Case Analysis - Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America (A)
Organizational Leadership and Decision Making – RMGT110

Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America

Introduction

This case study has at its center, Taran Swan, who served as launch director and general manager of Nickelodeon Latin America. She was involved with the launch from its inception. She was enthusiastic in the pursuit of her goals and at the beginning when the Nickelodeon Latin America was taking shape, she was relentless in achieving what her managers believed was impossible. Despite her dogged determination, she proved to be very open to new ideas and suggestions. Her enthusiasm and savvy were infectious. She was a good listener and held people accountable for their actions. Her only agenda was ensuring the channel’s success and maintaining the Nickelodeon brand and integrity. She successfully created an environment conducive for people to discuss, question and rationally lay out their ideas and views.

Her transformational leadership style shines through, as she rarely applies her authority and at the same time, by adjusting small pieces of the organization that she has created, the company leaps forward. In such a hostile and unfamiliar environment, some leaders would follow a more totalitarian approach but she chose a different path. She allowed freedom of ideas and views. They overcame the competition by thinking big – as she puts it herself to “make a splash”.

Taran Swan’s journey as general manager of Nickelodeon Latin America depicts a pattern of successful leadership in building organizations. She fosters a great team of people who felt equal and who were able to work together to achieve a common goal. Her transformational management style was effective not only in the beginning, but would serve her well as she is confronted with an unexpected medical condition related to her pregnancy and is ordered back to New York by her doctor. She realizes her departure will require a change in the management structure and a need to maintain effective communication. Her organizational and personnel change management skills will be tested. Swan realized she would need to focus on the team and find ways to keep them motivated, focused on their common goals and maintaining high levels of performance.

Problem Statement

Due to an unforeseen complication associated with her pregnancy, Taran Swan has been ordered by her doctor to return to New York. How long she will be absent is unknown. She is now faced with the dilemma of how to ensure that during her absence the network continues to grow and thrive. Swan will need to make several tough decisions, including:

• What will her level of involvement be? Can she lead effectively from her bed in New York during a high-risk pregnancy? If so, what methods could she use to lead her team from a remote location? • Should she appoint a backup to handle some of her functions in her absence? Or, should she and a backup act as co-directors? • Which of her team members fit these roles? • Does she have a surrogate who has the ability to continue to manage “down and up” successfully? • What steps can she take to ensure the network continues to meet its goal of increasing sales by 1.5 million during her absence?

Her primary concerns are how to maintain effective communication and leadership as well as how to minimize the impact her absence will have on the management structure of the organization. Reviewing the members of the team, Swan identifies some factors to consider when deciding on her course of action:

• The experience, knowledge and skills of the individuals • Will she have the time and resources that might be needed to provide any training? • What are his or her long-term goals and how do these align with the work proposed? • Does the person have the respect and trust of the other team members? • Does his/her reputation, leadership style match to the established team culture?

Supporting Facts

Taran Swan initiated and wrote the Business Plan for Nickelodeon’s network expansion into the Latin America television market in the mid 90’s. Corporate approved her proposal and appointed Swan as launch director because of her success replacing the Germany launch director in 1995. Swan took an active interest in selecting and developing her team in Latin America. Since the beginning, she was met with limitations and had to share resources with their sister company, MTV. MTV and Nickelodeon had very different brands to sell and this proved challenging for several of the MTV employees. One person explained, “I felt schizophrenic, pulled in two directions.” (3. page 4) However, Swan focused on motivating her employees commenting, “I tried to give people ownership and help them feel part of a team.” (page 5) Swan solicited help from MTV’s human resources and hand-selected and heavily recruited several of the new team members. After Nickelodeon Latin America received full corporate funding in September 1996, Swan agreed to stay on as general manager for the first two years. This role was new for Swan who previously worked in Business Development and as the Launch Director, but she felt confident in her ability to carry out the project’s vision because of her heavy involvement with the initiative.

During the next 21 months of Swan’s two-year contract she was the main contributor of shaping the organizational structure of Nickelodeon Latin America. As a leader, Swan focused on cultivating an open work environment with an emphasis in shared ownership and collaboration. Swan made the majority of organizational decisions including having two people (Friedman and McCarthy) as co-vice-presidents of marketing. McCarthy explained Swan’s decision process, “Taran was the one who proposed and championed our sharing the marketing position. She was willing to take the risk because she wanted to create a structure which tapped into both Donna’s and my respective talents. By chance or strategically, the job sharing worked great.” (3. page 9) Swan nurtured a strong working relationship with Pierluigi Gazzolo, a regional director for Affiliate Sales. Gazzolo started on the project during the launch and “was eager to learn about the business from Swan (3. page 11). He also was fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and English and was knowledgeable about Nickelodeon Latin America’s target region. The majority of Swan’s team proved to be a good fit for their prospective roles with the exception of Janet Byrne. In early 1997, Swan had to reorganize the sales division because they were struggling in this area. “The same people selling both MTV and Nickelodeon was not working, since each channel targeted different markets and attracted different advertisers.” (3. page 10) Byrne was hired as the VP of Advertising and Sales but fell short of turning around this area and succumbed to the pressure. She was eventually asked to step down from this position.

