Cultures of strategy: Remaking the BBC, 1968–2003

Abstract

This article explores the changes that took place in the BBC during the late 1980s and 1990s. The paper traces the antecedents to the changes, particularly a report prepared by McKinsey, the management consulting firm, in the early 1970s. Many of the problems identified by McKinsey were tackled a generation later, although using strikingly different methods from those advocated by the consulting firm. The second section of the paper focuses on the policy interventions made by the Peacock Committee, an application of public choice economics to broadcasting. A key insight of this paper is to explore the way in which the economic rationalities of the Peacock Committee were translated into the BBC through Producer Choice.

Producer Choice constituted a new form of governmentality that largely rejected the BBC's Reithian legacy. It was a radical initiative that delegitimised the status quo. The paper explores how new languages and accounting numbers constructed new spaces for managerialism across the BBC. The article highlights how calculation is a central dimension to managerialism and a prime means of bringing the market into organizations. A key insight of the paper is to highlight how markets are created within organizations.

Keywords::

• managerialism
• calculative practices
• governmentality

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Jessica Hogg of the BBC's Written Archive Centre and to the many broadcasting people who gave us their time. Our special thanks to Steve Ansell. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Management History Research Group, Edinburgh, Copenhagen Business School, University of United Arab Emirates, and the universities of Glasgow, Leiden, Newcastle, Paris and Strathclyde.

Notes

^1.Hall, “Which Public,” 32.

^2.Smith, “Licenses and Liberty,” 11, 13–4.

^3.Francis, “Lecture,” 6.

^4. Controller, Programme Organization (Sound), “Programme Cost Estimates,” 22 December 1959, BBC, Written Archive Centre, Reading (WAC) R20/244/1.

^5.Curran, Seamless Robe, 184.

^6. Director of Finance, “Budget Control and Programme Accounts: Problems for Examination,” May 1968, WAC R20/223/1.

^7. BBC Programme Management Board, 18 December 1967, 41, WAC D306-7.

^8. Director General, “Speech to the Institute of Cost & Work Accountants,” 14 November 1969, WAC uncatalogued deposit.

^9. “Programme Budget Estimating,” 6 April 1965, WAC T47/272/1; BBC Programme Management Board, 20 November 1969, WAC D306-7.

^10. Francis, Director of Finance to the Secretary, 1 April 1970, 1, WAC R78/2/715/1; on McKinsey's growth in Britain and Europe, see Kipping, “American Management Consulting Companies.”

^11.Burns, BBC, 230–3; See McKinsey, drafts and “Final Report,” WAC R78/2, R715/2.

^12. McKinsey, “Progress Report: BBC,” 26 June 1969, 1-3, WAC R78/2/14/1.

^13. BBC Board of Management, Minutes, 6, 13 April 1970, 169-170, 180, WAC D227-5-4.

^14.Wegg-Prosser, “Thirty Years,” 10.

^15. Director of Administration to Director General, 18 September 1968, WAC R78/2,7/14/1.

^16. McKinsey, “Improving the Management of Resources,” February 1970, WAC R62/80/1; Burns, BBC, 252.

^17. See McKinlay, “Recasting the Visible Hand.”

^18.Miller and O'Leary, “Accounting and the Construction.”

^19.Thorne, “BBC's Finances,” 13.

^20.Barnett and Curry, Battle for the BBC, 100, 102.

^21.Greene, Third Floor Front, 114.

^22.Anderson, “Management and Organisation,” 9–10.

^23. Checkland, Interview by Steve Ansell, 1993 (hereafter “Ansell Interview”).

^24.Hill, Behind the Screen, 111; Garnham, “BBC Executives,” 207.

^25.Wegg-Prosser, “BBC Producer Choice,” 65.

^26.Steer and Cable, “Internal Organization”; Ezzamel and Hilton, “Divsionalisation in British Industry.”

^27.Peacock, Report, 3.

^28.Peacock, “LSE” Peacock, Anxious to do Good, 202; Medema, Coase, 1–13; O'Malley, “Liberalism and Broadcasting Policy,” 26–30; Tribe, “Liberalism and Neoliberalism.”

^29.Robbins, Great Depression, 193.

^30.Caves, Creative Industries, 315; Peacock, Paying the Piper, 79–85, 119.

^31.Coase, British Broadcasting.

^32.Coase, “Wire Broadcasting,” 194–9.

^33.Towse, “Alan Peacock.”

^34.Peacock, “Politics,” 94.

^35. Medema, Coase, 96–99.

^36. Coase, “Wire Broadcasting.”

^37. Peacock, “Political Economy,” 299.

^38.Armstrong and Weeds, “Public Service Broadcasting,” 120.

^39.Peacock, “Economics, Cultural Values,” 5, 7.

^40. Peacock, Report, 133; Jones, “Deregulation,” 382.

^41. Ibid., 150.

^42. Ibid., 137.

