MKT502 Research Report
February 11, 2023
Reflective Essay of Pengyu Zhao
February 13, 2023
Introduction
The media is a critical field of operation since professionals need to explore the media content, analyze the same, and adopt professional practices and creativity to draw attention to key themes and issues that appear in the community. In the current setting, the role of media is significant since media professionals have the power to bring about revolutionary change in the social setting.
The essay has been written to assess the proposition “Media professionals are subject to routines which reward conformity and stifle”. The objective is to observe the balance that exists between conformity and innovation and the extent to which the interests of the different stakeholders in the media are served(Dickinson, 1996).
The key areas that have been covered in the essay include media professionals and their role, and innovation at different levels including the individual level, professional level, and at senior-most level. Several backdrop functions such as advertising, circulation, distribution, and technology have been assessed to understand the extent to which media professionals perform their duties and obligations. The real balance between the routine operations and the creativity model at the one individual level in different roles, and for different roles within the media profession has been observed. The degree to which the interests of the stakeholders are best served by the professionals has been found and highlighted in the essay.
Media Professionals
The job of media professionals is considered to be one of the most creative jobs in the world since it touches the lives of every individual that comes in its path. In this professional setting, the notion of professionalism is vital for evaluating individual and collective performance. The nature of the work within media organizations varies and in the sociological sense, it is not considered to be a profession at all(Bruns, 2014).
The organizational setting in which the media professionals operate is the commercial setting. The content that is shared by them has a significant impact on the audience that is served in the process. As per Dickinson (1996), the primary objective of individuals is to help shape the media content in a better way so that the prestige of the organization or media source can be increased, and it can gain a better public image(Dickinson, 1996). The purpose of their existence is to remove uncertainty from the minds of the public and use innovative tools and techniques to share information with the audience. These professionals have the power to bring creativity and innovation into their operational activities so that the needs of all the stakeholders can be met in the process(Dickinson, 1996).
“Media professionals are subject to routines which reward conformity and stifle innovation” – Statement validity
The statement that has been assessed here basically states that the people that function in the media setting have the power to use innovative techniques to share information in a better way and create a better tomorrow. But the professionals adopt a routine model while performing their function to conform to the set practices and standards. This approach stifles the scope of innovation and does not benefit the audience or the media platform(Criado, Sandoval-Almazan & Gil-Garcia, 2013).
Dickinson (1996) said that the main function of media professionals is to place creativity in the heart of the business and bring about a balance between routine operations and organizational creativity. Every professional in the organizational setting has to play different roles to transmit the message to the public. The news is one of the most important offerings that are shared by media professionals(Dickinson, 1996).
The transmission approach that is used by them including news selection, news organization, news instrumentation, and news determination has to be carefully planned so that the right message reaches the service user (Golding, 1974). The individuals that are involved in the process need to focus on innovative ways in which journalistic ideas and news functions can be shared most creatively. Innovation can be introduced at different stages including the selection process, development stage, media production stage, media management stage, etc. A small innovative initiative at an individual level can bring about major positive change in the delivery of the ultimate service.
To explore the proposition, the journalism function of media has been used since the journalists have the content that can be used as a key weapon to transform society. The professionals can use innovative media management tactics to face various problems such as the impact of sociocultural elements, poor capital base, the role of poverty in the training model, poor business sense, political interference, etc. Since media management is all-encompassing i.e. involves all the aspects relating to the media activities there needs to be a balance between the innovative approach by the professionals and the conformity to the routine work. To understand the validity of the statement, the innovative model at various levels has been highlighted in the below section(Dickinson, 1996).
Innovation at the Individual Level
An individual media professional has to play different roles in the organizational setting and he must understand a wide variety of domains to make a valuable contribution to the media organization and society. A journalist is an integral part of the media setting and the approach that the professional adopts at the individual level helps him to strike a balance between the innovative work procedure and the routine work that has to be carried out. Dickinson (1996) said that, generally, media professionals prefer to go by the books while performing their organizational functions so that they can have steady growth in the profession. To have a specific career graph, the professionals follow the routine process that allows them to capture the news and share it with the audience. This particular professional approach limits their innovation and creativity in the field(Dickinson, 1996).
