__________________________________________________________________________________________________

INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
To: Upper Management of Fox Associates
From: Hannah Hildebrandt
Subject: Fox Associates Proposal of Business
Date: July 12, 2016
CC: Jerilyn Willin
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
After spending much time interacting with Fox Associates Publishers Representatives employees, and shadowing
daily operations, I now have a much better understanding of how the business works as a whole. Fox Associates is a
nationwide advertising firm headquartered in the heart of downtown Chicago, but has offices in New York, Los Angeles,
Atlanta and Detroit. It was founded in 1968 by Marlys Fox, who has spent the majority of her professional career in
publishing and advertising. Foxs professional experience ranges from consumer, trade, B2B, online and all non-traditional
media assets- nationally and worldwide. (What We Do)
Foxs mission statement is that they are: dedicated sales advocates for our publisher clients. We will represent
strength, skill, and integrity. We will tenaciously use our resources and relationships to achieve our clients desired results
and exceed their expectations. (How We Work) Foxs values are that they: value honesty, openness, and trust in dealing
with each other, our publishers and the advertising community. In our selling efforts, we value flexibility, earnestness,
resiliency and persistence. (How We Work) Foxs vision is that they: believe that leadership is not reflected by the size of
an organization, but by its history of proven client success. Therefore, we will strive to be a leader through industry
recognition of our proven efforts, insights, and achievements. (How We Work)
With over 35 years of experience, Fox has assisted hundreds of clients in developing strategically targeted plans
across a broad spectrum of print and electronic media. A customized media plan can mean the difference of meeting, or
exceeding your sales goals, and falling short of your projections. Tracking down the right mix can be elusive and an
inefficient buy can mean a waste of money, diminished reach, and a missed opportunity in a complex, fluid media
marketplace. (What We Do) Fox advertises to a variety of markets including consumer packaged goods, pharmaceuticals,
building projects, travel agencies, photography, over-the-counter drugs, insurance, direct response, insurance, and luxury
goods.
The core businesses that Fox conducts business with on a daily basis are publishers and associations.
Specifically, the American Bar Association, the Association for Middle Level Education, the American Public Works
Association, the American Society of Safety Engineers, Bank Innovation, Bus Tours Magazine, Chicago Medical Society,
Chicago Dental Society, GeoChic, Hadassah, Horse Network, Lindys Sports, the National Association of Elementary of
School Principals, the National Review, The Nation, the New York State Bar Association, the Presbyterian Church USA,
Rand McNally, True Romance, the Weekly Standard, the United Methodist Communications, Vietnam Veterans of America,
Inc., and Where Branded Publications.

