PDA Analysis: DreamWorks Animation SKG

As we wind down our blogs, it has been enlightening learning about various facets of organizations and the ways they interact. Through our research, we were able to touch on numerous companies that successfully executed some of the Organizational Behavior techniques to create successful businesses that not only deliver strong value to their shareholders, but also create strong corporate cultures. In our Positive Deviance Analysis, we believe that DreamWorks Animation SKG is one of the most exemplary companies within its culture, and its ability to create trust among its employees.


DreamWorks Animation SKG delivers "high-quality family entertainment through the use of computer-generated animation." But in order to create these high-quality films, it is necessary to be innovative in every aspect of a movie to make it compelling enough to attract viewers. In order to motivate its employees, management is responsible for fostering that innovation by creating a hospitable atmosphere. With 325,000 square feet of luxurious studios, infused with koi ponds and game rooms, the employees are set up to enjoy themselves. Even holding movie nights of some of its successful releases, employees barely seem to be working. By enabling employees to relax and enjoy their workplace, DreamWorks develops trust within its employees.


As an example, the CEO of DreamWorks, Jeffrey Katzenberg was known as a demanding, hard-nosed executive when he spent his time with Disney overseeing operations. When he arrived at DreamWorks, he was ill-equipped on some managerial tactics, such as making his employees happy, and quickly learned the importance of it. In recent interactions with the director of Kung Fu Panda 2, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, Katzenberg goes out of his way to ask about employee satisfaction, and provides Nelson with confidence by positively reinforcing her decisions. Having the CEO champion the actions and decisions of the company provides the employees with a mentality that management truly cares about the output of work, and creates an excellent environment for success.


Finally, DreamWorks implemented a program called "Life's a Pitch," in which each employee is charged with contributing towards the firm's productions. Employees ranging from accountants to engineers are tasked to come together and pitch their own ideas in a collaborative setting to utilize their creativity and be a part of the films that they make. Through these workshops, DreamWorks takes advantage of the strong culture to implement cross-functionalism and a better distribution of ideas.


By succeeding in these aspects within its culture, we believe that DreamWorks is a positively deviant company that enforces success through happy, motivated employees. By having the CEO champion this value and enabling an atmosphere where employees can be happy, DreamWorks fosters a strong culture that is almost unrivaled. Through the usage of group dynamics, teamwork, and trust, DreamWorks is a model company for any individual wishing to study how to best build a cooperative team in a stressful industry.

A Final Post for Learning Journals

As we conclude our Learning Journal, it is important to provide reflection and insight into what we have learned over the course of the semester. Initially, our idea was to shed light on what companies were doing across the very dimensions we have been discussing in class including: motivation, trust, creativity, conflict, mentoring, and even ethics. In our first round of blog posts we went into heavy detail on the culture of various companies because we believe it to be the core of how well companies are able to perform in these dimensions. We have used this second round of blog posts to go into specific, class topics because we understand that culture has many different facets and it would be an injustice to speak strictly about the general feel of an environment. Later in our PDA, you will see that we go into even further depth in describing how Dreamworks stands out across some of these same areas.

A big take-a-way from this project is one that we experienced in our team dynamics. Other than our interactions in the classroom, our team essentially ran on the "virtual team" dynamic, planning all distribution of work via email. We learned quickly that the incongruousness in our first round of blogs was a result of unclear objectives/measurements of what the blogs should look like. On one hand, this granted much autonomy to each member to creatively design his or her own post, however, this left us with varying lengths and varying depth in the assignment. To improve ourselves, we discussed ways to make our blog posts longer and assigned specific class topics for each individual to cover with a pre-deadline of 24 hours in advance to give everyone the chance to review each other's posts. This is what OB is about: looking at the insides of an organization to see what improvements need to be made, pinpointing solutions, and instating change. With this, Scared of Clowns is pleased to present their findings in the posts below.

Pepsico's Ethical Management

Though we did not discuss ethics in class, we believe that it is still a necessary topic to cover within our blogs because of the prevalence of whistleblowers and lack of oversight in many industries. With the numerous accounting frauds found over the past decade at Enron, WorldCom and HealthSouth, it has become imperative that companies reevaluate themselves and their management. Through the usage of auditors and ethics classes, numerous companies have beefed up their business ethics and best practices to ensure that fraudulent activities are prevented. Pepsico, one of the largest firms in the world in consumer products, remains a role model for being both socially and environmentally responsible, placing third worldwide in the "World's Most Ethical Companies" held by www.ethisphere.com.

Since 1976, Pepsico has designed a Code of Conduct that is regularly updated (in 42 languages) and provided to each employee at the firm to ensure that unethical practices are dealt with. Under the Chief Compliance Officer, Pepsico has implemented support groups that oversee the implementation of the Code of Conduct, such as the Law Department, Human Resources and Internal Audit. The company also incentivizes employee to follow the Code of Conduct by providing prizes, such as the Chairman’s Award and the “Performance with Purpose” award. While the support groups provide assistance in overseeing the implementation, Pepsico brings in a third party to evaluate the ethical practices and ensures that people are not engaging in unethical conduct.

