DescriptionTotal Possible Score 25.00Distinguished -.docx

Description:
Total Possible Score: 25.00
Distinguished - Thoroughly compares and describes Arthur’s,
Williams, and Amber’s leadership styles.
Proficient -Compares and describes Arthur’s, Williams, and
Amber’s leadership styles. Minor details are missing or slightly
underdeveloped.
Basic - Partially compares and describes Arthur’s, William’s,
and Amber’s leadership styles. Relevant details are missing
and/or
underdeveloped.
Below Expectations - Attempts to compare and describe
Arthur’s, William’s, and Amber’s leadership styles; however,
significant
details are missing and underdeveloped.
Non-Performance - The comparision and description of
Arthur’s, Williams, and Amber’s leadership styles are either
nonexistent or
lack the components described in the assignment instructions.
Distinguished - Thoroughly explains how each manager can
improve his/her own leadership and communication.
Proficient - Explains how each manager can improve his/her
own leadership and communication. The explanation is slightly
underdeveloped.

Basic - Partially explains how each manager can improve
his/her own leadership and communication. The explanation is
underdeveloped.
Below Expectations - Attempts to explain how each manager
can improve his/her own leadership and communication;
however, the
explanation is significantly underdeveloped.
Non-Performance - The explanation of how each manager can
improve his/her own leadership and communication is either
nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment
instructions.
Distinguished - Conducts a comprehensive market analysis of
the major city that wasselected
Proficient - Conducts a market analysis of the major city that
was selected. The analysis is slightly underdeveloped.
Basic - Conducts a limited market analysis of the major city that
was selected. The analysis is underdeveloped.
Below Expectations - Attempts to conducts a market analysis of
the major city that wasselected; however, the analysis is
significantly underdeveloped
Non-Performance - The market analysis of the major city you
have selected is either nonexistent or lacks the components
described in the assignment instructions.
Distinguished - Makes a comprehensive, fully appropriate
recommendation of how the organizational structure should be
changed
to meet the firm’s goals and change the organization’s culture.

Proficient - Makes an appropriate recommendation of how the
organizational structure should be changed to meet the firm’s
goals
and change the organization’s culture. Minor details are missing
or slightly underdeveloped.
Basic - Makes a somewhat appropriate recommendation of how
the organizational structure should be changed to meet the
firm’s
goals and change the organization’s culture. Relevant details are
missing and/or underdeveloped.
Below Expectations - Attempts to make a recommendation of
how the organizational structure should be changed to meet the
firm’s
goals and change the organization’s culture; however, the
recommendation is not appropriate, and significant details are
missing
and underdeveloped.
BUS636.W6A1.07.2015
Compares and Describes Arthur’s, William’s, and Amber’s
Leadership Styles Total: 4.00
Explains How Each Manager Can Improve His/Her Own
Leadership and
Communication
Total: 4.00
Conducts a Market Analysis of the Major City That Was
Selected Total: 5.00
Recommend How the Organizational Structure Should be

Changed to Meet The
Firm’s Goals and Change the Organization’s Culture
Total: 4.50
https://ashford.waypointoutcomes.com/assessment/12094/previe
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Non-Performance - The recommendation of how the
organizational structure should be changed to meet the firm’s
goals and
change the organization’s culture is either nonexistent or lacks
the components described in the assignment instructions.
Distinguished - Develops a thorough and fully appropriate
research proposal to identify and explain the new media
offerings
needed.
Proficient - Develops an appropriate research proposal to
identify and explain the new media offerings needed. The
proposal is
slightly underdeveloped.
Basic - Develops a limited and somewhat appropriate research
proposal to identify and explain the new media offerings
needed.
The proposal is underdeveloped.
Below Expectations - Attempts to develop research proposal to
identify and explain the new media offerings needed; however,
the

proposal is not appropriate and is significantly underdeveloped.
Non-Performance - The development of a research proposal to
identify and explain the new media offerings needed is either
nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment
instructions
Distinguished - Displays meticulous comprehension and
organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and
grammar.
Written work contains no errors and is very easy to understand.
Proficient - Displays comprehension and organization of syntax
and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work
contains only a few minor errors and is mostly easy to
understand.
Basic - Displays basic comprehension of syntax and mechanics,
such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains a few
errors
which may slightly distract the reader.
Below Expectations - Fails to display basic comprehension of
syntax or mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written
work
contains major errors which distract the reader.
Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or
lacks the components described in the instructions.
Distinguished - Accurately uses APA formatting consistently
throughout the paper, title page, and reference page.
Proficient - Exhibits APA formatting throughout the paper.
However, layout contains a few minor errors.