Swan’s leadership style influenced her team, and they all eventually adopted her inquisitive nature. “Swan’s strategic thinking rubbed off on them, and over time, there was a noticeable evolution toward people like Grieder asking tough, business questions of each other.” (3. page 14). She had to manage both down and up, meaning managing external Stakeholder’s expectations and her internal Latin America team. In spring of 1998, Latin America Nickelodeon was continuously evolving and growing in their prospective market. Byrne’s replacement, Antonio Canto, started and there was an extensive amount of progress to report. In June of 1998, with three months left on Swan’s contract, she found out she had to relocate from Miami back to her home in New York for the remainder of her pregnancy. This unexpected turn of events forces Swan to make some difficult decisions about the Nickelodeon Latin America organizational structure moving forward.

Analysis

Strengths:

• Nickelodeon Brand The LA project had a strong brand on which to build as Nickelodeon was extremely well known in the US. Every kid in America can relate to this funny, situational, messy and cool network. It was this “brand experience” that would get Nickelodeon noticed in LA.

• Business Innovation The experience in Germany, where Swan built a channel from scratch in days, has carried over to the LA project. Since the launch of the network, the subscriber base tripled in just 18 months thanks to the team’s innovation and creativity.

• Teambuilding and Leadership Abilities Swan has a knack for searching out the most talented individuals in their field, the brightest and most ambitious, and convincing them to join her team.

• Collaborative and Flexible Staff The individuals that make up the team call various places home, but all are willing to be wherever they’re needed most, whether it’s the outpost offices in Miami, or in New York. Examples of collaboration appeared when McCarty and Friedman joined forces as co-vice presidents of marketing. McCarty would also step in for Swan and conduct presentations on her behalf. Swan’s assistant, Sonia Schwartz, served as point person and assured all critical information made it to Swan.

• Organization and Communication Swan would give intelligent and strategic business directives then leave the creative/innovative aspects to her team. Open communication was encouraged through bi-monthly Update Meetings, bi-annual Town Hall meetings, and an annual offsite Synergy meeting. This allowed the teams a chance to share what they had accomplished and make plans for the upcoming year. A Synergy meeting is coming up in two months.

Weaknesses:

• Organizational Structure Resources were limited and Nickelodeon LA had to co-locate with MTV in Miami. They not only shared infrastructure, but also the resources for the advertising and sales teams. This was difficult due to the vast differences in their target audiences.

• Staffing Issues Moving away from sharing the MTV sales team, Janet Byrne was brought in. There was conflict from the start. Byrne refused to report to her assigned manager, had a volatile temper, which left Swan to referee. Since advertising sales is critical to revenue and the success of the network, Byrne needed to be replaced. This just took place as Antonio Canto has joined the team.

• Financial Challenges Latin America was already a challenging market due to the immaturity of cable television and a fluctuating currency. After the first year, having 5.2 million subscribers, they met their overall budget but missed their revenue plan by 11%.

• Uncertainty in Advertising Sales This area has been a struggle from the beginning. At the beginning, the team had to share Advertising Sales resources with MTV, who didn’t understand their product. They then hired a very capable person who unfortunately did not gel with the organization. At this time there are two items of concern in the Advertising Sales area. Antonio Canto has just joined to head up this area. He has sales experience but he lacks experience in advertising. The second is a pending deal with Cablevision/TCI which could bring in 1.5 million more homes, but remains unresolved.

Opportunities: • Growth/Contract Opportunities Launching a dedicated feed for Brazil in August, allows growth opportunities while allowing attracting more local advertisers within Brazil providing a win-win situation.

U.S. Hispanic Market, negotiations with Telemundo, the Spanish-language broadcaster in the United States.

Having its second successful year, Nick En Vivo had visited eight cities in five countries and reached an estimated 60,000 kids. There is clearly opportunity for growth within Nick En Vivo.

