Term Report: GEO TVPrinciples of ManagementMrs. Shagufta Rafif assisted by Mrs. Myra

Table of Content

1. Introduction Formation of GEO Company Logo Vision Statement Mission Statement Organizational Objectives Management at GEO2. Planning Short-term Plans Long-term Plans Forecasting Making Decisions Programmed & Non-Programmed Decisions Managing the Planning Process Strategic Planning SWOT Analysis3. Organizing The Organizing Function at GEO Structure Organizational Chart Division of Labor Span of Management Scalar Relationship Authority and Responsibility Delegation4. Influencing Influencing Function Leading Motivating Communication5. Controlling Formation of Policies Market Control Process Quality Control Process General Surveys6. Conclusion7. Suggestions

Introduction

GEO Television is a Pakistani television network founded by Mir Shakil ur Rehman in May 2002. GEO TV belongs to Independent Media Corporation, owner of the Jang Group of Newspapers. The channel started its test transmission on 14 August 2002, whereas regular transmission began from 1 October 2002. GEO is an Urdu language word which translates to live on in English.

The channel is lauded in the West and many Western media outlets have asked GEO TV for exclusive footage sharing. Since its launch, GEO TV has put freedom of speech and freedom of expression in Pakistan to unprecedented levels in Pakistani history. This has also put GEO TV in numerous conflicts with the Pakistani government. Most other Pakistani media outlets view GEO TV as a model to follow, and as a result, Pakistan's media is now considered to be the most free in the Muslim world.

Formation of GEO Network:

In 1966 a letter was sent to the President of Pakistan asking him to permit a private sector television to combat the propaganda war. Sep 1990 the first feasibility/research paper on TV potential in Pakistan was completed for GEO followed by national and International study tour. In Dec 1991 GEO made its first pilot for first new show for GEO, and then named "Newsreel". In Dec 1995 GEO Transponder leased/reserved for it on Asia Sat 1 satellite. Aug 1996: Due to political confrontation GEO launch postponed. 1998 was GEOs first advertisement in all major newspapers of Pakistan looking for television talent and announcing GEO for the first time. July 2001 GEO launched the largest HR recruitment campaign. Later in Nov 2001 BBC Technologies hired technical consultants for GEO. 15-Nov 2001 Core team of the channel is established to chalk out policies, strategy and implementation plans. On 2-Dec 2001 String of nationwide interviews, consisting 25 cities, begin as recruitment campaign attracts attention of 40,000 applicants. 20-Dec 2001 Contracts with builders, key vendors, technology partners, transponder and Dubai Media City are finalized. 5-Jan 2002 Construction of state-of-the-art HQ studios and offices begins. 10-Jan 2002 Construction begins at Dubai Media City for offices and transmission studios. 1-Feb 2002 A senior team of int'l consultants lands in Pakistan to complete recce for training. 1-Mar 2002 The initial batch of 200 candidates for training are recruited. 1-Mar 2002 Television equipment worth millions begin to arrive in Pakistan for the training process. 1-Apr 2002 Training by 16 foreign producers, reporters, writers and camera operators starts! 1-Jun 2002 First batch of trainees graduate are sent to different areas of Pakistan equipped with necessary recording equipment. 14-Jun 2002 Bomb blast at US consulate takes place, about a kilometer from training camp. The under training news team is put to the test with 4 hours of non-stop test transmission. Exclusive footage makes headlines across the world. BBC shows GEO footage. BBC producer visits training camp and commends GEO team for excellent coverage. 30-Jul 2002 A team of senior journalists takes over Dubai office to prepare for test transmission. 5-Aug 2002 First signals from satellite are tested. 14-Aug 2002 GEO's test transmission starts at 12:00 noon PST with 24-hour news content; frequency kept secret. 15-Aug 2002 Cable Operators start tuning into secret frequency and begin airing GEO's test transmission without channel's consent. 5-Sep 2002 GEO team begins nationwide 5-day tour marketing the channel to cable operators, introducing them to the channel and getting their feedback. 5-Sep 2002 Signs of brand power begin to emerge as GEO's logo is copied and imitated by local brands i.e. GEO Biryani, GEO Water and GEO Washing Powder. 11-Sep 2002 First advertisement announcing GEO frequency. 30-Sep 2002 Construction of state-of-the-art, HQ and offices completed. Team moves in from training camp. 11-Jan 2003 Launching ceremony of infotainment and entertainment programs, with duration of 2 hours per day, is held at Mohatta Palace in Karachi. 11-Mar 2003 London and New York Bureaus made operational. 20-Mar 2003 GEO and CNN sign partnership contract for collaboration. 7-Apr 2003 GEO begins transmission in UAE through E-Vision. 14-Aug 2003 GEO completes its 12 months of non-stop on air transmission.

