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    Managing Innovation Teams at Disney Case Analysis: William R. Cook NETW583 Strategic Management of Technology

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    Disney keeps its development teams small, with less than 7 people, to improve flexibility, productivity, and communication. These autonomous teams are better able to focus on their specialty and have decision-making power over their projects. While autonomy improves innovation and creativity, it could also lead to issues if team dynamics become unbalanced or members do not equally contribute. However, Disney's approach of diverse and collaborative autonomous teams would work well for creative projects and other industries that require innovation through group collaboration.

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    Managing Innovation Teams at Disney Case Analysis: William R. Cook NETW583 Strategic Management of Technology

    Uploaded by

    Reyansh Sharma
    143 views6 pages
    Disney keeps its development teams small, with less than 7 people, to improve flexibility, productivity, and communication. These autonomous teams are better able to focus on their specialty and have decision-making power over their projects. While autonomy improves innovation and creativity, it could also lead to issues if team dynamics become unbalanced or members do not equally contribute. However, Disney's approach of diverse and collaborative autonomous teams would work well for creative projects and other industries that require innovation through group collaboration.

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    Disney keeps its development teams small, with less than 7 people, to improve flexibility, productivity, and communication. These autonomous teams are better able to focus on their specialty and have decision-making power over their projects. While autonomy improves innovation and creativity, it could also lead to issues if team dynamics become unbalanced or members do not equally contribute. However, Disney's approach of diverse and collaborative autonomous teams would work well for creative projects and other industries that require innovation through group collaboration.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    143 views6 pages

    Managing Innovation Teams at Disney Case Analysis: William R. Cook NETW583 Strategic Management of Technology

    Uploaded by

    Reyansh Sharma
    Disney keeps its development teams small, with less than 7 people, to improve flexibility, productivity, and communication. These autonomous teams are better able to focus on their specialty and have decision-making power over their projects. While autonomy improves innovation and creativity, it could also lead to issues if team dynamics become unbalanced or members do not equally contribute. However, Disney's approach of diverse and collaborative autonomous teams would work well for creative projects and other industries that require innovation through group collaboration.

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    of 6

    MANAGING INNOVATION TEAMS AT DISNEY

    CASE ANALYSIS

    William R. Cook

    NETW583 Strategic Management of Technology

    Submitted to: Dr. Robert A. Krell

    Submitted: April 5, 2018


    MANAGING INNOVATION TEAMS AT DISNEY CASE ANALYSIS 2

    TABLE OF CONTENTS

    ANALYSIS .............................................................. 3
    Why does Disney keep its development team small? .................... 3

    What are the pros and cons of the teams being so autonomous? ........ 4

    Is Disney's team approach most suited to creative projects, or would


    it work equally well in other kinds of industries? ........................ 4

    WORKS CITED ........................................................... 6

    W. COOK – NETW583
    MANAGING INNOVATION TEAMS AT DISNEY CASE ANALYSIS 3

    ANALYSIS

    Why does Disney keep its development team small?

    Jonathan Geibel, Disney's Director of Systems, identified that smaller

    teams focused on one specialty were more inclined to communicate openly and

    honestly amongst each other when the teams were small with less than seven

    participants. These teams are comprised of one team leader who is chosen

    based on technical ability and vision for the project and several others as

    primary participants. The primary participants also participate as

    secondary’s in other projects and teams as needed. Keeping the teams small

    allows each team to focus and have more decision-making power over the

    project. This improves flexibility and productivity and makes communication

    easier (Drew, 2014). Geibel’s approach to creating diverse teams brings

    individuals together from all over the world with a single purpose and a

    motivation to create the best experiences for all audiences. