Netflix’s Mission Statement & Vision Statement: A Strategic Analysis - Rancord Society (2024)

Netflix Inc.’s mission statement and vision statement target the entertainment market. The online company’s strategic management uses the corporate vision statement to inform organizational development direction, and the corporate mission statement to guide higher performance achievement. Netflix’s operations management accounts for multinational business growth, including that of subsidiaries and franchises like StoryBots. Based on its corporate mission and vision statements, the company targets the international entertainment market’s biggest share, as executives seek new partnerships to penetrate current and new markets. Furthermore, Netflix’s corporate vision and mission statements keep the business open to diversification into other markets that are not limited to online media. This possibility points to potential higher growth and expansion of the movie streaming business, in line with the corporate mission statement’s aims in entertainment products and the corporate vision statement’s emphasis on industry leadership. Despite challenges regarding competitors’ similar strategic initiatives, Netflix satisfies the strategic requirements of its corporate mission and corporate vision.

Netflix’s mission statement and vision statement push for greater business performance in the global entertainment market. However, threats and strategic challenges against international business growth are due to strong competition involving Amazon, Walmart, Apple, Google, and Disney, as well as other firms that distribute entertainment content through media like DVDs. Still, Netflix Inc. focuses on growing its multinational operations as a strategic management implication of its corporate mission statement and corresponding corporate vision statement, ensuring the improvement and strengthening of the business despite the forces of competitors.

Netflix’s Mission Statement

Netflix Inc.’s corporate mission is “To entertain the world.” This mission statement is based on the nature of the company in providing on-demand movie streaming services. Similar to the corporate vision statement, this corporate mission emphasizes operations in the entertainment industry, as the business thrives in addressing consumers’ expectations and preferences about the media they access. The following are the main points of Netflix’s corporate mission statement:

1. Entertainment
2. Worldwidescale

The first point of Netflix’s corporate mission statement indicates the entertainment business nature of the company. However, this business category broadly includes movies, series, performance art, stage plays, and others. Thus, this point of the mission statement may be too broad in specifying Netflix’s operations, although it indicates possible strategic plans of diversifying the business. A factor to consider is that the company’s “core strategy is to grow our streaming membership business….” This core strategy refers to Netflix’s generic strategy for competitive advantage and intensive growth strategies, and strategically implies the corporate mission statement. For example, to effectively entertain the world, the movie streaming business must grow its membership to a larger global scale. This is where the second point of Netflix’s corporate mission comes in, as the corporation aims to reach audiences globally. This worldwide scale of operations also entails that Netflix’s organizational structure is suited to providing online services to diverse audiences and markets. The on-demand media streaming company’s corporate vision statement also addresses such a strategic goal of international operating scale.

Netflix’s Vision Statement

Netflix Inc.’s corporate vision is “To continue being one of the leading firmsof the internet entertainment era.” Aligned with the corporate missionstatement, this visionstatement highlights the company’s strategic objective of being at the top ofthe competition, considering large players like Amazon and Walmart. It is notablethat, in some of its official documents, Netflix states that it aims “To keep leading by offering an amazing entertainment experience.”Considering these factors, Netflix’scorporate visionstatement has the following main points:

1. Continuingleadership
2. Internet
3. Entertainment

Netflix’s strategic management supports the goal of continuing leadership, indicating that the company has already achieved its previous corporate vision statement of global industry leadership. The business aims to maintain its leadership and operational effectiveness, while growing its membership to satisfy the corporate vision’s objectives. The business strengths enumerated in the SWOT analysis of Netflix Inc. contribute to this industry leadership. The “Internet” part of the corporate vision statement represents online media as a primary factor in business operations. Also, Netflix’s nature as an entertainment business is included as a point in the corporate vision, similar to how the corporate mission statement describes the business as an entertainment enterprise. Notable is Netflix’s organizational culture, which motivates employees to help the business continually evolve to satisfy the vision statement by ensuring customer satisfaction and industry leadership.

Key Points on Netflix’s Corporate Mission & Corporate Vision

Netflix’s corporate mission statement broadly describes what the business does (entertaining the world). In contrast to the corporate vision statement, this corporate mission is brief but not descriptive enough in representing the company’s target markets or market segments, and in showing how entertainment is provided to customers. To improve its mission statement, Netflix Inc. has the option to make the statement describe the company’s business purpose, nature, approaches, and types of media used. On the other hand, the company’s corporate vision statement specifically aims for a future strategic position in the online entertainment industry. Netflix can improve this corporate vision by making the statement describe how the business plans to continue its industry leadership. Overall, however, the online company’s vision statement is more satisfactory than the corporate mission statement. These recommended improvements could increase the statements’ guidance of strategic management and strategic planning in the on-demand digital content streaming business. Also, to fulfill the corporate vision statement’s aims and the corporate mission statement’s operational requirements, competitive advantages must be sustained and utilized in Netflix Inc.’s value chain, along with the development of business core competencies based on the VRIO and VRIN analysis frameworks.

Itis realistic to expect future changes in Netflix’s corporate vision statement. This is especially so becausethe company has already achieved movie streaming industry leadership, and thecurrent corporate visionjust focuses on maintaining this strategic position. A possibility is that Netflix’s vision statement couldinclude other variables that represent business performance, such as profitabilityand number of corporate partners. These variables can help make the corporate vision statement moredefined and specific to direct the online company’s strategic plans. On theother hand, considering the broadness of Netflix’s corporate mission statement, business diversification isexpectable. For example, the company can add more business ventures to itsportfolio, in addition to original content production and on-demand digitalcontent streaming that the missionstatement encompasses. Netflix’soriginal content production is already a sign of such diversification impliedin the corporate mission.As the company continues to use the same corporate mission statement, the enterprise remains opento new products and new business ventures that could expand revenue sources andglobal market reach. Overall, Netflix’scorporate missionstatement implies flexibility and future diversification, and its corporate vision statement drivesthe business to continued dominance in the online media streaming industry.

References

• Alegre, I., Berbegal-Mirabent, J., Guerrero, A., & Mas-Machuca, M. (2018). The real mission of the mission statement: A systematic review of the literature.Journal of Management & Organization,24(4), 456-473.
• D’Urso, S. C. (2018). Towards the final frontier: Using strategic communication activities to engage the latent public as a key stakeholder in a corporate mission.International Journal of Strategic Communication,12(3), 288-307.
• Ekpe, E. O., Eneh, S. I., & Inyang, B. J. (2015). Leveraging organizational performance through effective mission statement.International Business Research,8(9), 135.
• International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce – The Media and Entertainment Industry in the United States.
• International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce – The Software and Information Technology Services Industry in the United States.
• Kirkpatrick, S. A. (2016).Build a better vision statement: Extending research with practical advice. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Kirkpatrick, S. A. (2017). Toward a grounded theory: A qualitative study of vision statement development.Journal of Management Policy and Practice,18(1), 87-101.
• Netflix Inc. – Investors – Overview – Long-Term View.
• Netflix Inc. – Research – Machine Learning.
• Netflix Inc.’s Annual Report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 10-K).
• Netflix Inc.’s Website.
• Pace, S. (2017). Shaping corporate brands: From product features to corporate mission.International Studies of Management & Organization,47(2), 197-205.
• Suranga, J. M. (2014). Importance of Corporate Vision. InProceedings of International HR Conference(Vol. 1, No. 1), pp. 34-40.
• Tomek, G., Vávrová, V., Červenka, P., Naščáková, J., & Tomčíková, M. (2016). Corporate vision from management development in the globalization context. InProduction Management and Engineering Sciences(Vol. 297, No. 303, pp. 297-303). Routledge and GSE Research.