Exploring the link between culture and strategy in media organisations: The cases of the BBC and CNN

Abstract

This study employs participant observation methodology to examine the U.S. broadcast industry's cognitions of its external environment. Previous research has documented a tendency among industry participants to operate under outdated mental models of their environment. This tendency ‐ labeled ‘cognitive inertia’ ‐ provides the analytical framework for this study. The results provide indications that broadcasters operate under what appear to be outdated mental models of their external environment, with broadcasters appearing to pay inadequate attention to competing program sources and failing to account for the changing demographic composition of the television audience. However, these conclusions are tempered by the broadcast industry's dual‐product marketplace characteristics, wherein cognitions that would appear to reflect inadequate assessment of the content market may in fact reasonably reflect the contemporary realities of the audience market.     

The Responsible Anarchist: Postmodernism and social change

In recent years, the adoption of postmodern theoretical perspectives within educational research has prompted strong critical reaction. For some critics (particularly Marxist researchers), the greatest fault of postmodernism is that it lacks an agenda for social change. This paper takes issue with this argument, and with four associated arguments: (1) that postmodernism disempowers those to whom it claims to give voice; (2) that it appeals only to intellectuals and has no practical value; (3) that it denies the possibility of the construction of a new social order; and (4) that it colludes with the status quo in its refusal to act. Addressing each of these points in turn, the author suggests that, contrary to the view of these critics, postmodernism offers a powerful force for social change, through the acceptance of uncertainty, the acknowledgement of diversity and the refusal to see concepts such as 'justice' or 'society' as fixed, or as governed by unassailable 'truths'.     

Speech and language therapy and the Knowles Edge Standards Fund Project: an evaluation of the service provided to a cluster of primary schools

In 2000, 25 speech and language therapy projects were established in schools in England, funded through the Standards Fund. An evaluation commissioned by the Government reported positive results and gave an overview of all the projects at a point approximately six months after their inception. Although there were common themes, it was quite clear that the projects differed widely in their structure and interpretation of the original brief.
In this article, Sue Roulstone, Professor of Speech and Language Therapy at the University of the West of England, and Rosalind Owen and Lucy French, both specialist speech and language therapists working for the United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust, provide an in-depth report of one of the projects and its evaluation after 18 months.
The project, based on a systems analysis approach, targeted its interventions at the individual child, the parents, the teachers and therapists, the classrooms and schools, and more strategic levels in the health and education services. The article gives details of the 'interventions' for each component. An independent evaluation gathered qualitative and quantitative data that suggest that the new service had a positive impact on all aspects of the system. Children made gains in their speech and language; parents were informed and involved; therapists and teachers were more satisfied about their knowledge base; and systems changed within the schools to reflect and support the collaboration. The outcomes of the project led to a rolling out of the model to two more cluster groups of schools. A number of organisational structures were identified which support the ongoing collaboration. Details given in this article will enable others to identify whether or not this model might suit their local circumstances and be replicable in their context.     

Hidden in the Middle: Culture,Value and Reward in Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics – the so-called shotgun marriage between biology and computer science – is an interdiscipline. Despite interdisciplinarity being seen as a virtue, for having the capacity to solve complex problems and foster innovation, it has the potential to place projects and people in anomalous categories. For example, valorised ‘outputs’ in academia are often defined and rewarded by discipline. Bioinformatics, as an interdisciplinary bricolage, incorporates experts from various disciplinary cultures with their own distinct ways of working. Perceived problems of interdisciplinarity include difficulties of making explicit knowledge that is practical, theoretical, or cognitive. But successful interdisciplinary research also depends on an understanding of disciplinary cultures and value systems, often only tacitly understood by members of the communities in question. In bioinformatics, the ‘parent’ disciplines have different value systems; for example, what is considered worthwhile research by computer scientists can be thought of as trivial by biologists, and vice versa. This paper concentrates on the problems of reward and recognition described by scientists working in academic bioinformatics in the United Kingdom. We highlight problems that are a consequence of its cross-cultural make-up, recognising that the mismatches in knowledge in this borderland take place not just at the level of the practical, theoretical, or epistemological, but also at the cultural level too. The trend in big, interdisciplinary science is towards multiple authors on a single paper; in bioinformatics this has created hybrid or fractional scientists who find they are being positioned not just in-between established disciplines but also in-between as middle authors or, worse still, left off papers altogether.     

Improving Groupworking Skills in Undergraduates Through Employer Involvement

Frequently undergraduate project work involves students working in groups. Such groupworking is often problematic owing to poor groupworking skills on the part of the students involved, yet ‘teamwork’ is one of those generic skills highly prized by employers. This study describes a pilot project to involve employers in the development of groupworking skills in undergraduate students, with the aims of increasing student awareness of group dynamics and processes and of promoting more effective groupworking. Students worked in small groups over a period of six to eight weeks on a problem associated with the module being studied. Employers observed students working in their groups and provided feedback to the students on their groupworking skills. The reactions (extremely positive) of students, staff and employers are presented. The procedures and methods used in the pilot are described and evaluated.