The Smiling Factory: Disney

Culture vs. Control System

ItÐŽ¦s not a coincidence that employees at Disneyland appear to be most universally attractive, good looking and clean, with bright smiles and optimistic personalitiesÐŽXit is the image that Disneyland seeks to maintain and identify with the society.

Control system is carried out well within Disneyland, not only because it has been well designed by its founder, but the fact that the employees whom are monitored believe the top managers do care about the results, thus employees are willing to follow and pay attention on the rules.

Interdependence between Culture and Control

Once on board, employees at Disneyland will act in a relatively uniform and predictable way, due to the strong organization culture which is supported by formal rules and regulations.

It may seem at first glance that the management style in Disneyland is ÐŽ§military controlЎЁ, for example, they even stipulate the usage of certain ÐŽ§languageЎЁ at Disneyland. However, nobody ever complains about the stringent regulation, instead, Disneylander are so willing to follow the Disney rules that they even watch over each other without protest. This is the charm and power of Disney culture.

The Charming of being the Disneylander

Disney University gives the employeesÐŽXeither the full-timers, part-timers or the new hires who are still in trainingÐŽXa sense of belonging. They recognize the Disney rules, identify themselves as being the great component/product of Disneyland, internalize the Disney culture, and provide full support and adherence to the organization.

Ñ"Ь EveryoneÐŽXchild or adultÐŽX wants to go to Disneyland. To work at Disneyland is a sense of recognition, honor and identification with the peers.

Ñ"Ь Every Disneylander follows the Disney rules spontaneously: one derives from the compliance with the organization, another comes from the skin-close supervision from the supervisors, still the other comes from the ÐŽ§invisibleЎЁ overseeing between each Disneylander within the organization.

Ñ"Ь High formalization in an organization creates predictability, unity and orderliness with written document--in the case, itÐŽ¦s the ÐŽ§employee handbookЎЁ. Paradoxically, the stronger an organization is, the less needs are with developing formal rules and regulations to guide and monitor employeesÐŽ¦ behavior. Disneyland has strong and well-known culture; however, it also has very rigid regulation and formation to increase behaviorÐŽ¦s consistency in the organization.

Different Organization

Ñ"Ь Organizations