Ayuda a tu Mundo (“Help your World”) is about to launch and will begin in early July. Consistent with Nickelodeon’s vision, this show encourages kids to get involved, volunteer, and help their communities. Ayuda a tu Mundo is a huge investment that opens up several opportunities in today’s market where people are trying to get more people involved. This is also a very attractive story to media.

The Cablevision/TCI, known as the largest service provider in Argentina would allow Nickelodeon to reach 1.5 million homes. This is a huge opportunity for Nickelodeon and will require a team to help close the deal with or without Swan’s presence.

• Management Advancement Opportunities Swan’s pregnancy and health is unpredictable. She is going to be on maternity leave at some point and will need the team to carry-on without her. With this predicament provides opportunity for her internal team to grow and move-up providing a stronger management foundation.

Swan has proven to be a strong leader and has the right team in place. Her current sales team had tripled subscriber base and was now available at 6.3 million homes. They had also extended into Paraguay, Chile, and Mexico. Her marketing team is now recognized as the “best marketing team” in Latin America. There is opportunity within Swan’s team for internal promotions.

For example, Valerie McCarty-VP of Marketing and Communications, has a strong background in international public relations for children’s broadcasting/networks. She also stepped up for Swan and filled in for Swan during the Town Hall speech Swan was unable to attend. Her extensive background and proven leadership skills should not be overlooked. She would be an excellent candidate to move-up into a supervisor role and fill-in for Swan when she is unable to be to present.

New Advertising and Sales VP, Antonio Canto, has strong sales experience bringing in their first $500,000 client. Showing strong sales experience from the beginning, gives Canto opportunity to move up and oversee the Portuguese investment. The fully Portuguese channel was going to be costly and needed a leader to oversee the investment.

Pierluigi Gazzolo, Regional Affiliate Director who spoke fluent Spanish, Portuguese and English and had a deep familiarity of the Latin region would be able to assist Canto on the Portuguese investment. Swan has a good working relationship with Gazzolo which provides an opportunity for Gazzolo to be part of the management team.

• Children’s Market/ Business and Product Development Opportunities Marketing firms and advertisers are looking to a younger demographic, increasingly targeting tweens and even younger children. And these kids have huge control over the flow of parents' spending, statistics show — 8- to 12-year-olds spend $30 billion of their own money each year and influence another $150 billion of their parents' spending. [1] Nickelodeon markets to kids 2-11 – year olds. Swan identified that the children’s market was currently underserved and had identified that there would be continued growth. The children’s market not only shows strength, it shows opportunity to create product extensions that may include video and CD’s of the show. There is room for future innovations within Nickelodeon.

Threats

• Shared Infrastructure with MTV (Different Cultures and Brands) Nickelodeon LA shares infrastructure and staff with MTV Latin America which is based in Miami. This was done to control costs and was part of Swan’s plan, although Viacom had never done it before. Some of the MTV employees felt pulled in two directions because of this. This became more complicated moving forward.

• Regional Economic Crisis Although Asia and Latin America are experiencing economic difficulties, Taran Swan has a plan to cope with instability, so the channel should not be affected.

• Budget tensions / Financial difficulties While both channels continued to work together and learn from each other, budget tensions developed. As allocations changed because of the overall MTV Networks LA budget, Swan found herself having to pay more for her shared staff (del Valle, Bearden, Neuhaus, Herring). To make up for it, she was forced to cut the programming and marketing budgets.

• CableVision/TCI Deal in Jeopardy Nickelodeon was currently carried by the second-largest operator and this deal would allow them to reach an additional 1.5 million homes. The deal had been dragging for several months. Swan became increasingly involved as the deal would not close. Because she did not speak fluent Spanish, Swan felt limited by her own ability to conduct meetings. Swan felt this, along with the Brazil-dedicated feed, could make or break the channel’s future.

• Competition The Cartoon Network had launched in 1993 and Fox Kids Network, which had a program block on the Fox Entertainment Channel, was planning to expand to a 24-hour network by fall. Swan wanted to be part of the Latin American market before it became oversaturated.

• Staffing Swan constantly looked for ways to keep her team challenged so they would not be lured by headhunters, who were always contacting her staff to fill positions with other new operations in Latin America.5

• LA Project Vulnerability Prior to obtaining full corporate backing for the budget, Swan would need to prove her business plan was viable by securing minimum distribution (signing up 2 million households). Viacom had seen that MTV Latin America was struggling, and they did not want to invest in yet another channel without strong indicators that it would succeed. Swan found herself not only managing down, but up. Viacom was introducing more stringent controls on internatIonal subsidiaries, so Swan had to justify her expenditures and progress.