^43.Garnham, “Broadcasting Market,” 12–3.

^44.McKinsey, Public Service Broadcasting, 17, 26.

^45.Peacock, “Political Economy,” 309.

^46.Goodwin, Television under the Tories, 80.

^47.Starkey and Barnatt, “Flexible Specialisation,” 273.

^48.Lawson, View from Number 11.

^49.Ang, Desperately Seeking, 115–9.

^50.Burns, Description, Explanation and Understanding, 233–8.

^51. See Burke and Litwin, “Causal Model.”

^52. Executive Producer, BBC, Interview, November 2010.

^53. Birt, Interview, July 2012; Birt, Harder Path, 306.

^54. Checkland, Ansell Interview, 1993.

^55. Born, “Uncertain Visions”; Carter and Mueller, “Long March”; Jackson, Leopold, and Tuck, Decentralization of Collective Bargaining; Mueller and Carter, “Scripting of Total Quality”; Ogden, “Decline and Fall.”

^56.McKinlay and Quinn, “Remaking Industrial Relations”; O'Malley, “Attacking Collectivism.”

^57. Mellor, Ansell Interview, 1992.

^58.Kurunmäki and Miller, “Calculating Failure”; Miller and O'Leary, “Mediating Instruments,” 707.

^59.Prosser, “Public Service Broadcasting,” 177–8.

^60. Birt, Ansell Interview, 1993.

^61. M. Starks, “Cash Management under Producer Choice,” 10 September 1992, 4, WAC D220/2.55.

^62. McDonald, “Producer Choice,” 48.

^63. Former BBC senior Producer, News/Current Affairs, Interview, November 2011; Mueller et al., “Politics and Strategy Practice”; Harris and Wegg-Prosser, “Post Bureaucracy,” 294.

^64. Senior BBC executive A, Interview, September 2011.

^65. Senior BBC executive B, Interview, September, 2011.

^66. BBC, “Producer Choice: briefing note for staff,” October 1991, np.

^67.Brown, Ainsworth, and Grant. “Rhetoric of Institutional Change”; Brown and Thompson, “Narrative Approach”; Carter et al., “Strategy as Practice”; Carter et al., “Zapping the Field”; Mueller and Carter, “We Are All Managers”; Suddaby and Greenwood, “Rhetorical Strategies”; Vaara, Tienaris, and Laurila. “Pulp and Paper Fiction.”

^68. BBC, “Producer Choice: A New System for Managing Resources,” October 1991.

^69. C. Taylor, Director of Resources, Ansell Interview, 1994.

^70.Coopers and Lybrand, Audit of Achievement, Appendix 1.

^71. BBC Executive Producer, Children's, Interview, August 2010.

^72. Birt, Ansell Interview, 1993; “Incentives Under Producer Choice,” December 1992, WAC Producer Choice Paper 6.45.

^73. BBC, Director of Finance, “Overhead Services and Market Testing,” report to Producer Choice Steering Group, 16 February 1993, WAC N270/6.50.

^74. M. Starks, “Cash Management under Producer Choice,” report to Producer Choice Steering Group, 10 September 1992, WAC N002/2.55.

^75. Producer Choice Steering Group, “Discussion,” September 1993, WAC uncatalogued deposit.

^76. Producer Choice Steering Group, “Producer Choice Evaluation Study,” 16 September 1993, 5, 10, 13, WAC uncatalogued deposit.

^77. M. Starks, “Thinking about Producer Choice,” October 1992, WAC uncatalogued deposit.

^78.Callon, “What Does it Mean,” 320; MacKenzie, An Engine.

^79. BBC, “Producer Choice: A Producer's Guide,” March 1993, 13, 5.

^80.Swedberg, “Markets as Social Structures”; Carter et al., “Re-framing Strategy”; Kornberger and Carter, “Manufacturing Competition.”

^81.Paterson, “New Model BBC,” 28; Mackie, “Producer Choice,” 20–1.

^82.Gamble, “Two Faces,” 31.

^83.Starks, Not for Profit, 38–47.

^84. BBC Executive Producer, Documentary, Interview, March 2010.

^85. Birt, Ansell Interview, 1993.

^86.Schlesinger, “Most Creative Organisation,” 274–5.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chris Carter

Chris Carter is Professor of Strategy and Organization at the University of Edinburgh. His research is committed to understanding the effects of neo-liberalism on organizations and to exploring the habitus of specific professional fields; his work is heavily influenced by the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu. Chris is currently researching organizational change in the BBC and life in Big Four accounting firms. His PhD is from Aston University. Email: [email protected]

Alan McKinlay

Alan McKinlay is Professor of Human Resource Management at Newcastle University. His research explores the changing nature of work in contemporary and historical settings; his work is heavily influenced by the writings of Michel Foucault. Alan is currently researching organizational change in the BBC and the role of employer associations. His PhD is from Oxford University. Email: [email protected]