Background

Question:

1. Analyse the following questions based on the case scenario. You need to present and EVALUATE the facts and explore the hidden leadership principles behind these facts.

• How did Hastings change his use of communications in sending and receiving messages from Pure Software to Netflix?
• How did Hastings change his use of feedback from Pure Software to Netflix?
• How did Hastings change his use of coaching guidelines from Pure Software to Netflix?
• Which conflict management style did Hastings tend to use at Pure and Netflix?
• In making a deal with Epix, which conflict management style was most likely used by Netflix?

2. How would you improve Netflix’s product offerings (i.e., what things can’t you watch that you would like to watch) or processes (i.e., how can it improve its delivery or service)?

3. Which level or levels of analysis and leadership paradigm are presented in this case, and did Hastings use the management or leadership paradigm?

4. How did Hastings Big Five model of personality leadership traits change from Pure Software to Netflix?

5. Which University of Iowa leadership styles did Hastings use at Pure Software and Netflix?

6. Explain how power, organisational politics, networking, and negotiation are, or are not, discussed in the case.

 

 

Introduction

This report is about Netflix. In this report leadership style and conflict management process of two companies – Pure Software and Netflix is discussed. Also in this report we have discussed by the CEO of both the companies, Reef Hastings. In this report we have studied about how leadership style of Hastings changed from Pure Software to Netflix and how it helped Netflix to achieve its present growth. We have also mentioned about the films/programs we cannot see at present see on Netflix and how the process of Netflix can be changed to further stimulate its growth. We have also explained The Big Five Personality Traits Model of Hastings; we have also analyzed the leadership styles according to The University of Iowa Studies.

Background

Netflix is a provider of internet streaming media which is available to viewers in all of North America, South America , some parts of Europe and North America.  It provides flat rate DVD-by-mail. This company was recognized in 1997 and has it’s headquarter in Los Gatos, California. The CEO off Netflix is Mr. Reef Hastings, who was previously owner of a company named Pure Softwares, Hating sold Pure Softwares to start Netflix.

Aim of the report

Aim of this report is to study about different leadership and conflicting styles and also find out how Hastings applied these styles in his handling of companies.

Scope of the report

Scope of this report is to learn about different learning and conflicting styles and to know how Netflixed achieved its growth.

 

Content

When Hastings was heading Pure Software he hardly used to communicate with his employees, he just used to give them directions and expected them to follow these directions. In Pure Software Hastings would criticize his employees for their dumb ideas and did not really try to listen attentively to what they actually meant, whereas in Netflix he hears to his employees and asks further questions for classification (Heldman, 2001).

While working in was hard headed and could not take feedbacks, he used to embarrass his employees with gestures like eye rolling and use to criticize his employees for their dumb ideas. He used autocratic style and used to push his way by telling clients what they were supposed to do. In Netflix Hastings used a participative model with his employees; he ensured honesty and directness with the employees. He started taking ideas and advices from his employees and also started asking questions in case he was not able to understand their ideas (Berku, 2008).

Aim of the report

In Pure Software the coaching guideline of Hastings he was an autocratic leader, he used non – verbal eye rolling and critical comments about dumb ideas, he just used to direct employees and expected employees to follow it, but when he came to Netflix he adopted participative model, he now asks for ideas from his employees

Different conflict management styles –

Accommodating – In this you work together to a high-degree and in fact work against your own goals.  This move is efficient when the other party is the authority or has a superior solution.  It can also be successful for protecting prospect relations with the other party.

Avoiding – This is when you basically shun the issue. This works in the case the subject is unimportant or when there are no chances of winning.   It can also be effective when the issue would be very costly (David, 2011).  It is also very efficient when the environment is sensitively charged and there is a need to create some space.

Collaborating – This is where you partner with the other party to attain both of your goals.  This can be effectual for intricate scenarios where you need to find an original solution. The disadvantage of this style is that it needs a high-degree of faith and arriving at a consensus can entail a lot of time and attempt to get everybody on board.

Competing – This is a “win-loseâ€Â approach.  In this you act in a very self-assured way to attain your goals, without looking for support from the other party and it may be at the cost of the others. This approach may be suitable for crisis, when time is of the real meaning, or when you want quick, important action, and people are conscious of and carry the approach (Rumfellow, 2015).

Compromising – This is a “lose-loseâ€Â approach where neither party attains what they want.  This wants a reasonable level of boldness and collaboration.  It may be suitable for situations where you need a provisional solution, or where both sides have evenly significant goals.  

At Pure Sotwares Hastings used to use Competing conflict management style, which is a “win-loseâ€Â approach. In Netflix he changed his conflict management style and started using Collaborating Approach, which was win-win approach. This is the approach that he must have used in making a deal with Epix (Verzuh, 2011).

