At dinner last night with VNR CEO Helmut Graf, Don and I learned that VNR is on path to generate €110 million this year and is expected to grow that number to €120 next year. I believe their growth is due in large part to Helmut Graf’s management style, which we define as true Strategic Management.
Helmut is a CEO who clearly leads and influences, but does not enforce or command. Most importantly, he knows when to get out of the way and allow his group publishers, or “profit center leaders” to do their jobs.
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VNR’s organization is set up ideally to embrace the Mequoda System. VNR is organized by audience group, such as computing, finance, health, etc., as opposed to being organized by departments, such as editorial, marketing, accounting and IT.
Strategic Management is very supportive of organizational change, rapid new product development and marketing innovation as it keeps decision making much closer to the customer. Thus as customer needs change (as they do when a new medium is introduced into the publishing environment), the organization can change rapidly to keep pace and sometimes even lead the way to new methods of staying informed.
Having qualified people in charge of profit centers, where they are responsible for overall editorial satisfaction and improving bottom line performance, we think, is the only way to succeed in driving publishing profits in the 21st century.
