1. Introduction

1.1 Limitations

Based on the evidence collected, conclusions were drawn, and analysis was conducted. In secondary research, the data and information provided may not be up-to-date or accurate. For this essay, Netflix website articles, news articles, journal articles with regards to the motivation of Netflix were used as the source. The textbook was used as referred for enhanced knowledge of the Motivation concept of the report.

3. Motivation

Netflix, initially founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in 1997, has evolved from providing DVD rental and mail delivery to a global streaming service for entertainment content. Their programming library is constantly being expanded, as they have become original content producers (Mishcastillo, 2020).

Motivation gives both employees and the company a reason to work hard. Motivation is essential in pushing companies into a higher level of performance. A motivated employee means the turnover rate will reduce, employee loyalty will increase, and employees are willing to put in more effort for the company. A company with motivation can make money and benefit the audience as well, as the audience will see a better-quality product and the company can earn more revenue.

4. Netflix – SWOT Analysis

1. Motivated for Original Content:

Netflix has its own production business, with its films and programs dubbed ‘Netflix Originals.’

2. Motivation for Customer Care:

– Netflix’s consumer-centric strategy has resulted in a sizable and devoted client base. This strategy fosters confidence in the organization and strengthens its goodwill.

3. Ease of Usage:

– Both the Netflix website and app have very simple user interfaces. Each component is simply accessible and straightforward (Muzumdar 2014). All genres are nicely organized, and there is a special area for children’s material.

Weaknesses

1. Less motivation regarding copyright issues:

Netflix is often chastised for its vanishing content. Because it lacks the necessary copyright for a large number of programs, such shows are taken off the site. There are many programs that Netflix does not own and is merely granted a license to distribute for a certain period (Netflix 2021). When that period expires, the material is withdrawn from the site and often repurposed by other competitors. For instance, ‘Gossip Girl,’ a long-running and very successful program, just departed from Netflix for the same reason. Following its departure from Netflix, it was made accessible on HBO Max (Netflix 2021). This even encourages consumers to go to other streaming sites that provide their favorite programs.

1. Internet Requirement:

Cable TV’s primary benefit over Netflix and other online streaming services is that it does not need an internet connection as well as has a much larger reach than Netflix (Pilipets 2019). While Netflix provides a download option, downloading material requires internet access. As a result, the internet need limits Netflix’s reach, excluding it from rural regions without enough connection or capacity (Ringberg, Reihlen, and Rydén 2019).

2. Lack of the more popular films, such as classics:

Due to Netflix’s emphasis on fresh material, several classic and older films have been deleted from the company’s film library (RIVERA 2019). The amount of money invested in production just does not allow Netflix to obtain a license for vintage films, especially given the company’s growing debt over the years. Netflix has also been criticized by experts for the gradual demise of vintage cinema (St. Bonaventure University 2016). However, Amazon Prime has a greater selection of vintage films than Netflix.

Opportunities

1. Increasing inclusivity and international reach:

The twenty-first century has seen a dramatic shift in societal systems from previous eras. Stereotypical roles for certain racial or ethnic groups, a lack of minority representation, widespread misogyny, and an overall lack of inclusiveness in films and television programs are no longer the norm, much less acceptable. Such material would now suffer a backlash from a large audience (Elkawy et al. 2015). By boosting minority representation and fostering inclusiveness, Netflix can grow a larger and more trustworthy user base while staying socially and politically current.

Several of its original series, including Never, Have I Ever, Kim’s Convenience, and Sex Education, have garnered widespread acclaim for their inclusion of diverse racial groups without obvious undertones of stereotyping or prejudice (Haridas and Deepak 2020).

2. Introduction of more localized, regional content and increase in international reach:

Netflix may produce or add more regional material to its movie library, as well as content in other languages that applies to a broader range of cultures (Kotter 2012). This may prove to be an excellent chance for the company to expand its worldwide footprint and, in effect, become a global service.

3. Introducing mobile streaming

Netflix may grow its user base by offering a more affordable plan, such as one for mobile streaming (Pilipets 2019). It has already done so in India, but expanding this idea to the United States of America and other nations may be very advantageous for the business.

