Week 5 case studies
According to the needs theory, individuals have three types of needs resulting from their life experiences. These are the need for achievement, need for affiliation, and the need for power. Since purchasing Pixar, from Lucas Films, Steve Jobs invested nearly $60 million to keep the company afloat before they began seeing success. When Jobs purchased the company for $5 million, he was seeking a new technology venture similar to Apple. His individual needs aligned with Pixar’s company culture, as both Jobs and Pixar are regarded as some of the most innovative companies/public figures ever to live. Jobs’ was able to innovate
Pixar’s business model of selling rendering computers to producing films and selling animation softwares. Jobs’ personally holds a high standard for the need for achievement. Fresh off of leaving Apple, Jobs was looking for another company to bring into the limelight and wouldn't settle for anything else. Steve Jobs was able to recognize the potential for demand for computer graphic generating companies and refused to sell out too early. Although the technologies may not have been originally there for Pixar to achieve financial success, Jobs’ never failed to invest time and money into the building and development of Pixar. Along with his high standard of need for achievement, Jobs’ places a large emphasis on the need for affiliation throughout his company. He feels it is important for everyone to get alone well and contribute at the same level.
Along with head animator Jon Lasseter, he was determined to change the animation process of a top-down management style, into a large collaborative process throughout all the employees at pixar.
When Jobs’ first took over Pixar, they were producing short animated and rendering computer graphics for other hollywood companies. Jobs invested nearly $60 million of his own before Pixar began turning a large profit. Jobs decisions to not prematurely sell Pixar has led to one possibly the largest and most successful animation company in the industry. Pixar has grossed over billions and billions of dollars with the releases of hit movies like Toy Story,
Monsters Inc, The Incredibles, and others. Jobs decision to stick with Pixar could be described through the use of Vroom’s expectancy theory. This theory stresses the importance for companies to ensure that performance and reward are related hand in hand. Vroom’s expectancy theory is broken down into three different parts; expentancy, instrumentality, and valence. Coming from a background in computer sciences and software development, Steve
Jobs has a goal in mind and refused to give up until he met that. Jobs was able to recognize the growing trends of computers and bring them into the animation world. Although it cost him massive sums of money to keep the company afloat, he was eventually able to successfully innovate the animation process to an all computer generated system. Jobs decision to stick with
Pixar could also be related to Locke’s goal-setting theory. According to Locke’s theory, one will work harder and be more motivated to meet goals that are more specific and harder to reach.
Relating back to Jobs need for achievement, he set a high standard for Pixar’s performance, and refused to sell the company before he met that threshold.
Pixar employees creative people who are highly motivated to meet tight schedules and can handle stressful situations. While massive amounts of work may have to be completed on strict timelines, human resource executives could implement many systems embracing flexibility to provide a highly motivating work environment. To begin, Pixar could remove job roles, as employees could be motivated to actively step outside of their role and take on extra work loads.
Also, employees should frequently communicate, where they can voice their ideas, needs and demands to meet their timeframes. To help reduce high stress environments, Pixar could give their employees benefits like gym memberships, spa treatments, and offer amenities within the office like free food, or a fitness center. Also, employees should be encouraged to work on their own schedules and should be rewarded based on performance and prodcution.