Ann Moore: Restructuring at Time Inc. Has Been a 'Home Run'

NEW YORK—Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore said Tuesday that the company’s dramatic restructuring last fall—during which roughly 600 staffers at the mega-publisher were laid off—has proven to be an unmitigated success.

“It’s been a home run,” Moore said.

Her remarks came during a keynote here at the annual New York Magazine Day event.

The moves, Moore said, “changed a [corporate] culture that had been getting in the way.” Decisions, efficiency—and innovation—are occurring faster inside Time Inc. than ever before."

Moore pointed to Time Inc. University, a program in which managers instruct rank-and-file in a classroom setting, as one example of a streamlined publishing company.

Restructuring Costly

Late last year, Time Warner said the reorganization and layoffs at Time Inc. would cost the company between $100 million and $125 million in restructuring charges. Time Warner took on between $280 million and $310 million in restructuring fees in 2008.

Time Inc.'s revenues decreased 7 percent (some $347 million) to $4.6 billion in 2008, due to declines in advertising revenues (10 percent), subscription revenue (2 percent) and 8 percent in other areas. The slide in advertising was due to decreases in print magazine revenues and lower custom publishing revenues, as well as the impact of the 2007 closures of LIFE and Business 2.0 magazines, Time Inc. said.

Bullish on Print

Meanwhile, Time Inc. is working on a dozen new redesigns of its print magazines, Moore said. Most will roll out in 2009.

Yet Moore hinted that not all of the company’s magazines will always be in print.

“I’m absolutely sure each of the Time Inc. brands I work on will be standing after we’re all gone,” she said.

The key being brands—not necessarily their magazines.

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ann moore's insensitivity

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 09:55.

how typical of ann moore to cast the firing of 600 people as a home run. as so often in baseball and the corporate world, it's the team manager who should have been fired long ago.

Whoa.

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 10:14.

She's got some cojones... Is cojones the right word?

Totally Insensitive

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 21:13.

Odd that she is talking about "brands" when all she and her entrenched executive and middle management team know is magazines and an old-school, ad driven model that is simply not cutting it in the 21st Century. The business is run by insider publishing execs not marketers so an uphill climb if she thinks her team under her leadership can grow brands.

Liar

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 09:56.

I'm reading a bio of Mao at the moment. This sounds like something he would have said about what a home run the "Great Leap Forward" was as 30 million peasants were starving to death.

Chershire Cat Grin

Submitted by Not Smiling on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 11:12.

600 layoffs: maybe that is why she is grinning in glee?

I suspect

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 18:59.

I suspect that Ms. Moore doesn't really know what she's doing and is shaking in her shoes about the 1st quarter announcement to be given on April 29, 2009. Overall, I would say she is a sad and very nervous individual. My question is why hasn't she been replaced? Wasn't she supposed to be "tending the flock"? Didn't all of this happen under her watch? Why haven't the powers that be replaced her? Her "underlings" were only doing as instructed. I see this as, honestly, her fault. Get someone else at the helm. Someone with true leadership skills. Not someone so reactionary.

ann moore

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 19:17.

Ann Moore's legacy will be nothing more than chronic layoffs & reorgs,while overseeing the downfall of 1 of the greatest media companies ever. Ann has more excuses than a cable or phone company and if the woman was ever held accountable for her "track record" over her tenure, she would have been fired 5+ years ago. She will go down as the worst CEO in Time Inc history. She has ruined the heart, soul & spirit of a great company and thousands of individuals.

As one of the many who was

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 19:46.

As one of the many who was terminated by Ms Moore I just cried and cried when I read this. This is just more salt in the wound. How much more cold and callous can she get? What she fails to mention are the droves of employees who left voluntarily and weren't standing for her crap. So the workforce is down and those that remain are disgruntled and spend most of the day on ideed or other job sites. How is this a "homerun"?

Usage

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:58.

Cojones sounds exactly on point here--totally correct usage!

Self Aggrandizing

Submitted by Magazine Expat on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 22:20.

My spouse, a Time Inc. veteran comes home every day from Time Inc., beaten up and demoralized, with tales of how no one can even pretend to give a shit anymore, and how even the editors are phoning it in. You, Ms. Moore, are a disaster. Home run? Here's a better idea: run home.

credit where due

Submitted by Former Time Incer on Fri, 04/17/2009 - 11:54.

I have been hearing Time Incers and ex-Time Incers bemoan the good old days and talk about how it's no longer Paradise Publishing, for decades. Ann Moore is arrogant and opinionated, and deservedly so: she has done more to create new magazines/brands/businesses and profits than any CEO Time Inc has had in the three decades with which I'm familiar.

"Mission Accomplished!"

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 04/20/2009 - 00:31.

Ms. Moore's comments remind me of another false claim of victory! This only validates my assumptions about her morel character. Karma's a bi*ch, and she better watch out!

Ann NoMoore

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 04/20/2009 - 12:27.

In response to "self aggrandizing" I would like to add that it's true that most Time inc people truly don't give a crap about being here anymore. People just aren't even bothering to show up. The managers don't even care-it's very much a don't ask...policy. I know this to be true as I look around at the empty cubicles that normally are full on a Monday. As far as A.M. creating new brands well have you seen the new Mine magazine? I think that concept has been done before and it's called Reader's Digest. So innovative Time Inc is! Here's an idea-what not just ask for volunteer layoffs. You could meet some sort of "ball park" quota (pardon the bad pun spurned from her "home run" comment) and then some. From my friends at Southern Progress I hear the situation is worse.

"each of the Time Inc. brands I work on will be standing"

Submitted by Goodnight Grandma on Mon, 04/20/2009 - 23:09.

and they won't cost much to print when they are all 8-12 pages thick. Entertainment Weekly? Please. She is doing her best to make the AOL merger look smart.

Harvard Business School?

Submitted by Carole on Tue, 04/21/2009 - 12:18.

She is really patting herself on her back for having "hit a home run". Any halfwit can terminate 600+ jobs. A Harvard Business School graduate wouldn't have let her division get to this point. We knew several years ago she was so clueless and would be a failure.

What Home Run?

Submitted by John G. on Wed, 04/29/2009 - 12:43.

What happened to Ann Moore's "home run"? After today's dismal first quarter report I asked myself that question. She is just biding her time until her contract runs out next year then she's going to leave it to the next person to figure it all out.

Ann Moore: Restructuring at Time Inc. Has Been a 'Home Run'

CEO: Redesigns of dozens of magazines on way.

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