Who wants to Netflix and Chill?
It’s all about change, more specific leading the change you want to see. In today's business world, companies have no choice but to make every effort to keep up with an always changing market around them. “Successful organizations cannot remain static if they hope to continue that success; they must change in order to keep up with a changing world” (Spector, 3). Demands for products and services, changing technology and a more interconnected global market are just some of the change factors facing each and every firm looking to compete in the world today. If a company is not competing on the level it should or is not performing competively, then it may look at change implementation as a start to getting back on track. In order to manage the need for change, managers often use strategic renewal. This wiki will explore the strategic renewal strategy that made Netflix a household name and brought it the success it has today.
Our text defines strategic renewal as a change in an organization’s strategy involving some combination of new products/ services, new markets, and a new business model (pg3). Netflix used this idea and completely reinvented itself. 1. Provide a summary of the organization’s background.
Netflix Corporation was founded in 1997 by CEO Reed Hastings and software executive Mark Randolph. In 1999, both men launched their idea to allow their customers to rent DVD movies and have them shipped to their door. You kept the DVD as long as you wanted and then returned without late fees. The idea was revolutionary and consumers loved it. At the time Netflix was in direct competition with companies like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video which also offered movie rentals for a per-unit price and charged late fees when necessary. 2. Provide a summary of the organization’s renewed strategy.

Netflix created a new renewal strategy that resulted in the change from DVD’s thru mail to providing streaming, in demand entertainment. In 2011, although Netflix was gaining in popularity and customers, it was not seeing it reflected in its financial summary. In order to not only keep the pace, but be ahead of the change movement, Netflix shifted away from its initial game plan. According to an article in the New York Times regarding the company’s shift in strategy, CEO Hastings reported stated;
“Two months ago, I went around the house and tried to round up the three disks I had on loan from the service. I only found one, in part because it has been so long since I had actually put a DVD in the player. Like every other legacy media artifact in my house, it has been pushed aside by more immediate digital offerings. My television, like so many others, streams from Netflix and other services, making DVDs seem like a quaint artifact of a bygone era” (nytimes.com)
It was this kind of change that eventually separated the likes of Blockbuster and Netflix, paving two different paths. “Netflix adapted to the world of DVD’s offered through mail and video-on-demand, while Blockbuster lagged behind” (Spector, pg4) 3. How did employee patterns of behavior have to change based on the requirements of the renewed strategy
In order to successfully effect this change, the organization as a whole must participate and be on board with the change in strategy. A shift in external business practices, has a great impact on internal employees because they are the once who will implement the change and if the implementation is not properly done, then the plan cannot be successful not matter how sound. Transformation change will help in this aspect. If employees are accustomed to one way of doing something, their behavior must be altered to fall in line with the organization. Employers must also be aware of the needs of their employees and not only the needs of the customers.
Netflix has done a great job in creating a name and lane for themselves. The company heads understood the importance of leading change and they jumped on the opportunity. I may not have been the most profitable change, but it did solidify the company’s growth and standing in today’s market. Netflix has become a household name, while Blockbuster has declared bankruptcy. I would say the change worked, wouldn’t you?

References
Carr, David. "Netflix: Earnings Offer a Stream of Bad News." Mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com. David Carr, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 19 Dec. 2015
Sherman, Erik. "Why Netflix Got Its Strategy Right." CBS Money Watch. Erik Sherman, 12 July 2012. Web. 18 Dec. 2015.
Spector, B. (2013). Implementing organizational change: Theory into practice (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.