A prominent theme that has emerged from different research studies relating to the production of news is the routine nature of the work.
Due to this feature, there arises an occupational conflict at the individual level between the routine process and the creative element(Dickinson, 1996). A wide variety of role dilemmas arise in the professional setting since the media professionals are not sure about the approach that must be adopted by them while delivering their service in the organizational setting.
Innovation at Professional Level
In the professional setting, the media professionals that hold a managerial position have the necessary power to adopt an innovative strategic model but they do not use the opportunity due to the various uncertainties that exist in the industry. Innovation and creativity can be introduced in various organizational functions such as the process of instrumentation, media output model, etc. To strengthen the impact of the media content or news, professionals can upgrade how the content is captured from the source and delivered to the public(Moloney, 1991).
The professionals rather than focusing on innovation emphasize the routine procedure due to several factors such as the lack of time or the professional demand for impartiality and objectivity. This approach toward the media content and work process ultimately gives rise to the reproduction of a dominant ideology in the professional setting. Since various conventions develop in the minds of these professionals, it limits their inclination towards innovation and encourages them to follow the routine model. Thus the impact of the news production process gets negatively affected due to the theoretical orientation of the managerial professionals and the analytical concepts that are adopted by them in the process.
A large number of factors operate in the professional setting of the organizations that function in the media field such as the high degree of uncertainty, stiff competition, routines followed highlighted by the governing authoring, multitasking approach, etc. These elements have got significant power to affect how the work is performed and the service is delivered to the final audience(Schudson, 1989). Due to the high level of uncertainty, the individuals that need to play a key role in the process focus on the routine work structure instead of focusing on the innovative aspects of the work process. Thus at this level, there is no balance between innovativeness and routine work process(Dickinson, 1996).
Innovation at Senior Level of Strategic Management
The senior management level of a media organization has the least scope to strike a balance between innovation and the routine work structure. The different statuses that function in the strategic management model are involved in the decision-making process. Thus they have limited power to modify the ground-level work in the media organizations. The professionals fundamentally function behind the scene of media production.
The personnel who operate at the senior level of the strategic management framework of the industry must go by the books and follow the routines that are shared by the governing authority. Since they have to abide by various rules, obligations, and routines they focus on routine work processes instead of emphasizing the innovative work strategy.
Since they have to directly bear the consequences of the business operations, the focus on innovation and creativity in this professional setting is not taken into consideration by them. In the journalism context, even though the various happenings that happen in the world are unpredictable and uncertain, a common work cycle is followed involving the planning process, the gathering of relevant data, choosing news, and presenting it to the masses. This approach automatically makes the process routine and limits the scope to introduce innovation (Dickinson, 1996).
SIM337 -Contemporary Developments in Business and Management Sample 1
Scope of innovation in the Backroom functions
In the media setting, a large number of functions such as advertising, circulation, distribution, technology, etc need to be performed regularly to share the relevant information with the public. Even though these “backroom” functions cannot be seen by the ultimate audience, it has a vital impact on the final news that is shown to the audience. There is a need for a balance between the routine business approach and the innovation that can be introduced to send the right message to the public(Weaver & Wilhoit, 1986).
Advertising – Advertising is an area that gives sufficient scope to the organization and the personnel to introduce the elements of innovation and creativity. An innovative advertising model can help the media organization to have a better impact on the audience. Unique innovative elements can be introduced into the function to make it more long-lasting, and memorable (Harvard Business Review, 2017).
Circulation – The circulation of news is a vital area that can be used innovatively to strengthen the impact of media content. An innovative model can be introduced in the backroom function so that the routine process can be broken and the service delivery can be improved.