• Cable infrastructure in Latin America Latin America was a volatile market, subject to frequent currency fluctuations and devaluations, and the cable industry infrastructure was in its infancy. In addition, Nickelodeon had never had a pan-regional channel—one channel servicing multiple countries—and management was unsure if and how this would affect the business and creative aspects of the channel.

Conclusions & Alternative Solutions

Alternative Solution 1 – Appoint a single interim director.

• Advantage: o This would maintain a single point of contact for both those that report to Swan, and those she reported to. o If this individual were to come from the team, all of the other existing team members would remain in their current roles and the team maintains continuity. o Swan has assembled a very collaborative team that, for the most part, has been in their current positions for some time now. They all know their jobs and shouldn’t require a great deal of management.

• Disadvantage: o Appointing a single interim person, especially one from the existing team, could disrupt the synergy of a very successful team. o If this individual comes from the team, either an outsider would be brought in to backfill for this team member, or this person would be completely overloaded if they had to also maintain their current duties. o If an outsider were brought in as the interim director, there would be no way this person could hit the ground running and assume Swan’s responsibilities. Key areas/issues (Cablevision/TDI deal, Advertising Sales, Viacom’s’ perspective, and financial challenges) would be in jeopardy.

Alternative Solution 2 – Swan stays within her current position monitoring her team from New York and leaving structure as-is.

• Advantage o This would require only minor tweaks to her management team and would keep the team intact. o The team is used to communicating remotely with other employees in different countries. o The minimal changes would ensure the team does not lose momentum in performing as a cohesive team.

• Disadvantage o This would pose a further risk to Swan’s health as she deals with the additional stress of leading from a remote location. o If her medical condition takes a turn for the worse and Swan has to stop working, there will be no successor in place. This could damage the performance of the entire team. o It would not make use of the well-functioning team, ingrained culture, and diverse skills that Swan had built. The team is prepared to take over and lead in her absence. The succession planning she has been doing all along would be wasted.

Alternative Solution 3 – Appoint an interim director and promote internal team to oversee priority initiatives. • Advantage o Promoting internal resources will limit the amount of training needed. o The interim director will be the one-point of contact for the team and for Swan creating a more streamline process. This is less disruptive to the team as a whole. o Promoting internal and not external maintains the high morale that the team currently has. • Disadvantage o By promoting the internal team, you put a strain on internal Human Resources for their backfills. o Although Swan has strong candidates for the interim director position, they will not have the same background and experience as Swan. Our Recommendation: Our recommendation is Alternative Solution 3. In an article released in 2011, Swan made the following statement, “I learned quickly that I didn’t need to be an expert. But I did need to have great people.” She also goes on saying, “I knew the team I had in place was capable. With every job I took, I figured out who could take over for me before I even started. Succession planning was an absolute.”[2] It is clear that Swan needs to appoint people in specific areas that need attention in order for LA Nickelodeon to succeed. On the top of Swan’s mind include the Cablevision.TCI deal and the Brazil-dedicated feed. (also known as the Portuguese deal.) We have identified the following people to oversee these priority deals:

• New Advertising and Sales VP, Antonio Canto • Pierluigi Gazzolo, Regional Affiliate Director who speaks fluent, Spanish, Portuguese and English and has a deep familiarity of the Latin region would be able to assist Canto on the Portuguese investment.

Allowing Canto and Gazzolo to oversee the Brazil deal is very strategic since they both have a good sense to what the specifics of the project entail. Swan would not have to hire or train.

It is recommended that Swan appoint an interim Director that could essentially take-over Swan’s responsibilities if needed. Valerie McCarty-VP of Marketing and Communications has a strong background in international public relations children’s broadcasting/networks. She has a proven track record and has the capability to step-up into Swan’s role.

By promoting within Swan’s current team, she will ensure that morale stays intact, and that the current culture continues to be healthy. Her current team is close-knit and works well together. We would not want to do anything to disrupt that dynamic. The promotion of Canto, Gazzolo, and McCarty gives Swan a strong management team to ensure that her top priorities are fulfilled and the current business operation continues.

References:

[1] Lagorio, Christine. Resources: Marketing to Kids. CBS News. February 2009. Accessed on October 28, 2012: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500823_162-2798401.html

[2] Emmons, Hanna, Thompson. Alumni Bulletin. Harvard Business School. December 2011. Accessed on October 26, 2012: http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/bulletin/2011/december/leadership.html

[3] Hill, Linda A., Doughty, Kristin C., Harvard Business School, Rev: June 11, 2006, Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America (A)