個案總覽

In May 2013 Nicolas Beytout launched L'Opinion, a news organization that published a daily newspaper, with a robust digital presence. L'Opinion was opinion-focused, with Libéral economic thought pieces and analysis at the heart of its content. The media industry had changed drastically in the decade preceding, with brutal competition among the traditional media and new entrants like the platforms Google and Facebook. The political environment was also a moving target, with anti-European nationalism on the rise. At the end of 2018, L'Opinion was still struggling to make a profit leading Beytout to consider how to use the news market's continual changes-in consumer behavior, in advertising platform consolidation, in content competition, and in technology-to the company's advantage. Two questions loomed large in his mind: How can L'Opinion best support Libéral policies? What strategic direction will lead to a profitable future for the organization? This case asks students to consider how a media organization integrates its political aims with business imperatives.

In May 2013 Nicolas Beytout launched L'Opinion, a news organization that published a daily newspaper, with a robust digital presence. L'Opinion was opinion-focused, with Libéral economic thought pieces and analysis at the heart of its content. The media industry had changed drastically in the decade preceding, with brutal competition among the traditional media and new entrants like the platforms Google and Facebook. The political environment was also a moving target, with anti-European nationalism on the rise. At the end of 2018, L'Opinion was still struggling to make a profit leading Beytout to consider how to use the news market's continual changes-in consumer behavior, in advertising platform consolidation, in content competition, and in technology-to the company's advantage. Two questions loomed large in his mind: How can L'Opinion best support Libéral policies? What strategic direction will lead to a profitable future for the organization? This case asks students to consider how a media organization integrates its political aims with business imperatives.

At the time of its launch, Contently was a digital marketplace, where small businesses, agencies, and corporations could search for writers. But recent financial results showed that Contently earned substantially more profit from its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business than from its writers' commissions.

In July 2007, Scripps Networks acquired Recipezaar, a user-generated recipe and cooking Website with a captive community of 2.3 million visitors. By September, Deanna Brown, president of Scripps Networks Digital, grappled with how to best integrate the recent acquisition into Scripps Networks Digital and its affiliated Website, FoodNetwork.com. Should monetization efforts trump the interests and aesthetic tastes of Recipezaar's members? Would restructuring the Recipezaar team dampen the enthusiasm of its five crucial employees and adversely affect the community they had built? What effect would a rebranding have on the community at large?