Canadian Broadcasting Corporation In The 1930's

Introduction

In the early 1930’s, the inception of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) came about in response to overwhelming American broadcasting and a concern that Canada would be dominated by U.S culture (Manera, T., 2015, The CBC: Past, Present, and Future, paras. 2-3). The CBC is different from other broadcasters in that it is publicly funded and as a result must aim to be reflective of all Canadians and be representative of both languages. In addition to this mandate, the CBC must be accountable to parliament and transparent with its use of public funds (Menard, M., 2016. CBC/Radio Canada).

As with all broadcasters, there have been a number of changes that have taken place in this industry over the last

70 years. Technology continues to change and with those changes, CBC has transformed to the point of being unrecognizable from its humble beginnings. Technology is not the only environmental factor for change at the CBC. Pressures resulting from funding cutbacks and competition in the industry have resulted in major restructuring over recent years (Dixon, G. Updated 2018, para. 6). The CBC is also caught between what it means to be a public institution and living up to the demands of a private network.
Despite the changes in the landscape to the CBC over the years, one major issue impacting their change model remains the same, who are we, what is our value statement, and how do we respond to the ever-changing environmental disruptions? The focus of this research will center on the transformational changes that the CBC has experienced and continues to navigate.

Part 1
In the 1980's the CBC was reeling from immense budget cuts by the Progressive Conservatives, a decline in employee morale and a change in technology to satellite dishes, VCRs and pay t.v.'s (1985, Toronto Star, Getting the most out of the CBC). Employee morale was certainly affected since the CBC had been experiencing layoffs and budget cuts throughout the 80’s. These changes are characteristic of Transformational Change theory, where large-scale change tends to occur in response to shifts in technology, and competition as well as company dynamics (Cummings, T., Worley, C., 2015, p. 530). However, since the CBC is a traditional organization, they have continued to remain within their structural arrangement rather than undertake a large-scale transformational change (Cummings, T., and Worley, C., 2015, p. 531).
In the early 90’s the government passed a new broadcasting act which essentially defines the goals of the CBC in very vague terms such as "contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression" (Maich, S., 2005, para., 5). When one of the key roles for management in transformational change is to be clear and consistent in their message of the desired future, how can this happen if the goals are anything but clear? (Cummings, T., Worley, C., 2015, p. 530).
Now fast forward to the year 2000, a new CEO, Robert Rabinovitch takes the helm. His theory was that the CBC had an identity and financial crisis, without a unifying vision; his promise was to build a public service brand (Maich, S., 2005, para. 9). The expectations of public sector organizations in response to change initiated by environmental and internal disruptions include an ability to streamline, expand their services, be innovative over obscurity and essentially do more for much less (Cummings, T., Worley, C., 2015, p. 530). In order to be successful, a continuous change model would help the CBC to constantly adapt to their changing, competitive environment (Cummings, T., Worley, C., 2015, p. 530). The question was, did the need for change conflict with the identity of the CBC?
Part 2 -
After decades of trying to establish a vision and a definition of who they are (distinctive, less commercial network) and what they need to be to Canadians, the CBC 2000-2005 strategic direction was published, under their new CEO (CBC/Radio Canada, 2000, p. 4). An emphasis on Organizational culture and productivity in relation to the ever-changing internal/external environmental pressures was the focus. Changing the organizational culture includes evaluating their resources both human and technological while balancing values and vision. The CBC clearly stated they intended to make productivity improvements part of their corporate culture, which included staff layoffs in areas that did not affect on-air programming (CBC/Radio Canada, 2000, p. 19). In addition, the CBC acknowledged that they needed to evolve towards a technological future including digital platforms in order to be competitive and attract more customers (CBC/Radio Canada, 2000, p. 15).
The change strategy was required to reflect the continual decline in financial support from the government of the 1990’s and a lack of vision. Cost minimization is reflective of a Mechanistic Organizational Design and fits into the management style of "top-down goal setting and Communication" that the CBC is known for (Cummings, T., Worley, C., 2015, p. 536). All media outlets were affected by the increase in subscription television, numerous channel choice and the growing changes in digital media. In order to compete, CBC was forced to ramp up it's programming, reduce regional news and increase their online presence. The regional news was a controversial claw back but was necessary in order to reinvest in the national news, which has a broader viewership and was something that the CBC took pride in (Maclean’s, 2000, p. 21). The CBC also looked to its online presence in an effort to engage a youth audience. Radio 3 (R3) was developed to provide an interactive music-based internet site, to appeal to a youthful audience (Maclean’s, 2000, p. 21). In an industry where the environment is so turbulent, this would have been a prime opportunity to develop a dynamic strategy where the organization would be able to continuously change and adapt (Cummings, T., Worley, C., 2015, p. 569-570).
Part 3-explain whether the change was successful did it meet the intended expectations
Early indicators of the success of the change plan could be found in cost-cutting. By early 2000, Robert Rabinovitch began phasing out jobs and cutting programming similar to his initial message (Brendan, K., 2000, p. 1). The Midday show which had aired for 15 years, was cut from the lineup due to declining ratings and cost. A more innovative measure, taken in the first few years was the development of a Real Estate division, which allowed CBC to better utilize its properties and rent unused space to further re-invest into programming (CBC., 2002, p. 10). Improvements were also seen in their online presence, the success of their websites could be measured in usage which doubled from 2001 – 2005 (CBC., 2006, p. 24). In order to be more competitive, the CBC turned to 3 specialty subscription channels such as The Documentary Channel (CBC, 2001, p. 9).
Although these measures were successful in terms of cost cutting, it did not do much for the morale of the employees or labour relations.

