1. Why has Madonna been so successful in the world of entertainment?
As Madonna got involved with the emerging dance scene in New York City, she was able to catch the attention of a club DJ who then introduced her to producers from Warner Bros. Her connection to these producers would eventually help her to network with other high-profile people in the music industry that she took every opportunity to work with. This is evident when she hired Freddie DeMann to be her manager, who was formerly supposed to work with Michael Jackson. She did not hire friends that she promised producer jobs for, and instead hired producers that had good connections. She built her success largely on her image and fighting to keep that image prevalent in pop culture and making it variable enough to keep up with the times. By focusing on her celebrity status, she made aspects of her life and career give her the advantage over the media and bring her consistent financial success.
2. Does Madonna have a strategy? If so, what are the main elements of that strategy?
But aside from taking opportunities as they came along, Madonna worked very hard in controlling her image and her music. She was “quick to recognize the commercial implications of the new musical wave,” (Grant, 490), and made sure that her albums reflected those changes each time she released a new one. She rejected the age-old adage for the industry where you “find a winning formula and stick to it,” and instead made her career a “continuous experimentation with new musical ideas and new images, and a constant quest for new heights of fame and acclaim,” (Grant, 491). She carried a “hands-on management style” (Grant, 492) that was evident in everything she did involving her work. The songwriters she chose for her music are usually virtually unknown so that she can control what they are writing for her. She is heavily involved in all of the details regarding her tours, and she played characters in films that fit her image and persona. She used characteristics of a leader, and if “leaders aren’t transparent with the information you are using to plan and make decisions, then you build a strategy on incomplete information and points of view,” (Edinger, 2012). Madonna always spoke her mind and went after what she wanted. Thus, she played a strong leader in her endeavors.
3. What is strategy? What is the meaning of “strategy” in a fast-changing, unpredictable environment?
The nature of strategy is that it is “organic in that it continues to evolve and guide the daily work and decisions of an organization,” (Edinger, 2012). In the case for Madonna, she has implemented a strategy that is flexible, and that will essentially adapt to the changing musical environment as the decades roll by as well as to her personal life experiences. Madonna’s musical career has lasted so far for 30 years.
Essentially, she capitalized her career based on her controversial image. For example, her Like a Prayer era mixed religion with sexual imagery, which garnered massive attention and fervor. After giving birth to her first child, she adapted motherly lifestyle changes and focused on her spirituality, which is reflected in her music like her Ray of Light album. This, and her insistence of adopting a Malawian child gained widespread media and tabloid attention – things that only boosted her career. When trends in the music industry changed to tour popularity, Madonna made sure to adapt this new business model, and signed a large business contract with Live Nation, the largest concert promotion company. This move was called “strategic brilliance,” (Grant, 495). Basically, Madonna was able to adapt any changes that came with the music industry or with her personal life and made the right choices to make it work in her favor.
4. What is the role of strategy in success? Are there decisions and behaviors that are likely to lead to better outcomes?
If the nature of strategy is to plan, then studying Madonna’s career shows that there are only a few aspects that need to be planned while the rest must come organically depending on the current surrounding environment. She had “alignment on clear definitions of success, [which] is paramount,” (Edinger, 2012), which is evident when she answered to a reporter that she planned to rule the world. She certainly was able to make the world obsessed with her career. She also took “accountability for formulating and executing strategy,” (Edinger, 2012) since she took all the managerial steps to ensure that she is still in control of her career and her art. She also never treated strategy as an “event,” (Edginer, 2012). This meant that she never stopped her ambitions and her strive for greater fame when she accomplished a successful album or a successful tour. She continued to push for a changed yet better and trendier persona for her next project. She was always on top of the current trends and made sure her art reflected the pop music industry as it changed and promoted new artists. Learning from her, it seems clear that decision making and controlled, ambitious behaviors are what leads people to better success.
5. What are the critical ingredients of a successful strategy? Can we generalize about the features of strategies that promote success rather than failure?
Using Madonna as a prime example of success, it seems that the path to success and the critical ingredients of a successful strategy are rooted in change and flexibility. If she stayed with her previous 1980s image and persona of sexual controversy, she may not have stayed too long in the spotlight and would have faded away. Her success came with working with the right people, taking complete control over her art and image, and with being flexible enough to cater to the tastes of a changing music industry while still maintaining her individuality as an artist. Everything she did was driven by ambition and she did not let go of the details. As such, strategy should have a foundation of a drive to succeed and a sense of self and individuality, but it must be adaptable and malleable.
Works Cited
Edinger, Scott. “How to Make a Strategy Succeed.” Forbes. Forbes.com, 26 October 2012. Web. 7 Feb. 2016.
Grant, Robert M. “Case 1 – Madonna.” Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Hoboken: Wiley, 2013. Print.
