Spotify’s Agile Organizational Structure: Is It a Good Fit for a Financial Services Firm?

Abstract

This case explains how Ivan, the CEO of a leading financial services firm, Financial Corp, evaluated the success of an agile structure in an organization. Ivan’s financial services firm had a workforce of 35,000, and its organizational and management structure was hierarchical in nature. Impressed with Spotify’s success in the music streaming industry, which many industry experts attributed to the company’s agile structure, Ivan wondered whether the same principles could be applied in his firm. Ivan believed that with an increasing customer preference for online banking, an agile structure might be a better fit for the new workflows and personnel needs that would arise in developing online banking solutions. He had some concerns about making the change, however. Some experts had attributed Spotify’s inability to report profits to its use of the agile organizational structure. Studying Spotify’s story and challenges presents Ivan with a dilemma—deciding whether shifting from a hierarchical to an agile structure would be a wise idea for the financial services firm, given that the benefits from an agile structure were not completely proven for Spotify.