The Culture of ESPN and It’s Community

By: Seth Stillman

Background on ESPN

• ESPN is a U.S. based global cable and satellite television channel owned by ESPN Inc, a joint venue between Walt Disney and the Hearst Corporation

• ESPN headquarters are in Bristol, Connecticut.

• The network also operates in Miami, New York, Seattle, Charlotte and Los Angeles.

• John Skipper is the current president.

• Since February of 2015, ESPN is available to 94,396,00 paid television households in the United States.

Background Continued• Bill Rasmussen was conceived the concept of ESPN in late May

1978, after he was fired from his job with the World Hockey Association’s New England Whalers.

• Another event that helped build ESPN’s credibility was securing an advertising agreement with Anheuser-Busch in 1979

• The company invested $1 million to be the “exclusive beer advertised in networks.”

• In 1992 ESPN launched ESPN Radio• ESPN currently shows over 10 programs

Cultural Metaphor• Cultural metaphor is defined as any activity, phenomenon, or

institution with which members of a given emotionally and/or cognitively identify. Such as Cultural metaphors reflect the underlying values of a culture.

• Part of the book focuses on organizational communication based on culture, and the two ways to view it.

• 1) Look at culture as something an organization has.• 2) The second approach considers culture as something an

organization is.

The Concepts

•Deal and Kennedy's “Strong Cultures”

•Peters and Waterman’s themes for Excellent Organizations.

Deal and Kennedy’s• Deal and Kennedy assessed that a successful company

contains the key components they defined as a “Strong Culture”

• The four components• 1)“Values are the beliefs and visions that members hold for an

organization.”• 2)“Heroes are the individuals who come to exemplify an

organizations values.”• 3)“Rites and rituals are the ceremonies through which an

organization celebrates its values.”• 4)“The cultural network is the communication system through

which cultural values are instituted and reinforced.”• (The following was found via the online book on page 83)

Values• ESPN, like most successful companies have a set of core values

that defines what the company represents and what the employees should live by.

• Workforce: Reflects the global fan base

• Workplace: Where all employees can contribute to their full potential

• Marketplace: Increase domestic and emerging market share and improve fan loyalty

Values (Cont.)• Collaboration Aspect: ESPN has taken the time to see how

individuals communicate with each other, whether that is across the hall or across the world.

• Feel The Brand: “In order to achieve, you really need to dedicate the time and energy for collaboration, and firstly thinking of the people who are in that work space. Our facility team never works in a bubble; we always put the needs of our employees first.” –espncareers.com

Heroes• -Everyone is a hero by playing their role and contributing but

ESPN’s biggest heroes are the biggest names and faces of the company.

• John Skipper- President, ESPN, Inc.• Sean Bratches- Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing.• Christine Driessen- Executive Vice President and Chief

Financial Officer.• Ed Durso- Executive Vice President, Administration.• Aaron LaBerge- Executive Vice President and Chief Technology

Officer.

Rites and Rituals

• A few of ESPN’s recent diversity awards include:• -DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity (TWDC)• -Human Rights Campaign Best Places to Work for LGBT

Equality (TWDC)• -Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)

Media Award Winner (ESPN)• ESPN treats their employees as a family, they offer a day care

on their campus that has 185 kids enrolled along with a gymnasium, many fitness classes, and a cafeteria that took almost a year to build.

Cultural Communication• At ESPN, their people are their most valuable resource. They

hire the best, and support, empower, and develop them to achieve their goals both personally and professionally.

• Curiosity is the fuel that drives ESPN’s learning and development culture.

• Being a apart of The Walt Disney Company allows ESPN to tap into learning and development experiences across the enterprise that are uniquely Disney and the quality you would expect.

• “Together, we create exceptional employee experiences with a passionate commitment to PEOPLE, PARTNERSHIPS, CULTURE, and EXCELLENCE.”

Office Space

Office Space (Cont.)

Peter and Waterman’s theme• Based on The Eight Themes for Excellent Organizations1) A bias for action: Excellent organizations react quickly and do not spend excess time planning and analyzing. Applied to ESPN: ESPN puts in a ton of effort into creating the best platforms for their online pages and content in their stories for its fans from start to finish. They thrive off customer satisfaction

2) Close Relations to the Customer: Excellent organizations gear decisions and actions to the needs of customers. Applied to ESPN: For most companies, solving every single issue from a customer is almost an impossible task. ESPN tries everything they can do to correct any issue (Fantasy Football Online Platform) using their knowledgeable and skilled web masters and support staff.

