Media Management Research Research Articles

Factors Influencing the Use of Journalism Analytics as a Management Tool in Egyptian News Organizations

ABSTRACT In the rapidly changing Egyptian media market, news organizations must conduct their own research if they want either national trends-data or organizationally specific information about audience sizes, interests and behaviors. Through 24 in-depth interviews, the study scrutinizes how organizational factors influence the adoption of analytics tools in the editorial decision-making process. In addition, it examines how the Egyptian news managers who have adopted analytics use the data in daily news decision making. The study found that although organizational resources were more important than organization size or distribution platform in predicting investment in journalism analytics infrastructure, organizational ownership plays a bigger role. Results also showed that the majority of the interviewees were concerned about ceding professional journalism judgment to audience preferences as indicated by audience behavioral data. Managers in digital-native news organizations appeared most open to using audience input. The study confirms and extends existing research on the adoption and use of journalism analytics and other innovations in newsrooms. It also contributes to understanding management issues in a news media sector that has been largely ignored in media management research.

Going beyond the hype: conceptualising “media ecosystem” for media management research

ABSTRACT Faced with competition from electronic communications, ICT and social media firms, and confronted with multi-sided platforms occupying numerous gatekeeping positions, media firms have to rely on others to create value. Competing means collaborating and supporting others to innovate and create joint value. Taking these changes into account, the use of “ecosystem”, in addition to allied concepts such as platform, became more prominent. Ecosystems allow actors to create value that none of them is able to do on their own. This article explains why the concept of media ecosystem can be useful in media management research and in practice and defines and operationalises the concept in a model that can be used for empirical research and in practice.

Dynamic capabilities in media management research: a literature review

PurposeDynamic capabilities (DCs) help media firms adapt to rapidly changing environments. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive literature review of studies of DCs in strategic management research with a view to understanding its implications for the management of media organizations. Essentially, it fertilizes on the idea that the concept of DC is useful and vital for answering various critical questions regarding the challenges that media organizations are currently facing.Design/methodology/approachThis study builds on a systematic literature reviewing design as the research methodology. It aims to identify, critically evaluate, and integrate factors, dimensions, and findings on studies of DCs in strategic management research and builds knowledge transfers to the field of strategic management research in the media industry.FindingsThe study shows that the DC framework helps media firms effectively respond to changing environments. The conceptual DC framework has implications for media strategy practice. Results indicate a considerable growth in the number of papers published related to the DCs in media organizations from 2003 to 2018.Originality/valueThe study qualifies the relevance and validity of the DC framework in strategic management research for the field of strategic media management. It explores a research agenda in this domain by precisely explaining the significant trends in the theory of DC to shape managerial strategies in the media industry.

Innovate alone or with others? Influence of entrepreneurial orientation and alliance orientation on media business model innovation

ABSTRACTBeing able to innovate one’s business model has been a topic of paramount importance in media management research and practice. Recent studies suggest that the strategic orientation of a company is a central driver of business model innovation. However, empirical evidence is scarce. To fill this gap, we assess the impact of entrepreneurial and alliance orientation as two highly relevant strategic orientations with a quantitative survey of 50 companies. Our results show that a media company’s entrepreneurial orientation has positive effects on its ability to innovate value creation and value proposition, but not on its ability to capture that value. In addition, we could not find significant results indicating that being alliance oriented is beneficial for business model innovation.

The Challenges of Media Management Research

The Challenges of Media Management Research

When Media and Management Collide: An Interview with Lucy Küng, July 2016

A new field of academic research in media management has developed from an embryonic stage over the past two decades, and is now rapidly developing. There has been a lot to discover, both topic-wise and in terms of global market research. Moreover, new trends in the industry are often outdated far faster than they are being analysed, so there is an endlessly disruptive turnover in ideas and practice. It is debatable whether in such an environment media management theory can keep up with the application of relevant theories to a fluid reality. This academic field often finds itself as challenged as the organisations and leaders it observes. Professor Lucy Kung, an expert on leadership in disrupted industries, is noted for being one of the major theoreticians of this research field, which encompasses both media and management. In May Professor Kung was appointed as Google Digital News Senior Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford. She brings to the post versatile academic and industry experience in organisational management, that is nourished by her advisory work with leading companies worldwide, including the BBC and Ericsson. ‘Change that needs investigating and explaining is everywhere,’ says Kung. ‘Deep reflection and extensive preliminary discussions with industry are key for relevant media management research’, she continues. As she prepares her revised volume on strategic management in the media for publication (Kung: 2016), in an interview to WPCC Professor Kung shares tips for media companies on surviving disruptiveness and talks about future prospects for academic research.

