Concept Map 1 – Netflix

The goal of a concept map is to simplify complex concepts using circles, boxes, and all sorts of shapes and icons to represent ideas and lines to connect them together. For example, lawyers might use concept maps to outline arguments. By presenting their arguments to their team in a concept map, they could get feedback and uncover faults or gaps in their reasoning.

Concept maps were developed by Joseph Novak at Cornell University to represent students’ science knowledge. They are similar to mind maps, but unlike mind maps, need not branch out from one central idea. 

See an example of a concept map at https://www.conceptdraw.com/examples/example-of-concept-mapLinks to an external site.

Concept maps are a graphical tool that is used to visualize meaningful relationships among concepts, processes, or events. It is used as a knowledge representation tool, meaning they basically represent the knowledge structure that we store in our minds about a certain topic. Both simple and complex concept maps consist of two things: concepts and relationships among them.

The concept map focuses on a single concept, process, or event of interest found in the Netflix story. Lines link the related concepts or processes with a word or phrase that describes the nature of the relationship between two components. Concept maps start with broad, general relationships and build on them to create very complex visual models of how many factors interact to produce a given outcome.

Your task in this assignment is to create a concept map, drawing upon the ideas in the Netflix organization as outlined in Chapter 5 of your textbook. Consider:

1. Netflix is (1) one of the few firms to successfully pilot through disruption while remaining the top firm in two markets (DVD-by-Mail and video streaming), and (2) the firm has experienced wild swings in market perception and stock performance.
2. The dynamics at work in the old and new businesses are fundamentally different in many key ways that influence product offerings, operating costs, and competitors.
3. Competitors present uncertainty as Netflix seeks global growth to remain the world’s leading streaming service

Here is a general procedure for making a concept map.

1. Develop a central question that will serve as the focus for your concept map. The question will help you focus on relationships between the concepts, processes, or events included as nodes in the concept map. Look at the learning objectives in your textbook. Turn one of the learning objectives into a question and then look through the textbook to find topics in the book that are related. Just write all of the topics that you find down (look for 20 to 25).
   • For my example, the question is, “How the Netflix streaming business is different from the DVD-by-Mail business?”
2. List the 5 to 8 factors that you can identify to begin to answer the focal question about Netflix. Look at the Learning Objectives found throughout Chapter 4 of your textbook to help identify the factors. List the major factors that you can identify to begin to answer the central question. Your objective is to articulate the major factors that contribute to finding an answer to this central question. These major factors form the first tier of nodes. 
   • For my example, the major factors could be (1) content availability, (2) content acquisition costs, (3) the legal and regulatory environments, (4) potential opportunities for revenue and expansion, (5) potential partners, (6) competitors and their motivation
3. Now expand on each of these major factors in a cluster. Add detail in the form of secondary concepts (nodes) that contribute to the major factors or concepts you have already identified.
   • For my example, I will expand on (3) the legal and regulatory environments and consider that the First Sale Doctrine applies only to the physical disc, not to the technology needed in streaming, so Netflix cannot offer Internet streaming without separate streaming licenses. The Inability to Use the First Sale Doctrine is a secondary concept that requires identifying new and legal regulatory environments. Content Acquisition might be another because to stream content is more like buying a commodity. Title Availability might be another secondary concept because of a distribution practice known as windowing. Although these factors may not directly affect the legal and regulatory environment, they are critical legal drivers. Further, these factors interact with each other. Title Availability directly impacts Content Acquisition through contracts and legal and regulatory environments.
4. Continue to build your concept map with at least two more tiers or layers of nodes answering your central question. Your completed concept map should have a first layer that includes the major factors that directly affect concepts, processes, or events. Add at least two more layers, or tiers of nodes, in each of those clusters. You are free to include as many layers or tiers as needed.
   • For my example, the third tier continues to expand on the (1) Title Availability of a given distribution channel for a specified Time Window, usually based on ticket sales, disc sales, and license fees for broadcast as part of the contract.  There will be legal and regulatory environments to consider using Time Window distribution as part of their product offerings and operating cost decisions. I can also expand on the (2) Inability to Use the First Sale Doctrine, noting the legal and regulatory environments allowed Netflix to create a Library of Content in the DVD-by-Mail business. However, in streaming, legal and regulatory environments regarding content acquisition have required Netflix to become a Curator of Content.
5. Think of your concept map as a visual explanation. Imagine using your concept map to explain the influence of the identified major concepts to answer your central question. Your map should make the relationships clear. Use lines to indicate the relationship between nodes and include a word or short phrase to describe the relationship.
6. The Word document accompanying the concept map includes four components:
   1. Include the central question you used as a starting point for the concept map.
   2. Describe how and why you selected the concepts (nodes) included in your concept map.
   3. Explain the overall logic in the organization of your concept map describing in more detail the relationship between concepts (nodes).
   4. Provide a summary of how the concepts (nodes) that you included in the concept map answer the central question.