Threats

1. Growing competition:

Netflix’s primary danger is the increasingly fierce competition it faces from the following companies:

Amazon Prime Video

This streaming service launched in 2006, a year before Netflix made the transition from DVD to internet streaming. It just passed the 200 million subscriber milestone but remains a few million members short of Netflix (Haridas and Deepak 2020). Amazon’s advantage over Netflix is based on three main variables: lower cost, the ability to combine amazon prime music and prime video into a single subscription (thereby receiving more services at a lower price), and Prime Video offer HD viewing without the hefty price tag associated with Netflix’s premium HD plan (Ringberg, Reihlen and Rydén 2019).

2. Piracy:

Piracy is a significant threat to all paid streaming providers. Piracy has existed since the services were made accessible (Shattuc 2019). Individuals may download material from the internet for free while streaming services need payment for the same information (Haridas and Deepak 2020). If piracy grows more widespread and pervasive, it will jeopardize the necessity for paid memberships to streaming services like Netflix (Hong 2020).

3. Carbon Emissions:

People are becoming more environmentally and socially aware, and are starting to hold large companies responsible for their role in climate change and global warming (Hallinan and Striphas 2014). Netflix just recently announced a goal to become more environmentally friendly by 2022, but failing to do so in the past hurts the company’s reputation. Apart from the damage to its brand value, several governments are starting to prohibit particular businesses from operating on their soil if their carbon footprint exceeds a set threshold (Ahmed and Nobanee 2020). And, although Netflix has a lower carbon footprint than the majority of large businesses, it still needs to focus on being more environmentally friendly and sustainable shortly (Burling and McNutt 2018).

 4.1Netflix’s Global Sustainability

4.1.1 Global Offices

International expansion of subscription video-on-demand services has been increasing and attracting attention. Recently, they have created new possibilities for audiences globally and Netflix played a big part in this. As the most popular SVOD service, they have close to 160 million subscribers among more than 190 countries. They have offices in Asia, America, and Europe (Wayne & Castro, 2020). Such international expansion with high-end office venues can help Netflix to build a robust presence all over the world in a short period of time (Roxborough, 2019).

The global expansion which includes setting up of offices in the country of expansion allows Netflix to understand the local culture of the people, at the same time recognizing their target audiences’ elements. An example would be Netflix venturing into the Spanish market in 2015 and engaging in online advertising campaigns designed to appeal to Spanish culture. Their advertising was aimed at the current cultural situation which helped to increase their viewer’s engagement, leading to global sustainability success (Bravo & Rubio-Hernández, 2020).

4.1.2 Netflix Licensed Contents

Netflix has developed its series of licensed content known as ‘Netflix Originals’. It is part of their content strategy which consists of creating content that is not available on any other platforms. In the year 2017, they designated $6 Billion in original content production, exclusively for their platform (Divakaran, 2020). This strategy has led them to allow people from different countries to watch the same content. It will allow users to use Netflix easily and get benefits such as watching content without any restrictions globally (Cebeci et al., 2019). Such content produced by Netflix can help to improve Netflix’s branding at the same time, with increased recognition and credibility as a production house with constant releases of global series.

4.1.3 McClelland Three Learned Needs Theory

All managerial actions revolve around motivation. It is a useful technique for managers to develop a desire to work in order to achieve corporate goals (Khurana & Joshi, 2017). McClelland’s Three Learned Needs focuses on how needs can be amplified through social norms and self-concept. In Netflix situation, they are competing with other subscription video-on-demand service that produces their original content as well. As a newer company, it will result in their needs being learned and strengthened through social conditions.

Needs for achievement are the needs to reach and have challenging goals present. Netflix has the challenge to expand globally through producing original licensed content, especially in a short period of time. They are able to leverage this need to achieve global expansion as a younger company. Netflix’s original content gaining more visibility is a success in 2016 which led to them spending more funds investing on more for this achievement (Penner & Straubhaar, 2020).