Company LOGO:

All companies must have a pictogram, or single visual statement that represents the entire idea behind that symbol. GEOs Logotype enjoys the same reputation with our audience, stakeholders and employees.The GEO logo represents many aspects of its business in true colors. The Orange represents DAY and Blue represents NIGHT. The Urdu alphabet Jeem cutting through from the TV Screen in a sharp angle connote the GLOBE and the overall formation of the composite represents EYE ON WORLD AFFAIRS 24 HOURS A DAY.

Vision Statement:GEO will be the voice of freedom from the Asian subcontinent. It will highlight the issues of concern and the cultural richness of its people through information, discussion and entertainment. GEO will propagate transparency of responsibility that will ensure its position as the most credible and meaningful source of information, through quality programming based on issues. GEO will provide entertainment audiences can relate to, thereby creating viewer loyalty and response. GEO will forge an alliance amongst its three stakeholders - viewers, advertisers and shareholders to maximize viewer ownership. GEO will invest in human resources as it recognizes it to be the foundation upon which the GEO future will be built. It is this very foundation that will allow GEO to attain and sustain a leadership position, thus fulfilling the promise associated with its creation.

GEO today is one of the popular most networks of Pakistan which serves its viewers with both news and entertainment in the best possible manner satisfying their demands and keeping in consideration their likes and dislikes.

GEO Television is the fastest growing network of Pakistan which was initiated in 2002 and has been established on both national and international grounds by now; this tells us how growth and expansion greatly contribute to its organizational objectives.

Mission Statement:Like every other organization, GEO T.V Network also has a mission statement which highlights its purpose. Its mission statement states that: GEO informs and entertains while celebrating cultures and prompting dialogue in the spirit of "live and let live".

Organizational Objectives:The Organizational objectives of any organization are the main aims and goals it focuses on and intends to achieve. These are the objectives on which the entire management system is based.

The organizational objectives of GEO are as following:

To maintain its position as a market leader:GEO TV network is the most popular network of Pakistan and the greater the popularity the more the competitors and controversies arise, thus, it is really important for GEO to work hard in order to maintain its position in the market as the no.1 television network of Pakistan.

To enhance Profitability:Profitability is one of the major goals of all the successful organizations. GEO has also laid a great emphasis on this objective and tries its best to maximize profit as much as possible.

Growth and Expansion:GEO Television Network was initiated in 2002 and consisted of just one channel at that time which at the same time showed soaps, drama, talk shows and news broadcasts.

With the passage of time GEO has managed to expand its network so much so that is now consists of four channels each serving the viewers in a different manner. This shows how Growth and expansion has been a major objective for this organization since day 1 and how efficiently its management is involved in the process of achieving this goal

To increase viewership (both locally and internationally):Viewership is the most important factor for GEO TV network which affects its image in the market the most. It is very important for GEO to keep a track of its viewership and continually come up with different ideas in order to increase and enhance viewership as best as they can.

The PPPP phenomenon (Product Price Promotion Placement):The performance of the product is evaluated through viewership among target viewers in media industry of Pakistan as well as the world. GEO has Fiction (drama) and nonfiction (formats) programming in GEO entertainment. It has to select the best dramas, cater to its target audience. The product mix belongs to variety of genre and has a variety of shows for its viewers including morning shows/ talk shows/serials/soaps etc. The best product is then selected and forwarded to the channel committee which previews softwares produced by outsource producers as well as develops in house concepts for selection. The product is then promoted through news, advertisements, websites, newspapers, billboards etc and marketed keeping in mind the correct placement for the particular product.

Management at GEO:GEO Television Network started out with its flagship channel GEO TV, but has since launched several other channels which include the following.

