A CASE STUDY ON PIXARS INCREDIBLE CULTURE

PRESENTED BY:
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eMBA HR Ami Savla- 10010 Ankita Sen- 10018 Dimple Laungani- 10040 Mamta Chawla- 10075 Tanvi Kokate- 10164

ROADMAP
TOPIC
3 1) INTRODUCTION TO PIXAR 2) ACQUISITION OF PIXAR BY WALT DISNEY 3) UNIQUE WORK CULTURE

SLIDE NO. 4-12

PRESENTED BY TANVI KOKATE

4)ELEMENTS OF CULTURE 5) PIXAR UNIVERSITY 6) CRITISISM OF CULTURE 7)MANAGEMENT OUTLOOK AFTER ACQUISITION

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MAMTA CHAWLA

8) ANALYSING THE CASE-SHRM WAY 9) CULTURAL FIT 10) HIGH INVOLVEMENT MODEL

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DIMPLE LAUNGANI

11) 5 PS OF SHRM AT PIXAR 12)PIXARS EDGE FOR DECISION MAKING 13) HR CORE COMPETENCY AT PIXAR 14)HOW PIXAR FOSTERS COLLECTIVE CREATIVITYHBR 15) PIXARS OPERATING PRINCIPLES

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AMI SAVLA

32-37

ANKITA SEN

SYNOPSIS
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This case is about the unique organization culture at Pixar Animation Studio (Pixar). Informal approach toward work and Human Resource (HR) policies that built a motivated and loyal employee base. Company's hands-off management style coupled with a craftsman-like nurturing of the creative process Cultural and HR management implications to Pixar after acquisition by The Walt Disney Company.

CRUX OF THE CASE

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Understand the techniques adopted Pixar in creating and maintaining its unique organization culture Understand the cultural and HR management implications to a company in the event of it being acquired by a larger entity

ABOUT PIXAR
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Headquarters: Emeryville, California Founded in 1986 by Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull, and John Lasseter Employee Strength- 850 14 Academy Awards, 7 Golden Globes and 3 Grammy Awards

Major feature films- Toy story, A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo.
Competitors-Dream Works, Blue Sky

KEY PEOPLE AT DISNEY-PIXAR

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Steve Jobs- Chairman & Chief Executive Officer- Pixar. Later member of Board of Directors- Disney (till 2011)

Dr. Ed Catmull- President- Pixar. Later Chief Creative officer- Disney and Pixar

John Lasseter- Executive Vice PresidentDisney and Pixar

PIXARS - JOURNEY
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Founded in 1979 by Catmull and Smith, as Graphics group, of the computer division of Lucasfilm Ltd, that was running into losses. 1986- Pixar purchased by Apple and became Pixar Image Computer (PIC) Poor sales forced Pixar to focus on animation business 1991- Smith Left Pixar 1997- Pixars Deal with Disney 2004- Pixar and Disney Parted ways

ACQUISITION OF PIXAR BY DISNEY

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Disney announced on January 24, 2006 that it had agreed to buy Pixar for approximately $7.4 billion. Pixar had a six-on-six record & analysts attributed its success to the culture of the organisation. Main motive was to embrace Pixars unique culture that had fostered some of the most innovative films in history. Pixar was acquired by Walt Disney on May 5th, 2006. Both the companies stressed that Pixars would remain a separate entity & its culture would be protected

PIXARS WORKPLACE CULTURE

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No Employment contracts People centered business model Culture of innovation

Preventing burnout No Hero culture

The organizational structure Short films as training ground

Art as a teams sport

Hire people who are better then we are

NO EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS
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Contract system- in vogue, builds loyalty Pixars model was just the opposite

Employees-long term affiliation instead of one time contract

Creation of incredible workplace-Opportunies to learn and grow and most of all great coworkers

PEOPLE CENTERED BUSINESS MODEL

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Departure from idea centered model of Hollywood if you have a great idea, and you give it to the wrong people they will screw it up, if you have the wrong idea and you give it to right people they will fix it

Kept employees interested as well as motivated

CULTURE OF INNOVATION
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Not to be complacent and had to always stay ahead of the curve Intense self-scrutiny ensured, benifitting from all experiences Employees were committed to quality of products

HIRE PEOPLE WHO ARE BETTER THEN WE ARE

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Time constraints posed by tight productions schedules led to it. People on the growth-curve in their careers were hired Hiring based on potential rather than position with their existing employer.

A departure from the general tendency of managers to hire down due to threat.

