Global Management

Spotlight on Industry Expert – Caesar Andrews

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Periodically, NuLeadership Revolution discusses emerging trends with an industry expert.  We are happy to talk with Caesar Andrews this week.

Tell our audience a little about yourself.

My current adventure is in journalism education. Teaching ethics, writing and editing courses. Most recently at the University of Nevada, Reno. My transition to the classroom follows years of work in newsrooms.

 How did you start your career in this industry?

Interest in news goes back to high school. I majored in journalism at Grambling State University in Louisiana, with many hours spent working on the campus newspaper – great experience.

When first hired as a staff writer in Cocoa, Fla., I figured I would report for a few years, then move on to some other field of interest. Well, “a few years” turned into about 30 with the same company.

I did not start out feeling journalism was some kind of lifelong destination for me. But I ended up loving the work and the challenges (most days) and the many ways journalists get to witness so much of the world.  

Discuss your experience working in your industry.

I was fortunate to work with many talented people. I was fortunate to be part of newsrooms covering major events –launch of the first space shuttles, national political conventions, the Sept. 11 attacks, sports championships, and more. I likewise appreciated the impact of covering local community news.

I was able to work in markets big and small, from a weekly in Florida, where I was first promoted to manager, to the start-up staff at the national daily USA TODAY.

Other career stops were Lansdale, Pa., suburban New York, a news bureau in Washington, D.C., and Michigan, where I completed my Gannett Co. career in 2008 as executive editor of the Detroit Free Press. 

I enjoyed the improvisation found in newsrooms. Even during calm periods, breaking news was always on the verge of happening at any moment. A major project or something small but meaningful was always working its way toward publication.

Journalism is a great match for those with an appetite for constant learning. Lessons can be found all over. From sources. From an often critical public. From many wise souls who populate newsrooms.

And certainly from mistakes – the most painful ones can end up making you stronger. Even the knuckleheads encountered can play an educational role. An awful lot can be learned by observing what not to say, what not to do, and how not to be. 

What are some industry challenges over the next several years?

For traditional news media gatekeepers, the old iron grip on access to information and on steady growth in ad dollars is gone. For most consumers, unending streams of words, images, audio and video on almost any conceivable topic are just a click away.

Large portions of this information come from providers who do not label themselves professional journalists. But the impact on those who are journalists is unmistakable.

News organizations as well as individual news professionals are forced to sharpen their sense of purpose. The smart ones concentrate on making what they offer even more distinct. They specialize in content that extends beyond what readers, viewers and listeners can easily get elsewhere. 

Mastering the right delivery technology is one challenge, as more and more people bypass printed news pages and traditional network newscasts.  

Managing the clash of company motivations is another big challenge. Serving the civic good AND making a profit that sustains the business have to be reconciled. 

Tension between noble purpose and profit margins is not new, just more painfully apparent in this period of economic turmoil for traditional media. 

What steps are market leaders in your field doing to address these problems to ensure sustained success?

Media companies are fiercely rethinking how to thrive under new rules of the road. Not all will survive, as is the case in other fields disrupted by massive shifts in revenue, technology and other marketplace fundamentals. But there is no shortage of initiatives:

  • Every serious media organization is rewriting strategies. They are rethinking news content for digital users, refining their pitches to advertisers, and pushing to charge users for information consumed online.
  • Newsrooms are seeking workers who help identify and connect with targeted audiences. The best job applicants come armed with digital awareness.
  • Media organizations are consolidating, collaborating and remaking themselves in ways unimaginable not long ago. This is all driven by the need to reconsider traditional boundaries, especially as audiences, and therefore advertisers, dramatically change their patterns of media consumption.
  • Newsrooms are making use of more citizen contributors. Modern consumers expect wide-ranging interaction through media, not just old-style, one-way presentation of news. Citizens’ blogs, reviews, commentary and ubiquitous public comments online have altered the community conversation.

 What tips would you give individuals interested in getting into your industry as a new prospective employee?

Treat development of skills as if mining for gold. Place high value on curiosity.

Prepare to take on different opportunities, whether with established companies, or innovative start-ups, or as a freelancer, or in some other customized role you choose to create.

Any additional insight you would like to discuss?

The finest journalists hold on to some timeless principles that do not go out of style. They tell compelling stories that ought to be told. They practice the art of personal credibility.

Please share your comments with this industry leader.

(c) 2012 by Dr. Daryl D. Green

Caesar Andrews is a visiting professor in the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno. He holds the Paul A. Leonard Distinguished Visiting Chair for Ethics and Writing in Journalism at UNR. 

Previous visiting professorships were completed at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., Arizona State University, Phoenix, and at  his alma mater, Grambling State University, Grambling, La. 

Andrews worked as a senior editor for the Gannett Co. for nearly 30 years, most recently at the Detroit Free Press and previously at newsrooms in Washington, D.C., New York, Pennsylvania and Florida.  He is a former president of the Associated Press Managing Editors and was an officer in the American Society of Newspaper Editors. 

He serves on the boards of directors for the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and for the Student Press Law Center.

Demising the American Living Wage

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Are you worried about your children and grandchildren’s future in terms of a better life?  You should be!  Market forces will make it harder for individuals to make an honest wage.  American companies, once loyal to their employees, have abandoned the social contract with their employees.  

Leaving today’s workers vulnerable to the consequences of globalization.  Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, notes ‘The best companies outsource to win, not to shrink. They outsource to innovate faster and more cheaply in order to grow larger, gain market share, and hire more and different specialists—not to save money by firing more people.”  

