1. LinkedIn Final Strategic Audit
Prepared for Professor Peter Bowen
MGMT 3800: Policy and Strategy
Amanda Christensen, Emma Freedman, Krysten Garcia
Monday, May 9th, 2016
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I. Current Situation:
LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site founded in 2003 in an effort to
connect professionals around the world. The site has more than 400 million users worldwide and
is the world’s largest professional network on the Internet today. On their own LinkedIn page,
the company describes its business model as, “a diversified business model with revenue coming
from Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, and Premium Subscriptions products” (LinkedIn,
2016). The site is a way for members to connect with colleagues, classmates, friends, mentors,
and other professional network members. Its mission similarly states, “To connect the world's
professionals to make them more productive and successful. When you join LinkedIn, you get
access to people, jobs, news, updates, and insights that help you be great at what you do”
(LinkedIn, 2016). The company was founded by a team led by by Reid Hoffman in conjunction
with other successful Silicon Valley executives from companies like PayPal.
Recently, LinkedIn has experienced relatively strong performance and growth. In the
fourth quarter and full 2015-year end results, LinkedIn announced some impressive financial and
nonfinancial performances. Revenues have increased significantly every year for the past five
years, with a 35% increase from 2014 to 2015 and an increase from $862 million to $2,991
million (LinkedIn Corporation, 2015). Additionally, because EPS is a common and fairly
trustworthy financial performance indicator, it is important to assess LinkedIn’s recent years’
EPS. As stated in a press release, “GAAP diluted EPS was $(0.06) in the fourth quarter
compared to $0.02 in the same period last year. GAAP diluted EPS was $(1.29) in 2015
compared to $(0.13) in 2014. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $0.94 in the fourth quarter compared
to $0.61 in the same period last year. Non-GAAP diluted EPS was $2.84 in 2015 compared to
$2.02 in 2014” evidencing consistent growth of around 50% for both indicators (L, 2016).
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Unfortunately, though, the company has experienced net losses in 2014 and 2015. Lastly,
LinkedIn has recently experienced a drop in stock price of almost 40% likely due to a recent low
earnings announcement (Swisher, 2016). In the graph below, LinkedIn’s stock performance as
compared to the S&P 500 is evidenced. Over recent years, LinkedIn has produced significantly
higher stock prices yet with much more volatility than the overall market.
(LinkedIn Corporation, 2016)
LinkedIn targets business professional both rising and retiring ranging from ages 17 to 60
and there is a fairly equal distribution of women to men users. They target small to large
enterprises with their business solutions offerings as well as individual professionals. A recent
analysis suggested that a new market area for LinkedIn is college-bound teens as they use it to
research and develop a further understanding of universities showing their effort to target
younger, rising professionals (Braverman, 2013). Additionally, in terms of geographic markets,
China is a hugely influential and powerful market for LinkedIn and an opportunity for future
growth (What, 2016). Currently, LinkedIn offers three product lines in addition to its free
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services which are Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, and Premium Subscriptions (LinkedIn
Corporation, 2015). Talent Solutions provides recruiting tools and a Learning & Development
solution. Marketing Solutions supports enterprises and individuals to market and advertise on
LinkedIn. Premium Subscriptions is mostly for small to medium sized companies and
individuals that provides more in depth offerings and options. Currently, LinkedIn operates as a
professional yet social networking site with a diverse business model as mentioned above and
various subscription offerings run by Jeff Weiner, the current CEO.
II. External Environment:
Market Environment
LinkedIn is a global company as it is available through the Internet, and is accessible to
anyone who has access to Internet. This creates a global market environment with many
competitors in the market.
Societal Environment
From an economic standpoint, LinkedIn is definitely impacted. As LinkedIn functions as
an online resume platform, as well as a job posting platform for companies, the number of users
on LinkedIn is impacted by the economic state. In a thriving economy, companies are more
likely to be active on their profiles, posting jobs and keeping their company profile up-to-date in
order to appeal to potential employees. Also, in a great economy, companies are more likely to
pay for premium services because they need to find quality employees. On the other hand, when
the economy is thriving and LinkedIn users have jobs, they are less likely to be active with
LinkedIn services, in a bad economy, the opposite is true. Companies do not need LinkedIn
services as they do not have the budget to pay for the premium services and are not in the market
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for new employees. However, users are more likely to be active when the economy is poor, as
they are looking for jobs. They might purchase premium services on LinkedIn at this time if they
feel it will give them a greater chance at securing a job opportunity. Overall, as LinkedIn has a
free membership option, the economy most likely will not impact the number of users, just the
number of active users.