4.2 Netflix’s Employee Sustainability

4.2.1 Positive Workplace

Netflix has a very unique working culture. Netflix focuses heavily on ‘people over process, they believe that in order to create a great and positive workplace, there should be a high level of transparency and openness between team members and for them to have the ability to make decisions independently (Pratap, 2020). Employees do not have to seek approval and they are not restricted by higher management’s approvals hence the need for affiliation is low. They are also allowed to share information openly, broadly, and deliberately and be extraordinarily candid with each other (Pratap, 2020). Employees will have high self-efficacy and also feel empowered and motivated to do their job well as they are highly trusted by the organization.

4.2.2 Staff Wellbeing

Staff’s well-being at Netflix is being well taken care of. For instance, free breakfast and free lunch are served Monday through Friday and snacks are always available. However, dinner will not be provided because Netflix does not encourage staff to work beyond dinner time. Furthermore, Netflix also subsidizes unlimited use of Uber, Lyft, or other rideshare services for staff when commuting from home to work which makes working at Netflix more convenient (Spears, 2020).

Netflix also supports its employees in forming a family. Salaried employees have “unlimited” parental leave, and they are free to take as many leaves as they need for up to a year and join back their team whenever they are ready, whereas hourly employees can take up to 24 weeks of paid time off (Spears, 2020). Lastly, Netflix pays its staff beyond the market rate as they do not want money to be a reason for staff to become dissatisfied with the company (Putter, 2018). These benefits can help to increase employees’ motivation which can lead to increased productivity at work.

4.2.3 Expectancy Theory of Motivation

Figure 1: Expectancy Theory of Motivation Model

E-to-P expectancy

The E-to-P expectancy is the perceived probability that effort will lead to a specific performance level. As for Netflix, employees believe that hard work, having initiative, and trying to make decisions independently based on what is best for the company will lead to good performance such as being effective and producing innovative and quality work for the organization. Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix also believes that “we are most effective and innovative when employees throughout the company make and own decisions” (Netflix, 2017). Employees who have support from their subordinates are highly capable of achieving great results. They have a high level of control over their performance hence they will use their utmost effort to perform well and can lead to an increase in self-efficacy.

P-to-O expectancy

The P-to-O expectancy is the perceived probability that a specific performance level will result in specific outcomes. By producing innovative and quality work for Netflix, employees will be able to increase their market value and get paid accordingly to their market value each year. Netflix encourages their employees to regularly interview other companies to ensure that they know what their market rate is (Putter, 2018).

Employees can also avoid getting fired through the infamous ‘keeper test’ which Netflix uses to evaluate its employees. The ‘keeper test’ states that if one of the team members was thinking of leaving for another firm, would the manager try hard to keep them from leaving or they would not fight to keep them (D’Onofrio, 2018).

In fact, if employees can perform well, they will be considered as part of a dream team whereby “A dream team is one in which all of your colleagues are extraordinary at what they do and are highly effective collaborators (Netflix, 2017)”. By being able to achieve the desirable outcomes, employees will feel highly motivated to do well and produce quality work for the organization.

Valence

Valence is the anticipated satisfaction from the outcome. Employees will feel confident, proud and have a sense of accomplishment for their achievement. Employees can prove their worth to their managers without having the fear of getting fired and at the same time able to increase their skills and market value, knowing the fact that they will be quickly hired if they had left Netflix.

4.2.4 Feedbacks 

Figure 2: An example of Multisource feedback

Using the multisource (360-degree) feedback, employees are able to receive feedback from a full circle of people, including direct managers, co-workers, subordinates or any colleagues that they have worked with previously. The annual 360-degree feedback is not tied to any raises, promotions, or firings. Netflix employees are encouraged to submit feedback to anyone within the company, from interns up to chief executives and this feedbacks are not anonymous and can be shared openly (Rodriguez, 2020). By using this form of feedback, employees are able to get honest and constructive feedback that can help them to improve their work performances and they can also have the opportunity to give thorough feedback to others.

4.2.5 Covid-19 response to Staff 

The pandemic has affected a huge number of organizations around the world and Netflix is also not an exception. Many people around the world have turned to applications such as Netflix during the pandemic and it has led to a surge in internet traffic. To keep up with the demand, employees are expected to work from home as Netflix has changed its operations behind the scenes to adjust to new constraints created by the global crisis (Condon, 2020).

