Topic 2: Management Structures

Duration: 3 Hrs.
Introduction
This chapter looks into different ownership structures of media organizations which include,
privately owned such as sole proprietorships, government owned enterprises and joint stock
companies. It has also highlights on the styles of communication and the importance of
communication to and organization.

Objectives
By the end of this topic you will be able to:
1. To define what management structure
2. Give highlights of the importance of a management structure to an organization.
3. Outline the roles played by the various people in the organization.

Learner Task (s)

Task
Your task is to:
1. Read the document the below manual on this topic
2. Read any other supplementary reading material outlining the introduction of
management.
Discussion
Discuss the management structure of a chosen organization of your choice.
 CHAPTER TWO
2.0 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES

Overview

Management structures are patterns under which a particular organization operates and is
governed.

Sub-topics

 Organizational chart
 Types of communication
 Media ownership patterns
 Media managerial operations
2.1 Organizational Structures
Management structures of media enterprises vary depending on the ownership system, the size
and activities of a particular enterprise. They are best demonstrated through illustrations referred
to as organizational charts. The chart illustrates the chain command of a given enterprise i.e. the
hierarchy within the organization. They also demonstrate who is answerable to whom, which
office is responsible for which action and specific department which personnel belong to. For
example;
Proprietor

Shareholder

Board of Directors

Chief Executive Officer

Editor –in-Chief
2.2 Types of communication used in Management
Managerial functions depend on communication more than anything else in order to be
actualized. Three types of communication patterns are used to fulfill managerial functions.

1. Downward Communication
This is the kind of communication whereby information originates from the management or
senior staff and is conveyed to subordinates or junior staff, because information flows from the
top to the bottom of the administration. The most common methods of conveying downward
information include:
a) Meetings
b) Briefings
c) Memoranda
d) Letters
e) Phone calls

2. Upward communication
This is whereby information originates from subordinates or junior staff and is conveyed to
management or senior staff. This information flows from bottom of the hierarchy towards the top
and it is referred to as upward communication. Common methods used here include; Letters
suggestion boxes and meetings.
3. Lateral / Horizontal Communication
This is when communication transfers between people who are at the same level of
administrative hierarchy. The most common means includes meetings, letters, phone calls etc.
The above kinds of communication are all official. Apart from formal communication, informal
communication is also prominent within the organization especially in media enterprises. The
grapevine is conveyed through rumors, gossip, leaflets, anonymous phone calls gutter press etc.

Roles of communication in media house management

1. The administrative function is to convey administrative decisions and changes to
stakeholders of the media enterprise for example appointments, dismissals, promotions
and transfers etc
2. The research function i.e. to collect data that is used for decision making by management.
 3. The advertising function i.e. to convey information on popular media that is made to
promote the sales and profitability of the enterprise.
4. The marketing function i.e. to convey information aimed at satisfying customers on long
term basis.
5. The public relations function this is to convey information aimed at creating and
maintaining mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.
6. The customer care function i.e. to respond to customer concern and complaints also t
convey information that is beneficial to customers.
7. The industrial relations function i.e. to maintain positive and constructive and
constructive co-operation with other media enterprises.
2.3 Media Ownership Patterns
Media ownership patterns are simply the authority under which media enterprises are owned.
Structurally media enterprises can be owned by governments or private investors.
The Government owned Media Enterprises
These are media institutions that are totally answerable to the government. They are founded and
controlled by government through Acts of parliament for example Kenya Broadcasting
Corporation (KBC)
Government owned media enterprises are funded by the exchequer i.e. their financial
maintenance is dependent on allocation from government budgetary. The management of
government media enterprises is appointed and supervised by the government specifically
through the Cabinet Secretary of Information and Technology.
Unlike privately owned media organizations, government owned media enterprises do not exist
for the purpose of making profit rather their objectives include;

1. To foster national integration, promote unity and harmony between various social groups
in the country.
2. To convey information to the public.
3. For entertainment
4. For setting national agenda, whether political, social or economic i.e. to make popular
crucial government plans to the people.
In the event that the public broadcaster makes profit or has substantial financial resources at its
disposal, such funds ought to be utilized for purposes of;
 a) Expansion either in terms of operations or reach effectiveness
b) Technological improvement especially in terms of transmission
c) Research for purposes of editorial improvement and advancement
d) Fostering associations with international networks for example CCTV, BBC
e) Acquiring appropriate human resource capacity and maintaining them.