While the Code of Conduct advises employees to act in a certain way, employees at Pepsico take it a step further by focusing on truth and equity. They do not tolerate discrimination amongst employees, and also ensure that what they market is exactly what they provide to their customers. Given the unhealthy nature of some foods such as soda and chips, Pepsico ensures that they are responsibly providing their customers with important information. Especially in the case of children, Pepsico has been proactive to combat child obesity and seek to restrict advertising to children because of their sensitive nature. They recognize the importance of sensible eating habits, and seek to limit the consumption of some of their unhealthier products.

While a lot of the implemented ethical firm policies and marketing tactics seem counterintuitive to their top-line, they assist in providing a strong brand image for Pepsico. Its customers recognize value in the assurance that Pepsico truly cares about people and aims to provide them with excellent products without deception, and these ethical acts only help the firm in general. While it unfortunate that many firms in the past have sought their profits unethically, this example goes to show that ethics can be much more beneficial to a firm.

Google breeds creativity through trust

The topic sounds strange enough that creativity would be related to trust. I was confused myself at first too. From readings, I know that creativity and trust are essential components that help any organization achieve success. But, from Google, I truly believe the key to creativity is the ability to trust.
 Google is creative in many ways, most of us already know that they come up with awesome apps and softwares. Those products were the results of the googlers' creativity. Google helps builds creativity from three areas: physical facility, culture  and  individual attitude, and all three of those areas are connected by trust. In the sense of physical facility, each of its office around the globe is different based on the office location. Employees can travel using bicycles or scooters between meetings; the work area is the play area, there are foosball, pool tables, large inflatable balls, and even assorted video games. They even offer dance classes during breaks. My first reaction was :" The place seems like a resort rather than a workplace and the employees get paid to play? "  How can people develop such amazing products if they play all day?
 The answer lies in Google's culture and its trust in its people to take their creative perks which is embodied in their "10 reasons why work for Google?" 

1. Lend a helping hand.
2. Life is beautiful.
3. Appreciation is the best motivation,
4. Work and play are not mutually exclusive. 
5. We love our employees, and we want them to know it.
6. Innovation is our bloodline.
7. Good company everywhere you look.
8. Uniting the world, one user at a time.
9. Boldly go where no one has gone before. T
10. There is such a thing as a free lunch after all.

Trust is placed here because  in order to share ideas and information with each other, employees need not only to look for his/her personal gain but also, look at the bigger picture, for a better company. The employees work together not to compete against but with. Google invests in not only the person's expertise but also, the person as a whole. The company believes that happy employees are more productive, and for employees to be happy, they need a positive environment for a happy attitude. Each one of them emphasizes the idea of that Google truly cares for its employees and believes in the employee's ability to deliver the best products. It is like a two way road, by trusting the employees to perform the best by providing them with freedom and fostering a fun attitude, the employees are able to bring creative ideas into the work places. Like Google says:  "We actively cast a wide learning net because innovations often arise when ideas in a seeming unrelated field are applied to our field."   

Motivation as a Key Factor in the Success of TOMS

In our blog posts, we wished to combine topics of the class as they can be found within present-day companies. This Blog post reflects on the use of Motivation in TOMS shoes’ business model.

As customers, we are becoming more and more demanding of products “for good.” In other words, we want companies to step up and be socially responsible. The TOMS business model does just that. For every pair of shoes sold, a pair of shoes is given to a child in need. Consumers are then motivated to shovel out $40-$60 for a pair of simple shoes, knowing that really, half of their purchase is a donation and investment in the well-being of our neighbors across the world.

In class we looked at Kenneth Thomas’ model of Intrinsic motivation. I would argue that TOMS appeals to the dimension of “sense of meaningfulness.” Customers are excited by the task purpose, rather than just the act of buying shoes. They can tangibly understand the impact they will make because when they wear their new shoes, it is a constant reminder that somebody, somewhere, is wearing the exact same pair. For the consumer, it is an opportunity to make a difference while purchasing an item that he or she would need anyway (everyone needs shoes!). In this way, the marketing power of TOMS is underlined by its foundation on the INTRINSIC satisfaction that the customer receives with his or her purchase. 

 

This “meaningfulness” even translates into the job structure of TOMS. One thing they pride themselves on is that they constantly have 15+ interns in their California office. These interns are unpaid, yet, there are thousands of applicants that apply every semester. TOMS can be picky in the interns they pick, and even more selective in the full-time candidates they wish to hire without heavy marketing on their employment brand--they already have the recognition from their "One to One Movement." For this reason, TOMS can use the resources that are normally applied to HR for their business. Why? Because the consumer as well as the up-and-coming employee are looking for ways to do meaningful work. 

Conflict Management--GEICO at Work

In class we discussed the realities of conflict in any organization. In GEICO call centers, conflict is the day-to-day job of those phone operators. They handle calls from frantic customers, looking for advice on where to tow their cars or even how to begin litigation in serious injury or fatal accidents. This high stress environment always has the potential to turn south; already upset, if the customer feels the person on the other end of the line is incompetent, a rather nasty exchange may take place.

