Strategic Planning at Chronicle Gazette - Research Paper Example

Strategic Planning at Chronicle Gazette Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 1. Introduction 2 2. State of the newspaper publishing industry today 3 2.1. Data on declining circulation and revenue 3 2.2. Status of newspaper leaders 3 3. Why newspapers are facing declining circulations and revenues 4 3.1. External assessment 4 3.1.1. Economic forces 4 3.1.2. Social, cultural, demographic, and environmental forces 4 3.1.3. Political, governmental and legal forces 5 3.1.4. Technological forces 5 3.1.5. Competitive forces 5 3.1.6. External Factor Evaluation (EFE) matrix 6 4. Internal assessment 7 4.1. Organizational processes and structure 7 4.2. HR capabilities 7 4.3. Financial position 7 4.4. Marketing and sales capabilities 7 4.5. Operational capabilities 8 4.6. Our strengths and weaknesses of The Chronicle Gazette 8 5. Strategies of the publishing companies to cope with the challenges 8 6. Steps the Chronicle Gazette takes in order to deal with the challenges 9 6.1. Short-term steps 9 6.2. Long-term steps 9 Conclusion 9 Works Cited 10 1. Introduction Strategic planning can be defined as a process of management which outlines proper polices to meet the challenges faced in the external environment. Organisations are using strategic planning technique to set priorities, develop plans for the power and resources. Managers will be able to reinforce the operational policies, monitor their employees and stakeholders with modified strategic policies. Moreover, strategic planning process helps the organisations in terms of achieving the goals or objectives regarding profitability and market growth. Strategic planning will help the organisations in meeting varying situations; their managers can be able to assess external threats to developing strategies (Bashir Ahmad Fida, 482). Strategic planning helps in developing feasible strategies as per interlinking operational policies and resources. Current consulting report predict the potential environmental changes like economic, business, political, governmental, social aspects. The report develops strategies according to the threats that The Chronicle Gazette is facing. New set of strategies are developed for Susan and her team to meet the unstable business environment in the newspaper industry (Colley 256). 2. State of the newspaper publishing industry today 2.1. Data on declining circulation and revenue Economic crisis affected print media industry as they reported reducing revenues and number of publication. The U.S. based newspaper industry is facing the challenge from the magazines. Daily publishing newspapers are facing constant downfall rates. During the year 2011, newspaper market of the US reported with 1,392 dailies. However, the market was reported with almost 1700 dailies during the year 1985 (Stateofthemedia). Newspaper industry is facing another problem as the advertisement is reducing. From the table, it is observed that the print media advertisement reduced in a continuous manner during the last 10 years. In the year 2003, it reported as $44941 and in 2012 as $19943. On the contrary, online or digital media advertising increased a lot. Online advertising reported as $1216 in the year 2003 and it increased to $3375 in the year 2012 (Stateofthemedia.org). Table 1: Print media and online advertisement revenue Year print media $ online media $ 2003 44941 1216 2004 46702 1541 2005 47400 2030 2006 46610 2670 2007 42206 3170 2008 34729 3105 2009 24831 2741 2010 22789 3041 2011 20687 3251 2012 18943 3375 (Source: Stateofthemedia) 2.2. Status of newspaper leaders USA based newspaper market share is controlled by the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. These two organisations are also facing the threats of the global economic recessions. New York Times reported daily circulation of 1,379,806 and weekend circulation reported with 1,321,207 in the year 2014. Revenue rate of the newspaper reported as US$37.33M or 22% during the year 2013, whereas, revenue reported as US$30M in the year 2012. However, the revenue is still 26% to 27% less than the amount reported in the year 2008 (Stateofthemedia). Wall Street Journal reported their circulation rate as 2378697 daily in year 2014. It is the largest business publication in the global segment. This newspaper is owned by the Dow Jones & Company. In the daily segment, it provides different type of information like economic segments like equity and money market, latest political news and entertainment or luxury lifestyle. The Wall Street Journal is having more than 2000 journalists who collect latest information. They are having 26 printing plants in 51 different countries. They are increasing their compatibility and sustainability with the help of the digital platform strategies (Stateofthemedia.org). 3. Why newspapers are facing declining circulations and revenues 3.1. External assessment USA based newspaper industry is facing different sort of problems regarding the external environment. Mainly, there are certain factors like the number of newspapers and magazines in the market, investment in newspaper and magazine advertising, newspapers circulation, customers spending capacity on newspapers, time spent on print media, and commercial contents. External analysis of the USA newspaper industry can be done on the basis of various external traits of the market (Collins 122). 3.1.1. Economic forces Economic crisis affected the newspaper industry in the year 2008. During economic recession, organisations or firms look for the low cost advertisement mediums. Thus, the US based newspaper advertisement investments are declining from the year 2008. On the other hand, digital marketing segments are gaining popularity in the globe (Grunig, Kuhn and Kuhn 171). Market analysts reported that the advertising revenue of newspapers in the US segment will reach U.S. dollars 16.4 billion during the year 2016. However, the amount reduced by U.S. dollars 4 billion that the advertising revenue reported in the year 2011. The main reason for the decline is people are looking for more cost-effective advertising alternatives during the post recessional economy (Mulaga 553). 