Contents

1. Introduction.................................................................................................. 3
2. Structure...................................................................................................... 4
2.1 Functional Structure................................................................................ 4
2.2 Other Aspects of JWT Structure...............................................................6
3. Organization Strategy.................................................................................. 7
3.1 Strategy of JWT....................................................................................... 8
4. Culture......................................................................................................... 9
4.1 Interpreting Culture...............................................................................10
4.2 Design and Culture...............................................................................11
5. Dynamic Processes in JWT..........................................................................12
5.1 Decision Making Process.......................................................................12
5.2 Conflicts................................................................................................ 15
6. Environment at JWT....................................................................................16
6.1 Task Environment.................................................................................. 16
6.2 General Environment............................................................................ 18
7. Control Mechanisms...................................................................................19
8. Evolution and road ahead..........................................................................20
9. References................................................................................................. 20

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1. Introduction
JWT, or J. Walter Thompson as it was formerly known, is one of the largest advertising
agencies in the world. It has offices in 90 countries and over 10,000 employees. They
boast of clients that are leading global brands, many of whom have had a relationship
with JWT for a long time. HSBC, Ford, Kellogg, Nestle, Shell, Unilever and de Beers are
just among a few of these illustrious names.
So what exactly does JWT do for these clients, and how does it serve them so as to keep
them coming back time and again. Simply put, if any client has a message it wants to
communicate to its consumers, JWT will find the most creative way to package that
message and make sure it reaches out via the most suitable media, whether print, radio,
TV or the internet to make just the impact the client wished for. It does this through an
extensive global creative talent pool and years of experience.
The advertising industry is lucrative, exciting but not without its challenges. Being
creative is one thing, getting the right message across to increase the clients share is
another. Creativity is by its very nature subjective. How does one judge how good an idea
is? The space itself is crowded by other competitors vying for similar clients. To top it all,
consumers needs and demand change in the blink of an eyelid. The recent explosion in
the Internet/mobile space has meant that JWT and other firms must be quick to integrate
this change or perish.
This report aims to take an objective view of JWT as an organisation and critically
examine the way it is structured and governed. The report also places these findings both
within the context of the advertising industry as a whole and within certain academic
frameworks used for analysis.
The report starts with the organisations structure, move on to how it differentiates itself
to remain competitive, and how it fosters a culture of creativity. The report then goes on
to describe how JWT deals with the conflicts inherent in an organization and how it
controls its employees and processes. Towards the end, an analysis of the threats JWT
perceives from the environment he near future and how it plans its road ahead is
presented.

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2. Structure
JWT is in the business of coming up with creative ideas. They also sell their ability to be
reliable and deliver consistent performance. And they promise these high standards of
deliverables to over 1,200 clients, operating out of 200 offices across the world. What
kind of organisational structure does it take to manage such large enterprise that needs to
be creative and efficient, adaptable to the ever changing market and yet reliable in project
implementation, provide a structured growth for customer-facing executives and a
stimulating environment for its creative talent?
The two striking features about the structure is a Functional approach and
Geographical differentiation. In this section we examine each of these two features.

2.1 Functional Structure

Customers come to JWT expecting expertise in all forms of communication vehicles
from print, to television advertising and lately the internet and mobile forms of
communication. They also expect value in terms of understanding the consumer pulse
and market sentiment. Needless to say, they expect professional behaviour from the
people they come into contact with, the account managers.
The only structure that would allow the in-depth development of each domain expertise is
the functional structure. The Account Planning function devotes its time to market
research and while The Account managers study their clients need and focus on service
standards, thus leaving the creative department free to concentrate on being innovative
and constantly honing their skills.

Fig 1: Functional Structure at JWT

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Media is marked in red because it no longer exists. It has become a very complex
business in itself and hence is no longer a part of JWT. This is a trend seen in all
advertising agencies.