Social factors could impact the usage of LinkedIn. For example, potential users might
have a stigma about joining LinkedIn if they are reluctant to being socially displayed. Factors
impacting this reluctance could stem from having a lack of job experience to display on the
profile. Also, in communities where there is a stigma against certain groups of people in the
workforce (i.e. women in certain communities) there could be a lack of usage on LinkedIn.
Finally, older generations might be reluctant to adopt social media, especially in the job arena, as
they might prefer traditional job search methods.
LinkedIn is the biggest social media platform for career and job services. There are many
competitors for certain aspects of the business model at LinkedIn. For example, Glassdoor is a
competitor for company profiles and LookSharp is a competitor for job search and job postings,
as well as resume postings.
As LinkedIn is an online business, the nature of the business is not impacted by the
natural environment. Perhaps consumers are more likely to be on their computers accessing the
website during inclement weather, such as rain or snow, but this is not the most important factor
impacting their business. However, a natural disaster where the company keeps their network
center could potentially threaten the business if it creates power outages in the network. As the
headquarters of LinkedIn is in Mountain View, CA, there is high risk that an earthquake could
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occur. LinkedIn should put plans into place in order to mitigate the impact that an earthquake
could have on the business.
Threats
Threat of New Entrants: High
As the world becomes increasingly digital, and the social media industry is growing
daily, there is a huge threat of new entrants. Additionally, the ability of anyone to make a website
and the high turnover rate of popularity among social media sites contribute to this threat being
high.
Bargaining Power of Buyers: Moderate
Users can choose to utilize the free model or the premium model, which gives the buyers
power. LinkedIn naturally wants users to choose the premium model because that increases their
revenue, so the buyers have bargaining power because LinkedIn might leverage the price of their
services to increase the number of users using the service.
Threat of Substitute Products or Services: Moderate
There are a lot of substitutes in the social media and career services industries, which
creates a real threat for LinkedIn. However, users are not going to choose to substitute LinkedIn
with a different social media site that is not geared toward career services in order to post a
resume and search for jobs. So, this threat is moderate.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Low
While this does not directly apply to LinkedIn in some aspects, certain countries or
certain internet service providers could decide not to allow LinkedIn to be accesses. However,
this is unlikely to happen so the threat is low.
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Rivalry Among Competition: High
As mentioned, there is a lot of competition in the social media and career services
industries. As previously mentioned, users might choose to switch to LookSharp or Glassdoor.
However, these competitors do not currently have the totality of services that LinkedIn provides
and are not as widely accepted as LinkedIn. There is potential for them to diversify their product
mix in order to more directly compete with LinkedIn, making this threat high.
Opportunities
There are two big opportunities for LinkedIn. First, the increased access to technology
increases the number of potential users of LinkedIn. This is especially prevalent in developing
countries at the moment. Second, the growing workforce provides a continuously growing
consumer base for LinkedIn to tap into, especially as the younger generations are most likely to
adopt social media. This could include encouraging high schoolers to get on LinkedIn, despite
the presence of work experience.
III. Internal Environment:
LinkedIn’s core and distinctive competency is that they were the first and largest social
media platform for career services of this level. They have a large product offering and are a
widely accepted platform for both companies and members alike. They have the “World’s
Largest Professional Network”. It was one of the first social networks, but their competitive
advantage was to market toward professionals instead of teenagers that used social media sites
like MySpace (“LinkedIn Has Been Around for Ten Years,” 2013). Finally, the niche market of
professionals is a core competency at LinkedIn (Narko, 2013).
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LinkedIn operates with a freemium business model, with both free services and
monetized solutions to users. LinkedIn lists their products for members to be identity, network,
and knowledge. Identity is the use of a profile to be findable to employers, network is connecting
with others’ profiles, and knowledge is access to their professional news articles. LinkedIn lists
their products for customers as hire, market, and sell. The hire category includes their Talent
Solutions product, Market includes their marketing solutions, Finally, the sell category includes
their Sales Navigator tool.
