Abstract/Summary

This thesis is about leadership and performance in newspapers in Norway and Sweden, but it applies to the management and leadership of other media as well. The newspaper industry is in a period of great change, with new challenges from the market, declining readership, the influences of the Internet, new production methods and new ownership models. An investigation has been carried out into the leadership and performance of Norwegian and Swedish newspapers. The research looks at leadership behaviours and processes in relation to objective and subjective performance criteria. Questionnaires on leadership behaviours, based on the Leadership Practices Inventory (Kouzes and Posner 1995), as well as constructs of planning and objective and subjective performance data, form the basis of the research. The research shows that the LPI model does not conform directly to the 5-factor model proposed by the original LPI research, but rather as a 3-factor model. Three main contributions can be drawn from the study of 14 7 leaders in newspapers in the two countries. First, that a strategic perspective as a basis for leadership is important for the performance of the newspaper. Second, that collaboration and motivation seem to be the most important elements of leadership practices. Third, that a holistic view of the leadership process and transformational leadership practices lead to better robustness and competitiveness for the newspapers.