Privately owned Media Enterprises.

These exist for the sole purpose of making profits. Much of the profits is earned through
advertising revenue and also through the sale of space or airtime. Privately owned media
organizations are allocated frequencies and operating licenses by the Ministry of Information and
Technology through the Communication Authority of Kenya which also performs the
supervisory role.
They are either owned by individuals or partners. They are of different kinds;
a) Sole Proprietorships
These are media organizations owned by individuals privately. Major media organizations
owned by individuals include Royal Media Services. In this system, management personnel,
management system and even corporation objectives are solely determined by the proprietor.
They have a very simple structure comprising of the proprietor, management and departmental
heads who preside over all the activities in the organization.

b) Partnership
These are owned by two or more individuals. In Kenya for example, the maximum number of
partners that any business enterprise can have is 50 usually, the partners also serve as directors.
The board of Directors makes decisions on policy, external association, expansion and priorities
of the organization. Partners can own the organization partly on their personal contribution to the
company. The more the partners contribution, the larger the ownership percentage and the more
his influence.
Partnerships are advantageous being that the partners share ideas i.e. decision making is not at
the mercy of one person. It has the below structure;
 Partners

Management

Employees

2. Joint Stock Media Organizations

A Joint stock company is an advanced entity that trades its shares at the stock exchange. Such
organizations have another entity that the board of directors has to contend with i.e. the
shareholders. They determine composition of the board of directors. Joint stock companies can
be exclusively private or can be co-owned by government and private investors.
The structure of joint stock companies comprises of;

Proprietors

Shareholder

Board of Directors

Managing Director

Employees

Ownership patterns determine media managerial decisions in four major ways;

a) Law and regulation
b) Profitability
c) Advertising Revenue
d) Proprietor
 a) Law and Regulation
The factor involves the policy under which a media establishment operates. If a media
establishment is a government owned, its objectivity may be specifically tailored to propagate
government propaganda.
In such establishment, all managerial decisions are made to serve government interests. But in
some countries the government owned media organizations are not government mouth pieces.
They are required by law to perform high level campaigns aimed at informing, educating,
integrating and entertaining publics. The government’s role is merely supervisory for example
The BBC, made to serve the government interests.
b) Profitability
As a factor is more crucial for privately owned media organizations. Privately owned media
enterprises are established with one objective i.e. to make profits. Consequently more often
managers have to make decisions that results to profits that professions for example hiring less
qualified personnel who will have less pay.
c) Advertising
Media business is dependent on advertising revenue for profitability. Many at time organizations
spend millions to attract advertisers to their enterprises. Advertisers that are regular usually yield
tremendous influence on managerial decisions i.e. they determine what managerial decisions are
made specifically when such decisions concern them.
d) Proprietor Affiliations
This refers to the personal involvement of proprietors i.e. their family ties, political loyalties and
their religious and ethnics affiliations. Usually managers have to be sensitive to such affiliations
regarding proprietors.