Research and development at LinkedIn is important to stay the “World’s Largest
Professional Network”. They must create solutions for companies for problems that could arise
in the future in order to create successful products.
LinkedIn often creates marketing campaigns for their premium products. For example,
the LinkedIn Lead Accelerator tool for retargeting was marketed to consumers via LinkedIn
Sponsored Updates, Facebook Newsfeed Ads, and display ads. They also do a lot of content
creation through their news articles, which is especially appealing for business to business
marketing. Finally, the presence of LinkedIn serves as a form of advertisement. For example,
many websites include “share to LinkedIn” buttons or allow users to sign in to their website with
LinkedIn member information.
LinkedIn focused on other aspects in the 10 Functional Strategies as well. For example,
LinkedIn also focuses on Human Resources Strategies, as they encourage innovation in
employees through “InDays” and “hackdays” (Nodak, 2013). Additionally, their logistics
strategy is to deliver the product at a low cost through freemium modeling.
IV. Corporate Governance:
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Board of Directors
(Board of Directors, n.d.)
1. Reid Hoffman is a co-founder of LinkedIn and also serves as the Chair of the Board. Reid
is an internal member. He’s been a part of the board since 2003.
2. Leslie Kilgore has served on the board since 2010. Leslie is an external member she is
currently the Chief Marketing Officer at Netflix. LinkedIn Member of the Audit
Committee, Chair of the Compensation Committee, and Member of the Governance and
Nominating Committee
3. Michael J. Moritz has served on the board since 2011. He is an external board member.
He is currently a Managing Member of Sequoia Capital.
4. Jeff Weiner has served on the board since 2009. He is currently the Chief Executive
Officer for LinkedIn and serves as an internal board member.
5. George “Skip” Battle has served on the board since 2010. He is an external board
member and serves on a variety of boards such as Expedia and Netflix. LinkedIn Member
of the Audit Committee, Member of the Compensation Committee, and Chair of the
Governance and Nominating Committee.
6. Stanley J. Meresman has served on the board since 2010. He is an external board member
and serves on a variety of other boards as well. LinkedIn Chair of the Audit Committee,
Member of the Compensation Committee, and Member of the Governance and
Nominating Committee.
7. David Sze has been a board member since 2004. He is an external board member. He is a
Senior Managing Partner at Greylock Partners.
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The board of directors is very diverse from when they joined the board as well as the
different career paths and occupations. There is a variety of ages some board members still hold
positions with other companies, with LinkedIn, as well as some are retired to specifically
working on different Boards of Directors. Some bring knowledge of other boards and how they
function while others have more hands on experience with the business side of a corporation.
The board has an active role within LinkedIn as well as different committees tasked with being
informed about different parts of the corporation.
Top Management
(Management Team, n.d.)
1. Jeff Weiner is currently the Chief Executive Officer for LinkedIn he joined in 2008.
2. Mike Gamson is the Senior Vice President of LinkedIn’s Global Solutions Organization
he joined in 2007.
3. Steve Sordello is a Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer he joined in 2007.
4. Pat Wadors is a Senior Vice President of Global Talent Organization she joined in 2013.
5. Mike Callahan is a Vice President of General Counsel and Secretary.
6. Kevin Scott is a Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations he joined in 2011.
7. Shannon Stubo is the Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Communications
she joined in 2010.
All of the Management Team of diverse backgrounds and knowledge that are fitting for
their positions. The majority of them have had prior experience with known technology
companies such as Yahoo, Google, eBay, Plantronics, and Warner Bros. The technology
background of the Management Team is imperative because LinkedIn is a technologically based
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company focusing on the use of the internet to connect professionals. Most of them graduated
from top universities as well such as Yale, Stanford, and Wharton. The team also is diverse in the
amount of time they have been a part of the company ranging from 2007-2013 starting times.
The majority of the Management Team were external hires. This Management Team is
responsible for the continued growth and success of LinkedIn because they are aware of
LinkedIn’s core and distinctive competencies. The company have increased in user numbers as
well as countries the service is offered. They also are very accessible to the employees and often
look to employees for insight and ideas for the direction the company should go. The corporate
culture is open and innovative. This team is well versed in this field and their specific
occupations and are in a good position to be able to react in a positive manner to any future
challenges.
