Examining organizational culture of Pixar Animation Studios Case Study
Key Learning Outcomes
By the end of the case, students should be able to:
- Understand the meaning of organizational culture and its significance to organizations
- Understand the organizational culture of Pixar Animation Studios and how it has led to its growth and development
- Learn how to apply organizational culture in real-life companies
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Pixar Animation Company originated way back in 1984 when the creative officer of Pixar and Disney amalgamated with the computer graphics division of Lucas films television company. A few years later, Steve Jobs purchased the formulated entity and retitled it to Pixar which went on to make outstanding short films, commercials, and documentaries. The Pixar Company developed its inventive capabilities to produce its first animated movie named toy Story in 1995 which marked the foundation of a new era in the animation film industry. The company reconsidered the meaning of success with foremost victory in the form of; The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2, etc.
The Company was later acquired by Disney in the year 2006, a strategic alliance that expanded the creative potential of Pixar to further heights. The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the significant issues relating to the management of the organizational culture at Pixar Animation Studios. This paper is going to identify and discuss the significant issues relating to the management of the organizational culture at Pixar Animation Studios.
What is organizational culture? It is defined as the company's beliefs, values, and attitudes, and how these factors affect the behavior of employees and customers, it can also be defined to mean the basic assumptions and beliefs shared within an organization. Armstrong and Taylor, (2017) point out that values are what are believed to be important as they dictate and provide for ways how people ought to behave, while norms are the unwritten rules of behavior. Izuogu, (2015) simply put culture as the “way we do things here”. Organizations ought to clearly analyze all the cultural determinants because it is very clear that cultural sensitivity is a critical factor in determining the success of the company globally.
What type of organizational structure is Pixar? At Pixar Animation Studios, there is a high level of interaction and communication resulting from its flat organizational structure. A number of analysts attribute Pixar’s growth and development to its unique culture distinguished by an informal and easy approach towards work and its Human Resource strategies that have helped in building a loyal employee base. The company’s thriving, creative culture revolves around teamwork, collaboration, and the flow of communication between individual employees.