Sadly, most companies do not have this long-term perspective about globalization.  In hindsight, globalization may produce a more equitable average wage across the world, while reducing the earning power of developed countries and increasing the living wages for emerging countries.  These realities on living wages are a critical concern for most Americans.  

Since the recession in 2008, U.S. businesses have posted historical profits even while unemployment has risen.  Consequently, the market place is saturated with seasoned individuals who are willing to take massive pay cuts in order to obtain a secure job.  Employers understand that it is a buyer’s market where employers can be picky. This reality has bottlenecked millions of young college grads who must fight for entry level jobs with career veterans.  

According to a Manpower Group analysis, 52% of U.S. employers state they have a difficult time filing positions because of talent shortage.   Peter Cappelli, author of Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs, outlines the hypocrisy of most employers:  “With an abundance of workers to choose from, employers are demanding more of job candidates than ever before.…To get a job, you have to have that job already. It’s a Catch-22 situation for workers—and it hurting companies and the economy.”  Employers are setting unrealistic hiring expectations and offering low wages.  

People, from every country, seek to earn a living to sustain themselves, by taking care of their basic needs.  According to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Report, more than1 billion people on the globe live on less than $1 a day.  

Ironically, as most Americans have watched their wages decrease, most other workers across the globe sees a significant increase.  The world’s middle income class earns between $700 to $7,500 per family member. Consequently, individuals making more than $7,500 are considered part of the global affluent class.   

Some experts argue that globalization has eroded America’s standard of living, especially during the resurgence of manufacturing.  Economist Gordon Hanson notes, “The U.S. has held manufacturing wages in check while there has been strong wage growth in China and moderate wage growth in Mexico.  

With high unemployment and fierce global competition, manufacturing companies has used this fact to their advantage.  This reality has forced two-tier contracts with unions to pay new hires less than existing workers and reduce new hires’ benefits.  In 2010 and 2011, new hires (manufacturing of durable goods) who had three years or more of experience, were paid an average of .3% less than workers in 2007 and 2008. 

Today’s American workers are finding it difficult to make ends meet. According to the Pew Charity study, economic mobility will be more difficult for individuals, especially depending on where they live.  Economic mobility relates to the ability of a person to move up or down the economy ladder.  

The Pew study concluded that people living in Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas would be less likely to improve their economic standing.  However, states such as Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania would have a better chance of economic mobility due to higher wages in manufacturing and public jobs.  

While the poorest American class wouldn’t consider itself part of an affluent class, this relative inequality of incomes is a bitter pill from citizens of poorer countries.  According to an UN study, the poorest countries across the globe consume 14% of the planet’s resources while 20% of the richest countries with the industrialized nations (including the United States) consume 86% of resources.  

Due to globalization, economic mobility will produce a variety of winners and losers.  Consequently, social mobility becomes more difficult as Americans are forced into a caste system of unemployed or underemployed workers. 

What will happen to economic mobility in America? Will the inequality of wages for global workers create new problems for businesses and society at large?                                                                                              

 © 2012 by Daryl D. Green                                    

 

 

Global Production Collision

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Racing through the parking lot at work, I carry out my ritual of counting import versus domestic cars.  Like the Olympics, I hope that the home team would win.  During my ritual, domestic cars often lose to their foreign competitors in the number of cars. However, it would be difficult to identify what an American product is because of the transformation of the world due to globalization.

In June, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank into the red for the year after a dismal U.S. job report. Stocks globally have been on a downward spiral since the beginning of May due to worries about Europe’s debt troubles and China’s economic engine which has begun to stall.  Many people hope that companies like General Motors can jumpstart the American economy.  

Like Detroit, Knoxville would embrace the return of the manufacturing industry.  According to a recent Brookings Institute report, “Locating American Manufacturing: Trends in the Geography of Production,” manufacturing jobs in the Knoxville Metropolitan area increased 9.9% from 2010 to 2011. 

In fact, this manufacturing gain was more than 3 times the national average, ranking Knoxville 6th in the nation.  However, many globalization critics argue that weak international trade agreements destroy manufacturing jobs in developed countries like the United States.  The net results are American businesses move operations to countries with cheaper labor.  

Charles Hills, author of International Business, argues, “In the past few years, the same fears have been applied to services, which have increasingly been outsourced to nations with lower labor costs.” Most businesses attempt to stimulate growth through a variety of efforts, including technology investments, acquisitions, and major market campaigns. Companies hope that customers will purchase their products and services due to the value component. 

Robert Jacobs, Richard Chase, and Nicholas Aquilano, authors of Operations & Supply Management remark, “Companies today have found how essential great operations and supply management are to the success of the firm.” 

However, globalization has further linked the financial welfare of each country’s constituents.  In May of 2012, HP announced it would slash more than 27,000 jobs, which is 8% of its worldwide workforce by 2014 in hopes of saving billions of dollars against fierce competition.  

It is the largest restructuring campaign in HP’s 73 year old history. At the time, former HP CEO Meg Whitman stated restructuring was “absolutely critical for the long-term success of the company.”  The downsizing of HP’s workforce was the third largest in tech history.  However, other high tech companies have also been impacted.  IBM downsized 60,000 jobs and AT&T downsized 40,000 employees in the mid-90s. 

At the same time of dealing with global production, each country seeks to increase exports of goods while spearheading job creation in their own markets.

With globalization upon us, can domestic products be considered American when some components are made abroad? Please share your opinion on this topic. 

© 2012 by Daryl D. Green