Disney: Organizational Behavior

Walt Disney World Company provides an excellent work setting for their employees or cast members. Staff support centers are spread tactically across the theme park. Some of the services included are childcare information, postage stamps, bus passes, check cashing, staff discount programs, and money orders. The Walt Disney Company comprehends that acknowledging their employees needs keep them motivated on-the-job and dedicated to the company. The Disney Company applies organizational behavior concepts to many facets of their organization.

Motivation

The Disney Company uses many different methods to motivate their employees to provide exceptional service to their customers. The Walt Disney Company provides a wide range of benefits to their employees, including health, dental and life insurance. (Careers: Discover Opportunities to Join The Disney Team, n.d.) The Walt Disney Company provides Complimentary Theme Park Passports, Disney TEAM Discounts, including Disney products and merchandise and Employee Stock Purchase Program.

The Walt Disney Company has also thought of it employees that are seeking a higher education they offer Educational Reimbursement, Learning and Development Opportunities, The Walt Disney Company Foundation Scholarship Program, and Educational Matching Gifts Program. These incentives provide encouragement for the employees and seduce them into staying faithful to the Walt Disney Company. The company also provides other sources of championing. The Credit Unions, Disney VoluntEARS, Service Awards, Personal Assistant Network, Employee & Cast Member Contests, Childcare Centers in Burbank and Orlando, and Employee Stores in Several Locations are other options that can be taken advantage of by employees and cast members. (Careers: Discover Opportunities to Join The Disney Team, n.d.)

The Walt Disney Company acknowledges that their employees and cast members are responsible for making the “magic” happen on a daily basis and use the many incentives mentioned above to motivate and stimulate their employees and cast members into providing the best possible family entertainment available. Motivation is successfully used in the Walt Disney Company as the turnover rate is 30% compared to other theme parks that have a 100% turnover rate.

Organizational CultureThe Walt Disney Company certainly has its own organizational culture. The foundation in this organization is to provide superior entertainment to citizens around the globe. The values that the Disney Company stands by are innovation, quality, community, storytelling, optimism and decency.

The use of storytelling is an important value that helps to unite members on a project around a central idea. Walt Disney formed a creative group called the “Imagineers” in the 1950’s. The purpose of the group is to dream up new imaginative places for the theme park guests to visit. The use of storytelling propels these individuals to devise a history for certain attractions and helps bring them to life in the eyes of the other “Imagineers” and guests who visit the Disney theme parks.

Quality is one value that the Disney Company holds in high regard. They want a high standard of excellence and strive to achieve this through education. Walt Disney wanted his employees and cast members to be customer oriented and implemented training to make this happen. The training eventually developed in the Disney Institute in 1986. The Disney Institute offers a wide variety of classes to help improve the quality of the experience that guests receive. ( Experience The Business Behind The Magic, n.d.)Community, optimism, innovation, and decency are the other values that are a part of the organizational culture at the Disney Company.

These are values that help the Disney brand stand out among its competitors. The strong tradition of innovation and positive entertainment for all ages to share has helped develop The Disney Company as being the number one place to launch a career in 2006. (Gerdes, 2006)Human Resources PracticesThe human resources practices that exist in the Disney Corporation shows how much detail and thought goes into the organizational culture of the company and the amount of training that is required by the employees and cast members. The amount of energy and training that the Disney Company spends on each employee is rewarded by the amount of customer satisfaction that the employee generates at the theme parks and studios.

When a prospective employee or cast member is in the first stages of the interview process, they are asked to watch and orientation video that gives them an idea of what it takes to be an employee at Disney. The video details what is expected of employees and covers rules that are to be followed in the park. The employees are not allowed to have tattoos, excessive jewelry or makeup. Piercings are also prohibited, facial or otherwise. The video helps to eliminate the prospective candidates that are unwilling to abide by these rules. The day that they are interviewed, they are offered a job if they are a good candidate for the position that is available. The benefits briefing is also completed the same day they are interviewed and hired, this eliminates wasted valuable time and allows the new employee or cast member to concentrate on their studies at the Disney Institute.

“The training offered deals with several organizational behavior concepts such as decision-making, motivation, group behavior, communication, organizational culture, organizational structure, and human resources practices. Disney’s orientation process is called Traditions, which is held on all employees first day with Disney and it does not matter who you are within the company it is necessary to be a part of the magic. Traditions is used to submerge the employees into the dream, mission, and service ideology of Disney and how Walt Disney wanted his company to operate even after his passing (The Disney College Program Organizational Leadership Course, 2005).”ConclusionThe successful use of organizational culture, human resources practices and motivation in the Disney Corporation have rocketed this company from a dream held by a man named Walt Disney to a multi million dollar enterprise. The success of this corporation is credited to the individuals that make the “magic” happen everyday, the employees and cast members.

References

Careers: Discover Opportunities to Join The Disney Team. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2008, from The Walt Disney Company Web site: http://corporate.disney.go.com/careers/culture.htmlExperience The Business Behind The Magic. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2008, from The Disney Company Web site: http://www.disneyinstitute.com/indexGerdes, L. (2006, September 18). The Best Places to Launch a Career. Retrieved from Business Week Web site: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_38/b4001601.htmOrganizational studies. (2008, February 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Retrieved 05:09, March 2, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Organizational_studies&oldid=192282171Robbins, Stephen P. (2005). Organizational behavior (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River,NJ:Pearson EducationThe Disney College Program Organizational Leadership Course. (2005, December 22).

Retrieved March 1, 2008, from Disney Theme Parks and Resorts CollegeProgram Web site: http://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com/sap/its/mimes/zh_wdwcp/syllabi/OrgLeadSyllabus.pdf