Structuring objectives of media companies: a case study based on value-focused thinking and the balanced scorecard

ABSTRACT

Objectives are fundamental to strategic management. However, while research exists on objectives of media companies, we know little about the relationships between them. In order to advance research in this field, we used value-focused thinking to investigate the objectives of a media company and the balanced scorecard as a framework to demonstrate their relationships. In interviews with 23 managers and employees of a German medium-sized local newspaper company, we found 698 distinct objectives and 1009 relationships. By concentrating on the most important objectives, we derived a balanced scorecard with 33 objectives and 65 relationships organised in seven perspectives. The results were then validated in a second case study on a Czech national media group.

KEYWORDS:

• Media-specific objectives
• strategic media management
• balanced scorecard
• value-focused thinking
• means-ends network
• case study

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editors, the anonymous reviewer, as well as Michel Clement and Hans van Kranenburg for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Nordbayerischer Kurier GmbH & Co. Zeitungsverlag KG;

Notes on contributors

Reinhard E. Kunz

Dr Reinhard E. Kunz is Junior Professor for Media Management at the Faculty of Law, Business, and Economics at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. His research focus is primarily on the strategic management of media enterprises in the context of digitalization, media and technology convergence, as well as value co-creation. In addition, his research contributes to innovation management, information systems, marketing, and consumer behaviour. Methodologically his research studies are both conceptual and empirical, applying qualitative and quantitative techniques.

Johannes Siebert

Dr Johannes Siebert is a private lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Business, and Economics of the University of Bayreuth in Germany. His research objective is to contribute to better informed decision-making and thereby to making better decisions, for individuals as well as for organizations using problem structuring, value-focused thinking, and decision analysis. He pursues his research objective with three pillars: empirical studies, developing methods, and real problems applying consulting.

Joschka Mütterlein

Joschka Mütterlein M.A. is a research assistant at the Faculty of Law, Business, and Economics at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. His research focuses on the strategic management of legacy media companies and digital start-ups as well as on the possibilities new technologies offer for making and managing media. He works empirically with qualitative and quantitative methods and applies the results in his own media start-up.