DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Samuel van der Swaagh

SOSC 111

Dr. Blake

10/11/12

 

Harrison Scott Publications

 

            This observation is on Harrison Scott Publications, located on 5 Marine View Plaza, Suite 400, Hoboken, NJ, which is a newsletter company that provides professionals in finance with pressing news on real estate, securitization, and the investment field. The observation took place on October 1st, 2012 from 1:00 to 2:00 PM. and on October 2 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM. The first day of observations involved mostly having lunch with the co-CEO and General Manager, Daniel Cowles. The first day was not an interview, but an orientation. The observations recorded in this paper concern my fieldwork on the second day. On my arrival to a trendy part of Hoboken, it was a cold brisk day. HSP is located in an apartment like office building that is about three blocks away from a pleasant river park, which almost mirrors the Hudson River Park on the Manhattan side of the river. As I walk up Washington Street, which is the heart of Hoboken, I notice numerous banks, expensive apartments and high quality restaurants or shops. The place is moderately noisy with construction, cars, people, and river activity, but not as overwhelming as New York City.

 

When entering the lobby of the red brick building, which hosts multiple small businesses other than HSP, I immediately stepped into a cozy sitting room with a small black desk in the middle, and a large mellow colored painting of Hoboken notables on the far south wall. While I crossed the lobby to the elevators, which were directly opposite to a few couches, I heard punk music playing. The HSP office rests on the fourth floor and takes up at least a quarter of the level’s office space. Right off the elevator, the fourth floor hallways have a dormitory feel with dark green carpet, wooden office doors, and dim fluorescent lighting. The HSP office room itself lies at the southeast corner of the floor. The main area of the office consists of four clusters of cubicles, while its extremities consist of small conference rooms, a printing area, a record closet, and a kitchen alcove.

 

Probably the most defining features of the office room are its low cubicles and casual setting. I observed that the low cubicles facilitated a collaborative work environment as all workers were always within eyelevel of each other. Also, I noticed that none of the reporters, editors, or database workers wore uniforms or suits. The dress code for work was business casual. The atmosphere of the place was low key and relaxing. As I toured the main office area, I heard faint typing and an editor reviewing an article with a reporter. All workers seemed absorbed in their own work, yet everyone had a shared sense of each other’s space and work. The negative element of these low-rise cubicles was that workers had to cope with one another’s extraneous noises. At around 10:20, for example, I observed a chatty editor disrupt the office peace because the person unmindfully spoke over the cubicle walls. That being said, the life of the office room possessed a collaborative spirit that arose out of the room’s arrangement and open spaces, which were created by the low cubicles.

 

            On arriving to the HSP office at 10:00 AM., I saw 15-20 workers present, which I learned later account for about half the workers. As the workers started to steadily roll in, I observed that reporters and editors started to review and revise newsletters for Real Estate Alert and Hedge Fund Alert. According to the HSP weekly schedule, today was the day when the newspaper company needed to finalize their weekly alerts. While the reporters and editors steadily approached the last processing phase, for at least the Real Estate Alert, I observed a few people moving about dropping drafts or documents into each other cubbies, which were small black “inbox” like receptacles. Empty cubbies kept the system moving smoothly. Whenever a worker completed a task—whether or not it was research, writing an article, formatting, or proof reading—the person passed the product on to another worker in order to be further processed. Sometimes in the office there existed “stackers” or people who tended to accumulate papers in their cubbies. However, for the most part, HSP workers followed the general principle of having a clear cubby. The way HSP produced their newsletters involved very specific, sequential steps, and people who created bumps in that process can cost the company an extra hour of work.

 

            During the hour that I invested in observing the office, I saw people either processing or passing around papers. Because I was mostly confined to the General Manager’s cubicle, I had a limited view of the work activity. Over the droning hum of the AC, I heard a male editor intensely reviewing an article with a female reporter. As I listened to the quiet dispute, it seemed that the editor had identified a technical error, while the reporter seemed to be insistent about a point. During this conversation, Dan received three articles to review, one of which appeared to be a Commercial Mortgage Alert from last week. Immediately, Dan performed final edits on the papers as notices filled his cubby. The final edits consisted of verifying names or addresses, eliminating the extraneous, and making the last formatting touches. Also, as I peered over the low cubicles, I noticed the reporters standing and talking with editorial staff. In the far side of the office there was a slight buzz of activity as the editors and the reporters exchanged papers and thoughts. On the other side of the office, the database and administrational staffs worked in silence. Despite the remoteness of the database, I still saw reporters dropping by the database in order to ask for statistical data or charts. As I looked around the room, I realized that the layout of the office reflected the roles played within the section.

 

            In other words, the geography of the room significantly impacted the culture of the office space. At HSP, all sections of the office centralized around the editorial staff. In the middle of the room there extended a row of cubicles that housed the editors, the publisher, and the general manager. Relative to the entrance, the publisher, and the general manager are situated on the far right side of the room. As my eye moved to the back of the office, I saw four rows of cubicles that were perpendicular to the editorial cubicles. After examining these cubicles, I discovered that the reporters occupy this back section. The primary workers that regularly approached the editors were people that proceeded from these back clusters of cubicles. Also, at approximately 10:30 AM, I was confirmed in my speculation because around the mid-hour I noticed that more workers started to arise from this far side of the room. In addition, I also observed that the editors tended to engage these incomers on an advisory level. On the other side of the editorial section (the front of the room), there existed two square groups of cubicles. The right front cluster appeared to be occupied by the database staff because the workers in those cubicles tended to mostly communicate with the reporters. Also, within the left front section there was the format editor, who often worked with the editors in updating the HSP website and formatting the newsletters. The remaining left front section of the office I figured to be used by the administration, which consisted of the customer service, the marketing manager and the advertising staff. As I followed the logic of the place’s geography (refer to sketched map), I begin to understand the workflow of the office.

 

            Initially, the workload started in the back and then generally gravitated toward the center of the office. In other words, according to my observations, once the reporters and the database finished researching and writing stories, the newsletter process moved toward the front of the room as the editors took on the next step. After the editors completed their role of proof reading and guiding the research process, the work load moved up from the editorial section to the general manager and the publisher. As the work flow headed toward the administrative section, I noticed an overlap in the work flow as workers utilized an online log to manage work across the board. The overlap also existed when I observed the database people working with the reporters and the editors on how to display data. There probably existed numerous other overlaps, but everything in the office seemed to gravitate toward the editorial section. One of the most striking examples of this idea of centralized work was the placement of the Bloomberg Terminal. At the heart of the office there was a computer that displayed data on stock markets, banks, corporations, and economic stats. Throughout the hour, people usually visited this terminal to check up on the latest news, market trends, or general information.

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.