PREVENTING BURNOUT
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Employees enjoy long & productive career Programs for employees general well beings

Ergonomics expert
Doctors & masseuses

NO HERO CULTURE
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Team preference Everyone as a team would get bonus

Artistic & technical side both were equally important

THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

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3 parallel groups - technology department - creative department - production department Group talk with each other

SHORT FILMS AS TRAINING GROUND

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Produced for training purposes If success then used in movies

If failed then people can be wiser with the experiment

ART AS A TEAMS SPORT

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Helped retain talent All are a part of the process

PIXAR UNIVERSITY
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Started in 1997 & Headed by Nelson Continuing program of lectures, workshops, courses and events that went on every day at the Pixar facility. PU offered more than 110 courses, including a complete filmmaking curriculum, classes on painting, drawing, sculpting, and creative writing...

CRITICISMS ABOUT THE CULTURE

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Pixar was a self-contained organization without links to external perspectives This could encourage homogeneous values and an insular view of the world Pixars policy of retaining the same team over and over again could lead to stagnation of ideas. Relied too much on the same core group of people

MANAGEMENT OUTLOOK AFTER ACQUISITION

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After acquisition, Disney wanted to embrace Pixars culture. Steering committee was formed The difference between the cultures was palpable and difficult to bridge

Cultural adaptation under new owner-biggest challenge for Pixar

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ANALYZING PIXAR THE S-HRM WAY

WHY DOES PIXAR REQUIRE SUCH A CULTURE?

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If we aren't always at least a little scared, we're not doing our job A business whose customers want to see something new every time they go to the theater Innovation entails risk, and companies that don't innovate soon find their customer base dwindling

CULTURE FIT
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Trying to bring in cataclysmic changes in an organization culture can be indigestible Best fit ApproachHR strategies are appropriate to the circumstances of the organization, including its culture, operational processes and external environment

Pixars use of best fit approach

HIGH INVOLVEMENT MODEL OF SHRM

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Approaches

No- Hero culture Open communication and parallel groups Art as a team sport Flexibility Whacky culture

Results

Lowest turnover rate Creative brain trust Retention during poor financial conditions Transition from High Involvement to High Commitment in the long run

5 Ps MODEL OF SHRM AT PIXAR

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Philosophy

Process

Policy

Practice

Program

 Going from Suck to Non-suck

Philosophies

Policies

No Employment contracts Hire people who are better then we are No Hero culture Accept every offer Make you partner look good Look for whats wrong, not just whats right

Practices

Pixar University
Programs

Unique Recruitment Process

Processes
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PIXARS EDGE FOR DECISION MAKING

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Its managers give its directors a lot of autonomy Even though directors have autonomy, they get feedback from others Pixar uses a process for "postmortems" on the major aspects of movies after they're completed

Pixar admits mistakes in other ways

Pixar has an extensive education program at Pixar University, with more than 110 different courses

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HR AREA OF CORE COMPETENCY - INNOVATION

HR AREA OF CORE COMPETENCY

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Unconventional approach

Pixar University

Hiring people with growth curve

INNOVATION

Team before individual

Parallel groups & open communication

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HOW PIXAR FOSTERS COLLECTIVE CREATIVITY?

-By Dr. Ed Catmull Harward Business Review

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?
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Involves a large number of people from different disciplines working effectively together to solve a great many problems. Must be present at every level of every artistic and technical part of the organization. Taking Risks Constructing an environment that nurtures trusting and respectful relationships and unleashes everyones creativity

ROOTS OF PIXARS CULTURE

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At the root of Pixars culture are its smart, talented and creative people. Pixar believes in primacy of people over ideas. Power to the Creative's - Incubation Teams Peer Culture
- Brain Trust

- Dailies or daily reviews

ADVANTAGES OF DAILIES
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Once people get over the embarrassment of showing work still in progress, they become more creative. The director or creative leads guiding the review process can communicate important points to the entire crew at the same time. People learn from and inspire each other; a highly creative piece of animation will spark others to raise their game.

PIXARS OPERATING PRINCIPLES

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Everyone must have the freedom to communicate with anyone. It must be safe for everyone to offer ideas. We must stay close to innovations happening in the academic community.

PIXAR : PRACTICING S-HRM

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Fulfills the aim of S-HRM by:

Building a long term and major impact on the behavior and success of the organization Ensuring the organization has skilled, committed and well motivated employees

Achieve sustained competitive advantage

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