Distribution – The distribution function is a key process for organizations that operate in the media professional setting. It is one of the few areas that can adopt an innovative and unique strategy to share the content with the final audience. In the technological setting, media firms must continuously evolve their content distribution model so that a maximum number of users or audiences can be targeted by them(Harvard Business Review, 2017).
Technology – Technology is a major element that forces media organizations to adopt an innovative work model. The improvement in the technological setting brings about significant changes in the organizational setting. It ultimately forces various media groups such as journalists to upgrade their service and delivery quality(Weaver & Wilhoit, 1986).
Interest of stakeholders
A large number of stakeholders are involved in the media professional setting such as the general public, employees, central government, local government, etc. So media-based organizations must adopt an ethical work model so that a proper balance can be achieved between the routine work process and the scope to introduce innovation in the process. Since limited innovative elements are introduced in the professional setting, the external stakeholders are at the receiving end(Frost, 2015).
Due to the lack of creativity and increased focus on the routine approach, the content of the media is not effectively shared with the masses. The different forms of tensions that exist between the bureaucratic and professional interests in the organizational setting further hamper the process and limit the service that is offered to the end customer(Frost, 2015).
Ethics is a key necessity in the professional setting and all the journalists that function in the professional setting need to abide by the fundamental ethical considerations so that the needs of different stakeholders are met in the process. Different ethical theories apply in the journalism field such as the news and morality, law and morality, commercialism and morality, consumers and morality, etc. To meet the needs and requirements of all the stakeholders, it is necessary to take into consideration the relevant ethical principles and theories(Golding, 1974).
Since most of the time, a routine model is followed in the organizational setting of media firms, the various needs of the stakeholders like the public remain unfulfilled and distorted information is shared with them on certain occasions. To enhance the satisfaction level of the stakeholders there needs to be a proper balance between routine work and innovation in the professional model. It would upgrade the ultimate service quality and create better value for the key stakeholders of the business(Criado, Sandoval-Almazan & Gil-Garcia, 2013).
Report On The Influence Of Online Factors On Young People Who Do Self-Harm
Conclusion
The media is an important field of operation since its impact can be felt in far and wide corners of the globe. To strengthen the model the professionals that operate in the organizational setting need to strike a balance between the routine work model and the innovation model. The main focus of the essay is on the statement “Media professionals are subject to routines which reward conformity and stifle innovation”. It highlights the fact that due to the routinized work model that is adopted by media professionals there is a lack of balance between innovation and conformity.
The essay covers various functions at the individual level, managerial level, and strategic management level that provide scope for professionals to strike a balance between routine processes and innovative processes. The scope of innovation in the backroom functions such as advertising, distribution, and technology has also been covered to highlight the significance of innovation and creativity in the professional setting. The importance of the ethical model has been highlighted since it would enhance the outcome for the key stakeholders of the media organizations.
References
Bruns, A., 2014. Media innovations, user innovations, societal innovations. The Journal of Media Innovations, 1(1), pp.13-27.
Criado, J.I., Sandoval-Almazan, R. and Gil-Garcia, J.R., 2013. Government innovation through social media. Government Information Quarterly, 30(4), pp.319-326.
Dickinson, R. 1996. Media Professionals. New Walk, Leicester, LE1: Department of Media and Communication.
Frost, C., 2015. Journalism ethics and regulation. Routledge.
Golding, P., 1974. The mass media. Longman Publishing Group.
Harvard Business Review. 2017. Creativity in Advertising: When It Works and When It Doesn’t. Retrieved 20 November 2017, from https://hbr.org/2013/06/creativity-in-advertising-when-it-works-and-when-it-doesnt
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Moloney, E., 1991. Closing down the airwaves: The story of the broadcasting ban. In The Media and Northern Ireland (pp. 8-50). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Schudson, M., 1989. The sociology of news production. Media, Culture & Society, 11(3), pp.263-282.
Weaver, D. and Wilhoit, C.G., 1986. The American Journalist. Bloomington.