So what does this mean for the employees? They have to be excellent in employing conflict management skills. While on the phone with an upset customer, they must collect accurate and complete information for the claim. They must maintain a calm yet helpful attitude every step of the way. Despite what could be considered a volatile work environment, the turnover of these centers is only 15% which is substantially lower than the usual 80-90% turnover of other call rate centers. Let’s delve further into the why.

At GEICO, they attempt to turn the “hourly” wage jobs into a career. All employees are given extensive training in the computer programs as well as in interpersonal skills in order to maximize customer service. Additionally, employees have a comfortable place to work with a friendly supervisor who understands their jobs because he/she has performed it. Promotion is only from within, and the supervisor is the head of a small team of 5-6, which creates a family-like atmosphere. Each supervisor, in turn, is responsible for monitoring the progress of his or her team, answering questions, and giving advice on how to handle difficult situations. With this support network in place, call center employees are better able to adjust and perform well despite their conflict-driven duties.

Looking at the five conflict-handling styles, GEICO uses Obliging. There is always a strong emphasis on the customer (others) with less concern for the “self.” Evidence of this is that even directors are given very basic personal offices without windows. There is no excessive glory for GEICO management because they are driven to do more with less—to use an old white board instead of purchasing a new one, to use all the pens in a desk before asking for more—and these principles apply from the bottom up through the top in order to transfer those savings to the customer.

In closing, it is important to remember that conflict is only powerful if used for change and growth. After interviewing a phone operator, I learned that it is actually this conflict that keeps her coming to work every day; it is made manageable by her training and support group, yet, she is constantly challenged to meet the customer’s needs. Every new situation helps to further her knowledge of the company’s capabilities as well as the new trends in the insurance industry. So, on a personal level, employees are learning. As a company, GEICO is also able to learn how it can improve through customer surveys which are administered via phone to willing clients. With these metrics, GEICO is able to develop and grow through the growth of its employees. –(from an interview with GEICO HR and call center)

Neutron Jack: The Success Story of GE

It is difficult to even begin to comprehend the hard work and managerial decisions that are required to go from a small company to a massive multinational corporation. To get to where it is today, General Electric had to undergo many changes to its culture, corporate strategy, and the entire structure of the organization itself. During the 1970s, Reginald H. Jones became the CEO and inherited a company that was extremely complex with numerous divisions and strategic business units. He utilized strategic planning to effectively manage the different divisions and set up intermediate management that would accommodate the needs of each business unit. In turn, he was voted CEO of the Year three times, and eventually the CEO of the Decade.

In 1981, Jack Welch took over the reins of GE and was negatively viewed as a hothead. However, he is responsible for the GE we know today by drastically reinventing the firm. He took on a company during a recessionary period where unemployment was high, and decided that the best thing to do was to create efficiencies. However, efficiencies to Jack Welch meant a culture change. GE was supposed to be similar to some of the larger Japanese firms such as Nissan and Toyota, where once you got in, you were a member for life. But Welch cared more about performance, especially in a down economy. Though what was in place worked just fine, Welch noticed that the levels of bureaucracy were creating problems. The reporting structure was all over the place, and the executives had difficulties properly executing their strategy because of the inability to communicate the massive amounts of information.

Instead, Welch saw it fit to replace that structure and create flexibility for the firm so that the firm can be even better. He challenged each business unit to be #1 or #2 in its respective industry, and if they failed to do that, they would be wound down or sold off. He restructured the entire company by removing the bureaucracy put in place by Jones, finding it cumbersome and inefficient. Rather than utilizing the delegated structure where each unit would report to their respective manager, he wanted select groups to report to him by putting various business units together into core businesses, such as GE Capital and GE Aerospace. Through this downsizing and delayering, he removed about 250,000 workers, thus giving him the name Neutron Jack. 

However, it was clear that through this transition, people were deathly afraid of losing their jobs. To regain the confidence of his employees, Welch enabled the Software Initiatives. Under the Software Initiatives were two programs, Work Out and Best Practices, which both sought out ways to increase performance. Work Out was a forum in which employees of all levels would communicate their ideas and create proposals, while Best Practices was an initiative that sought to explore their competitors’ processes and copy them. He also added appropriate incentive systems through stock-based options, consistent throughout each level of the organization. He also added a six-sigma system and stretch goals to make sure that the employees strove for efficiencies and also pushed themselves. But his greatest implementation is probably the Crotonville management development facility. At Crotonville, people would be assisted through the change and experience new managerial traits that would help them perform better. Not only did professors of top universities instruct them, they were also provided measurable goals that would enable them to understand their progress.

Through Welch’s promotion as the CEO, GE drastically changed from being a bureaucracy-heavy company to one that is more flexible and efficient. It was a change that nobody welcomed, and one that might not have been needed at the time. But in order to continue to outperform their competitors, Welch knew that the firm had to remove the problems before they became too big. Though many people were not happy about it, they soon began to realize the benefits of the process, and progressed with the change. GE’s sales went from $24 billion in 1980 to $129 billion in 2000, a testament to the progress that GE made.