Basic - Exhibits limited knowledge of APA formatting
throughout the paper. However, layout does not meet all APA
requirements.
Below Expectations - Fails to exhibit basic knowledge of APA
formatting. There are frequent errors, making the layout
difficult to
distinguish as APA.
Distinguished - The length of the paper is equivalent to the
required number of correctly formatted pages.
Proficient - The length of the paper is nearly equivalent to the
required number of correctly formatted pages.
Basic - The length of the paper is equivalent to at least three
quarters of the required number of correctly formatted pages.
Below Expectations - The length of the paper is equivalent to at
least one half of the required number of correctly formatted
pages.
Distinguished - Uses more than the required number of
scholarly sources, providing compelling evidence to support
ideas. All
sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly
within the body of the assignment.
Proficient - Uses the required number of scholarly sources to
support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and

cited
correctly within the body of the assignment.
Develop a Research Proposal to Identify and Explain the New
Media Offerings
Needed
Total: 5.00
Written Communication: Control of Syntax and Mechanics
Total: 0.62
Written Communication: APA Formatting Total: 0.62
Written Communication: Page Requirement Total: 0.62
Written Communication: Resource Requirement Total: 0.64
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Basic - Uses less than the required number of sources to support
ideas. Some sources may not be scholarly. Most sources on the
reference page are used within the body of the assignment.
Citations may not be formatted correctly.
Below Expectations - Uses an inadequate number of sources
that provide little or no support for ideas. Sources used may not
be
scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are not used
within the body of the assignment. Citations are not formatted
correctly.

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Backgrounder 2: Seeking Information to Solve Problems and
Make Decisions
Chapter 9, “Marketing and Research,” discussed how managers
cannot always conduct primary research to obtain the ideal
information to use in problem solving or decision making.
Hoag, Brickley, and Cawley (2001) pointed out that as
convergence increases, managers must skillfully manage rapid
change. Knowing how and where to find information quickly
and inexpensively is an invaluable skill for present and future
media managers. This, too, can be a difficult and overwhelming
process and skill to learn.
Extended Case 1 deals with group owned media outlets in a
major city or market, in this case Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas.
Here are ideas for finding information about a market quickly:
industry publications often publish analyses or profiles of media
markets. Start by trying to locate such an article [e.g., see
Hudson (2005a) for a profile of the Dallas-Forth Worth market.
Mediaweek updates these profiles regularly so check to see if a
more recent profile has been published for your market or city].
Professors: if you teach your media management course in a
computer lab (or could for a short period of time), the class as a
whole could take a class day or week to conduct an Internet,
database and library search to locate information to share. The
professor could organize an efficient search by assigning

different search objectives to different students or teams.
For example, have a class discussion to generate an exhaustive
list of search objectives and key words or terms to use for
searching. Then assign one team to conduct a thorough search in
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, another team in ABI/Inform
ProQuest Direct, and a third team to search EBSCO. Assign a
fourth team to conduct a thorough Internet search using Google
or similar search engines. Assign a fifth team to go to the
library to obtain Mediamark, Lifestyle Market Analyst, data
from the Statistical Abstracts of the United States and other
relevant published information. Assign a sixth team to make an
appointment with a Reference Librarian to locate any other
available or newer information or publications. Assignments are
made until all major information sources available are covered.
Instruct all students to e-mail any useful articles or citations
they find to the professor. Most online databases have an e-mail
function for this purpose. If useful Internet sites are found,
those Web addresses could be pasted into an e-mail message and
sent to the professor. After the research is conducted, the
professor can then e-mail the relevant articles and cites to the
entire class or provide hard copies of selected materials. By
dividing the major search goals and sharing what is found, much
information to use in working on the case can be obtained
quickly. Then the class is assigned to read all sources or
assigned materials to discuss in the next class.
Your professor may divide the following online sources among
individuals or teams in the class. These are examples of the
types of sources that may be useful to you on the job. While
these are for the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, market (as you’ll
use them in Extended Cases 1 to follow), these same types of
sources are available for cities and towns nationwide.
Online resources that may be useful for analyzing the Dallas-
Forth Worth, Texas, market are listed next. These sources are
listed to provide ideas for the types of sources available for
other markets or cities. Remember these addresses may change
after publication so titles are provided to assist in locating

