Since its establishment in 1997, Netflix has been one of the most influential change leaders globally. It has made significant changes to accomplish the goal of providing online entertainment content to customers. Numerous changes have occurred as online content has evolved from providing movies through mailed DVDs. They changed from distribution to creation of content. Notably, Netflix’s success is highly associated with the decisions by several efficient social leaders to initiate changes in the firm. Therefore, this paper explores Netflix’s strategies to establish a guiding coalition that developed the best practices though some initiatives failed. In addition, it critiques the efficacy of Netflix in creating a guiding coalition.
Netflix used various approaches to develop an effective guiding coalition. Firstly, Netflix built a trustworthy team with common goals. Ideally, trust enhances teamwork and the relationship of employees in an organization. For instance, (Allens 2017) explains that after Nathan Towery was transferred from the engineering department to a director of data engineering, he focused on making all employees work together towards a common goal to maintain the firm’s culture. Secondly, they hire managers with leadership qualities. Netflix culture requires managers to lead by example in addition to controlling the daily operations. Netflix mainly promotes internal employees or brings outsiders to acquire people with adequate leadership skills. The strategies of teamwork and proper hiring create a group of reliable personnel.
Netflix conciliation has initiated numerous practices which had profitable results. The setting of an efficient vision of global entertainment was one of the best Netflix activities. The vision was desirable, feasible, and flexible with attainable goals and changed to the demand of various regions such as Taiwan and Japan (Tse, 2020). The cooperate vision balanced the interests of stakeholders, employees, and customers as the online streaming increased whenever Netflix entered new markets. In addition, the hiring of leaders such as Towery was a beneficial decision. He is a credible expert with leadership qualities. His main objective was to ensure all employees cooperated and focused on the company objectives. Also, his low ego and trust improved relationships with subordinates which increased employees satisfaction and productivity.
However, the organization had developed a Netflix Friends site which lasted for about six years before extinction in 2010(Jenner, 2018). The project was developed to enable users to recommend and comment about Netflix movies. Many users registered on the site, but the engagement did not reach the organization’s expected standards. As a result, the organization halted its activity as the corporate vision did not capture the interests of the consumers. Low customer reception made the operation of the site uneconomical. The credibility of the guiding coalition guided the site’s creation as employees supported the decision of leaders allowing the development of the site.
Netflix is very efficient in creating a guided collation as it fulfills the basic requirement of an ideal administration. Fundamentally, the management exhibit leadership, which is a critical quality in influencing employees’ activities. Furthermore, the managers are credible as their pronouncements are considered without great resistance by employees, such as during the establishment of Netflix Friends. The coalition also portrays expertise as Towery had a great experience in engineering before assuming the director position. The success of most practices is directly tied to the decisions of social leaders, such as the vision of global expansion and Towery’s teamwork. Nevertheless, the coalition has led to significant failures such as the Netflix friends. In conclusion, the guiding coalition has made Netflix an influential change leader despite the collapse of some investments.
References
Allen, I. E. (2017). Extreme Teams: Why Pixar, Netflix, Airbnb, and other cutting-edge companies succeed where most fail. Quality Progress, 50(8), 60. Web.
Jenner, M. (2018). The Netflix audience. In Netflix and the re-invention of television (pp. 241-259). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Web.
Tse, Y. K. (2020). Black ships? locating Netflix in Taiwan and Japan. JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 59(3), 143-148. Web.