GEO Entertainment - a Pakistan based entertainment channel showing Dramas, musical programs, feature movies, primarily in Urdu Language.

GEO News - a Pakistan based Urdu news channel, rated as one the most popular news channels in Pakistan.

GEO Super- sports channel, launched by GEO Network in September 2006. Programming content includes variety of sports from around the world, focusing mainly on cricket, with a secondary focus on boxing, football, tennis and field hockey.AAG TV - launched in September 2006 by GEO Network, it focuses on programs for youth in Pakistan.

Each channel is headed by a BUH (Business Unit Head) who in turn reports to the CEO of the organization.

Planning

Planning is the process of determining how the management system will achieve its objectives. It involves analyzing, evaluating and selecting among the opportunities which are foreseen.

Planning is the first and the foremost function of management at GEO where by the management team comes up with schemes and ideas in order to achieve all of the organizational objectives successfully.

Short term plans: Special events such as mothers day, Eid, Hajj, and Ramadan etc. require short term tactical plans to attain high viewership and revenue targets for specific periods during these kind of events. These short term plans are handled by the respected channel heads also known as the Business Unit heads. GEO has four channels and each channel is headed and supervised by its respective BUH who then reports to the CEO.

The CEO usually looks at the broader picture of the organization and is generally considered for profit and revenue projections.

Long term plans: Long term plans need great level of scheduling and forecasting in order to predict where the company will be in the years to come. To continue to provide quality content/programs in order to get consistently high viewership and ratings. Long term high viewership is a result of continuous research and development to assess the requirement of viewers belonging to various SECS. Consequently leading to greater consumer penetration and revenue for the channel.

Forecasting: Forecasting is a process of predicting future environmental happenings that will influence the operation of the organization. This planning tool is greatly used in the planning function by the management team at GEO as it helps them evaluate and estimate the sales, profit and revenue in days ahead. It helps them find out where the organization stands in the market and where it needs to be in the next 5 to 10 years. GEO T.V network being a very popular network is growing really rapidly and thus it has very uncertain future. The management team needs to carry out strong forecasting in order to minimize the risks and uncertainties and lead the organization towards a safer and more successful path.

Making Decisions: Management at GEO involves Group decision making. The Business Unit head discusses every issue with the board of directors and a general opinion is taken from other organizational members before the BUH arrives with the actual decision.

The Strategy team keeps an eye on viewership trends and schedule contents accordingly with the consent of marketing.

Programmed and non-programmed decisions:An example of their programmed decisions is the software placement in quarter wise with proper slot management.

An example of their non-programmed decisions is the launch event of a formal show.

GEOs decision making power is very strong as they strictly follow the decision making process and that is how they are able to find solutions to their problems immediately.

Managing the Planning Process: This simply done by keeping in mind the needs wants and demands of the audiences and procures programs through two sources:

Outsources: software developed by private parties, GEO builds relationship with them to ensure procuring programs with first right of refusal by paying them reasonably good price than others;

They have inducted the best human resource producers and directors and have developed in-house productions.

Strategic planning:Strategy planning is the long range planning that focuses on the organization as a whole. In doing so managers consider the organization as a total unit and ask themselves what must be done in the long term to attain organizational goals.GEO has a network, which handles all the business units in each department. The goals set by the management are evaluated to check how close they are in achieving their objectives and how much they have achieved. If GEO fails to achieve its required goals they take feedback and change their operational plans accordingly. The Top management takes care of this situation as they are responsible for such type of decisions.

SWOT Analysis

Organizing

Organizing:It holds immense importance in any organization and likewise it is for GEO. Organizing is the process of activating the plan made in the Planning Function with the efficient use of the 4Ms of management money, material, machine and man. In this function GEO seeks to tailor their managerial skills to suit the situation. GEO

The Organizational Function a GEO:Firstly GEO makes all the plans and objectives. From those plans and objectives GEO makes objectives. Those objectives are short-term and as well as long-term objectives. In short-term objectives it looks forward for increasing their viewership by specific programs, talk shows, dramas, etc. in the long-term objective they strive to become the number one viewed channel in Pakistan and also to attract huge number of audiences abroad Pakistan where ever GEO is shown.

