Strategic Framework Document Continued…
Advantages of Developing the Email Client
On choosing to develop the email client, Netflix will experience various advantages. First, the company will be able to control all activities associated with the development of the product. For instance, it may have the production rights to change the product in its desired time to suit the preferences of its target population (Yoe, 2016). Similarly, the company will have the ability to plan for the acquisition of the initial capital required to develop the email client in the company. Similarly, Netflix will arrange for the acquisition of the required expertise and materials, which will facilitate the long-term provision of the email services to the public. Similarly, having the rights to produce the email service will offer the company additional business activities (Yoe, 2016). For instance, the company will be able to use the email service to inform the public of its new services. In so doing, the company will experience an additional advertising platform that it can control and market its products. Similarly, developing the client in Netflix will allow the company to manage occurrences in its website such that it addresses any issues on the website in time to prevent its users from undesirable experiences.
Disadvantages of Developing the Email Client
Despite providing a wide range of benefits and the power to control the service, Netflix can experience various disadvantages from choosing the make option. Making the decision to develop the email client would force Netflix to alter various stages of its organizational processes. The management activities will have to be altered across the company to accommodate those that are associated with the development of the email client (Yoe, 2016). Similarly, the company will experience the need for a new set of employees to deal with the processes involved in developing the email client. To prevent the development of the email client from affecting the production of other products and services across the company, Netflix will have to hire a new set of employees to engage in the involved activities. Further, the company is tasked with taking care of any risks that can be associated with the provided emails (Yoe, 2016). For instance, if the emails are hacked or do not function as required, it becomes the responsibility of the company to develop a solution to secure the user’s information. The provision of the service also increases the expenditure of the company and may not yield any profits to cater for the financial or human resource inputs. In such cases, the company does not benefit from the development of the email client.
Buying the Email Client
The decision to outsource the project to a vendor would involve using another email client to provide the desired services to the public. In so doing, Netflix will only have to pay for the provided services as they are used on its website (Li et al., 2014). The number of users that sign up for the free email service will in most cases determine the charges that the company will be required to incur. Similar to the make option, the decision to buy the email client can be associated with both advantages and disadvantages for the company.
Advantages of Buying the Email Client
On buying the email client, the company will be able to acquire the ability to provide the means to provide free email accounts to the public without interfering with its organizational structure. In a case where the company buys a product, there will not be a need to acquire any materials or employ additional personnel to take responsibility for the development processes (Li et al., 2014). Similarly, buying the email client would allow the company to concentrate on its key activities and services. Since the email account services will be offered free to the public, which means that they will not generate any income for the company. Therefore, the company will be able to prevent the development from affecting its other processes that are key to generating its income. In other situations, choosing to buy the email client protects the company from incurring any costs associated with addressing risks in the website (Li et al., 2014). For instance, incidences of hacking will be addressed by the vendor and not the company, which means that any issues related to the email services will not interfere with the company’s normal functioning.
Disadvantages of Buying the Email Client
Deciding to outsource the project to a vendor can pose a number of challenges to Netflix. To begin, buying the email client would mean that the company does not have any control over the processes that are involved in the development and provision of the email services. In so doing, the company will find it difficult to structure the emails in a way that best suits their needs and preferences (Li et al., 2014). In a case where the company wants to utilize the emails to market their products to users, they may experience limitations or be forced to incur further charges if they do not control the development of the email services. In such context, the company will have limited rights to utilize the email service for their preferred activities, which will limit its benefits for the company. Buying the email client can also mean that the company will not be able to address issues related to its use (Li et al., 2014). For instance, cases such as hacking can take longer to address since the company does not have a direct command over the team involved in managing the project. In such cases. The company experiences limited benefits as well as reduced ability to address issues in time to protect its clients from undesirable events such as hacking.
Recommendation on the Make or Buy Decision
In considering the benefits and shortcomings associated with each option, Netflix would be better off choosing the make option. Although the decision to develop the email client themselves will expose Netflix to a variety of challenges, the company will enjoy the full benefits associated with providing the public with free email accounts (Gylling et al., 2015). In a case where the company controls the service provision, it will be possible to plan for all possible ways in which it can utilize the platform to its advantage. For instance, the company will be able to identify the subscription trends of the public to the email service, which will make it possible to determine the most productive ways in which it can use the website to advertise new products (Gylling et al., 2015). Also, developing the email client will mean that the company is not limited in any way and can use the client for its own purposes as it pleases. Also, the company will not incur any further costs to achieve the provision of the free email accounts to the public since it will own all the production rights. In such context, the company will be better off developing the email client in-house.
References
Gylling, M., Heikkilä, J., Jussila, K., & Saarinen, M. (2015). Making decisions on offshore outsourcing and backshoring: A case study in the bicycle industry. International Journal of Production Economics, 162, 92-100.
Langer, A. M. (2016). Build Versus Buy. In Guide to Software Development (pp. 37-48). Springer, London.
Li, G., Huang, F. F., Cheng, T. C. E., Zheng, Q., & Ji, P. (2014). Make-or-buy service capacity decision in a supply chain providing after-sales service. European Journal of Operational Research, 239(2), 377-388.
Yoe, C. (2016). Principles of risk analysis: decision making under uncertainty. CRC press.
