Naspers Reviews

Pros

I'm with a new semi-independent business unit, where Naspers is like the venture capital - so it is very different from the established Naspers media businesses. I find management to be fair, accommodating, treats developers as equals, developers have creative input and freedom to propose solutions, developers know and help each other. Yet, being part of a multinational, we have most of the office amenities of a big corporate.

Cons

Most technical hires are mediocre to good - no best-in-the-world legends to mentor you
 - and much of the development is conventional, Microsoft .NET-based. There are some a non-team positions focussed on open-source - but being a one-man team makes the job more difficult - two heads are better than one.

Advice to Senior Management

A start-up that is nonetheless part of a multinational makes an enjoyable place for developers, but does not have the same potential for innovation or success as a real start-up, where the tight funding and small team breeds creative solutions.

Pros

Global company with multiple ways of making money. Smart manage who really understand their business

Cons

many business with different priorities sometimes makes it difficult for people who are not in the central office to make a difference. I suppose this is similar to many other large companies, but in this case there is sometimes a disconnect

Advice to Senior Management

keep doing what you are doing, but stick to your knitting

Pros

Great people, awesome atmosphere (24.com), respect for employee's and overall it's just a place you can go to every morning. The benefits are amazing, and the company really does try and satisfy it's employees (24.com). 24.com also take note of everything you suggest, and often include you in the decision making processes. I suppose this depends on your seniority as well, but in general, good advice is never not taken into consideration.

Cons

It's a huge corporation, so things often take time or don't even happen. Processes and procedures are hampering innovation and roll-outs. The cafeteria at 24.com is really gross, and it's over-priced!

Advice to Senior Management

Compartmentalize the company, but don't isolate them.

Pros

Naspers as a group is very smart, the people are interesting and they are moving to become one of the most innovative companies. There are loads of opportunities to take , and if you know your stuff it's easy to get promoted and move through the ranks. Koos Bekker is also visionary and knows the media industry inside out. The culture in the company is

Cons

Knowledge sharing/management is horrible. Unless you are in the upper parts of the company it's difficult to know what all the legs are doing. MIH, SWAT, 24.com and Media24 do have a relationship, but it's very seldom that you'll find them working together. While Koos is brilliant, I have doubts over some of the other media execs, especially the folk at Media24 print/publishing. Their minds are still a bit old school and struggle to keep up with the current trends.

Advice to Senior Management

Foster a greater sense of community, not just amongst senior management but also amongst lower rung workers.

Pros

As it is an expanding business, there are plenty of opportunities for someone with initiative to get involved and become leaders in those new fields. They seem to have a lot of faith in their new digital businesses, and the money ploughed into it creates a dream work environment, enabling high-quality output from an editorial perspective, and more daring plays from a corporate perspective. Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but on the digital side it feels like we have the complete trust of the suits. That's nice to have and means we worry pretty much only about our work, not how many hoops we have to jump through to get it done.

Cons

There is a lot of uncertainty regarding advancement & promotion opportunities given the strongly pro-affirmative action policy. The demographics of the workplace are fairly balanced at a junior level, but on the senior level I suppose its evident that further affirmative action is needed. So there is a real case for skewed advancement policies but it is no more comforting to a junior employee with genuine ambition. We are not that altruistic; we want to go places. Furthermore, employees over on the print side do not seem to enjoy the same supportive work environment as digital. Will digital deteriorate once our margins stabilise? I hope not.

Advice to Senior Management

Change the employment conditions for print journalists - there is extreme unhappiness and rapid turnover at some newspapers, with resultant decline in quality.