3) Autonomy and Entrepreneurship: Excellent Organizations encourage employees to take risks in the development of new ideas.Applied to ESPN: ESPN is ran like majority companies in terms of a Hierarchy, but they also strive off innovation. Therefor, they encourage transparency between teams and management to ensure the best outcome will come out of any situation. Plus, the way the offices are set up, creates a family environment which encourages different teams to group up with each other.

Peter and Waterman’s theme (CONT.)

4) Productivity through people: Excellent organizations have employees and managers who share the same core value of productivity and performanceApplied to ESPN: As I previously stated, ESPN thrives off innovation. Therefor, they encourage their employees to take risks. ESPN thrives to come out with the best product possible and release the best news possible. Which would nearly be impossible without their employees who put their hands on the material before it goes public. It doesn’t matter if you are across the hall or across the globe, ESPN will figure out how to communicate with you in a pleasant way.

5) Hands-on, value driven: Excellent organizations have employees and managers who share the same core value of productivity and performance.Applies to ESPN: ESPN looks to hire individuals who will fit their family-like work environment. These individuals must thrive off being successful, not afraid to take risks, and open to communicate with others while having a big passion for sports and wanting to be a part of the sports world.

Peter and Waterman’s theme (CONT.)

6) Stick to the Knitting: Excellent organizations stay focused on what they do best and avoid radical diversification.Applied to ESPN: No matter how much criticism ESPN gets, they will continue to run their show and stick to the plan instead of responding to the critics and shifting their focus. They may get criticized by other publishers, but that doesn’t stop them from showing PTI (Pardon The Interruption) at 5:30pm Eastern Time every single day.

7) Simple form, lean staff: Excellent organizations avoid complex structures and divisions of labor.Applied to ESPN: I don’t believe this one necessarily applies to ESPN. Although I wouldn’t call ESPN’s headquarters a “complex structure” they definitely have a different but yet more comfortable office space than most. Also, they encourage different teams to work together for certain projects.

8) Simultaneous loose-tight properties: Excellent organizations exhibit both unity of purpose and the diversity necessary for innovation.Applied to ESPN: ESPN thrives off of innovation hoping they get better customer feedback/satisfaction from it. They encourage all employees to take risks because innovation doesn’t just happen itself. The employees come together to create the best product they can for their huge fan base.

The Culture at ESPN-Besides for its many awards, ESPN is constantly raising awareness about the new trends in the sports world while also notifying their fans on the latest news.

-Getting involved in the local community outside of office work is a big part of working for ESPN.

-ESPN supports eight Employee Resource Groups that represent various dimensions of diversity and engage employees through professional development, social networking and volunteer opportunities.

-In a 2013 University study, ESPN was leading the way in racial and gender hiring according to The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in sport.

Questions

-What is the best thing about working for the leader in sports news?

-Will the office culture change as the community changes around you? Or will it stay the same?

-Who is the nicest/coolest athlete to come to the headquarters in Connecticut?

-What is your favorite memory about that Athlete visiting?

Possible Survey Questions

• How can we, at ESPN, Improve our fantasy football platform?• Would you like to see ESPN get invovled in the

video game world?• What if your favorite show on ESPN and why?

sources

1) Abbot, R. (n.d.). An Inside Look at ESPN's Culture and Space (Part 1). Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://chicagocreativespace.com/an-inside-look-at-espns-culture-and-space-part-1/2) By developing initiatives that focus on the needs, expectations and lives of our people, we've created an inclusive environment where all employees can contribute to their fullest potential. (n.d.). ESPN Jobs and Careers. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from https://espncareers.com/working-here/diversity-inclusion-wellness3) ESPN Jobs and Careers. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2016, from https://espncareers.com/working-here/learning-development

4) ESPN, INC.|Company Profile|Vault.com. (n.d.). Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://www.vault.com/company-profiles/media-entertainment/espn,-inc/company-overview.aspx