20 Under 40 - 1995 Profile: Michael D. Kujawa

PRESSTIME

By Presstime Magazine

First Published: December 1995

Cutting subscriber complaints in half, as Mike Kujawa did in his first 18 months at Indianapolis Newspapers Inc., is no small feat. But he envisions an even bigger trick —"to change a culture, moving from a centralized situation where folks have always done things in the same way to one where managers empower a group."

Charged with reversing a dwindling readership, Circulation Director Kujawa wants nothing less than "the very best circulation department in the country."

A devotee of Tom Peters' management principles, Kujawa got carte blanche in 1994 to bring in nearly a dozen of his own leaders. That was a difficult year, he says. "I was brought in not to be a hatchet man but to fix service and increase circulation. I brought in people from all over the country to give this organization a surge of adrenaline."

Kujawa apparently thrives on it himself. Early on, he says, "I saw opportunities for someone with people skills and marketing savvy as circulation [departments] came of age."

Among the opportunities he pursues in Indianapolis: a database-marketing strategy and a project that will allow any caller to address all queries to a single customer-service representative.

Management techniques aside, Kujawa credits his success to being a "cheerleader," so "folks understand their jobs and actually believe they can do it."