them.
· About TexasTexas State Library and Archives Commission.
www.tsl.state.tx.us/ref/abouttx/index.html
Be sure to visit and carefully search this site.
· American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Texas
www.aicct.com
Use sites like these to find member lists of ethnic businesses in
Dallas/Fort Worth.
· Arlington City Web Site
www.ci.arlington.tx.us
· Arlington Independent School District (2006)
www.arlington.k12.tx.us
· Business and Industry Data Center (2006)
State of Texas. http://www.bidc.state.tx.us/
Be sure to visit the BIDC Maproom that provides demographic,
employment, income, and other information
· CEO Express—Connecting busy executives to information that
matters
www.ceoexpress.com
· City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs
www.dallasculture.org
· ClickZ Network—
Solution
s for Marketers
www.clickz.com
· Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce
www.dbcc.org
· Dallas City Web Portal
www.dallascityhall.com

· Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association
www.dfwsem.org
· Dallas Independent School District
www.dallasisd.org
· Dallas Morning News
www.dallasnews.com
· Dallas Observer
www.dallasobserver.com
See their blogs page at www.dallasobserver.com/blogs/
· Dallas Office of Economic Development
www.dallas-edd.org
· Dallas Police Department
www.dallaspolice.net
· Digest of Education Statistics—NCES/National Center for
Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/
· Federal Bureau of Investigation—Dallas Field Office
http://dallas.fbi.gov/dallas.htm
· FBI Uniform Crime Reports
www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
· Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
http://dallasfed.org
· Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
http://stlouisfed.org
There may be a Federal Reserve Bank closer to your city.

· Fort Worth City Web Site
www.fortworthgov.org
· Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
www.fortworthcoc.org or www.fortworthchamber.com
· Fort Worth Independent School District
www.fortworthisd.org/
· Fort Worth Introduction (2006). A statistical profile of Fort
Worth and the Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Division.
www.fortworthcoc.org/eco/docs/Intro2006.pdf
· Fort Worth Star-Telegram
www.dfw.com
· GDAAC: Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of
Commerce.
www.gdaacc.com/
· Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce
www.gdc.org/
www.dallaschamber.org
Carefully review sites like this for the wealth of online data
they typically offer. They may be listed under several addresses.
· Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
www.gdhcc.com/index.html
· KTVT CBS 11
http://cbs11tv.com
· KDFW FOX TV 4
www.myfoxdfw.com

· WFAA ABC TV 8
www.wfaa.com
· KXAS NBC 5
www.nbc5i.com
· Mobile Marketing Association
www.mmaglobal.com
Data and case studies are available here to give you ideas on
mobile or digital services and campaigns.
· NADbase Newspaper Audience Database Spring 2006—
Newspaper Association of America
www.naa.org/nadbase/2006_NADbase_Report.pdf
· NCTCOG: North Central Texas Council of Governments.
www.nctcog.org
Also click on the Population Estimates link for data.
· Real Estate Market Overview 2006. Dallas-Forth Worth-
Arlington. College Station: Texas A & M University Real Estate
Center.
http://recenter.tamu.edu/mreports/DallasFWArl.pdf
· Texas Instruments
www.ti.com
· Texas K–12 Schools on the Web
www.tenet.edu/schools/texas.html#regxi
· Texas Online—Texas at Your Fingertips
www.texas.gov
· Top 100 Newspaper Web Sites—Newspaper Association of

America
www.naa.org/nadbase/Top_100_Newspaper_Web_Sites.pdf
· Total Newspaper Web Site Audience—Newspaper Association
of America
www.naa.org/nadbase/Nielsen_TotalWebAudience_06.pdf
· U.S. Census Bureau
www.census.gov
· Check out the Population Finder, Area Profile, and Economic
Indicators.
U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey
www.census.gov/acs/www
· U.S. Census Bureau Fact Finder
http://factfinder.census.gov
· U.S. Census Bureau—Computer Use and Ownership
www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/computer.html
· U.S. Census Bureau—The 2006 Statistical Abstract
www.census.gov/compendia/statab
· U.S. Census Bureau—Computer and Internet Use in the United
States: 2003
www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p23-208.pdf
Extended Case 1: Turmoil at the Granger Group
Amber Jackson, the managing editor of Web, multimedia,
digital, and interactive sites and services for the Dallas-Fort

