Abstract

On May 29, 2009, the Emeryville, California-based computer animation production company Pixar Animation Studios (Pixar) released its tenth feature film, Up, which was billed to become a hit like all its earlier nine films. Experts felt that Pixar’s unprecedented success was due to the culture of innovation developed and nurtured at the company. They felt that its internal training and employee education program, Pixar University, was one of the devices that the company employed to take forward its innovation agenda. Making the shift from an idea-centered business to a people-centered business was another.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Fostering Creativity and Innovation
• Training and Development
• and Internal education program

Keywords

Training, Employee education, Internal education program, Pixar University, Creativity, Innovation, Idea-centered business, People-centered business, Creativity-enhancing activities, Collaborative process, Human Resource, human resources policy, employee retention, culture, organizational culture, Animation, production company, Pixar, Disney, Up, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monster, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Apple, Steve Jobs