While some employees can work from home, some employees like the production cast and crew found themself out of work. As such, Netflix has created a 150 million relief fund to support these production employees in which most of the funds will go towards the hardest-hit workers. These funds are handed out to employees in addition to the two weeks’ pay on suspended productions (Sandberg, 2020).

4.3 Netflix’s Innovative Sustainability

Every company, organization, and industry has always relied heavily on innovation to grow and flourish. Business strategies must incorporate innovation into their plans in order for them to achieve growth and performance (Hansen, 2017). Netflix uses three innovative steps to slowly build up its portfolio.

Figure3: Three-Innovation phase of Netflix

Netflix Innovation Phase 1

Netflix started lending DVDs online in 1997 when the Internet was still new. When Blockbuster began to operate offline, they were the market leader in DVD rentals, and the primary profits of this traditional business model came from rental and late fees, plus additional fees based on the duration of the rental (Venkatraman,2017). It turned out, however, that Netflix found that users are not happy with the additional fees when they can purchase a DVD for the same price. Continuing late fees discouraged consumers from accessing services again.

After understanding the consumer’s needs and concerns, Netflix had implemented a new business model of fixed monthly payments and no late fees will be incurred to the consumers. Aside from that, reservations can be made online, and DVDs will be mailed out. Users can simply return the DVDs to their nearest post office. Users are able to enjoy the show without worrying about additional charges at the same time creating convenience for users.

Netflix Innovation Phase 2

Netflix began offering its subscribers a streaming VOD service called Watch Instantly in 2007. VOD streaming services overtook DVD rentals as a new business model.  By anticipating consumer demand changes due to broadband transmission speed and increased bandwidth, Netflix radically reshaped its business model for the next consumer demand (Mui, 2011).

Netflix Innovation Phase 3

Netflix released its own original content “House of Cards” in February 2013. As a result of this innovation, the VOD streaming market has been transformed, replacing the old distinction between content manufacturers and distributors. Netflix could lose its relationships with content producers as a result of this innovation. Nevertheless, the outcome was successful. In 2013, Netflix set a record of $3.75 billion in sales following the release of the drama, attracting 3 million new users (Choy & Park, 2016).

Netflix Innovative sustainability

Despite being at the top, many wondered why Netflix went for another radical change. Netflix recognized that consumer demands were changing. The VOD streaming service innovation in 2008 caused consumers to shift their tastes in regard to content consumption. Consumers’ consumption habits have changed from watching traditional TV on the couch to watching these same contents anywhere they want with many different types of devices such as smartphones, PCs, and tablets. Also, consumers were able to watch whole episodes at once or just watch specific scenes they enjoyed (Choy & Park, 2016).

Due to this change, Netflix decided to produce streaming service optimized content. They invested $100 million in the production of House of Cards in 2011 (Pepitone, 2013). Interestingly to note is that in 2012, the number of North American consumers watching movies online outnumbered the number of consumers renting movies. As the consumer demand change turned into radical innovation and Netflix became stronger (Figure 1), Netflix once again remained one step ahead.

Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy to Motivation – Netflix

Figure4: Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

The Maslow hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tiered model of human needs, often pictured as a pyramid. The needs of those at the bottom of the hierarchy must first be met before individuals can attend to needs up high (Taormina & Gao, 2013). Due to its ability to fulfill users’ needs for love and belonging, Netflix is quite successful. The show brings families and friends together, which strengthens their bonds. For example, the recent popular Netflix show: Squid Game. It became a popular topic, as there were many insights into the game which can be a common topic between friends and families. Moving up to the next needs, esteem. Having control over the show the user watches or the scene they would like to replay helps to fulfill their esteem as well. Providing users with what they need will motivate them to subscribe to Netflix and help Netflix continue to provide quality content.

5. Recommendations

5.1 Recommendations: Global Sustainability

Netflix ensures global sustainability by expanding its offices in more than 190 countries.  They can further improve their global sustainability by incorporating series in the different countries with local essence and having subtitles of more languages.