Creative: The creative function is responsible for coming with innovative ideas
to deliver clients messages to consumers. They are broadly divided into two sub
functions: Copy and Art. Copy looks after the text part of a communication
while Art looks after the visual appeal in all communication mediums. Only
people who show a clear inclination and passion towards working in not-soformal environment are recruited for this function.

Account Manager: This function is the face of JWT as the clients see it. They are
responsible for pitching for deals, and interfacing with the clients throughout the
deal period to ensure that their message and requirements are communicated to
the creative department. They act as a link between clients and other functions.
Because of this centrality in the role, this function has clout in the organisation,
and most General Managers have been ex-Account Managers.

Account Planners: The Account planning function conducts surveys, market

research, to determine what the current Indian consumer finds appealing in terms
of products, personalities and advertising styles etc. The quality of this research in
the USP of JWT. It is a boundary spanning function.

Support: Everything from finance, IT services, production and HR are classified

as support functions. They provide the needed platform that ensures the
organisation functions smoothly.

2.2 Other Aspects of JWT Structure

JWTs Geographic Differentiation
JWTS has offices in 90 countries. In India they are present in the 6 big cities, Mumbai
(Headquarters), Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai. They have
structured this global expansion in such as way that all these locations work as
autonomous units. For example Bangalore has its own General Manager who has under
him the entire gamut of functions from account planners to account managers, creative
staff and support operations. The creative team at Bangalore is not accountable to anyone
at the Mumbai headquarters or at regional HQ Singapore. Clients with Headquarters in a
city usually do business with the JWT office in that city and hence they are not really
competing for each others business. For all practical purposes, they are all like different
franchises operating under the same brand name.

Sample Hierarchy
The figure below gives the hierarchy of the account management function. While
nomenclature may differ slightly for account planners or creative staff, the general
hierarchy is similar.
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Non Managerial
Roles

Fig 2: Hierarchy at JWT

Promotions: Promotion is done on a merit basis through an appraisal system called
shine. The process consists of MCQs to self-rate the performances and is done in
presence of the immediate boss (creative director), and the next level of appraisal
happens with General Manager. At junior level number of ideas generated matters most,
at senior level, quality of leadership also matters.

Special Features of JWT Structure

Structural Dimensions
o Formalization: There are rules and procedures in place for conducting
business. Most written documentation, however, is for knowledge transfer. It
is moderately formalized.
o Specialization: To a great degree, roles are subdivided into specialities. This
facilitates the experts in each speciality to hone their skills further.
o Centralization: On a global scale, it is definitely decentralized with each
region being fairly autonomous. However, within an office most decisions
require approval at senior levels.
o Professionalism: Most of the staff is qualified. Broadly speaking, all
employees are professionals and JWT prides itself on providing professional,
on time, and consistently reliable output to its clients.

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3. Organization Strategy
Every organization needs to have a purpose and direction that shapes how it is designed
and managed. Managers set strategic plans for the organization that determine how it
interacts with its environment and achieves its desired goals. Some of the key elements
that JWT has to focus on as part of its strategy are as follows.

Get a competitive advantage in the advertisement industry.

Align their strategy to meet the dynamic and wide variety of needs of their clients.

Awareness of developments in its environment consisting of technology, market

and consumers.

Ability to be flexible to meet the needs of the ever-changing world of advertising.

3.1 Strategy of JWT

Mission and Vision
JWT is basically a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling
advertising (and sometimes other forms of promotion) for its clients. The motto of To
create ideas for their clients that people want to spend time with drives the
advertising firm to constantly work towards its desired objectives.
Although there is no codified mission statement in JWT, but the management at JWT
believes that advertising needs to stop interrupting what people are interested in and be
what people are interested in. This is in accordance with their work with clients. For
instance, for the NIKE campaign, they showed high level of understanding for the game
of cricket and thus won the pitch.

Service Range
The services provided by JWT for its clients range from print media to advergaming to
internet advertising & promotion to television commercials. JWT is ready to use any kind
of medium which will enable them to fully express their creative thinking and ideas. The
management in JWT feels that service is related to anything to do with
communication.

