. Football fans became excited about this innovative instrument but the rest of the viewers became worried about the noise that comes from the vuvuzela. Soccer fans in the United States have a hard a time since most of the main sports networks focus on the sports that are unique to this region such as football, baseball as well as basketball. The soccer fans are most often left in the dark and regardless of the fact that the game is global, soccer fans are forced to find minimal pockets of supporters with the same interests who meet in small bars to watch their favorite teams play their matches (Ann Fera, 2014). The aim of beIN Sports was to change this when it came up with the vuvuzela that was able to change the channel to beIN Sports whenever it was blown heavily. During the announcement of the launch, beIN Sports that was portrayed as the international sports network that covers America developed the high-tech vuvuzela which instantly turns televisions regardless of the channels they are on to beIN Sports (Ann Fera, 2014). Vuvuzelas are horns that are capable of producing loud buzzes which were widely used during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. When the vuvuzela that has been developed by beIN sports is blown, it is supposed to grab the attention of anyone that is nearby and the switch the channel to soccer. According to the management of beIN Sports in the United States, soccer is not celebrated in the country since it is marginalized and in the process of creating empathy and celebrating the diehard fans, tools to make them convert others to the cause were developed (Ann Fera, 2014). The launch of the brand sought to create a campaign that would celebrate the game and since the network did not have monetary superiority like its competitors, it had to become innovative. The agency tasked with the creation of the tool developed the three dimensional printed prototype of the vuvuzela to carry out tests that were to confirm whether such a device could be created. The vuvuzela contains a minute microphone that collects the one of a kind sound signature of the horn after which a thirty two bit microchip sends an infrared signal to the cable box of the television set with the command to change the channel to beIN Sports. According to the management, if a soccer fan is at home with people who are watching other channels that do not broadcast football, the fan can hit the vuvuzela and this can also be done at the bar if the sets are tuned to channels that do not carry soccer. So far, only twenty of these devices have been developed and even though they are not universal in their powers, they have the capacity to control the broadcasts from two providers and plans are underway to broaden the reach. Through a spot that promotes the device, the agency is making the game changers available to the fans through a call-to-action at the end of a spot that invites people to visit beIN’s website or use a hash tag in their submission for their requests for the devices. To have a chance of owning the vuvuzela, the fans have to come up with a convincing story of the ways the device will be used for the good of football so that the first twenty could have a huge ripple effect and increase the demand in the rest of the world. beIN’s management is looking in to the impact of the introduction of the vuvuzela and if it is big enough, then the device may be commoditized. beIN considers the vuvuzela as a manifestation of a bigger campaign idea that involves changing the game which started with the idea of changing the game with a literal visual play where the soccer fans brought down an upright end goal post and placed it upside down to make a soccer net. The campaign for the game changer is considered to be a guide for the communications that seek to fulfill beIN’s mission which is to expand soccer (Ann Fera, 2014). Conclusion Sports has a unique capacity to bring people together and beIN Sports works towards propelling fans into a new age as far as programming is concerned through the provision of worldwide sports coverage that is unmatched to the people who have subscribed to it. According to Nasser Ghanim Al Khelaifi, Chairman of beIN SPORTS, the network I set to convert television sets to become portals that will offer unlimited immersive sporting action that will be tailor-made for all the viewers and fans in a language they are familiar with (Saudi Gazette, 2014). The management has made numerous changes to the manner in which the network operates including buying more rights and venturing in to newer areas in an effort to expand it coverage. Through a successful leadership by the management, the network has been able to rebrand and develop a sports schedule that is compared to no other which includes football, handball, cycling, among other sports while having some of the best analysts and broadcasters that are in the industry. The management has also made sure that through its leadership, the viewers are able to get a wide range of multiscreen technologies that have ensured beIN Sports subscribers have an access to exclusive broadcasting through television, tablets, smartphones and computers (Saudi Gazette, 2014). Bibliography Ann Fera, R. 2014, beIN Sports Blasts Its Way Into The U.S. With A High-Tech, Channel- Changing Vuvuzela. [online] Co.Create. 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