Secondly GEO establishes major tasks to be handled in the short-term as well as the long term objectives. E.g. in the short term objective when they want to increase the viewership by a specific program a talk show then they decide to call on a big celebrity on their TV Network to attract viewers.

Thirdly GEO divides its major tasks into sub task. Like in the second step when GEO decided to call on a big celebrity now they will sort out how to by dividing it amongst smaller tasks. The celebrity will be contacted by one person. His/her charges will be handled by another department. His/her arrival will be dealt with another department. The make-up and the entire further thing will be handles by other different department, so here they divided a major task of calling a celebrity into many sub-tasks in order to carry it out effectively and efficiently.

Fourthly GEO decides on their division of monetary resources. They set out a budget for this and then they divide it amongst each sub-task. Other than that they assign departments and set employees with their respected duties.

Last GEO carries out an evaluation of the complete process. It asks different people from within GEO and gathers their opinions. It gathers results for the organizing strategy. Other than that the stats are also reviewed by the top level management and evaluated.

GEO emphasizes on structure, division of labor, span of management and also the scalar relationship but it they are still working on their organizational chart.

Structure:GEO network has a perfect organizational hierarchy. The business unit head is the utmost authority and also takes care of its major responsibilities and hands other necessary responsibilities to workers working under him. GEO is also a fully departmentalized organization.

E.g. if there is a breaking news it travels to the news room through any means possible of communication phone, message etc. GEO is a very large and distributed organization but still they face no problems in passing of information or of being in contact and this is due to the very simple organizational stream.

Formal and informal communication both are encouraged in GEO. If the marketing department presents an idea of a new advertisement of GEO to its business unit head and if it gets an approval then the business unit head will directly contact the finance department and ask them to arrange the financial resources required for the advert.

Departmentalization is also present in GEO but only in two major departments; Functional and Geographic due to the nature of the business.

The functional department consists of: GEO News, Infotainment, Entertainment, product development, childrens division, human resources, GEO operations, technical, finance, marketing, sales, creative, music programming, research department, GEO talent, events, sports programming, game shows, fashion design department, Information Technology and Transmission Department.

Whereas the Geographic department includes the offices locations in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Sialkot, Gujranwala and almost in all districts, Dubai, UK and USA.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHART:

The Organizational Chart is very huge and is 3 meters long and of 64 Mega Bytes hence it could not be attached in this but we have made a smaller one to give you an idea of its management:

Division of Labor:The division of labor in GEO is done according to the expertise of an individual and placing that employee in the best suited place. Then work is assigned o him/her according to their departments. GEOs business head divides the work and chooses the departments best suited for the task. E.g. all the promotional tasks are given to the Marketing Department whereas technical related tasks to the Technical department and so on.

Span of Management: The span of management is moderate in GEO. The higher managers and heads have to deal with lesser people whereas the lower managers have to deal with a higher number of people. The sole authority remains in the hands of the CEO for major issues but the rest of the issues are dealt down with the business heads. It is narrow at the top and very wide at the bottom.

Scalar Relationship: Scalar relation is one thing which is can easily be spotted in GEO. The higher managers have bigger authorities whereas the lower managers have lesser authorities. Other than that the employees also follow the gang plank in some cases in order to carry out activities more quickly.

Authority and Responsibility: The authority and responsibility inside GEO starts with the top level managers the CEO, COO, President, and MD GEO News & MD GEO Entertainment. They take all the big decisions. Then it goes down to the business heads or the middle managers director, Director News, Content Head (Production), Regional Heads, Bureau Chief News, Senior Executive Producer News & the General Managers who handle all operations and tasks. Under them come the Managers & the Associative Managers who manage their sub ordinates.

DECISIONS: The CEO is present but he only comes for a check twice or thrice in a year and takes decisions in matters of conflicts or in deciding organizational goals otherwise all the decisions on how to go about these goals remains in the hand of the business unit head.

The GEO team carefully decides on whom to make the business unit head as it is the head only who has to deal with a lot of subordinates and it is necessary for the subordinates to listen to the authoritative figure as he is the one who is commanding and ordering what task to perform. At the end of the day everyone at GEO is accountable for whatever task they perform. If the task is not performed as asked then the person will be asked to improve it. The business unit head will be answerable to the chief executive who will take the detailed reports and then sent it to the CEO.

