Organizational Commitment and Communication

The Walt Disney Company did not get its proclaimed status as one of the most successful organizations on values alone. It took a strong sense of organizational commitment and communication. This paper displays the focus points of Disney’s organizational commitment through several contributing factors. First, this paper displays the different leadership styles used by Disney and how the styles affect group communication. Second, the reader will review an analysis of the different sources of power within the Walt Disney Company and how these sources affect group and organizational communication. Third, this paper displays Disney’s organizational culture and identifies motivational theories affected by its culture, including an evaluation of the role of communication as an element of the theories. Last, this paper displays the commitment of Disney’s workforce and its relationship to communication within the Disney Company.
Leadership Styles The Walt Disney Company is an organization committed to creativity and innovation. How they maintain such a commitment is no secret: strong leadership. At Disney, an individual in leadership position should have qualities that display leadership excellence, ultimately creating functional groups with good communication in a successful organization. Each leader has a different style with goals that provide direction, implement plans, and motivate people (Businessholic, 2012). Disney’s management practices in participative leadership. “The participative leader consists of one or more of their workers within the choice creating process. Nevertheless, the leader holds the proper to create the final choice. Occasionally, this leadership style can be noticed as a sign or weakness; nevertheless it is completely the opposite” (Businessholic, 2012, para. 2). Fortunately, employees as well as the company, benefit from this style of leadership.
Effects on Group Communication. The way an individual leads can have effects on the way groups communicate through structure and effectiveness. Sometimes the results are positive and sometimes the results are detriment to the organization. Because participative leadership style works for the Walt Disney Company, their group communication seems to be functional because it is allowing Disney’s employees indirect participation in project decisions in addition to freedom and autonomy to job functions. In return the employees “…value the leader’s intervention to provide them with critical job related inputs and insights, and at the same time remain motivated when the team leader allows them ownership of the work” (Nayab, 2012, para. 11). Disney has set up leadership strategies that assist in good group communication. They base their concepts on frequently communicating the organization’s vision in group discussions to include the development of clear visions for their employees and customers, placing an emphasis on consistent messages, and the integration of messages throughout the organization (Disney Institute, n.d.). In addition, each leader tells his story about his encounters as a part of the organization. Cast member David Mulvey (2005) once said, “Every leader is telling a story about what he or she values. They lead by example. People make assumptions on what you value based on your behavior” (Hall, para. 4).
Analogy of Disney’s Sources of Power Within an organization, sources of power refer to organizational influences (physical or non-physical). Each organization possesses a variety of power sources in which used accordingly will influence all that the organization has interaction with. An organization usually has three common sources of power: coercive, reward, and legitimate energy. For an organization like Disney two types of sources are most effective for their line of business: the power of reward, and the power of legitimate energy. The power of reward compliments an employee’s contribution to the organization and does not necessarily have restriction set only recognition, promotions, bonuses, and new employee assignments (Businessholic, 2012). For example, Disney rewards its employees through incentive and special recognition programs to include pay, health and retirement benefits, housing allowances, wellness resources, learning opportunities, job-related degree programs, business immersion programs, and special extras such as employee family perks (resort, theme parks, and cruise line). The power of legitimate energy cultivates the level of motivation within the organization’s structure. It relates to the stamina, sense of humor, optimism, and enthusiasm in people. The combination of these power sources gives Disney the capabilities of innovation beyond the imagination.
Effects on Group and Organizational Communication. To maintain good communication, Disney develops policies and approaches for stakeholders involved with the company. These policies and approaches address the following topics: • code of conduct for manufacturers • environmental policies • governance • healthy cleaning • human rights • nutrition guidelines • online safety for kids • paper sourcing • political giving and participation in the formulation of public policy • public safety • restricting the use of Uzbek cotton • smoking in movies • statement on forced labor and human trafficking
(Disney, n.d.). Disney is adamant about the ways such power sources can affect group and organizational communication. If important information is not transmitted properly, the outcome can halt a project or endanger a situation.
Motivation Theories within Disney’s Organizational Culture and the Role Communication Plays as an Element Disney maintains a corporate culture created by design. To be able to maintain such a culture structure for 60 years, Disney has mastered the motivational theory of expectancy and goal setting. Expectancy theory indicates that motivation stems from valence (the urgency of the need for reward), expectancy (likelihood of performing), and instrumentality (belief there will be a connection between performance of the task and reward for completing the task). Goal-setting theory deals with task performance in which job motivation works toward the attainment of goals. Combined with self-efficiency (self-confidence and faith) stimulates the performance of the task. For these theories to work, Disney’s employees must display commitment and in return must see that their commitment is of value to the company. Walt Disney realized that to gain the success his company has come to obtain, he would have to find communicable ways to push his employees’ level of motivation and what better way to do that but through incentive programs previously mentioned. Now, expectancy of motivation requires such a drive. He also believed employees who have self-confidence and faith in their actions requires a little mental play. The Disney Company believes that there are ways to achieve such a self-gratitude through training and education. Besides, a higher level of self-efficiency will create greater efforts when faced with challenging tasks. “Walt Disney wanted his employees to be customer-responsive and this is why he implemented training for everyone in the company, which developed into the Disney Institute in 1986. The training that the employees receive can be easily seen by the superlative customer service they provide” (Sparks, 2007, para. 2).
Disney’s Workforce Commitment and its Relationship to Communication When a company has workforce commitment, they have the most important attribute. To employees, commitment in an organization is sort of like a membership card. When an individual has commitment, one usually would think that it is voluntary: something that he wants to have and not has to have; however, but this is not usually the case. Workforce commitment comes in three types: affective (emotional attachment), continuance (required need), and normative (debt-based). The employees at the Disney Company strive off an affective commitment; well, this is what Disney want of their employees. To grasp of such understanding, apparently is impossible. In reality, a mixture of the three commitments is common in any organization and truth is only in the eye of the beholder. To try to grasp a better understanding, Disney finds ways through employee engagement through open communication such as opportunities for employees to address concerns to senior leadership without censorship or repercussions (Disney, n.d.).
Conclusion
In sum, organizational commitment and communication works hand-in-hand. Without the purposes to communicate and its avenues to do so, commitment for an organization will never get off the ground. Through this paper, the reader received the opportunity to understand how an organization such as the Walt Disney Company continues to better the process of good communication within it company by ways of better leadership styles, sources of power, and motivational theories.

References
Businessholic. (2012). Walt Disney leadership style. Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.businessholic.net/organizational-behavoir/
Disney. (n.d.). Policies and approaches. Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/citizenship/policies
Disney Institute. (n.d.). Disney’s approach to business excellence. Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.ivytech.edu/disneyinstitute/BusinessExcellence_Extended.pdf
Hall, J. R. (2005, October 20). Learning about leadership – Disney style. BNP Media. Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.achrnews.com/articles/learning-about-leadership-disney-style
Nayab, N. (2011, May 24). 10 Leadership principles every project manager should master. Bright Hub, Inc. Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/articles/104029.aspx
Sparks, W. (2007, September 23). The magic of Disney’s organizational behavior. Yahoo Inc. Retrieved April 27, 2012, from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-magic-disneys-organizational-behavior-concepts-550698.html?cat=3