V. Analysis of Strategic Factors:
LinkedIn’s current strategy is based on three main pillars: simplify, grow, everyday
(Narko, 2013). The simplify pillar was founded to make LinkedIn easy for users to understand in
order for them to maximize their experience on the site. This pillar is essential considering their
first audience of working professionals, not the typical social media audience. The next pillar,
grow, centers on two things: expanding internationally and expanding monetization of the
company. Finally, the last pillar is to remind the company to provide value to users every day.
LinkedIn’s strategic model is based on three elements: international expansion, closed platform,
and pre-empt competitors (Narko, 2013). LinkedIn works on international expansion in many
ways, but they have a variety of languages available and also have offices worldwide. They
operate on a closed platform in order to ensure that other networking sites are not promoted.
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Finally, they pre-empt competitors by continually evolving their service offerings. These
strategies have allowed LinkedIn to stay the largest in the industry. However, the proposed
strategy is very involved with pre-empt competitors as social media sites are continually
evolving and changing.
LinkedIn was originally seen as a job search website, or a public forum to host resumes
(“LinkedIn Has Been Around for Ten Years,” 2013). However, it has evolved since into a
website for both companies and working professionals to manage professional relationships,
market themselves, stay up to date with industry news, and more. These changes helped to keep
LinkedIn ahead of the competition. For that reason, the proposed strategy for LinkedIn is to be
more actionable and provide action for career development instead of static networking. This
strategy will help keep LinkedIn ahead of the competition by creating further relationships and
making their platform more advanced than the competition. This will enable them to stay the
largest.
One way policy is folded into strategy implementation is through the usage of “InDays,”
which is an event sponsored by LinkedIn in which employees create and implement new ideas
and present them for prizes (Narko, 2013). This type of policy helps to foster individual thinking
and innovation strategies to help LinkedIn grow and preempt their competitors, but also fosters a
community of support within the employees.
The LinkedIn mission statement is: “Our mission is simple: To connect the world’s
professionals to make them more productive and successful. When you join LinkedIn, you get
access to people, jobs, news, updates, and insights that will help you be great at what you do.”
(LinkedIn Corporation, 2015). This mission statement demonstrates that LinkedIn is focused on
users and providing them a service that will help users in their career goals. However, it should
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be noted that the mission statement does not mention trying to expand the network. The mission
mainly focuses on the current users and users signing up. It is simple, but does not necessarily
match their ideas for international growth and monetization. LinkedIn’s market objectives are
primarily rooted in international growth and expansion, with no direct number set or released to
the public.
VI. Current Strategy Implementation Evaluation:
Recently, LinkedIn has been using various implementation tactics in order to put its
strategies into action. The current strategy implementation seems effective yet there is obvious
room for improvement as with the strategy formulation. One main way in which LinkedIn is
implementing some of its growth plans/strategy is by acquisitions. Over recent years (and with
plans into the future in 2016), LinkedIn has acquired numerous companies in an effort to develop
and grow their own. For instance, LinkedIn fairly recently acquired Lynda.com in 2015, a
leading online learning company specializing in video courses (What, 2016). They are now
integrating the Lynda.com team into the business and enacting this acquisition into their
everyday strategy. Similarly, LinkedIn is planning to acquire Bizo, a business-marketing
company in an effort to expand their corporate offerings in advertising and marketing (D'Onfro,
2014). This acquisition implementation tactic as a means for growth seems successful as of now
but can be risky and volatile. Thus, we will later suggest some more stable, viable strategy
recommendations and implementation recommendations. Additionally, in terms of
implementation, LinkedIn has a mobile app. This is a direct implementation tactic in order to
make ease of use for professionals. However, this does not seem too successful as they have
experienced various issues with the application and have had complaints about its lack of user-
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friendly ability-something that directly contrasts the strategy they are trying to implement with
the app (Ensuite, 2013). Additionally, an overall strategy implementation that LinkedIn seems to
be enacting is a focus on the fact that a professional social network is vastly different from a
classic social network. The purposes are different and LinkedIn is implementing an overall
assertion that they are not a multi-service platform with games or chat capabilities in order to
deploy their strategy focus on professionals.