Porters Strategy Model Competitive Advantage and Scope

In the advertising industry, there are two distinct ways by which an advertising firm can
build its strategy. The first approach is to focus on creativity as the dominant strategy for
the campaign, which is found in some major competitors of JWT.

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The second approach, which is followed by JWT, is to focus on building brand and
developing strategy for the clients rather than trying to be only creative. This is how JWT
has always attempted to distinguish its services from the rest or from its competitors in
the industry. For example, when NIKE entered Indian market, JWT tried to find a space
for NIKE among Indian consumers. After a lot of research, JWT came to the conclusion
that for NIKE, cricket could be the best space to reach the Indian market. Thus, JWT
came up with the ad campaign for NIKE featuring Cricket, when the brand was launched.
JWT has clients from across all segments. In India, JWTs clients include big brands like
Van Heusen, Lifestyle, Vodafone, Levis, Kingfisher, Times Group, Nike etc.
Moreover, JWT has developed expertise in the field of Fashion and Luxury products over
the years and it is a known fact that in these segments, JWT has an edge over its
competitors. Thus, JWT can be located as shown below in the Porters Strategy Model.

Competitive Scope

Competitive Scope

Competitive Advantage

JWT

Competitive
Advantage
Fig
3: Strategy Adopted
by JWT
Knowledge Management at JWT
At JWT, there is a system by which the information regarding every campaign is shared
between the different centres on a regular basis. This is achieved through news mailers
that are sent periodically on a global basis. So, even though the individual work done at
each centre continues to be owned by that particular centre, it is seen to it that at details
of major campaigns are shared globally. Later on if any centre wants details about a
particular campaign, they contact the owners of that campaign to get the information.

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4. Culture
JWT has a very open culture, characterized by flexibility and a nominal hierarchy. The
employees never feel that they are in a workplace, and work is not a burden for them, but
an integral part of life.

4.1 Interpreting Culture

The informality at JWT makes it possible for employees to bond well. Several traditions
and norms have formed over the years. For instance, social drinking is an integral part of
the culture at this company, and employees go out together to have drinks, resulting in
greater camaraderie. Moreover, employees go out for a smoke in groups, spanning across
departments. It is in these smoking sessions that the team comes up with most creative
ideas. The informal language moreover leads to greater interaction across levels.
The dislike for rigid rules and formalities is evident in everyday life at the organization.
JWT Bangalore is located in a building complex, housing various IT companies.
Everyone working inside the building complex is supposed to wear name tags, but JWT
employees are the only exceptions, who do not adhere to this rule. None of them wear a
name tag, whether inside the company or inside the building complex.

Rites and Ceremonies

Several rituals have become integral to JWT Bangalore and have helped enhance the
capabilities of employees, become a driver of motivation and a platform for
brainstorming.
a. Rites of Passage
Following the informal culture prevalent there, the boss takes the newcomer out
for a drink, and subjects him to 20 questions. It is a very effective measure to
break the ice, and induct the new employee into the friendly atmosphere.
b. Rites of enhancement
The company recognizes individual creativity by holding a Creative Challenge
every quarter, in which each JWT centre across the globe has to send the best
work done in the last quarter. The grading of the creative submissions is done by
the global team, which comprises of national creative directors from each region.
c. Rites of Renewal
Individual training workshops are conducted at regular intervals at both the local
as well as national level. Typically around 25 workshops take place in a year,
which ensures that all employees are up to date with whatever is happening in the
creative world as well as technological, and leads to skill enhancementOne of the
employees that we spoke to, Mr. Kishore, had recently attended a film workshop
in Delhi.
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d. Rites of Integration
Regular team outings are a part of JWT culture. These outings are held once every
6 months (the last outing happened at Wayanad, Kerala), and serve as a good
platform to achieve greater team bonding. During these outings, teams also
discuss about campaigns, and such relaxed environment enhances their capability
to come up with more creative ideas.

