Corporate Structure and Emphasis on Profits and Product Quality at U.S. Daily Newspapers

Abstract

Editors at a sample of U.S. daily newspapers rated the importance that their organizations place on profits and product quality. Drawing on economic and Weberian theory, this study finds group newspapers are more profit-oriented than independently-owned newspapers and that larger newspapers emphasize product quality more than do smaller newspapers. But the data also show that larger newspapers may emphasize profits less than do smaller newspapers, supporting John Kenneth Galbraith's argument that large organizations pursue a variety of goals, not just maximum profits.