Delegation: No matter how big or small the organization is every manager is responsible for carrying out the tasks assigned to them and they are also responsible if any of the subordinate does not does the task effectively. So is in GEO. But the good thing in GEO is that if one is not able to do his/her task then all of his/her subordinates and manager help him/her to complete it and if some task goes abrupt then they notify the respected department for it.

GEO focuses a lot on delegating the work to its workers which is why there are people working with GEO for a very long period. Even some of the small decisions are given to these workers so that they get more motivated to work.

GEO is a big organization and it consists of many business unit heads and indeed all of them are responsible as not only do they have to perform difficult task but they also have to keep an eye on the individuals working under them. The business unit head keeps a friendly attitude with not only its colleagues and subordinates but also with its Top Level Management as well.

Influencing

Influencing Function:Influencing is another of the basic functions within the management process. It involves focusing on organization members, motivating them, leading them towards the appropriate directions, communicating with them and developing a good working relationship with them.

GEO T.V Network quite successfully maintains its influencing function by carrying out some important steps as stated below:

Leading: GEO follows a purely and highly democratic leadership style.The subordinates are encouraged to be part of the decision making. The manager is responsible for keeping the subordinates informed about their tasks and shares decision making responsibilities with them. Problems are also solved with the input of the subordinates. Many subordinates like the trust they receive and then respond with team spirit and high morale. An important factor that contributes to the Influencing Function at GEO is the Role Model factor. Each and every figure, be it a head of department, a manager, a director, a supervisor or even the CEO have the ability at GEO to motivate, guide and communicate with the subordinates and to prove to be a good role model. The leadership skill in the role models dedicates the subordinates into going towards one goal, that is, organizational success. The leaders at GEO encourage the employees to work hard and be promoted.

Motivating: On annual basis, GEO carries several motivational programs to motivate, guide and develop a sense of good will and dedication in the minds of the subordinates. The tools that GEO uses for the motivation of employee welfare are as follows: Incentives are given on the basis of the performance of the employee which involves promotion, bonus and increments on their salaries. Bonus and increments are usually given if an employee is able to meet his targets before or on time successfully. There is an idea box in the reception room for the employees; whoever generates a new idea is given a prize. This is headed by the CEO of GEO himself. They have the success story of the month program in which every department mentions an employee who has gone an extra mile and has worked hard towards achieving the goal. Each employees story is discussed amongst the committee and is reviewed by them. The best story is selected and that particular employee is rewarded with a dinner for two prizes. For motivating the employees, annual employee functions are organized by the management. The employees are even sent abroad to attend various workshops and seminars about motivation and leadership; there they are taught to work willingly towards achieving one common goal and are also given certificates and rewards at the end of these programs. They even recently started a campaign for this year - Sir utha kay GEO - which basically a motivation campaign. GEO maintains a very friendly working environment and also offers its employees with other benefits such as medical insurance, free fuel and telecommunication benefits. Therefore, it is evident that GEO does everything it can to motivate its employees into achieving one common goal, that is, organizational success.

Communication: GEO believes in the influence of internal communication to create a working environment which is done by creating a strong relationship with the organization and its people. This in turn encourages the subordinates and boosts them up into working towards achieving the organizational objective. Internal communication is basically based upon professionalism and service before self policy in order to create a working environment within the organization. GEO proved to be an organization that lays great emphasis on the training and development of Human Resource. They know the contributions made by the subordinates into making the whole organization grow and into achieving long term goals that would not have been possible without the hard work of the team. An integrated communication design is planned and executed by the HR department for its subordinates to share the sense of pride and joy which they have for GEO. Managers interact with their employees and also communicate with them in open forum to maintain a good working relationship which in turn would motivate and influence the subordinates into working hard and willingly. The communication is also done on the phone and over the internet.

GEO organization is more towards informality and is partially formal. They tend to follow the Open Door Policy. Formal conversation is less evident because GEO is more towards believing in teamwork and working as a friendly environment. Everyone has the right to give their contributions in terms of ideas and improvements such as technology and bringing innovation and creativity into the organization. GEO tends to use all theories of motivation except the Theory X and they even agreed that they use the Equity theory. Therefore, it is evident that the internal communication strategy that GEO uses helps them influence their workforce into achieving the organization goal and also helps the organization into achieving further success.