Symbols
JWT Bangalore likes to emphasize their successful campaigns, Thus, one can see the
walls filled up with success stories of Kingfisher campaigns. They have also had their
company mission, what it stands for printed on the carpet in the receiving area for guests.
It says Better the work, the stronger our reputation, the more the opportunities to
grow.

4.2 Design and Culture

Fig 4: Culture at JWT

JWT follows mainly a clan culture while having shades of adaptive culture. It lays a lot of
emphasis on development of the employees. The organization gives a lot of free space to
the creative team to think out of the box, and allows them flexibility to come up with
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ideas. This gives them a heightened sense of empowerment and responsibility resulting in
greater performance. Moreover, the cubicles are open, giving the employees avenues to
communicate freely each other, resulting in greater trust and bonding between the
employees. This also emphasizes a culture of cooperation and collaboration, where in a
team can help other teams by leveraging its expertise in a particular sector.
The organization provides flexibility to its employees such as giving the creative people a
certain amount of freedom and relaxation from rigid rules. JWT employees are supposed
to be in office by 10 am. However this is not adhered to rigidly and some leeway is given.
The company also believes in recognizing individual talent. Cannes award, biggest award
for advertising, is held every year, and this year JWT got the best award for their
campaign of NakkaMukku for TOI Chennai. JWT rewarded the individual behind the
campaign, even though the award was given to the agency.
JWT also values its customers very highly and has an external focus as well. Being in the
advertising industry, it has to be more responsive of the changes in the market, and
devises strategies to tackle the complex changes prevalent in the environment. JWT
constantly explores new ideas to adapt to changing needs of customers as well as
changing technologies. It has successfully adapted to the introduction of online media as
an avenue for advertising.

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5. Dynamic Processes in JWT

The highly dynamic environment to which JWT has been exposed has the major
influence in the internal processes of the organization. The various departments work in
close interaction with each other and this leads to critical issues during decision making
due to the enormous scope of inter-group conflicts.

5.1 Decision Making Process

In an advertising agency the major decision making issue related to the core process is
the final product to be delivered to the client. In JWT, usually, only the account
management team interacts directly with the client to collect the requirements.
During the process of development of the advertisement/product, there is a high degree of
reciprocal interdependence between the account management and the creativity teams.
The creativity team comes up with innovative solutions to the problem, but it is the
account management team that has a better understanding of the client needs and hence
will have a say in the solutions proposed by the creativity team. Also, in all cases multiple
solutions are generated and then the different teams get together and come up with a final
decision after studying the various alternatives in detail.
Another aspect of the decision making process is the role of the Account Planning team.
Their role comes into picture when they realize that the solutions proposed by the
creativity team do not suit the current trends in the targeted market segment. This
happens because the creativity team tends to focus only on innovation and not on the
market. So the account planning team gets involved in such situations so as to provide a
sense of direction to the creativity team and develop alternatives accordingly.
Thus a typical decision making process at JWT is characterized by a definite problem or
requirement and a development of a wide variety of alternative solutions. The problem is
treated as definite because the client is very clear about what is needed. Once the problem
is understood, the creativity team and comes up with all sorts of alternatives which can be
considered. This is followed by the selection phase where all the teams analyze the
various alternatives in detail and choose the best alternative which has to be
implemented. During this process they make use of the knowledge that they have gained
in past while working on similar projects as well as the current trends in the market
segment, as provided by the account planning team. This process usually involves a high
degree of discussions and arguments and this continues till a consensus is arrived at.
Another aspect of the decision making process is that since the solutions are highly
customized to suit the nature of the problem and the clients, there is no definite solution
and hence there is a great deal of intuition and judgment involved. However, if the teams
are not able to arrive at a consensus, further alternatives will have to be developed and
the whole process is repeated.