In an analysis of the SMART system in LinkedIn’s current strategy implementation, their
implementation has not been very specific. In an effort to implement overarching, broad strategy
plans, implementation seems to be similarly overarching in terms of lack of app
improvement/development, general assertions about their platform, and few, new specific
implementation techniques. In terms of measurability, it is fairly easy to measure the success and
functionality of their implementation of the mobile app in terms of users, click per views, and
other SEO performance measures. However, they seem to be experiencing difficulties with the
collection of this user information which makes the measurability of this implementation tactic
lacking. Whether or not the current strategy implementation is attainable and realistic seems
easy. Although acquisitions can be difficult and time sensitive, this strategy implementation
along with other implementation mentioned above seems very attainable. This in fact, may be the
issue with the current implementation-that it is too attainable and is not doing enough to see the
strategy become successful. Lastly, the current strategies do not seem time sensitive. They seem
long-term and as if they will help eventually but they won’t help strategy develop or be
successful today, tomorrow, or in the coming year. LinkedIn needs strategy formulation and
implementation that will increase user basis, grow their market, develop their product more
clearly, and truly excel.
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VII. Strategic Alternatives and Recommended Strategy:
Strategic Alternatives
LinkedIn has very strong strategies currently and they work for the company in its growth
stage. The company keeps expanding and adding new members, expanding into different
countries, and increasing their revenues. These strategies tend to work like a well-oiled machine,
it just needs maintenance every once in a while. That being said for the future there are some
strategies that can help LinkedIn in their performance.
How To Videos:
LinkedIn members are growing at an exponential rate, but the company also needs to
retain these members. There are many members on LinkedIn but there are also a lot of members
that aren’t very active on the platform. The site already connects professionals, but the company
could also share weekly videos on how to enhance their LinkedIn experience and utilize all the
tools it has to offer. The site has many very useful tools that aren’t known to the majority of
users. For example, the ability to customize a profiles URL, there could be a small minute or two
video that explains how to use this feature, and also how it could set a professional apart from
another. There can be weekly information videos that interact with the users. Also, users range
from all ages from young adults to those who are close to retiring, there is a large technology
knowledge gap between these age groups. Having a help center to call, or join a webinar on how
best to effectively set up LinkedIn profiles could be very beneficial. This will cause more
interaction between LinkedIn and their customer base. A relationship will have the ability to
develop and in return not only retain members but create loyal customers. Having loyal
customers who value LinkedIn and their relationship can ensure long-term success for the
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company. Loyal customers will be less likely to join a competitor if there is a relationship with
LinkedIn. Having the personal touch of communication can also help LinkedIn create more
differentiation from its competitors.
The benefits of this would be informing members about how to use the interface. It will
allow members to connect better with others as well as increase big data statistics for LinkedIn to
continue to use to connect people. Connecting with others is the entire reason that LinkedIn is in
existence and enabling the platform to be more user friendly can help foster more of these
connections. More connections and relationships lead to better job and relationship prospects
which in turn leads to member satisfaction. Member satisfaction leads to more customer loyalty
and retention of members. A disadvantage is the videos and help center would require more
workers or a change in some of worker's responsibilities. This could lead to short term loss in
revenues and would have an adjustment period. There may be an adjustment because it is a new
section of the business that hasn’t been focused on before. A way to combat this worry would be
to include this feature in the premium version, that charges members for more features. With the
continued growth of LinkedIn, this feature could be very beneficial in retaining members for the
long-term. This feature may entice members to upgrade to receive this service, because it would
be in the best interest of the member to learn how best to utilize the platform and use the tools to
be desirable to future employers. LinkedIn is already differentiated from the competition, which
is almost non-existent, this feature would allow LinkedIn to continue to offer services in one
platform that currently is spread across many different platforms. This would help to ensure
LinkedIn’s longevity in the quickly changing technology market.
Actionable Career Development Options-Direct-Apply Job Feature:
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This company is very useful for finding educational institutions, connecting with people,
as well as searching for job postings. Many job postings link more information and applications
to jobs through other specific sites. LinkedIn already allows resumes to be uploaded and the site
serves as an online resume to connections currently. To retain members, LinkedIn could make
the experience even more actionable and dynamic in a user friendly and easy (one of their
current overall focuses) way by having a feature that allows a person to apply directly through
LinkedIn for positions. With this strategy, LinkedIn will no longer solely be for static
professional networking but there will be actionable ways to dynamically further your
professional career development, for instance through this new direct-apply job feature. This
could greatly reduce the time that it takes to apply for many positions. This could be very useful
for members to invest in because it may help ensure future employment or simple for the means
of efficiency. People like features that make their lives easier and this function could make a
member's life easier and therefore a member may be inclined to pay extra to utilize this feature.