Worth Gazette and associate managing editor for the print
edition, sat in her closed office and thought, “You know, if
someone had told me this sequence of events would have
happened, I would have pronounced it fiction.” Amber pondered
how to deal with the events and decisions she faced.
Amber had just returned from the office of the Gazette’s group
owner and CEO, Arthur Granger, after a meeting with him and
Gazette publisher William Stahl, and Jose Mendoza, editor and
publisher of DFW Noticias, the Gazette’s Spanish-language
edition. The primary group owner and CEO of the Granger
Group, Arthur Granger, had asked to meet him in his office
downtown. “I’m not satisfied with Granger’s profits or its
editorial coverage. I take primary responsibility and am
committed to changing the culture at the Gazette and my other
properties. That means some major changes are going to happen
at the Gazette,” Granger said.
Granger continued, “I know employees say that I don’t take bad
news well. I’m rumored to be unapproachable and to hide in my
office. I’ve been told that our circulation problems developed
because we have a culture that discourages candor. Employees
say they have a hard time telling the truth to management,
including me, you, and others down the line. We all know this
has been published by competing and industry publications,
who’ve said our circulation fraud scandal resulted from my
setting revenue goals that are too high. I’ve also been told that

the scandal really blew up because our newspaper and reporters
didn’t cover the story honestly and thoroughly enough.
“We haven’t yet cut our investigative reporting unit and I
won’t. I’ve been holding Mother off on that for years. I think
we need to improve our editorial even more but I don’t think
our reporting is near as bad as our competitors and critics make
it out to be” Granger added. “We haven’t been taking on the
powerful and comfortable Dallas elites in business, society, and
government. We have excellent political coverage and took the
Catholic establishment head on after the corruption and priest
sexual abuse scandal. My family is Catholic and my mother was
very displeased with our coverage. But I convinced her that we
must be honest and fair, especially when it’s our own church
family. She finally turned over control of the group to me last
month. Therefore, I want to begin my term as CEO and family
owner as I see fit. But I want to do so in a way that is not
disrespectful to my mother, the group, and our managers, and
employees. I don’t want to make it look like a rejection of our
past. I see it as building on our successes and failures and going
forward into the future.
“As part of building our future, I want to develop additional
digital and new media offerings. These can be associated with
the Gazette, Noticias, or our TV and four radio stations, or an
entirely new outlet or service that the Granger Group will own
and operate. We must grow and try new things. Obviously,

given our losses after the circulation fraud scandal, we must
rebuild the journalistic reputation and generate significant new
revenue. I don’t want to repeat the mistakes that employees
think they have to do anything to raise revenue, however. I’m
thinking we’ll need to reorganize the firm’s structure to make it
more open and responsive to new media ideas and change the
culture. I’ll want your recommendations on structural changes
in your reports. We also need to see whether our personnel and
legal documents need to be changed as well,” Granger said.
“I’ll also be meeting with management at our sister television
station as well as our four radio stations in DFW. We’re going
to improve things there too, building on our DuPont-Columbia,
Peabody, and other awards for TV news and documentaries.
We’ve gotten a reputation for not retaining our top news
employees. Well that’s going to change starting immediately.
We’re going to retain our older, core audience while finding
new ways to attract a younger audience with new-media
ventures,” Granger looked quite serious when he said this.
Granger paused and then took an even more serious tone.
“Obviously this necessitates decisions that are personally and
professionally challenging. I’ve already talked to William and
he is stepping down as publisher of the Gazette. He’s agreed to
retire and have his contract bought out. I’ve already spoken to
Jose who has agreed to take over as the Gazette’s publisher.
I’ve personally spoken to Bobby Joe Bryant and offered him a

