Scribd
Upload
13 views

Activity 2 & 3 - Final Term

Uploaded by

Paul Rexie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
13 views

Activity 2 & 3 - Final Term

Uploaded by

Paul Rexie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

FINAL ACTIVITY

ACTIVITY NO. 1 Case Analysis


Founded in 1898, The manila Times was the oldest in the Philippines.
However, being old did not seem to be a sellable proposition per se. when The
Manila Times was bought by the Ang Family, it was in fact already struggling to
survive. Ten years on, The Manila Times was still alive and circulating, but the
family’s investment in the company had not been recovered yet, and the company
was still struggling for survival.
The Manila times had 120 employees. It was considered to be small
compared to other players, such as the The Philippine Daily Inquirer that has more
than 300 people of The Manila Bulletin that had about a thousand. Most of the
company’s employees multitasked. It was a very flat organization.
Initially, the company published two daily newspapers for four magazines.
Due to issues of survival, resources had to be consolidated behind the brand that
had the biggest chance of survival. It was concluded that The Manila Times (the
newspaper) was the most promising brand. Thus, its publication was retained and
the company halted the release of all other publications, instead integrating these
to some degree into the newspaper as well. For instance, the health section of The
Manila Times came about after the company discontinued a health magazine. There
were also trial and errors along the way, including an attempt to publish regional
editions of The Times. The venture proved to be too costly.
After the acquisition, the biggest challenge that the owners faced when they
acquired The Manila Times was creating a new organization while also focusing on
its survival. It was an unpleasant process because hard decisions had to be made.
Because the acquisition was technically a merger of Kabayan Publishing Corporation
and The Manila Times, redundancies in existing role arose. From a total of 400
employees, the combined company had to trim down to 200 employees. Instead of
going by seniority, each person’s capabilities were evaluated. The best people were
selected and the CEO was assigned to face the employees to tell them that they
were to be fired.
The print industry was very competitive:

Top Three English Newspapers that were Being Circulated in the


Entire Country Daily (2008)
The Manila Bulletin Circulation of around 320,000
The Philippine Star Circulation of around 222,900
The Philippine Daily Inquirer Circulation of around 148,800

The Manila Bulletin had the largest circulation, followed by The Philippine Star
and The Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Manila Times came in at number four.
Generally, The Philippine Daily Inquirer topped the rankings, followed by The Manila
Bulletin, The Philippine Star, and The Manila Times. However, the rankings actually
depended on the day of the week. On Sundays, The Manila Bulletin led the race
while on weekdays it was a toss-up between The Inquirer and the Philippine Star.
The Manila Times came far behind at number three.
The Inquirer and the others have all been experimenting with different media
platforms in the face of the declining newspaper industry. For instance, the Inquirer
has developed an Android app for newspapers. The Manila Times did not have the
same financial capacity to be a first mover, but they still tried to see what others
were doing so that they could learn from the trends.
In terms of content, The Inquirer had sensational news, The Philippine Star
had news on entertainment and lifestyle, and the Manila Bulletin has the classified
ads. The Manila Times however, has had the problem of identifying what their
unique selling proposition is and how they would be able to properly communicate
this to their readers.

Questions:
1. why do you think newspaper industry has been on a decline? In general, what
do you think can newspaper firms do about this?
2. In your opinion, what strategy would best fit The Manila Times based on its
circumstances? Explain.
3. The Manila Times had already contracted its print titles and cut cots. What
other strategies can you recommend to the company in order for it to survive
the decline stage of the industry?
4. If The Manila Times were to be differentiated, what suggestions would you
have for its differentiation strategy?

Activity No. 2
Search online for the biggest challenges that a firm may face when going
global. Compile a list of these challenges and based on your findings, compose
recommendations on how an aspiring Filipino firm can seek to become a
multinational enterprise.

You might also like