Jane Hoffman’s job as Editor of the Online Edition of Bridgeport News is certainly a challenging occupation. The complexity of the job arises from multiple responsibilities she is engaged in and her importance in decision-making on the strategic level. Her job entails planning of the content of the site and allocation of the budget and organizing the efficient functioning of the site through assigning tasks to journalists and other employees. She has to control the timely execution of all tasks assigned, such as completion of articles. As the middle manager responsible for the department that is part of a larger organization, Bridgeport News, she has to lead and motivate the staff to achieve the set goals. Jane is the highest authority responsible for the smooth functioning of the publication that is supposed to work on a par with competition. She has the final say in coordinating the activities of the staff in her department including 15 employees, 9 journalists and 6 support staff.
As a manager responsible for a department that functions as an autonomous unit within an organization, Jane has to perform all three managerial roles. Thus, she plays an interpersonal role when she provides the links between various staff members and communicates with Editor-in-Chief of Bridgeport News. Disseminating information about the edition, the newspaper among the general public, and the decisions made in the upper management among her staff, she plays an informational role. Finally, appropriating funds that are allotted for Bridgeport News Online and determining the site design and content, she performs a decisional role.
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The fulfillment of all the three roles requires of someone in Jane’s position requires a combination of multiple skills. The editor needs to understand the basics of computer programming, Internet technology, and web design, exhibiting technical skills. Interacting with advertisers and her staff, Jane needs to use her human skills. Managing a department of 15 people requires considerable conceptual skills, as she needs to be aware of different management models and concepts. Finally, all her activities have to be marked with intense belief in the ultimate success of the project and willingness to work for the achievement of the goal, demonstrating motivation to manage.
Jane’s success depends to a great extent on her ability to successfully determine trends in the external environment. Overall, her work assignments are in dependence on the stability of the regional economy, as the volume of revenue generated by advertising on the site is in close relationship to the economic trends in the region. She also has to adapt to the complexity and munificence of the external environment, navigating between the vast network of businesses based in the city and finding lucrative opportunities to promote her publication.
The success of Bridgeport News Online will be determined by a combination of trends in the regional economy and patterns of Internet usage over the years to come and Jane’s ability to counteract negative trends and to harness positive ones. In the first place, she has to assess the technological trends, especially those on a local level, including the level of Internet and computer penetration in people’s homes and trends in online technology. She also needs to pay attention to the economic trends that will directly affect the possibility for businesses to pay for Internet services and online advertising. A rise in laptop usage and proliferation of wi-fi connections can increase the traffic at news portals in the area where many people can replace reading a paper edition with browsing an online one on their usual commute by train. Sociocultural trends will determine how much information people are willing to receive through Internet media as opposed to conventional ones. Finally, political trends determine surge in interest in timely news or lead it to subside. Thus, a few years ago when Bridgeport’s mayor was convicted for corruption, many people followed the details of the story with intense interest, which added to the popularity of all media types.
Jane needs to pay the most attention to the task of monitoring her business customers that support the site through placing ads since to this date the financial viability of the project depends on this income. Since most of the software and design is prepared in-house, Jane is relieved of the need to monitor suppliers. Since Bridgeport News Online is virtually the only online edition in the area, the publication does not have direct competitors; however, the editor has to bear in mind that clients may prefer to browse nation-wide publications or conventional newspapers. Bridgeport News Online is affected by any federal or state regulation that relates to mass media or Internet. In the past, Jane has often been in contact with representatives of various advocacy groups who want to place their statements in the paper and has developed friendly relationships with many of them.
Like in most online projects, the culture is rather laid-back, allowing employees a great degree of flexibility with working hours provided they get the work done on time. Jane laments significant turnover in staff that prevents her from establishing a strong culture.
Primary stakeholders in the publication are the investors owning Bridgeport News, and the secondary ones include the public that reads the news, advertisers, and the community affected by the quality and focus of the site’s content. To the investors and clients, Bridgeport News Online is bound by economic responsibility that forces the staff to deliver good value for money and at the same time maximize shareholder value. It also has legal responsibility to deliver on the signed contracts and ethical responsibility to all stakeholders to maintain journalist ethics in their articles. The discretionary responsibility is limited to the wise distribution of funds allocated out of Bridgeport News’ general budget.
Jane’s role in the department entails huge responsibility for ensuring the success of the online project. As a person most directly responsible for the success of Bridgeport News Online, she has to demonstrate thinking at the strategic level, as well as superior managerial skills.
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