Airbnb Poor Culture, Leadership, and Change Adaptation After the Declaration of Pandemic

Analysis of Airbnb
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Analysis of Airbnb
Airbnb is one of the companies which COVID-19 affected. After the declaration of the pandemic by the World Health Organization, the government restricted travel, thus adversely impacting the company's profitability (Esty & Ciechanover, 2021). Airbnb strategically established different processes and models but did not succeed due to various challenges. The paper probes an analysis of Airbnb by identifying the problem and recommending necessary action to allow the company to engage the stakeholders.
Role- For the analysis purposes, I will take the role of an outside consultant to make it easy to advise the Airbnb management and recommend necessary actions for transformation and growth.
Problem Identification- Based on the operation excellence, Airbnb's significant problem is poor culture, leadership, and change adaptation. The company does not adequately employ the stakeholder model to understand the nature of business operations, stakeholder demands, and effective business strategies.
Analysis
Artificial Intelligence
The analysis of Airbnb is effective using the artificial intelligence tool. Artificial intelligence applies to stakeholder analysis and implementation of necessary business development and growth strategies. According to Iansiti & Lakhani (2020), AI is necessary for leveraging data and customers across the company boundaries to ensure that change is implemented, which was not evident in Airbnb. Additionally, the tool embraces machine learning. Airbnb is a company that focuses on services; therefore, it would be easy for them to resolve the COVID-19 problem using AI technology other than adjusting the stakeholder model as noted in the case. Airbnb felt the effect of the COVID-19 strike due to the travel ban and their dependence on the hospitality industry (Esty & Ciechanover, 2021). Additionally, the company's approach to resolving the problem was not based on a reliable framework and intelligence analysis and adoption. Therefore, it recorded significant losses in terms of labor and financial resources.
Additionally, the Airbnb problem is linked to AI due to its operations after the impact of COVID-19. Esty & Ciechanover (2021) notes that some of the actions that the company considered include freezing the hiring process, failure to pay the 2020 bonus, and laying off all the contract workers. The identified course of action was inappropriate. According to artificial intelligence, leadership is a key element that must be considered whenever a company faces a pandemic and crisis (Fountaine et al., 2019). Airbnb should have considered its strategies before blindly implementing different actions, thus adversely impacting its human resource. The significant approach would be applying artificial technology instead of reducing the workforce. The AI-powered organization is necessary since it is easy to deal with contingent problems and implement positive change initiatives (Babic et al., 2020). It allows the leaders to significantly air their vision and alternative solutions regardless of any crisis. The management did not observe the identified process while implementing their actions.
Shared Value Model
The problem at Airbnb also correlates to the shared value model. Before the COVID-19 crisis, there were some mistakes that the company committed, which correlates to shared value among the stakeholders. For instance, Airbnb failed to promote equitable sharing of funds for house management leading to damages by the guests. Additionally, the guests constantly recorded physical assaults and misrepresentation on the rental properties (Esty & Ciechanover, 2021). The identified activities were common since the company did not focus on stabilized value sharing, a key element for its growth and prosperity. The problem correlates to the shared value model since many issues emerge that the company would have avoided whenever it considered the interests of different stakeholders.
The shared value model applies to the Airbnb case due to its failure in successfully implementing policies that would guide the interests of the employees and other stakeholders before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the shared value model, a company should adjust its operating practices that promote competitiveness and, at the same time, consider the interest of the stakeholders (Corritore et al., 2020). Furthermore, Groysberg et al. (2018) note that it is the responsibility of a leader to implement value sharing strategy to mobilize the employees towards a unified corporate culture. Airbnb did not consider such a strategy, thus impacting many stakeholders. Its business relies on close interaction with the stakeholders, thus making leadership and corporate cultures key ingredients in sustaining growth and sustainability. Lastly, the shared value model is efficient since it drives a company towards change (Michels, D. & Murphy, 2021). Based on the Airbnb case, change is a critical problem since no well-established framework considers different elements whenever contingent issues arise, such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Esty & Ciechanover, 2021). Therefore, the company's major problem is initiating change without considering shared values and effective change strategies.
Stakeholder Theory
Most of the activities noted from Airbnb correlate to stakeholder theory since there is no strong connection between the company and different stakeholders, including the customers and employees. However, the procedure followed by the company's leadership is inappropriate and creates different loopholes for failures. The implementation of a stakeholder should be done in a five-step road map cons...