Potentials of digital longforms in journalism. A survey among mobile Internet users about the relevance of online devices, Internet-specific qualities, and modes of payment

ABSTRACTAfter two decades of content syndication on legacy media’s online platforms, longforms such as scrollytelling, web documentaries, and selective multimedia stories take advantage of Internet-specific qualities. However, due to the high amount of resources needed for the production, media managers are challenged to judge their journalistic and economic potential. Hence, this paper suggests integrating the concept of Internet-specific quality and the relevance of the user’s expectations towards quality to focus on potentials of content innovation into media management research. We draw on the relevance of Internet devices within the recipient’s media repertoire for background information and the use of digital longforms. Based on the frequency of use, results of a quantitative face-to-face survey representative for German mobile Internet users (n = 248) indicate that stationary and mobile Internet devices are already an inherent part. However, there is a lack of strategic marketing. Not all digital longforms are well known; most recognised is scrollytelling. Second, we draw on the user’s expectations on Internet-specific qualities and attitudes towards advertisement and paid content. As our data show, recipients prefer multimedia, selectivity, and intuitive usability, not wishing to become part of the story through interactive and participative features. Furthermore, users are willing to pay for longform journalism that suits their interests, but media companies have to offer single purchase options instead of subscriptions.

Innovation research in media management and economics: an integrative framework

Academics and practitioners observe a growing relevance of media innovation research. Yet theoretical frameworks on how to approach media innovations in media economics and media management research remain underdeveloped. This article adopts a theoretical approach and discusses central theoretical and empirical concepts towards analysing media innovations and media related change processes from a media management and media economics perspective. This review demonstrates an emphasis on product and process innovations and a focus on micro- and meso-level approaches. As a consequence, the article extends these approaches by elaborating on system-oriented and phase-based innovation concepts that allow for studying media innovation as an integrative and multi-level oriented process.

Current State and Development Perspectives of Media Economics / Media Management Research

In recent years, the media industry massively changed due to regulation, new technologies as well as a modified market environment. This contribution focusses on a synoptical analysis concerning research in media economics / media management pointing out its current state as well as future areas of research. After describing the development of this field of research, the current publication status is evaluated in order to give a quantitative based research overview of publications in the field. Building on this, an exploratory approach was used in order to evaluate the current situation within this research stream, as well as to identify future research foci. For that reason, in-depth expert interviews with 50 research scientists were conducted using an empirical survey.

Putting the Management into Innovation & Media Management Studies: A Meta-Analysis

The study of management of innovation is crucial to media management research, helping explain how technology diffusion affects the communication industry and providing a glimpse into its future. This meta-analysis looks at the recent history of mass communication scholarship (1983–2008), addressing newsroom changes to determine whether a mainstream managerial theory—sociotechnical literature—garners adequate use. The researchers discovered numerous references—mostly indirect—to sociotechnical systems (STS) theory, yet found sporadic use of a true managerial emphasis as expressed through the analysis of STS theory's principles- and frames-specific theoretical framework. Implications of the findings and future, alternative directions for research are proposed.

Development of Transnational Media Management Research From 1974–2009: A Propositional Inventory

This article reviews the development of transnational media management research. Building on a review by Hollifield (2001) and applying propositional inventory, this survey analyzes 62 publications between 1974 and 2009 according to distinct dimensions to map the research field and assemble the 2 time periods. Articles can be categorized into 7 research topics: firm-level management, market entry strategies, corporate-level strategies, internationalization process, leadership and organization, functional management, and management of cross-border co-operations. Along these topics, research results are synthesized into theoretical propositions to summarize central findings. The conclusion discusses the results and derives an agenda for future research.

Crossing Borders: Media Management Research in a Transnational Market Environment

Transnational management issues are increasingly important in the media industry. This project examined research on the management strategies that media corporations employ as they move into overseas markets and the management issues that they face once they get there. The study concludes that research on transnational media management has been sparse and fragmented. It identifies questions that should be addressed in the future, if scholars are to better understand the behavior of global media corporations.