Media and Digital Management

Being a successful manager or entrepreneur in the media and digital sector requires creativity, innovation, and performance. It also requires an understanding of the principles and tools of management. Aimed at the college market, this book is a short, foundational volume on media management. It summarizes the major dimensions of a business school curriculum and applies them to the entire media, media-tech, and digital sector. Its chapters cover—in a jargonless, non-technical way—the major functions of management. First, creating a media product: the financing of projects, and the management of technology, HR, production operations, intellectual assets, and government relations. Second, harvesting the product created: market research, marketing, pricing, and distribution. And third, the control loop: media accounting and strategy planning.

In the process, this book becomes an indispensable resource for those aiming for a career in the media and digital field, both in startups and established organizations. This book is designed to help those aiming to join the media and digital sector to become creative managers and managerial creatives. It aims to make them more knowledgeable, less blinded by hype, more effective, and more responsible.

  “Existing approaches to understanding the media business focus on specific industries such as television, or on specific functions such as marketing. The economic, substantive and geographic convergence that define the current information environment require a new and more integrated approach to its study and practice. Managing Media and Digital Organizations (intended for graduate students and professionals) and its companion, Media and Digital Management (aimed at undergraduates), provide just such an approach. Applying the core components of a business curriculum to the 21st century media and information sector, these texts provide excellent and accessible foundations for understanding what is – and what is not – unique about managing media and digital organizations.” (Michael X. Delli Carpini, Professor and fmr. Dean, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania)

“In a word, "comprehensive!" Data and insights on every page.” (Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist,Google, and a “Father of the Internet”)

“Media businesses are hugely different from enterprises: they depend more on magic than on machines, more on intellectual property than tangible goods, more on psychology than physics. But the alchemy that permits storytelling to turn a profit has long gone without the analysis that it deserves. Until now. Eli Noam, a prolific writer and policy maven on information, communication and technology issues, has produced a management guide that is required reading for media business managers, investors, and students. Those who want to rule in the multiple media kingdoms and survive its never-ending games of thrones need Noam’s book.” (Reed Hundt, author of “A Crisis Wasted: Obama’s Defining Decisions,” and former Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC))

“Management, while a humanist art informed by values-based leadership, has a required analytical infrastructure of strategy, return on capital metrics, organizational skill sets and the understanding and application of advanced and advancing technology. Why should media companies stand outside the practice and power of fundamental business principles and occupy a separate societal domain without recourse to solid college and professional textbook education? The answer is contained in the extensive two new books by Professor Eli Noam, whose remarkable body of work has covered the fast paced development of media enterprises and start-ups from every perspective during the same period that parallels my own media history. He is a respected authority and an amazing scholar.” (Gerald Levin, former CEO, Time Warner)

“Eli Noam is a pioneer and global thought leader on the economics and management of the information economy.  Noam’s experience is vast, as a scholar, analyst, advisor, author, and policymaker in the US and globally.  Noam has now produced a remarkable guidebook for all those who are involved in running or analysing the media organizations that are increasingly at the centre of the world economy.  Noam’s book is clearly written, thought-provoking and remarkably comprehensive.  Each chapter is filled with fascinating data that befits an industry that is the most dynamic in the world economy, and that is creating novel forms of business organization and strategy.  Noam’s wide-ranging book covers the management of technology, people, projects, money, policy, and intellectual assets. This book provides the definitive text on managing media and digital organizations for students, managers, policymakers and analysts of the new digital economy.” (Jeffrey D. Sachs, University Professor at Columbia University, Director of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and Commissioner, UN Broadband Commission)

“Media management is an emerging field, and Eli Noam has been a leading academic in it.  His knowledge – and his book – spans several disciplines, multiple media, and all continents. Media industries in Europe, too, are well-covered. This well-structured book provides a comprehensive overview of the core curriculum of business schools, such as marketing, finance, and HRM, and applies it to the media industry. It establishes a coherent intellectual framework for the special fundamental factors that make the media and digital sector different from other parts of the economy, and analyzes the managerial consequences. This book is a very relevant contribution to students, practitioners, and researchers. It harnesses a lifetime of business management knowledge and illustrates with accurate examples how it can be applied to the increasingly central industries in our lives: media and information.” (Alfonso Sanchez-Tabernero, President, University of Navarra, Spain, and former President of the European Media Management Association)

“Noam captures the next set of challenges facing managers leading media and digital organizations. This works provides great context, new tools and an enlightened framework to bring our management techniques in line with an ever changing industry paradigm. Another great contribution from one of best policy practitioners of our time.” (Ivan Seidenberg, former CEO, Verizon Communications)

“The book by Eli M. Noam is unique in many senses. It is a bridge between theory and practice, between academic world and professional market. It creates a common theoretical framework for everyone interested in how media management has been developing. What is more, this timely, well-structured and interesting volume is certainly going to be in demand across the world. This is due to the fact that the trends Eli M. Noam is discussing are similar to media markets in many countries around the world today.” (Elena Vartanova, Dean, Faculty of Journalism, Moscow State University)

“Eli Noam’s text provides an excellent understanding and of the qualitative and quantitative issues underlying the management of theglobal video and film entertainment industry, from creation through distribution. It provides both a high level overview and a comprehensive analysis of how decisions are made and provides the tools for students to understand how the business works.” (Robert Zitter, former Chief Technology Officer, HBO)

Eli M. Noam is Professor of Finance and Economics, the Garrett Chair of Public Policy & Business Responsibility, Columbia University Business School, and the Director of the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information. He has served as Public Service Commissioner for New York State, and on the White House IT advisory board. His thirty-one books include: Who Owns the World’s Media; Broadband Networks, Smart Grids and Climate Change; Media Ownership and Concentration in America; Interconnecting the Network of Networks; Television in Europe; and Peer to Peer Video. He received his BA, MA, PhD (Economics) and JD degrees from Harvard University, and honorary doctorates from Munich and Aix-Marseille universities.