There are programs/films like Star wars, Indiana Jones, Super Toopers, Batman which we want to watch on Netflix in future.

Netflix should change its process with decreasing the prices which it has increased recently and it should once again ponder on its decision of dividing of the DVD-by-mail surface of the business from the streaming side of the business (Henly, 2013).

Different levels of paradigm

The different levels of analysis are – the individual level, the group level, and the organizational level.

Individual Level of Analysis – At this level of analysis, organizational behavior engages the study of motivation, ethics, personality, learning, creativity, turnover etc. At this level, organizational behavior draws heavily upon psychology, and medicine.

Scope of the report

Group Level of Analysis – At this level of analysis, organizational behavior engages the study of group dynamics, power, leadership, norms, intra- and intergroup cohesion and conflict and networks. At this level, organizational behavior draws heavily upon the socio-psychological and sociological sciences.

Organization Level of Analysis – At this level of analysis, organizational behavior engages the study of organizational structure, cultural diversity organizational culture, and change and conflict.

There are three levels of paradigm, which are – Autocratic, Paternalistic, & Servant Leadership.

 

 

Autocratic leadership paradigm is presented in this case and Hastings used leadership paradigm.

The Big Five Personality Traits model is a model that is based on results from numerous autonomous researchers dating back to the 1950s. The Big Five Personality Traits Model computes five key aspects of people’s personalities, which are –

• Openness to experience – This determines your level of new experiences, your desire for knowledge creativity, emotion, curiosity your desire for knowledge, adventure, variety of experience appreciation for art, and unusual ideas. Openness imitates the degree of rational curiosity, ingenuity and a predilection for variety and novelty a person has. It is also explained as the degree to which a person is creative or self-sufficient, and portrays a personal penchant for a range of activities over a strict schedule. Some differences continue to remain about how to infer the openness factor, which is at times called “intellect” in place of openness to experience (Craig, 2012).
• Conscientiousness – This looks at the level of worry you take in your work. If you score high in this factor, you’re structured and methodical, and you know how to follow plans that you have made. If you score low on this factor, there are chances that you are negligent and incompetent (Linders, 2013). A penchant to be ordered and reliable showsthat you prefer planned behavior rather than spontaneous behavior are self-disciplined, aim for achievement and act dutifully.
• Extraversion – This factor determines your level of friendliness. And lets you know if you are outgoing or quiet? Do you find it tricky to work and be around others or do you draw your energy from a crowd? This is about energy, surgency, positive emotions,sociability and assertiveness.
• Agreeableness – An inclination to besympathetic and helpful rather than doubtful and aggressive towards others. It is also a determinant of one’s gullible and cooperative nature, and whether a person is normally well tempered or not.
• Neuroticism – This factor determines your level to experience distasteful emotions easily, such asannoyance, unease, despair, and  Neuroticism also suggests the degree of emotional solidity.

In Pure Softwares Hastings big five model of personality leadership traits was that there was no openness to experience, Hastings never took criticism he never encouraged anyone to be creative and gives ideas, rather he discouraged someone doing so (Collin, 2012). In his personal life Hastings was ahead in technology curve from the starting. Hastings was always conscientiousness as he took his decisions only after planning. When he was Pure Softwares he was not friendly or sociable, neither was he sympathetic, cooperative or helpful. His level to experience distasteful emotions was also very low. But his big five model of personality leadership traits changed when he shifted to Netflix, in Netfix started taking feedbacks from employees, and helped everyone in achieving the organizational goal. He also started taking ideas from everyone before taking any decision. His nature changed, he became friendly, cooperative and cooperative and his level of neuroticism also increased.

According to The University of Iowa Studies there are three main styles of leaderships. These three types off leadership are explained below –

Autocratic Style – In this style of leadership leaders read aloud work methods, limits employee participation and makes one-sided decisions. Authoritarian leaders give clear anticipations for what needs to be done, when should it be done, and how should it be done (Horine, 2012).

 

Democratic Style – In this style of leadership leaders engage employees, hand over authority and utilize feedback. Democratic leaders not only offer direction to group members, but they also contribute in the group and consent to input from other group members.

Laissez-Faire Style – In this style Leaders lets the group to make judgments and conclude work in whatsoever way the group sees fit. Laissez-fair leaders give little or no direction to group members and leave decision-making up to group members. 

In Pure Softwares Autocratic style was used, as in Pure Softwares Hastings used to dictate employees what they were supposed to do and how they were supposed to do it. He never used to encourage feedback from his employees and used to discourage them by non verbal eye – rolling and negative comments about their ideas. He was also head strong and could not take criticism (Merchant, 2012).