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Identificatio
n Phase

Requiremen
ts
Collection

Clients

Developmen
t Phase

Generatin
g
Alternativ
es

Creati
ve
Team

Acct
Mgmt

Selection
Phase

Evaluating
Solutions

Implementi
ng
Selection

Creati
ve
Team

Acct
Mgmt

Acct
Planning

Fig 5: Incremental Decision Process Model in JWT

The decision making process at JWT gives an indication that an Incremental Decision
Process Model has evolved in the organization.

Traces of garbage can model

Another aspect that is observed in JWT is that on many occasions, employees get random
ideas and thoughts and they feel that these ideas may be used in some campaign for a
particular product in future. Also, there are many cases where they find some innovative
solution for some problem even while they are working on an entirely different issue. So
all this indicates that they tend to find solutions without problems and hence this
behaviour shows that there are traces of the Garbage Can Model of decision making at
JWT. However, there is no conscious effort taken by JWT to implement this model.

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5.2 Conflicts
The major source of conflicts is the high degree of task interdependence among the
different teams. As explained earlier, the account management team is constantly under
pressure from the clients in various businesses. However, the creativity team functions
best when it is given complete freedom to unleash its creativity and there are no pressures
or constraints. Conflicts also occur between the account planning team and creativity
while evaluating the generated alternatives.
The major issue with resolution of conflicts in this environment is the highly subjective
nature of work. There is no perfect solution to any problem and there is no well-defined
methodology to evaluate alternatives. Hence there is no way that rational process can be
followed to resolve conflicts. The method adopted by JWT is more of a political model
which involves participation of everyone. There is a great deal of discussions involved
during this process. In spite of all this if conflicts are still not resolved, then the onus is on
the heads of the respective teams to get involved and take a decision. At times, for major
campaigns, the General Manager of JWT takes the final decision.
However, one factor which plays an important role during such conflicts at JWT is the
highly informal atmosphere that is present between the employees. This results in free
flow of ideas and there are no restrictions or inhibitions among employees to come up
with their opinions. Also, the close interaction between the teams means that every team
has a good idea of the goals to be met and hence they all take an active part in resolution
of conflicts.

Conflicts during Employee Evaluation

Due to the highly subjective nature of the work, there are no concrete rules present in the
organization to evaluate employees. Another issue is that in many cases, the ideas
generated may not actually translate to successes after the launch of the campaign. In
such cases, it is not easy to locate the source of the problem, as there might have been an
issue with the product itself.
The major factor that works in favour of an employee is if the work directly results in
some kind of award or recognition for JWT. Other than this, the worth of an employee is
judged by the quality of the ideas that are generated. Also due to the bonding between the
employees, the Director and General Manager, who handle the appraisals of employees,
have a very good knowledge of the kind of work done by each employee and hence are
able to evaluate everyone very effectively.

Power of Account Management

The account management team has an advantage over other teams due to the aspect of
network centrality. They interact with all the other teams and the clients and hence are
ideally located to understand every process. The account management team uses this
power to resolve conflicts if all other methods are not successful. The power vested in the
account management team is also evident in the fact that in most cases it is the head of
this team who go on to become the head of the organization.
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6. Environment at JWT
JWT India, like other organizations, is impacted tremendously by the various sectors of
the external environment. However, being a creative organization, it is affected most by
human resources sector, market sector and the socio cultural sector. The following
analyses the impact of various sectors of the external environment on JWT.

6.1 Task Environment

The task environment includes sectors that directly impact an organization. The following
sectors constitute the task environment
1. Market sector
JWT, being an advertising firm, has to adjust itself to the demands and
environmental changes of its very diverse client base. For example, the
advertising strategy for luxury soaps would be very different from that of highend mobile phones. The company typically conducts a market survey to
understand the market sentiment so as to devise a successful campaign.
2. Human resources sector
The employees of JWT are the most important asset for the organization.
a. Creative team
The creative team comes up with various ideas for the advertising campaigns,
in turn, resulting in higher revenues for the organization. The work expected
out of the creative team is non-routine, and hence the team requires a lot of
flexibility in terms of deadlines, work timings to explore the creative insights
required for a successful campaign.
Recruitment for creative employees can be a challenge, because judging
creativity is very subjective. Moreover, advertising professions do not pay that
well, so it becomes a challenge finding the right talent for the company. This
is why JWT Bangalore has restricted itself to 60 employees, and does not have
any immediate plans for expansion so as to maintain the quality.
b. Account Management
The account management has to sell the idea to the client. They need to have
strong persuasive skills and communication skills. They also have to cope
with the challenge of working with the unstructured creative team and
complex client requirements, and achieve a fine balance between the two.
This role is very prone to being poached by the clients, since only account
management executives interact directly with the client, and clients want to
hire them for handling their strategy and branding divisions, because these
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executives have a broad understanding about their business processes, while