buyout. Amber, as you know, both Jose and William have
recommended you to be the new managing editor of the Gazette,
should Bobby Joe accept the buyout. I spoke to him this
morning and he refused to give me an answer or stay for this
meeting. I’ve given him a week from today as his deadline for
giving me an answer.”
Granger noted, “I brought you all here today to charge you to
identify and report on the cultural, organizational, and revenue
problems we need to solve. I’d like you all to provide a report
in a week outlining what you see as the major problems we need
to solve and how to do so. William has kindly agreed to provide
a report even though he will not participate in the actual
implementation due to his retirement. Bobby Joe also has agreed
to provide a report but says he doesn’t want to be a part of the
process.”
Granger added, “Another major concern is how to handle the
buyouts and possible layoffs. Please make recommendations to
me as to which employees are to be offered buyouts, why, how
those buyouts should be handled to avoid negative publicity or
further harm to the Gazette’s reputation, and what to do if these
employees refuse to be bought out. When I receive financial
updates, I’ll be able to give you a clearer picture of whether and
how many employees may have to be laid off. So you should be
making contingency plans now to respond if I need
recommendations from you soon. William, if you don’t mind,

I’d like to talk to Amber and Jose alone now.”
William left the room and closed the door again. Granger sighed
and then concluded. “Obviously, Bobby Joe Bryant is one of our
buyout candidates. I asked William to leave because it appears
to me he’s been protecting Bobby Joe and providing him inside
information. As you know, they’re Mother’s favorites and I’ve
been trying to explain to her why a change of leadership is
needed for years. I can’t be sure if Bobby Joe or William has
been the source for negative information to the media. Given
the amount and type of information leaked, it could be several
people in management and nonmanagement positions.”
Granger continued, “Bobby Joe’s case is not an easy one. He’s
certainly been an institution in the Dallas-Fort Worth
journalistic community, having won numerous awards earlier in
his career. My mother loves him. But we all know his reputation
has declined and he’s been a lightning rod for personnel
problems and controversy. Others have accused him and
William of leaking information about our predicaments to
competitors. One theory as to why it is them is because nothing
negative about mother has ever been published, nor has she
even been mentioned in the criticism. It’s assumed that they
wouldn’t say anything negative about Mother because they want
to protect their power stemming from her favor of them.
William has never been able to clearly explain to me why he
protects Bobby Joe the way he does. So we all need to carefully

think about how to handle his situation, whether or not he
accepts a buyout. We have to assume he and William may leak
anything we present or say to him. We also have to assume he
and William may try to call Mother to rescind their buyouts.
Mother will refuse so we must expect that there may now be
negative coverage about her. Whatever happens, I want to be
sure we treat William and Bobby Joe honorably and fairly.”
Granger concluded by saying, “Obviously, I’ve shared personal
information with you about my family in this meeting that I’ve
never discussed with you before. As my leadership team, I want
us to be completely comfortable in discussing anything with
each other in a professional way. I expect that you will always
keep these discussions of personal family issues that affect the
company private and will not leak them to the media. I mean no
offense, but because we are a family corporation I have to say
that. I want to be sure I’ve clearly stated that to you so my
expectations are clear. I also want to be sure we all have a
working relationship where we can trust each other completely
and discuss whatever we have to.”
Jose replied, “I’ve worked for large, small, public, and private
media group owners. I fully understand why you are saying this
and will keep your trust. If I ever felt I had to provide
information that you felt I shouldn’t, I would talk to you first.
Then I would accept the consequences of my decision. I fully
understand, respect, and agree with what you’re saying. But I’m

also telling you, Arthur, that if I ever felt my journalistic
integrity was compromised, you’ll hear about it.”
Amber concurred, adding, “Arthur, you know I feel exactly as
Jose does. I am loyal to you and the Granger Group, but I
cannot compromise my journalistic integrity. There is concern
about the direction the Gazette had been taking. I think it would
improve morale and help us to retain our best employees if we
could share what you’re telling us with our employees.
Certainly, I understand there will be an appropriate time, way,
and place for doing so. But I think if we really want to change
the culture and improve morale at the paper we need to improve
communication between you and our employees. We need to
deal with issues like the circulation scandal in the same way
we’d investigate any other paper or organizations. I think
outlining how to deal with things like the circulation scandal in
the employee manual, as well as improving communication,
would go a long way toward reducing or eliminating leaks as
well.”
Arthur said, “That’s why you’re my new publisher and will be
my managing editor, sooner, or later. Even if Bobby Joe
remains in his position for the time being, Amber, you’ll be
included in upper-management decisions. I have no doubt you
both have the kind of journalistic integrity and personal candor
I admire and seek in my top managers. I respect and trust you
both and want you to stay with us over the long term. I hope