In Netflix Democratic Style was used, as in Netflix Hastings used a more participative style. In this style he started directing employees with this he also started taking feedback from the employees and encouraging and motivating them.

Power is the control of influence and authority over others. Power can either have a positive or negative result in an organization, depending on how it is used. There are five sources of power which are – coercive power, referent power, legitimate power, expert power and reward power. In this case power is not discussed directly but from the case we can say that as Reed Hastings was CEO of the company, he had a legitimate power, a power which each and every CEO has. Legitimate power is a positional power which was very effectively used by Reed Hastings. When Hastings was CEO of Pure Softwares he used Coercive Power over his employees, as in the case study it is said that Hastings used to criticize his employees for their dumb ideas and used methods like rolling his eyes, Coercive Power is mostly used by autocratic leaders. Nothing much is said about the other powers used by Hastings. Organizational politics is the use of influence and social networking within an organization to attain modifications that profits the organization or individuals in it. Negative organizational politics may be very disparaging for an organization. In this case nothing is mention about the organizational politics that may have taken place in the organization, but there are huge chances that the politics would have taken place as there are is hardly any organization in which workers are not involved in politics. Moreover, as from the case we come to know that Hastings was nicknamed as “animalâ€Â, because of his attitude with his employees, there are many chances that that these employees would have also played politics against him as he was not liked in Pure Software (Shah, 2013).

Networking is a subject of producing valuable connections, both inside and amongst, organizations, and societies, in order to organize resources and attain various goals; it is an art of building association. Networking is all about creating relationships and building lasting, mutually beneficial dealings. Although in the case nothing is mentioned about networking, but we can say that Netflix used to follow in today’s time no organization can succeed without organization, also a deal of Netflix with Epix further proves the point.

Negotiation is a discussion between two or more parties aimed to arrive at a perceptive, determine points of disparity, to gain benefit for an individual or group, or to skill results to suit various interests. Although nothing is mentioned about negotiation in the case but we know that in any organization there are negotiations that place, some of them even daily. Some of the negotiations are – Managerial/ Day-to-day Negotiations, Commercial Negotiations and Legal Negotiations. Also there are chances that negotiations would have taken place between Netflix and Epix at the time of deal (Roberts, 2011).

 

 

Conclusion

From this report it can be concluded that the reason for Netflix’s growth is the change which was made in its leadership style. It can be concluded that a organization can grow by changing its working style, it is very important for the leaders to take feedback from their employees, encourage them, motivate them, this will increase the morale of the employees and employees work harder to achieve organizational growth. We can also conclude that accommodating conflict style is the best conflicting style which any organization can use and it is very necessary for any organization to keep changing and evolving itself and learn from its past mistakes if it wants to grow.

References:

Berku, S., 2008. Making Things Happen, ABARE, Canberra.

Collin, R., 2012. Organizational Behaviour. Available at https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Ob-Or/Organizational-Behavior.html [Accessed on January 2015]

Craig, C., 2012. Leadership Styles, Irwin, London.

David, J., 2011. Five Conflict Management Styles. Available at https://sourcesofinsight.com/conflict-management-styles-at-a-glance/ [Accessed on January 2015]

Heldman, K., 2001. The 3 Leadership Paradigms. Available at https://www.veterinaryteambrief.com/article/3-leadership-paradigms-autocratic-paternalistic-servant-leadership [Accessed on January 2015]

Henly, R., 2013. Conflict, Upper Saddle River, N.J.Horine, G., 2012. Paradigm. Available at https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/paradigm.html [Accessed on January 2015]

Linders, B., 2013, Getting Value out of Agile Retrospectives. Prentice-Hall, Sydney.

Merchant, P., 2012. Demand Media. Available at https://smallbusiness.chron.com/5-sources-power-organizations-14467.html [Accessed on January 2015].

Roberts, P., 2011, Guide to Conflict Mangement, Prentice-Hall, Sydney.

Rumfellow, G., 2015. The Improvement Zone. Available at https://theimprovementzone.com/2011/09/22/the-new-facebook-and-netflix-object-lessons-for-improving-your-product-improvement-process/ [Accessed on January 2015].

 Shah, K., 2013. Types of Negotiation in Organization. Available at https://www.laynetworks.com/TYPES-OF-NEGOTIATION-IN-ORGANIZATIONS.html [Accessed on January 2015]

Verzuh, E., 2011. Organizational Behavior. Available at https://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Organizational_behavior.aspx [Accessed on January 2015]

2015 Available at https://www.techtimes.com/articles/24283/20150102/movies-and-tv-shows-we-want-added-to-netflix-in-2015.htm [Accessed on January 2015].