working for their campaigns. Hence, the advertising companies have to
prepare themselves against such threats.
c. Account Planning
This role involves understanding market trends, and hence requires
individuals who are motivated by research and analysing data about markets.

3. Industry sector
JWT Bangalore may not face competition from other JWT centres, but it has to
tackle the intense competition posed by other advertising agencies, and it does so
by focusing its energy on the sales pitch. For example, Nike had given their
international advertising campaign to Weiden+Kennedy, and when they were
planning to reinvent themselves in India, JWT aggressively put up a creative sales
pitch to weed out competition faced by Ogilvy & Mather and Weiden+Kennedy,
even though Weiden+Kennedy had a higher chance of getting it, being the global
advertising partner for Nike. This resulted in them getting the prestigious Nike
contract.
4. Government sector
The advertising agency has to keep in mind the constraints imposed by various
government regulations as well as the censor board. For example, Kingfisher is an
important client for JWT, but they cannot develop advertisements for Kingfisher
beer directly, because Government of India does not allow direct advertisements
for alcoholic products. Hence, the creative team has to develop surrogate
advertisements so as to establish a brand for Kingfisher. Such constraints limit the
creative potential, but the teams have to deliver their best output working under
such constraints.
5. Financial resources sector
Every organization needs financial resources to sustain itself and continue its
operations. The advertising companies, in particular, are being motivated to come
up with better campaigns, by tying their revenues with the sales of the product.
The ad agencies currently get fixed revenue for the campaigns that they develop,
but the clients feel that this does not give them enough incentive to prepare a
successful campaign, and they should be made stakeholders in the success of the
campaign.
Thus, the clients have devised a revenue structure which includes a variable pay
component, according to which companies pay the advertising firm a certain
percentage of revenue, depending on the success of the campaign. JWT has not
yet adopted this structure, because it feels that it may be unjust in certain
situations, wherein they may have come up with a brilliant campaign, but it still
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fails because the product itself does not click with the consumers. Hence, the
company may not get its fair share of revenue in spite of putting in so much hard
work for the campaign.

6.2 General Environment

The general environment includes the sectors which indirectly impact an organization:
1. Economic conditions sector
The prevalent economic conditions affect the advertising companies the most,
since the advertising budget becomes the first victim of cost cutting exercises.
However, Mr Rajesh R Gangwani, GM of JWT Bangalore, explained about a
survey conducted by JWT, in which they concluded that the firms who stuck to
their advertising expenses during recession came out stronger, since they could
maintain a connect with the customer, and had a stronger brand presence as
compared to others who cut down their advertising expenses.
2. Technology sector

Technology plays a very vital role in advertising campaigns, since the

organizations have to adapt and cope with the changing technologies, so as to
connect well with the customers. JWT has already devised an online campaign for
ING Vysyas Formula One Savings account, and they plan to leverage this
medium to a greater extent to exploit the wider reach. Moreover, JWT plans to use
internet and SMS marketing so as to connect well with the youth of the nation,
since it forms an important customer segment for most of its clients.
3. Socio-cultural sector
An advertising firm has to cater to different demographic segments, such as
younger and older population, or appealing to a particular income level. For
example, the advertisements for Gutkha products would have a different appeal as
compared to the one for Raymonds. For example, JWT has made most of its
advertisements centred on youth, since the clients that they work for cater mostly
to such segments. The Nike campaign was centred on cricket so as to connect to
the cricket-crazy youth of the nation.