you will always give me the chance to retain you.”
After the meeting, Amber and Jose met in Jose’s office with the
door closed to discuss things further. Amber asked Jose, “Why
was I called into this meeting even though Bobby Joe has not
yet accepted his buyout? That’s a bit uncomfortable for me and
him. And it seems likely to anger him, knowing his past
behavior.”
Jose replied, “Well you’re the associate managing editor and
Granger, William, and I wanted to include the entire top
management team in these discussions. Everyone, including
Bobby Joe, knows you’re being groomed for his job after he
retires. But, between you and me, I think Granger is trying to
find out who has been the source of the leaks. And we all know
William and Bobby Joe are among those who are suspected of
leaking negative information. I think he wants to find out
quickly whether his mother has truly given up control. And I
think he was very upset about the way coverage of our scandals
was covered in the Gazette.”
Jose continued, “Obviously, our jobs are unusual in that, for
better or worse, in this company top managers have to consider
the family politics of the principal group owners. You and I
wouldn’t be in these positions if we hadn’t walked the fine line
well between maintaining our journalistic integrity and
understanding how to keep clear of family politics. I don’t think
William and Bobby Joe ever truly understood how being Mrs.

Granger’s favorites and playing that angle is a double-edged
sword.”
Jose concluded, “Now, there’s another important factor we need
to consider. How we handle what’s coming is going to define
our reputations. I am committed to rebuilding the paper to its
previous role as the journalistic leader in Texas and the region.
I was crystal-clear about that to Granger when he offered me the
publisher’s job. I also told him I would be forthright and honest
with him and would not hesitate to go to him with things he may
not want to hear. Obviously, I’ll be diplomatic, but I won’t
hesitate to approach him. You heard what he said, so I’ll take
him at his word.”
“That’s what I told him too,” Amber said, adding, “Between you
and me, do you really think his mother will take a background
role? She’s a smart, strong woman and has deep ties with most
community leaders.”
Jose replied, “I know Granger has been working toward taking
over from his mother for several years. He’s been courting the
community leaders. And the coverage of the Catholic Church
scandal made it pretty clear he’d take on the community
establishment. I think most felt the coverage was fair and
appropriate. Yes, I do believe he has finally taken over. Mrs.
Granger is a pistol, but she’s 84 years old. Even though she and
Arthur have different philosophies and approaches, I know she’s
always respected him for taking stands even when he knew she

wouldn’t approve. I think Arthur’s taking the right steps, and
he’ll find out pretty quickly whether his mother is truly ceding
control. While I do believe it’s final, we’ll all have to keep our
eyes open and be prepared to deal with any eventuality. And
you and I must remember not to discuss private Granger family
matters with anyone else. Nor do I want either of us to try to
court favors like William and Bobby Joe have.
“I think you and I need to reconsider our style of working
together. I know in the past we’ve each written separate drafts,
and then gotten together, combined our reports, and worked out
a final draft together. But if you become the managing editor,
there will be times you’ll need to take stands. I know you’ll be
an independent and strong managing editor. I think some
employees buy into the female stereotype that you follow my
lead. I suspect many employees don’t know we disagree but
work out our differences and compromise. I’m not sure of the
best approach, but we need to consider this carefully and
establish our own independent styles and authority at the outset,
while maintaining our strong professional partnership.”
Amber was a bit taken aback. She’d never heard that rumor. She
thought a moment, and then replied, “I appreciate your
thoughtfulness on my behalf. I’m not sure if many employees
buy into that stereotype. And I think most employees understand
our professional working relationship and recognize we are each
independent and quite willing to stand up to each other. I also