2.4 Media Managerial Operations

Managerial operations in the media enterprises are controlled by six structures;
1. The Board of Directors
2. The shareholders
3. The Chief Executive Officer
4. Managing Officer
5. Editor-in-Chief
6. Associate Editors
 1. Board of Directors
The board of Directors is either partners of the enterprises or professionals selected by the
shareholders of the organization. They are the decision makers of the organization. They choose
managers including the managing directors. They formulate policy and regulations for the
organization, they also review them when need be.
They approve tenders and contracts of the organization as awarded by management. They review
performances of the organization on a regular basis and recommend measures for improvement.
2. Shareholders
Shareholders only exist when the media enterprise is joint stock. They are investors i.e. person
who have invested capital in the organization. They elect or select members of the board of
directors. They approve long-term and short-term organizational plans during annual general
meetings.
3. Chief Executive Officer
In some organizations, he is referred to as the managing director. He is the Chief administrative
officer in the organization. All staffs in the organization are answerable to him. He is answerable
to the board of directors of which he is a member. He controls, supervises, co-ordinates,
regulates and controls all operations of the organization.
He is the chief budgeting and planning officer of the organization. He is the spokesman of the
organization. He represents the organizational in external forum. He chairs all administrative
meetings. He approves all appointments, demotions, promotions, transfers or dismissals. He
approves all contracts, tenders and any other external dealings of the organization. He represents
all staff members in any deliberations with the board of directors. He is a signatory to the
organization accounts.
4. Editor-in-Chief
Some organizations refer to him as the editorial director. He is in charge of the editorial
department of the media enterprise. He is the most influential department head of the media
enterprise. He controls the editorial policy of the organization. He ensures the absolute
implementation of the policy. He chairs editorial meetings.
He approves editorial decisions. He supervises editors, sub-editors and editorial operations. He is
answerable to the chief executive officer. Sometimes the chief executive officer is also the
editorial director. He formulates policy for editorial development, editorial changes and
associations.
5. Managing Editor
He is answerable to the editor-in-chief. In certain circumstances, managing editors are stratified
i.e. a Sunday edition and a daily edition may have separate managing editors. The managing
editor performs the linkage function between staff and management. All concerns and
complaints are raised through him. Operational activity including facilitation, motivation and
cleanliness are co-ordinated by the office.
Interviews are co-ordinated by his office. He works in liaison with other editors on issues related
to recruitment, dismissals, promotions and demotions and even editorial decisions. A managing
editor at times plays the mouth piece of the employees i.e. he raise their grievances in
management meetings.
6. Associate Editors
They can also be referred to as deputy editors. They assist the managing editors in performing
their functions. They are most crucial in the event that managing editors are absent or
incapacitated.
Editorial Departments
The editorial department is the backbone of any media enterprise. This is where news is made
and processed. The editor in chief is the executive head in the editorial board. The editorial
department works in liaison with other departments depending on the structure of the
organization.
Such other departments include; Human Resource, public relations Department and Finance
department, supplement department, Supplies and distribution etc. The editorial department
comprises of the following persons;
1. The editor and his associates
2. News editor and his associates
3. Chief sub-editor
4. Reporters
5. Sub-editors
Once all news is gathered, attention shifts to the sub-desks. He distributes raw copies to sub-
editors for editing purpose. He must verify editorial precision after each copy has been wired on.
The chief sub ensures that the house style principles are upheld. He co-ordinates the designing
stories to fit in the spaces left after the sales of advertising space.
Ideally the person selected to edit a particular story must have credible understanding of the
subject it entails i.e. financial related issues. In liaison with the chief sub-editor, the news editor
co-ordinates reports from bureau chief correspondents, stringers and contributors to decide which
ones are worth publication. Chief Sub-editors also works in liaison with photography editor to
decide which picture to accompany which story and also fitting captions on each picture.
Public Relations Management
Public relations department in some organizations is also referred to as the Corporate
Communication Department, Public Affairs Department etc The public relations department
structure varies from one enterprise to another. It is common for the public relations manager
with a number of officers under him/her each assigned a specific area of responsibility.
The public relations department does not make news it exists within a media enterprise to ensure
that a conducive atmosphere prevails for the editorial functions to be accomplished. Managerial
functions of a public relations manager include;
General duties and specific duties