3.1.2. Social, cultural, demographic, and environmental forces Social aspects are affecting the newspaper industry in terms of managing sensitive information. Newspapers of the US regions are facing the challenge of cross cultural traits as they are facing challenge of immigrating people. Thus, cross cultural aspects of customers are most important factors of developing strategic planning. Demographic factors are impacting the newspaper by providing information on entertainment and luxury. These factors are majorly observed in the publications of Sundays and other holidays. People are changing their habits of leisure and luxury. Thus, Sunday edition is losing popularity. Environmental forces also affect the newspaper industry. There are certain environmental sustainability rules that are imposed on the paper mills. In the developed countries, production of papers and use trees are controlled (Sasaki 443). 3.1.3. Political, governmental and legal forces Political and government forces are mainly the authority that controls press materials. In the US, the authority also imposes certain censure limits in the media contents. In addition, political, legal and government forces are controlling pricing strategies of different newspapers. Such forces are controlling the price and contents as per the community standards. During the time of economic recession, newspapers are forced to maintain low prices. Again political, governmental and legal forces are controlling the critical contents during the time of political instability. In addition, cross cultural conflict related contents are restricted in the news papers. Legal authorities are empowering the readers to complain against any sort of contents (Urbanski 116). 3.1.4. Technological forces Newspaper industry is facing a huge challenge from the technological improvements. In the developed countries, it is observed that the professional aspect is limiting the use of newspapers. People are seeking for the online version news blogs. This will reduce the time of access and it enhances the availability of various news blogs. Newspaper industry is rapidly using the online portals in terms of meeting more readers. Online versions are reducing the recurring costs as printing and paper costs are dropping. People are accepting this medium most. It increases the availability and accessibility of different information easily. Data mining and DBMS is well maintained in the online portals and archives are maintained very well. However, such trait of readers restricted the potential of earning advertisement revenues. Organisations are using the digital media for advertising products and service to a mass reach and in lower cost ('USA Dover Corp, USA’). 3.1.5. Competitive forces Porter’s model will outline the competitiveness of US based newspaper industry. According to Porter there are five different forces that are affecting the growth and sustainability of the print media in America. Entry of new challenger: in the USA based print media industry threat of new entrant is low as the profitability of the industries tends low and new organisations are investing on the digital media. Thereby, such policy creates an entry barrier in the print media. Thus, power of new entrants is low in the industry. Threat of alternative products: Newspaper is substituted by the digital blogs and online news portals. People can access TV news channels and online news portal in cheaper conditions. News is also available in the smartphones and tablet PC. Thus, threat of alternative is high in the print media industry. Bargaining power of buyers: News readers will be negotiating the prices of the newspapers. Customers are having moderate power to bargain the price of the newspapers. Bargaining power of suppliers: Print media suppliers enjoy oligopoly market conditions. Suppliers of newsprints, inks, printers, papers, and other printing materials enjoy high power of bargaining from the organisations (Ward and Peppard 121). Rivalry among the existing players: In the US based newspaper industry, intense competition can be observed among the newspaper vendors. New York Times, and Wall Street Journal are the leaders of the print media market of US. They are controlling the market competition rate and developing benchmarks of news segmentations. 3.1.6. External Factor Evaluation (EFE) matrix External factors Weight Rating Score Opportunities Post recessional market and increase of funds among the customers 0.125 4 0.5 Extensive reach of the global customers 0.125 3 0.375 Long time insight of advertising through the newspaper advertisements 0.125 3 0.375 Huge population of USA will increase the customers base 0.125 4 0.5 Threats Digital newspaper channels 0.125 4 0.5 High cost of advertisement 0.125 4 0.5 Customers are having less time to access various news papers 0.125 2 0.25 Intense competitions 0.125 3 0.375 Total 1   3 From the above mentioned External Factor Evaluation (EFE) matrix, the opportunities and threats aligned in the print media industry are segmented as per weight, rating and scores. 4. Internal assessment 4.1. Organizational processes and structure The publisher of the newspaper is Susan Feinman. The paper is having the paid distribution channel among almost 225,000 customers (Stateofthemedia). It is observed that it is a first-rate newspaper since the last decade; moreover, the reporters are providing high qualitative writing. 4.2. HR capabilities The publisher of The Chronicle Gazette is playing the role of the HR and expanding her role to control different process. Susan Feinman has developed her HR capabilities to control the processes of the publisher editor, city editor, copy editor, photo editor, photographer, graphics editor, graphic reporter, and the reporters. In addition, she is working as the editorial page editor and managing editor of her paper. These capabilities of her are increasing the control over the newspaper publication. Susan is making strategic planning for the growth and sustainability of her papers (Stateofthemedia.org). 