The main purposes of this thesis are to understand the situations of the job-enlargement of the planning staff in the media agencies, to investigate the antecedents and consequences of the job enlargement, and to discuss how managers and the staff can respond to the trend of job enlargement. The research mainly adopts a mixed method including qualitative inquery and quantative survey. Qualitative inquery includes researcher's personal observation and experiences in this industry for 10 years, literature review, and expert interviews with seven managers working in the media agency and three managers from the advertising agency.Quantitative survey uses questionnaires distributed in four relevant industries (the advertiser, the media, the media agency, and the advertising agency). Eighty-nine staff members answer the questionnaire.
The results from expert interviews and questionnaires show that job enlargement of the planning staff in the media agencies is becoming the trend. The tasks of the planning staff primarily focus on services related to the media industry. The planning staff is also required to provide trend information of various industry environments and analyses of consumer behaviors.
The job enlargement of the planning staff in the media agencies results from the advertiser’s requirements and the plural development of the media. The relationships between the media agency and the advertising agency are changing from vertical channel partners to horizontal competitors. The job enlargement of the planning staff in the media agencies benefits the advertisers the most. The advertisers are satisfied with the professional ability and peroformance of the planning staff in the media agencies. Nevertheless, the media agencies themselves feel that they are still adjusting their steps to meet the trainging demands and professional requirements.