Abstract

This case discusses the organizational culture at DreamWorks Animation SKG, a US-based film producing company. Ranked as one of the best companies to work for by Fortune Magazine, DreamWorks fostered a culture of creativity through engagement and collaboration among the employees. Every individual’s ideas were valued and their contribution was recognized. The company, which employed highly talented individuals, provided a positive, collaborative, and informal work environment. The stress-free work environment, perks, benefits, flexible work schedule, recognition to individual talent and skills, coupled with job security helped the company make blockbuster animation movies like Antz, The Price of Egypt, Kung-fu-Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Madagascar, and The Shrek series and also achieve a high employee retention rate. Even during the 2008 financial crisis, the company did not fire any of the employees. But the scenario changed in 2013 with the failure of the move Rise of the Guardians’. The company decided to take a relook at its employment policies. In order to make changes in its cost structure, DreamWorks decided to fire around 350 employees. The case discusses how DreamWorks nurtured a culture of creativity over the years, and how its decision to fire some employees would impact its culture.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Examine the work culture at a company that was recognized as one of the best companies to work for in the US.
• Study the positive elements in the company’s culture and understand how they contributed to employee morale and innovation.
• Analyze whether the company’s decision to fire some of the employees would put its culture put at risk.
• Understand how the work culture enabled the company to maintain an edge in a highly competitive industry.

Keywords

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Jeffry Katzenberg, Glendale, USA, Animation Movies, Work culture, Flexibility , Creative work culture, Collaborative work culture, Creative Campus, Stress-free work environment, Perks , Employee centric Work culture, No-layoff policy, Training and Mentoring, Rise of Guardians, Layoff , 3D Animation