want to keep our partnership strong, agree that we need to
consider this carefully, and establish our own independent
styles and authority at the outset. I’ll think carefully about this
and get back to you informally with suggestions. And I assume
that you and I, like Arthur, want to be completely candid and be
able to trust each other.”
“Of course, that goes without saying,” replied Jose.
Amber knew she and Jose thought removing William and Bobby
Joe was a big step toward solving problems and improving the
paper. On numerous occasions, they had tried to talk to Bobby
Joe about offering new digital, video, or mobile services or
outlets for the paper. And Bobby Joe always refused to consider
their ideas. Amber and Jose often had to weigh the pros and
cons of going over Bobby Joe’s head and meeting with William
about their ideas and Bobby Joe’s lack of cooperation. Yet both
dreaded this option as Bobby Joe was known to retaliate or
simply stop speaking when he was unhappy with someone.
Even Jack Hancock, the sports reporter who was universally
liked and admired for his award-winning reporting, had had run-
ins with Bobby Joe. Bobby Joe held Jack’s story on a doping
scandal involving a prominent Texas Rangers baseball player
because he wasn’t satisfied with the supporting sources. A
competing paper ran the story first, depriving Jack, the Gazette,
and Noticias of the scoop. While both continued to work
together well, it was common knowledge among the staff that it

was only because Jack knew Bobby Joe’s stubborn nature and
decided not to press the issue to the publisher. Both Amber and
Jose had smoothed things over, ensuring Jack got a well-
deserved raise after his next performance evaluation. Newsroom
employees felt the sources were solid and the story held simply
due to Bobby Joe’s excessive caution. Other staffers wondered
who and what Bobby Joe might be trying to protect or if
someone behind the scenes was intervening. Most of the staff
tried to avoid conflicts with Bobby Joe because they felt he was
a friend of the publisher and the elderly Mrs. Granger.
The Gazette’s and Noticias’ management and staff were also on
edge because of newsroom buyout rumors. Bobby Joe told
staffers he’d heard “from a reliable source” that about 50
positions would have to be cut from the print, online, and
digital/new media newsrooms. Word quickly spread among the
employees. However, given the papers’ new goals for
emphasizing multimedia and Internet strategies in the future to
generate new revenue streams, the print edition news staff was
especially concerned. Only a year and a half earlier about 60
newsroom and circulation department employees had been laid
off after the circulation fraud scandal, leaving the company with
about 3,000 employees.
William had outlined his goals in a paper-wide assembly and
letter to employees several months earlier. William and his
senior management had finalized the goals after department and

edition managers held focus groups and meetings with
employees to develop goals. Amber agreed with William’s
insistence in including all employees in the goal-setting process
and genuinely considering their input. This same process was
used for goal-setting at the other outlets as well. William said
he wanted to emphasize breaking news and information on the
Gazette and Noticias print and Web editions, add more
streaming video feeds and podcasts, and launch demographic or
psychographic segment-tailored community, digital or mobile
services or sites. Yet, after the goals were formally adopted,
every time Amber or Jose tried to talk to Bobby Joe about ideas
to meet these goals, he blew them off.
The print and online newsrooms had come close to exploding
over Bobby Joe’s antics several times. Only loyalty to Amber
and Jose, as well as fear over losing their jobs due to layoffs or
buyouts, had kept the staff from taking more drastic action. But
Amber knew it was only a matter of time. Either someone would
file a complaint against Bobby Joe or they’d lose a valued
employee who could find a better job. She hoped Bobby Joe
would accept a buyout.
Amber knew Bobby Joe would be 65 soon although he’d often
said he wanted to work as long as he could, at least until he was
70. He’d won numerous local and state awards earlier in his
career as a reporter. He’d been promoted several times and had
worked at the paper for more than 35 years. As an entrenched

member of the local news media, his buyout would have to be
handled carefully. But Amber, Jose and many other news staff
felt Bobby Joe was a good ol’ boy who didn’t change with the
times. Many editorial management and staff also felt that Bobby
Joe, and to a lesser extent William, tended to protect the
community’s “sacred cows,” such as major corporations and
prominent citizens. The Gazette had lost several respected
reporters over the years and many employees blamed Bobby
Joe.
For example, a number of years earlier when Amber and Jose
recommended developing blogs for the online edition, they
finally had to write a memo to William outlining their ideas that
also included Bobby Joe’s objections and that the ideas were
being submitted despite his failure to recommend them. The
blogs they recommended were likely to be successful such as
sports-interest blogs for Ranger, Mavericks, and Cowboys fans.
The DFW area breaking news, weather and sports opt-in e-mail
alerts also were a success. Yet every time they had a new media
recommendation, they had to write a memo presenting their
ideas and outlining Bobby Joe’s objections. Amber and Jose
were sick of having to do things this way. It seemed
counterproductive and made it harder to maintain good working
relationships. All were constantly reminded of their
philosophical and editorial differences.
To make matters worse, the best employee in Amber’s division,