4.3. Financial position The Chronicle Gazette is having their main source of income from the subscriptions of the paper. However, in the recent era they are facing certain challenges regarding the subscription rates. Financial analysis of Susan’s paper outlines that, they are facing the problem of stable decline in subscription rate. During the last 8 years, subscriptions of The Chronicle Gazette reduced by almost 35%. Fallen rate of subscriptions affected the advertising revenue generation. Advertising firms are losing their interest in The Chronicle Gazette. Susan identified that advertisement revenue has fallen by almost 28% (Stateofthemedia.org). 4.4. Marketing and sales capabilities The Chronicle Gazette is enjoying the goodwill of providing quality newspaper in major metropolitan area. Award winning writers and journalists are the key strengths of the newspaper of Susan. The news vendors are meeting the demands of more than 225000 customers. Consequently, quality of news and reach of readers are negotiating the rate of advertisements. Susan identified that the entire publishing business is facing the challenges of reducing subscriptions and revenues. Moreover, large-scale newspaper vendors like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal are also facing such complexity (Stateofthemedia.org). 4.5. Operational capabilities The Chronicle Gazette is facing the major problem of losing subscription due to the emerging technologies. Online portals are threatening print media in terms of generating subscription and marketing profits. Thus, Susan is planning to develop the strategic compatibility by using emerging technologies. Strategic plans of The Chronicle Gazette include online blogging policies. 4.6. Our strengths and weaknesses of The Chronicle Gazette Strengths: In the major metropolitan area The Chronicle Gazette is holding the largest market share. Quality of the writings and higher rate of the subscriptions Award winning writers and journalists Development of online blogs and social portals of sharing news Weaknesses Online portals and web versions are yet to be promoted Low use graphics thus, it is less lucrative Increased cost of the printing materials Buggy whip manufacturer’s style 5. Strategies of the publishing companies to cope with the challenges The US market is expressing that a bit improvement is observed in the number of magazines. During the year 2011, almost 7,200 periodicals were published and were available in the US markets. However, during the year 2002, number of magazines was 5,500 (Stateofthemedia.org). The Chronicle Gazette is facing intense challenge regarding the sustainability in the market. Susan and her team need to develop immediate strategies to meet the challenges or else their newspaper will shut down. Thus, they can adopt the strategies like web based newspaper edition, classified subscription and hourly updating policies for online version of newspaper blogs. These three practices will help Susan’s firm to remain more competent. These policies must be executed by the management in the long-term or short-term steps (Stateofthemedia.org). 6. Steps the Chronicle Gazette takes in order to deal with the challenges 6.1. Short-term steps The Chronicle Gazette must take the short term steps to provide the customers with online newspaper edition, and classified subscription of the magazines or the newspapers. Online newspaper blogs will help Susan to take immediate recovery steps. More customers can be attracted to the newspaper blogs. In addition, they can generate more revenue by using banners and popup type of advertisements channels. Classified subscription will attract the customers to get more value of their payment on purchasing the newspapers. 6.2. Long-term steps In the long term oriented strategies, The Chronicle Gazette needs to maintain continuous information updating policies. They are required to update the online version of the news blog to emerge the latest news. Online portals need to be updated so that the customers can access latest news. These features will increase the satisfaction among the customers and the rate of subscriptions will increase. Gradually, the Chronicle Gazette will be able to attract advertiser from the market and the revenue generation will increase (Collins 179). Conclusion From the consulting report, strategic plans can be developed for The Chronicle Gazette. Mainly, the report included detailed internal and external analysis of firm is made. Different aspects of strategic implication are reported on behalf of the US newspaper industry. Mainly economic, social, cultural, demographic, environmental, political, governmental and legal impacts are analysed on both organisation and overall industry. From the report it can be stated that the Chronicle Gazette is facing the intense challenge form the internet or web based blogging of US based news portals. Thus, Susan Feinman must develop strategic plans as per developing online strategies or internet channels. Works Cited Bashir Ahmad Fida. 'Analysis Of Exchange Rate Fluctuations And External Debt: Empirical Evidence From Pakistan'. African Journal of Business Management 6.4 (2012): P.480-P.495. Web. Colley, Lisandra. 'Gravity To CARICOM: An Analysis Of CARICOMS External Trade Using An Augmented Gravity Model'. JOEBM 3.12 (2015): 251-259. Web. Collins, James. Good To Great. New York, NY: Harper Business, 2001. Print. Grunig, Rudolf, Richard Kuhn, and Richard Kuhn. Process-Based Strategic Planning. Berlin: Springer, 2005. Print. Mulaga, Atupele Ngina. 'Analysis Of External Financing Use: A Study Of Small And Medium Enterprises In Malawi'. IJBM 8.7 (2013): 551-557. Web. Sasaki, Kazuhiko. 'How Do The Fransfigurations Of Textile-Industry Affect Newspaper And Publishing ?'. Sen-i Gakkaishi 65.12 (2009): P.443- 443. Web. Stateofthemedia.org. Newspapers: By The Numbers'. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2015. Urbanski, Steve. 'Online Communities' Impact On The Profession Of Newspaper Design'. The Journal of Electronic Publishing 13.3 (2010): 115-117. Web. 'USA Dover Corp, USA'. Pump Industry Analyst 2012.1 (2012): 7. Web. Ward, John, and Joe Peppard. Strategic Planning For Information Systems. Chichester, West Sussex, England: J. Wiley, 2002. Print. Read More