Within each of the aforementioned publications and associations, there are a plethora of key clients. To name a few,
specifically, for the American Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association, the key clients are higher education,
private and solo lawyers, private practice law firms, and small, medium and large law firms. For the Association for Middle
Level Education and the National Association of Elementary of School Principals, administrators, principals and teachers
that supervise students up to the age of 15, and principals. For the American Public works, construction companies,
distributors of construction safety equipment, and construction equipment rental companies. For the American Society for
Safety Engineers, safety supplies suppliers. For Bank Innovation, financial technology startup companies. For Bus Tours
Magazines, the Convention Visitors Bureau (CVB), and tourist locations. For the Chicago Medical Society, Medical
equipment suppliers and distributors. For the Chicago Dental Society, dental equipment suppliers and distributors. For
GeoChic, upscale jewelry and fashion designers, along with makeup suppliers and distributors. For Hadassah, middle-aged
Jewish faith women. For Horse Network, all consumers because it has such a large range of products from makeup and
beauty, to traveling, to information for the average equestrian enthusiast, and Lindys Sports, for all sports enthusiasts and
fans, and many more.
The primary competitors for Fox are all publisher representatives. Specifically, Almae, Arlington Publisher
Representatives, Fujii Associates, and Brun Media. The leading, and only source of revenue for Fox strictly comes from the
revenue gained from advertising sales, and the hierarchy of the organization is as follows: Marlys Fox is the CEO and
Founder, Vince Backley is the Chairman of the Board, Steve Schwanz is the Executive Vice President, Bill Bell is the Senior
Vice President and Business Unit Director, and Sharon Miro is also a Senior Vice President and Business Unit Director.
These five superiors are referred to as the FTeam. Underneath the FTeam is the sales team, the Client Service Group
Director, and the Financial Director. Underneath the sales team, and Client Service Group and Financial directors are the
Client Service Group, which consists of a team lead, project manager, assistants and interns, and the finance team, which
consists of a financial analyst. And finally, unfortunately, Fox does not have any real ties with any philanthropic activities or
organizations.
The two suggestions that I would suggest for Fox to improve on would be the training of employees, and to have a
better, more defined hierarchy.
Nowadays with businesses moving to multiple different platforms, and using several complicated programs and
processes, training is imperative for a smooth running operation, and to boost employee morale. At Fox, it is apparent they
are short staffed in the Chicago location, and this problem seeps through to the training of new employees. With the mass
amount of business that comes and goes on a daily basis, each employee is swamped with their own personal business
tasks, along with daily shared office tasks. It is nearly impossible for a new employee to be properly trained because the
supposed trainer is constantly being distracted by their own tasks, or gets pulled away to help someone else because, they
too, were improperly trained. This issue goes beyond the problem of lacking the knowledge to complete everyday tasks, but
also comes out in the morale of several employees. There are frequent complaints of over stress and how there arent

enough hours in the day to complete all the work that is constantly being thrown at them. A great example that I found that
backs up my point of how training is imperative to have for employees is from The Effectiveness of an Organizational-Level
Orientation Training Program in the Socialization of New Hires, by Howard J. Klein and Natasha A. Weaver. This study
looked at a sample of people who completed a voluntary employee training course, and their reported responses were as
follows: Results revealed that employees attending the orientation training were significantly more socialized on 3 of the 6
socialization content dimensions (goals/values, history, & people) than employees who did not attend the training.
Employees attending the orientation training also had significantly higher levels of affective organizational commitment than
non-attendees, a relationship that was fully mediated by the socialization content dimensions, primarily goals/values, and
history. Fox has tried to address this issue by uploading video tutorials on how to do certain processes; although this only
bandaids the situation, and it is not an effective long term solution, especially because if questions arise, there is no one to
answer them.
This then leads me to my second suggestion of having a better, more defined hierarchy. Although there are
appointed roles and positions, everyone seems to be helping everyone else with whatever they need. Some may see this
as being helpful, but in fact it is actually hindering the performance of the company. With not having anyone stick to their
assigned duties, business is not nearly as efficient as it should be, and it is often misleading and frustrating for those under
the superiors because they are constantly being told different things from different people, and never know who to truly
report to for certain tasks. It is imperative for Fox to appoint champions of said roles immediately, otherwise the problem will
just grow deeper. Overall, the main issue with not having a clear, defined hierarchy is that business operations are not nearly
as effective and efficient as they should be, and communication is not clear at all, which just feeds to the aforementioned
problems.
In order to sustain an efficient, well running business, along with maximizing business profits, it is imperative for
Fox Associates to make these suggested changes. If Fox decides to stay in their old ways of conducting business, they
surely will fail in the near future. They are a strong company with the capacity to change, but just need the extra push to get
there; As Charles Darwin quoted, it is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best
manage change.

Works Cited
"Fox Associates Publishers' Representatives." Fox Associates Publishers' Representatives. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2016.
KLEIN, H. J. and WEAVER, N. A. (2000), THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN ORGANIZATIONAL-LEVEL ORIENTATION
TRAINING PROGRAM IN THE SOCIALIZATION OF NEW HIRES. Personnel Psychology, 53: 4766. doi: 10.1111/j.17446570.2000.tb00193.x
Links
www.foxrep.com
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.17446570.2000.tb00193.x/abstract;jsessionid=CFD611937E7727C646F3C66CE7186783.f02t01