Environment Uncertainty
JWT interacts with a very heterogeneous environment, because its client base ranges
from airlines to apparels, to real estate. Thus, JWT has to devise campaigns keeping in
mind the customer base of each sector, as well as the marketing strategy of the client.
This leads to a very complex environment that JWT has to cope with.
Similarly, JWT faces a very unstable environment, in terms of the changing requirements
of the customers as well as changing strategies of its competitors.
Thus, JWT, like other advertising firms, faces a very complex and unstable environment.

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7. Control Mechanisms
Clan control
JWT primarily employs clan control to emphasize their beliefs and values to the
employees, and use them as a guiding force for their behaviour.
The following levers of control are employed by JWT to regulate the behaviour of
employees:

Diagnostic control: The employees of JWT are expected to come up with newer
ideas very frequently, and their appraisals are judged by the number and quality of
ideas generated by them. The company encourages competition by giving due
recognition to the employees whose campaigns wins awards for the company.
Moreover, a competition Creative Challenge is held every quarter to encourage
people to come up with more ideas, and this also becomes an important
consideration in their appraisal process.

Beliefs Systems: JWT enforces strong belief systems by encouraging shared

values among the employees. It believes in the culture of openness and flexibility,
and it is communicated through lively posters, open cubicles. JWT creates and
communicates the belief systems that are conducive to enhance creativity.

Boundary systems: JWT has devised a code of conduct and employees are
expected to strictly adhere to it. One such example would be that employees have
to make sure that none of their work reflects discrimination of any kind.

Interactive Control systems: The higher management such as Creative director

and Account management director has a high degree of involvement in the
decision making of their respective teams. Even in the case of conflicts, if the
executives are not able to resolve the conflicts amongst themselves, then the
directors in respective departments discuss the issue, and work towards a common
consensus. Also, regular meetings are held between executives and senior
management employees to track the progress of the campaign.

8. Evolution and road ahead

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Quality not quantity

JWT has always been a lean organization with a small number of highly qualified and
skilled employees. The employee strength has stayed at around 50 at the Bangalore centre
for almost a decade. There are no plans to increase the number of employees substantially
in the future.

A prospector
Though JWT has been successful with its strategy of differentiation, of late competing
agencies have also started to focus on this strategy too. So, in future, JWT might not get
any significant advantage due to its unique strategy and will be more dependent on its
qualities of being a prospector and try to keep looking for innovations and new avenues
to expand their markets.

Exploring new avenues

JWT has initiated advertisement campaigns implemented using digital media. It is also
actively exploring options of advertising through text messages, through social
networking sites and buzz marketing among others. According to the GM the focus is
shifting from one to - many advertising to one - to one advertising. They have to
target an audience which is becoming more and more mobile and as a result have to find
new ways to achieve successful results.

Meeting every client need

The media function had initially been removed from the agency. There are plans to
reintegrate the function into the agency. This would help JWT to more comprehensively
deal with client needs. Increasingly they are playing a major role in the decision process
for the choice of media and the process of implementation of the campaign. Aligning the
media function again with the agency would help serve clients more efficiently.

Creative managing
There is also an upcoming trend of the creative team staff to be directly in contact with
the clients. The clients themselves insist on someone from the creative department being
present. They feel that the presence of someone from the creative end would help in
better translation of client needs into innovative advertisement campaigns. This trend can
also been seen in countries such as UK and USA where advertising agencies have a
minimal account management department ( usually consisting of 1 or 2 employees) and
the clients directly interact with the creative team, JWT is also heading in that direction.

9. References

Organizational Theory, Change, and Design by Richard L. Daft

Interviews with employees of JWT, Bangalore

Study of JWT India

18

Managing Organizations

www.jwt.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JWT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpvuz8gg79Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEU_qyiQmYQ

Study of JWT India

19