Senior Editor Umberto Martinez who excelled in his strategic
development role, had just come to her with a job offer from the
Austin American-Statesman. Umberto was essentially offered
Amber’s job at the Austin paper. And the paper offered an
investigative reporting position for Umberto’s wife, Sheila
Kelley.
Umberto told her, “I’d love to stay, but I’m sick of dealing with
Bobby Joe. My wife and I would prefer not to work at the same
paper, but I want to be in a position where I don’t have to argue
with Bobby Joe over every idea. And we all know that I’ve been
blamed for leaking to Sheila, but honestly, I’m not the source of
the leaks.”
Sheila was the investigative reporter on a local alternative
newspaper. There she had the luxury of writing long, detailed
investigative reports. She was one of the reporters who broke
the story on the district attorney’s investigation of the Gazette’s
circulation scandal. The district attorney investigated Granger
and the other owners of the Gazette for claiming to distribute
more newspapers than are actually distributed and charging
advertisers a higher rate based on the inflated circulation
figures. The case had gone to a grand jury but no indictments
resulted.
Rumor had it Bobby Joe had quashed the Gazette’s top
reporter’s story about the district attorney’s investigation,
allowing Sheila and reporters at other local and regional papers

the scoop and embarrassing the Gazette’s publisher. That top
reporter, Amanda Marshall, left to take a reporting position at
The New York Times about 2 months after the incident. The
group owner had included the investigation in its online
quarterly report on the Web and a story appeared on the
Gazette’s front page the day after Kelley’s scoop.
Ultimately, the district attorney did not file charges. But the
way the investigation story was handled when it broke
embarrassed and humiliated many Gazette newsroom
employees. Whether it was true, it made it appear the Gazette
did not adhere to journalistic standards of integrity. It also
affected the perceived integrity of the paper’s sister television
and radio stations in town. Critics claimed it was because the
Granger Group did not have a commitment to presenting
quality, forthright news, especially when it involved the family
company.
Ironically, a few months earlier, the Gazette ran a front-page
story reporting that Sunday circulation was inflated by about
10% and daily about 5%. A whistle blower had privately
informed Arthur Granger of the scandal. Granger kept the
whistle-blower’s identity a secret. He immediately called a
meeting with his mother, the other owners, and the Gazette’s
top managers, who were all appalled by the scandal.
Arthur got the owners and managers to agree to hire a
prominent and respected law firm to conduct an internal

investigation. It was rumored that the law firm had
documentation that certain employees were responsible. Yet,
many in the circulation department were fired and the vice
president of circulation resigned. The group charged about $20
million against earnings to compensate advertisers and other
related expenses. Arthur Granger sent a letter to all employees
explaining the results of the law firm’s investigation and the
subsequent actions. Granger had been deeply offended and
angered that the Gazette had not reported about the district
attorney’s investigation first.
Apparently, the circulation fraud was the result of an incentive
program that awarded trips and cash to employees who met
goals to increase circulation. Unfortunately, the circulation
employees who appeared to be involved in the fraud had been
fired about 2 months before other employees were laid off who
had no part in the scandal. This unfairly placed under a cloud of
suspicion many innocent, good employees who had simply lost
their jobs because revenues declined after the scandal.
This was another reason employees were so concerned about the
buyouts and possible layoffs. What would happen now? They
did not know that Bobby Joe had been offered a buyout. They
didn’t know about Granger’s dealings with his mother behind
the scenes. Amber and Jose knew they’d wonder whether
employees like Bobby Joe would be retained based on seniority
while excellent employees with shorter tenures be let go.

Amber knew she had a lot on her plate. She sat down at her desk
and began formulating her thoughts. She knew major changes
were coming, and there would be events she could not
anticipate, but others she could. She wanted to develop an
excellent report and prepare herself as best she could for all that
was to come.
She thought, My organization’s, employees’, owner’s, and
personal and professional reputation are at stake. She knew
Arthur and Jose felt the same way.

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