ControllingControlling is the process in which managers go through to control. In technical terms, controlling is a systematic effort by business management to compare performance to predetermined standards, or objectives to determine whether performance is in line with these standards.

Controlling can be viewed as a subsystem of the overall management system. The purpose of this subsystem is to help management enhance the success of the overall management system through effective controlling.

The controlling subsystem involves controlling process which has three main steps:1. Measuring performance2. Comparing measured performance to standards3. Taking corrective actions

A stable and successful organization requires a good controlling meshwork in order to maintain its position in the market and GEO being one of the leading networks needs a strong controlling process to attain this goal. GEO being a very vast media network requires a fast paced management process that needs to be controlled efficiently in order to maintain its position in the market.

Viewership is an important key for the GEO TV network to control and analyze its performance. To measure its viewership GEO has registered itself with Media Logic, a people meter installation company in Pakistan.

Formation of policies:GEO has more policies than any other company. All its rules and policies are confidential and are mentioned in employee hand book. All of their policies are implemented strictly. When the company faces a problem in their old policy then they revise then they send the notice to their policy defining department and once it is finalized then it is sent to approval department once it is approved then it is sent to upper level management for the confirmation then it is implemented strictly. Now this policy is circulated via website, notice boards and open forums.

Market control process:GEO uses external market mechanism in which it compares its company to outside competitors and its called relative market share and it keeps the company up to date with the latest trends in the market to maintain the standard and GEO itself is a trendsetter in market.

Quality control process:There is a quality control team in GEO which checks the standard and quality of the script to be aired on TV and the script has to pass many departments in order to be aired. Different departments check the quality and standard according to their department and then approve or reject it according to their rules and policies.

What is a people meter?A people meter is a device installed at homes. Each person in the family is assigned with a light installed in the device. An audio decoder imprints special signals received from the channel. It allows panelists and their family to log in and log out of a TV set, allowing rating company to develop a rating data for the organization.

In Pakistan there are around 750-800 people meters installed in four main cities of the nation, which are Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Karachi. These devices record the daily viewership and ratings attained by GEO. This vastly helps the management to analyze where its organization stands and to whom the organization is competing with.

How frequently does the CEO visit the organization?At GEO, top level management has an important role in the organization to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency in the organization. The CEO of the organization, Mir Shakeel ur Rehman visits on quarterly or half-yearly basis to have a general feedback on how the organizational goals are being achieved and to make sure that everything is being done how it had been expected.

The CEO also carries out several meetings with the directors and other managers to have a general idea about where the organization is and where it needs to be.

General surveys: At GEO, general surveys are carried out on daily and weekly basis to look after the activities that are being carried out. These surveys are done either within the organization, or through public voting surveys.

Therefore top level management has great responsibility on its shoulders to carefully look upon these surveys and make sure that all the organizational goals and objectives are achieved on time.

ConclusionGEO T.V. Network is a very vast television network that is rapidly growing on both national and international grounds so it needs a strong team to carry out its Planning, Organizing, Influencing and Controlling Function both effectively and efficiently. GEO aims to become the largest conglomerate of Pakistan and contribute greatly in the overall growth and economy of Pakistan. It strives to help people and to enlighten them with their surroundings and make them aware of the current affairs. It needs a good leadership framework to make sure thats its employees are motivated and influenced in the correct manner and that they have sufficient knowledge about the goals and objectives of GEO T.V network.

Recommendation Rewards or incentives should be more often given more often in different ways Should stay in peace and not indulge or humiliate and/or target any specific issue/person to avoid contradictions GEO being a very big organization, they should improve the environment of their office. Should create a proper agreement with the government so that it wont get blocked often. They should also indulge in more CSR activities as they can do a lot seeing the size of the company The document of the Code of Ethics is not present at GEO They already have an organizational chart but it is way to large hence they should create a chart for different departments to show line and staff authority. Currently there is no training facility in Pakistan for the crew members hence they have to go abroad for it. GEO should arrange different conferences and training camps and also workshops in Pakistan to cut down costs and make it available for a larger number of employees.