Pixar- Culture and Organisations
Culture and Organisations Pixar case study
HRO372
1. Background
Pixar Animation Studios was founded in 1979, initially specializing in producing state of the art computer hardware (Carlson, 2003). In 1990, due to poor product sales the company diversified from its core business and began producing computer animated commercials for outside companies. Success came for Pixar after the production of its first computer animated film ‘Toy story’ in 1995 (Hutton and Baute, 2007). Since then, Pixar has made many innovative animated feature films, with well known ones including - A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and WALL-E, six of which are in the top grossing animated films of all time (Pixar, 2010).
The company has won many Academy awards for Best Animated Feature film, and puts its success largely down to the “rare talent” of its employees (Prokesch, 2008). Pixar’s operates a strong organisational culture, which has seen it become a benchmark for other companies in the film making industry. The company’s key objective is “to combine proprietary technology and world-class creative talent to develop computer-animated feature films with memorable characters and heart-warming stories that appeal to audiences of all ages (Pixar, 2009).”
In 2006, Pixar entered a 7.6 billion dollar agreement to work with the Walt Disney Company. The Pixar Company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney (La Franco, 2006). Although the merger has been a success long term, it has not been without its problems. Pixar’s unique ‘hands off’ management culture has often conflicted with Disney’s traditional bureaucratic leadership style.
The animation industry is a highly competitive environment, with Pixar’s biggest competition being, DreamWorks Animation and Blue Sky Studios. In 2008, the global animation market was estimated to be worth 300 billion US dollars per year (Skillset, 2009). In order to remain
HRO372
1. Background
Pixar Animation Studios was founded in 1979, initially specializing in producing state of the art computer hardware (Carlson, 2003). In 1990, due to poor product sales the company diversified from its core business and began producing computer animated commercials for outside companies. Success came for Pixar after the production of its first computer animated film ‘Toy story’ in 1995 (Hutton and Baute, 2007). Since then, Pixar has made many innovative animated feature films, with well known ones including - A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and WALL-E, six of which are in the top grossing animated films of all time (Pixar, 2010).
The company has won many Academy awards for Best Animated Feature film, and puts its success largely down to the “rare talent” of its employees (Prokesch, 2008). Pixar’s operates a strong organisational culture, which has seen it become a benchmark for other companies in the film making industry. The company’s key objective is “to combine proprietary technology and world-class creative talent to develop computer-animated feature films with memorable characters and heart-warming stories that appeal to audiences of all ages (Pixar, 2009).”
In 2006, Pixar entered a 7.6 billion dollar agreement to work with the Walt Disney Company. The Pixar Company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney (La Franco, 2006). Although the merger has been a success long term, it has not been without its problems. Pixar’s unique ‘hands off’ management culture has often conflicted with Disney’s traditional bureaucratic leadership style.
The animation industry is a highly competitive environment, with Pixar’s biggest competition being, DreamWorks Animation and Blue Sky Studios. In 2008, the global animation market was estimated to be worth 300 billion US dollars per year (Skillset, 2009). In order to remain
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