This strategy would entice the stakeholder of employers posting jobs as well as they could create
new job listings easier and more directly. This could enhance both job seeking as well
employers experience with and attitude towards LinkedIn.
Adding this feature has advantages and disadvantages. An advantage is that this feature
can continue to differentiate LinkedIn and the services it offers. The ease of this one-stop
application shop with LinkedIn would entice potential users to start to use the site, especially
over competition, and it would additionally create loyalty among members. A disadvantage is
that it would take a programmer time to set up this feature for the separate users to utilize. This
could be an expensive endeavor at the start that would have to wait until members paid for the
service to make up for the expenditure. Being in the growth stage the company would have to be
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cognizant of the mass amount of users that may take advantage of this feature and the company
would need to be prepared for that overwhelming amount of information and server usage.
Keeping this in mind it may be a good idea for the company to invest in a part of the business
that is specific to this feature that would be separate from the other interface in order to ensure
efficiency and capacity for this feature.
Target A Younger Age Group:
Although LinkedIn should remain stringently focused on professional networking, career
development, and true professionals in the world, there is potential to enter into a new market
with a new strategy of expansion into middle school-high school aged kids. Although targeting
directly to kids can be unethical and the strategy must remain aligned with the moral compass
and culture of the corporation, there is potential to build lifelong members from younger ages by
emphasizing the importance of professionalism, networking, and professional/career
advancement in younger kids. Thus, an additional alternative strategy recommendation would be
to partner with middle schools to high schools in order to emphasize the importance of
professionalism and career development. Because social media puts kids at risk for a lack of
professionalism at younger and younger ages, LinkedIn has the potential to join a social
movement towards cleaner social media presence of young kids and help with career
development. This also would ensure a larger member basis and ideally more consistent, lifelong
members which LinkedIn is lacking slightly right now.
Content-Based Development:
One ultimate alternative strategy recommendation would be to develop a more extensive
and advanced content provider solution for users. This would mean that LinkedIn would develop
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content and become a content platform in addition to a professional social networking site. This
could be a large strategic change in terms of its business model and potential impacts on revenue
means however it could ensure members and users think of LinkedIn as an everyday necessity
instead of an occasional professional site to visit. If LinkedIn became more like a newspaper, a
current news source, or a quick news hits feed like theSkimm, it is likely that they would
increase overall daily users and returning users. While this is a large strategic change and could
even change their competitive competencies and could require extensive resources and
development, it might address a serious issue they are facing in terms of user frequency.
Recommended Strategy:
The one strategy that we ultimately recommend is the Actionable Career Development
Options-Direct-Apply Job Feature. The Application feature is the best idea for increasing
revenues for LinkedIn, it will also help in retaining members. It would increase revenues because
more members may be inclined to upgrade to the premium service in order to utilize the
application feature. This feature could even attract more members because the feature can make
it easier for professionals to apply for positions and for employers to be selective in their hiring
process. This feature could allow prospective employees and employers the ease of working with
one platform, which may be enticing for members to pay to utilize. This feature would be a part
of the premium package or the paid business interface. With more members joining for this
feature as well as members who may upgrade to utilize this feature it would increase revenues.
In the short-term this feature will attract lots of foot traffic that could present a problem
with server reaction but it would also bring in an influx of revenue. The increase in server usage
is an easy problem to fix by acquiring more server space or creating a separate area of the site
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that is specifically for the application feature. In the long-term this feature can continue to entice
members to pay for the feature because of the ease it allows on both parties. In the short-term
and long-term this feature can increase revenues as well as stock-prices. LinkedIn has distinctive
competencies of attracting new members, expansion, and the features that the platform provides
users. This feature aligns with LinkedIn’s objectives and actions and would allow the company
to continue its distinctive competencies.