In 2005, in response to the increase in hiring of contract workers, and 15 months of failing negotiations, an eight-week lockout began (Cordon, S., 2005, para. 1). Rabinovitch was heavily criticized for undermining labour relations, going against the board of directors and further alienating parliament, not to mention the losses in advertising during the lockout (Cordon, S., 2005, paras. 12-14). This was the beginning of the end for the CEO. While some of his changes were successful, his overall philosophy of rebranding and having a clear vision had ultimately faded. His vision of distinct programming and less commercialism to differentiate itself from the private networks had become a contradictory mission statement when the CBC continued to compete with the private sector for advertising dollars as it had in the past (Maich, S., 2005, paras. 12,

13).
. Part 4- What if anything could have been done to improve the change was the change
Worthwhile

The movement for change undertaken by Robert Robinovitch, was well-intentioned and necessary for the time.

A planned change involving cost-cutting, while fiscally responsible took a turn for the worse, resulting in all-time low labour relations. The CBC is a very traditional organization which mimics a mechanistic design (Cummings, T., Worley, C., 2015, p. 536). I think this type of organizational design worked against the CBC’s own missions. The CBC was looking to be more innovative, both in its programming and in its vision to rebrand. The problem was that the management processes were top down, and employee involvement in decision making was non-existent, unlike an Organic Design (Cummings, T., Worley, C., 2015, p. 536). In fairness, this is not one person's failure. For over a decade the government had given the CBC mixed messages on its value. Continual cuts from Parliament, a demand for a "public broadcaster" with an unclear definition of what that would look like was a recipe for status quo. In order for change activities to lead to effective change management, there needs to be political support (in this case quite literally), a roadmap to follow to the future state and a sustained momentum (Cummings, T., Worley, C., 2015, p. 180). Unfortunately, the pressures of trying to compete with the private networks quashed the momentum and future state of the organization. These pressures led to the extreme measures of labour, from deep cuts of core talent

to increase in short-term workers.
Many of the outcomes that resulted from this transformation, were worth it. Rabinovitch’s cost-cutting measures resulted in a leaner CBC, and could no longer be accused of being mismanaged and wasteful (Neville, B., 2006, p. 19). As discussed earlier, the CBC improved its online presence and the Radio 3 network which was introduced now resides on satellite radio. While this transformation inevitably spelled the end of Rabinovitch’s term, he made some difficult decisions and the CBC continued to survive when many believed it had run its course.
Conclusion