出版商Rodale高层连续出走内幕

    除了罗德尔的管理风格，有些人也质疑她着手建立的管理团队。7月份，她把《Men's Health》的编辑兼《Women's Health》编务总监戴夫•辛克森科提升至《Organic Gardening》和《Prevention》的编务总监（即这两份杂志的编辑向他汇报）兼总经理。《Runner's World》的编辑戴维•威利也被提升为总经理。

    Rodale的宾州总部和纽约办公室的气氛也迥然不同。和其他出版公司不同，Rodale是一只脚踩在美国田园小镇上，另一只脚则踩在五光十色、飞速前行的传媒之都。“纽约整个8楼的管理人员都被清除了，”一位前纽约雇员称，“Emmaus的人们需要到纽约实地看看，到底是个什么情况。”

    新的管理团队相信已看到公司向好迹象。“假如Rodale是一家上市公司，我会告诉我的经纪人，把我所有的钱都用来买这只股票，”辛克森科满是热情地谈到。他说，在罗德尔的领导下，Rodale已变得更加透明和高效。公司图书业务的总体盈利能力得到大幅提升。拥有62年历史的健康杂志《Prevention》改版后更贴近盈利的《Men's Health》。他还说，像2003年《South Beach Diet》畅销不衰的好日子并没有过去。

    与此同时，罗德尔将这些变革与行业困境联系起来。她在一份书面声明中称，“两年前当我成为首席执行官时，很显然当时我们需要更多地关注客户。”这些长期变革与公司人事震荡关系不大，影响更大的公司方向的调整。“我对团队进行了评估，给了他们与我共同选择新方向的机会。当我提出新的愿景时，我们确实看到有人或主动或被动地离开，但当公司选定了一条不同的道路时，这样的变化是可以料见的，”她补充说。

    分析师们可不这么认为。“[Rodale]一直做得不错，但2009年以来有很多问题，”Media Industry Newsletter的主编史蒂夫•科恩表示，他跟踪Rodale已有25年。科恩认为，Rodale的震荡源于大多数出版商都面临的财务压力。他说，2009年以来Rodale已采取了这样或那样的减员，把几个总编的权力进行了整合。但影响到的可能不只是权力。“让玛利亚做首席执行官事实上是为了节省成本，因为我相信他们不用付她七位数。我想他们现在正在锱铢必较。”

    传媒研究公司Kantar Media的2011年底数据显示，Rodale的广告收入较2010年下降，并略低于行业均值。Rodale的“全国等量版面”（national equivalent pages）——这是反映一家刊物所有版面刊登的平面媒体广告量的一个重要行业指标——总体下降约7%，而行业均值仅下跌了3.1%。

    罗德尔在1月13日关于梅尔考德辞职的内部备忘录上写道，“虽然与另谋前程的人们道别令人伤感，但由此公司内部能提供更多发展和晋升的机会，无疑是令人欣喜的。”2012年未来几个月Rodale的新书能否大红大紫，将证明这些出走的高管究竟是目光短浅，还是有先见之明。

    Besides Rodale's management style, some questioned the leadership team she began building. In July, she promoted Dave Zinczenko, editor of Men's Health and editorial director of Women's Health, to the status of an editorial director overseeing Organic Gardening and Prevention (whose editors now report to him) as well as a general manager. David Willey, editor of Runner's World, was also made a general manager.

    There were also sharp differences in atmosphere between the company's Pennsylvania headquarters and its New York City outpost. Unlike other publishers, Rodale has one foot in an idyllic, small American town and the other in a glitzy, fast-moving media capital. "The entire eighth floor executive wing in New York is decimated," says a former New York City staffer. "The Emmaus folks need to take a field trip to New York to see how everything really looks."

    Current management sees the beginnings of a turnaround. "If Rodale were a publicly traded company, I'd be telling my broker to plow everything I have into it," says Zinczenko enthusiastically. The company, he argues, has become more transparent and efficient under Rodale's leadership. It has made strides in improving the profitability of its book business overall. And the 62-year-old health mag Prevention is now modeled more closely on the profitable Men's Health. The days of mega-hits like 2003's South Beach Diet are not behind the company, Zinczenko says.

    Rodale, meanwhile, pegs the changes to the turmoil in media. "When I became CEO two years ago, it was clear that we needed to shift our focus more to our customers," she said in a prepared statement. The long-term changes, Rodale argues, have less to do with tumult inside the company than a change in direction. "I took my time evaluating the team and giving people the opportunity to get on board with my new direction. We did see departures, both voluntary and involuntary, as I introduced the new vision, but this kind of change is to be expected when a company sets a different course," she added.

    Analysts aren't so sure. "[Rodale] always did nicely but since 2009 has had a lot of problems," observed Steve Cohn, who is Editor-in-chief of Media Industry Newsletter and has followed the company for 25 years. Cohn sees in Rodale's turmoil the financial strains plaguing most publishers. The company, he says, has been downsizing in one way or another since 2009 and consolidating power with a few top editors. But more than control may be at stake. "Putting Maria at CEO was a real cost-saver because I bet they don't have to pay her seven-figures. I think they're now counting their nickels and dimes."

    According to 2011 year-end numbers from Kantar Media, a media research firm, Rodale's advertising revenues were down from 2010 and also slightly underperformed the industry. The firm's national equivalent pages — a key industry measurement of all the print ads that run in all the editions of a publication — were down about 7% overall. By comparison, the industry average was down 3.1%.

    In a January 13 internal memo about Meyercord's resignation, Rodale wrote, "While it is sad to say goodbye to people who move on to other opportunities, the ability to provide opportunities for growth and advancement from within is very rewarding." The success of Rodale's titles in the next few months of 2012 will prove whether this staffing shakeup was ill-conceived or prescient.