Are you surprised about the organizational structure at “the happiest place on Earth”? Do you think Disney’s employees are happy? Explain. Based on what you’ve learned in this course, what advice would you give to Disney to make it an even happier place?
MANAGING A SMILE FACTORY
Managers at Disney theme parks have a big challenge: to design an organization structure that makes the parks the “Happiest Place on Earth.” As Walt Disney noted, “You can dream, create and design the most wonderful place in the world … but it takes people to make the dream a reality.” What approach to organizing do they choose? And how are the four pillars of organizing designed to work together to accomplish their goal? According to people who have worked there in the past, Disney managers place a great deal of emphasis on standardization, specialization, centralization and rigid departmentalization.
In terms of standardization, each new hire at Disney attends the much renowned University of Disneyland, a forty-hour program of studies established in 1955 where employees learn, for example, that the standard term for customers is “guests,” rides are called “attractions,” uniforms are “costumes,” and accidents are “incidents.” Employees also learn standard answers to typical questions asked by customers. For example, when asked whether Disneyland gives rain checks, the correct answer is: “We don’t offer rain checks at Disneyland because (1) the main attractions are all indoors; (2) we would go broke if we offered passes; and (3) sunny days would be too crowded if we gave passes.”[ii] Employees are also given elaborate checklists of appearance standards, including standards such as the need to practice friendly smiles and use only friendly and courteous phrases. For example Jon Storbeck, director of park operation, noted fifty years after the University started: “The Disney grooming guidelines take constant upkeep on behalf of cast members, and one unshaven employee can ruin everything.” Others note that this can turn into a process of standardizing and making into “objects” employees’ physical selves, where managers ensure that each part of peoples’ bodies and social lives are “polished, groomed and controlled.”[iii]
In terms of specialization, once employees are assigned to a particular position, there may be little room for change, even from one year to the next: “once a sweeper, always a sweeper.” Job applicants are assigned to their positions based on specialized skills, as is evident in the five basic “classes” of jobs. The most skilled employees are the bilingual Ambassadors and Tour Guides, the second most-skilled employees operate tricky rides or rides that require live narration, the third level are employees who operate regular rides, then come sweepers, and finally Food and Concession workers.
In terms of centralization, Disney has been described as having rather intense top-down management monitoring, where supervisors hide in observation posts to try to catch employees who break the rules (e.g., taking too long on a break, not wearing the correct shoes or belt). Employees have complained about “being watched,” but most get used to the feeling. This is consistent with the management style of the founder, Walt Disney, who is said to have “ruled by fear.”[iv] This creates tension between hierarchical levels. For example, a former Jungle Cruise operator describes how supervisors “are regarded by ride operators as sneaks and tricksters out to get them and representative of the dark side of park life. It also draws operators together as cohesive little units who must look out for one another while they work (and shirk).” This leads to the final pillar of organizing.
In terms of departmentalization, employees’ social status is greatly influenced by where they work in the park. Managers do not encourage movement across jobs, and when it does happen it is usually within an area and job category. There is also little fraternization across the different types of jobs.[v]
In sum, it is quite an impressive feat of organization design and “social engineering” that Disney’s front-line workers play their kindly and smiling roles so effectively in light of the fact that Disney does not pay particularly well, offers fairly mindless jobs with a repetitive technology, and has strict supervisors. Disney creates its smile factory by means of clear standards, specialized jobs, tight supervision and rigid job groupings, a formula that has worked for decades to help it develop its reputation as a leading vacation destination.
Questions:
- Are you surprised about the organizational structure at “the happiest place on Earth”? Do you think Disney’s employees are happy? Explain.
- Based on what you’ve learned in this course, what advice would you give to Disney to make it an even happier place?
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