5.1.1 Local Culture Incorporated Contents

Netflix has a wide series of its own licensed content, known as Netflix Originals. These are contents that are exclusively published on Netflix and not available on any other video streaming on-demand services platform. To improve global sustainability, Netflix can focus on creating more content with the local culture instead of global-based content (Jang et al., 2021). With offices over 190 different countries, they will be capable to conduct more in-depth research of the local media culture and hire local actors and actresses. It will allow audiences outside a certain country to learn more about film cultures of different countries and improve the relevance of content for local viewers.

5.1.2Increased Subtitles Variations

Subtitles and audio are the key elements to allow audiences to understand the content, apart from the visuals. However, most Netflix films have a limited variety of subtitles while more subtitles are researched to be effective (KuşçuÖzbudak, 2019). While the common ones are English and Mandarin, the others are only present in a certain film. To ensure global sustainability, it is recommended that Netflix focuses on improving the variety of subtitle languages. By improving the variations in subtitles, audiences that are more inclined to a certain language will not be restricted by the limitations, prompting them to subscribe to Netflix’s service.

5.2 Recommendation: Employee Sustainability

Netflix can improve its workplace environment and strengthen social interactions among its employees to increase employee motivation and retention.

5.2.1 Improving workplace environment

In an interview by The Wall Street Journal, 70 current and formal Netflix employees described the environment at Netflix as “ruthless, demoralizing and transparent to the point of dysfunctional” (Putter, 2018). Netflix can improve their workplace environment by setting some rules such as limiting feedback to be shared to the receiving employee-only instead of allowing access to everyone in the organization. Employees will feel respected as some of them may feel uncomfortable and do not want their feedback to be shared openly. This can help to increase their motivational level and wanting to do better when they receive constructive feedback. Employees will not feel humiliated if the feedback is only restricted to themself.

5.2.2Social interactions   
It is important to have social interaction in the workplace as it helps employees to form strong relationships with one another which can also help to improve the workplace environment (Kohll, 2018). Based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the third level of needs is love and belongingness. It outlines the need for friendship and belongingness in a group. Netflix can facilitate this by organizing events such as New year celebrations, Christmas parties, monthly birthday celebrations, or even regular get-togethers such as team lunches. By doing so, it will help to improve employee engagement, mental health, and productivity.

5.3 Recommendation: Innovative sustainability

Netflix keeps itself updated with consumer trends by being innovative. Netflix can adopt some of these recommendations for innovative sustainability in the future.

5.3.1 Create their Sub-brand product

Disney+ and Apple TV continue to be Netflix’s biggest competitors, thus Netflix must step up its game in order to prevent itself from becoming the next Blockbuster. Both Disney and Apple have their own house brands, like Disney products and the iPhone. Successful parent brands leverage sub-brands to reach a new customer base, build stronger relationships with existing customers, and create profitable revenue streams (Tetreault,2020). For example, the Apple watch is a sub-brand of Apple. Customers may not like the iPhone, but they might like Apple Watch, which introduces them to Apple. Some of the products that can be considered by Netflix can be their very own broadband/internet services and tablets specifically for Netflix shows.

5.3.2 Personalization

Netflix uses viewing data, search history, rating data, time, date, and device data to make recommendations for the user. According to Netflix, they currently use 76,897 ‘taggings,’ a unique way to identify genres of movies on its platform, to not only personalize its users’ experience but also enable them to come back for more tailored content (Madrigal, 2018). To keep a user hooked to its platform, it suggests similar movies the user watched previously. However, the problem is that the recommended movies might not be exactly what the customers really want to watch (Song, 2021).

From there, a personalized customer survey can be adopted. A survey is a great opportunity for Netflix to gain a deeper understanding of its customers’ personalities and the kinds of movies they prefer. This will further reduce the mistake of choosing the wrong show.

6. Conclusion

Expand your geographic reach by collaborating with local cable providers and streaming both local and international content in several languages. In this manner, they will increase their revenues and subscriber base. Netflix should link with IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, as well as other online services to offer its customers a range of ratings and other information. To combat digital piracy, Netflix should beef up its security and expose those responsibly. Additionally, they may provide even more generous subscription packages to various economic groups. Enhance their app or website interfaces to make them more consumer for their subscribers.