VIII. Recommended Strategy Implementation:
Ultimately we have found that the one-stop application shop feature for LinkedIn is likely
to be the most efficient, effective and successful strategy moving forward. This is something
new, different, distinctive, and although it is a new strategy formulation, it is in line with
corporate objectives, with the corporate mission, and an overall effort to ease the professional
career development process and to make professionals more successful and productive, with
ease. Ease of use has been an issue in LinkedIn’s past implementation tactics and thus that must
be a priority for the implementation of this new strategy feature. As briefly explained above, it
would be essential to find an expert programming team and development team in order to build
this feature out. It is likely that a current product/department unit could start on this development
during the hiring and growth process for the new strategy but new hires and HR development
will be necessary. This feature allows for a strategy with a heightened focus on ease of use and
true career development, an overall strategy that has been in the background of the company for
years but that now will be at the forefront.
While this strategy is built on some common strategic beliefs that the company currently
has, the overall existing strategy will be changed to focus on actionable items to develop and
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progress one's career. This “actionableness” will be the focus and will allow for the strategy to be
long-term and grow far beyond this feature. The change is that LinkedIn will no longer solely be
for latent, static professional networking but there will be actionable ways to dynamically further
your professional career development. With the programming and development of this feature,
there would likely be a server that holds all pertinent information to the majority of job
applications that a member could fill out. This strategy would entice the stakeholder of
employers posting jobs as well as they could create new job listings easier and more directly.
and with that an application section can allow the employer to pick characteristics, qualification,
and other pertinent information they want to review for an application and instead of writing an
application after checking a few boxes the application is ready and able to go active. With this
feature it would allow employers to have the application be open for a specified amount of time,
as well as it could compile the applicants into an order of most qualified for the position to least.
Currently LinkedIn has Talent Solutions that businesses can utilize, this feature on the other hand
can enhance that experience. Not only would employers have the ability to hand pick their top
candidates they would also have the ability to collect applications for positions from top
applicants from the same platform. The ease of this feature could allow many more professional
connections to be made in an efficient way. This feature would allow the platform to be all
encompassing and a one-stop shop for users to go to for their career needs. Also, this feature
could be in the premium and paid business uses of the site that could generate more revenue for
the company. It also could expand membership as well as membership usage of the site.
Members may be inclined to upgrade or even join because this feature allows employers and job
seeking professionals a means of not only connecting but also continuing relationships. There
would need to be a prospective employee interface as well as an employer interface that interact
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with one another and compiles information on either side for specific job listings. Also, if there is
a position that requires an extra bit of information the member would only have to add that part
of the information when applying for a job.
This feature could attract more members which in turn would increase revenues as well
as quality of brand and brand recognition. There would need to be a prospective employee
section because these members have very specific goals and that is to acquire or inquire about
positions. Therefore, these members would only need to utilize the application part of the
feature. Employers on the other hand would have other needs that LinkedIn would need to cater
to. These needs would include a platform to actually create an application, a timed piece that
allows the application to be active for a specific amount of time, as well as a system that
organizes the applications into an order of the employer's choosing.
Through a SMART assessment, this strategy will be specific in that there is one
preliminary, specific feature to implement to kick off the overall strategic shift, it is measurable
in that the product developers will be able to provide expected timelines, the company will be
able to release product/feature updates, it is attainable and realistic in that the strategy builds off
of a current overall strategy but elevates, and it is time-bound in that the first feature
development should be enacted fairly quickly, within the year ideally, which will hopefully
impact short-term sales, but that the overall strategy of dynamics and action will be long-term
and can continue to drive new innovative products, features, and offerings from the company.
IX. Conclusion:
Ultimately, based on our analysis of LinkedIn’s current situation, on their strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats and through an assessment of their current strategy and its
23. 22
success, we have recommended the Direct-Apply Job “Acctionableness” strategy. It is a strategy
that is exciting, new, and dynamic. Is veers from the static essence of networking and truly
enables professionals to professionally develop with ease, productivity and success, closely in
line with their current mission. This should emphasize dynamic action and hopefully a similar
dynamic change in culture will follow this new strategy. At this point in time, after the recent
drop in stock price, it is critical that LinkedIn reestablishes its member basis, starts appealing to
more users, and creates more consistent, active users which is what this strategy will accomplish.
24. 23
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