The general duty is to ensure that he makes several deliberate attempts through various
professional strategies to establish and maintain mutual understanding and goodwill between the
media organization and all its publics. Media enterprises have three principle internal publics;
a) Shareholders
b) Board of directors
c) Employees
Media enterprises also have several external publics. These include;
a) Customers – readers, viewers, listeners, advertisers and subscribers.
b) Competitors- Other media organizations.
c) The government – Especially regulatory agencies for example Communications Authority of
Kenya.
d) Financial Institutions –especially banks
e) Suppliers
f) Trade Unions
g) The community
h) Opinion leaders
The specific roles of a public relations manager include the following;
1. Employer-employee relations
This is done by keeping and co-ordinates a system through which both the employer and the
employees can express issues of concern to one another on a regular basis.
The two most common methods for these are;
a) Common meetings
b) Suggestion boxes
c) Customer relations
This is through carrying out constant customer surveys i.e. extracting opinion from customers
about their attitudes. Likes and dislikes, tastes and preferences and recommendations for better
service about the organization, so as to give the organization credible information for decision
making.
3. Social Responsibility
Providing humanitarian assistance to the less fortunate members of the society for example
scholarships, sponsorships and relief services so as to give the organization a positive image and
also have good relations with the community.
4. Fund raising/financial relations
This involves publishing, authoring and availing literature on regular basis that promotes
investor confidence and also shareholder satisfaction.
5. Industrial Relations
This is establishing a friendly network with other players in the industry so as to foster a
constructive competitive culture.
6. Special Events
This is done through planning and organizing significant occasions for the enterprise as per the
organizational calendar. This may include anniversaries, get together, professional tours etc. they
ensure that social interaction is promoted within the media house.
7. Publicity
Distributing to selected publics organizational literature aimed at popularizing the organization
for example calendars, manuals, brochures, in-house magazines, documentaries etc.
8. Government Relations
This involves supervising all operations of the media enterprise and ensuring that they are
constantly in line with government regulations and requirements.
9. Designing the marketing mix
This includes promoting the organizational performance through the elements in the marketing
mix. They are; Price, place, product, promotion, people, physical evidence and public relations.
Cost, customer, competitor, commodity, communication, convergent and customer care.
10. Issues Management
This devising a pro-active mechanism for dealing with sensitive managerial issues which
includes promotions, demotions, recruitments, dismissals, harassment etc.
11. Crisis Management
It involves devising pro-active techniques of dealing with crises that may occur in the
organization. This are;
a) External attacks
b) Destructive advertising
c) Criticism
d) Strikes
e) Accidents for example fires.
The public relations manager also has to ensure that the chief executive officer is promptly
briefed about all his plans and actions. As a matter of fact some decision can only be made
through the consent of the executive officer.
The public relation department should not always be pro-active in all activities so as to be able to
meet public relations demands of the media enterprise. The public relations manager should be
able to attend all managerial meetings so as to enable him design public relations strategies
which are in line with managerial principles.
Advertising Management
Advertising as an activity involves disseminating information aimed at persuading customers and
prospective customers to buy or continue buying an organizations goods and services.
Advertising revenue obtained is the core source of profit for media organization.
Advertising in the media organizations involves the sale of space and airtime. On a low scale,
some enterprises give some equipment for hiring as part of their businesses. Depending on the
structural designs of a media enterprise, advertising activities may fall under
Circulation Management
Circulation
This refers to the total amount newspapers that an enterprise sales on daily basis for example if
Nation newspaper sales 1,000,000copies a day, that is its circulation.
Readership
It refers to the total number of people who read a particular edition of a newspaper on a daily
basis. For example if the circulation of nation is 1,000,000 and five people read each newspaper
sold, the readership become approximately 5,000,000
Viewership
Viewership is used to specifically refer to the loyal viewers of a particular television channel.
Such figures can only be approximated through regular loyalty surveys.
Listenership
This refers to the total number of loyal listeners of a given radio station. Such figures also can
only be approximated through media customer survey.
Revision Questions
1. Discuss two types of media ownerships patterns available in Kenya today.
2. Elaborate on the importance of communication to a company such as Safaricom
3. Discuss the duties and the responsibilities of
 The Nation media Group Managing Editor
 The Royal media Group Editor-in-chief
 The Standard Group Associate editor.
 The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Sub-editor.
4. Highlight on the importance of different sections within a media enterprise of your choice.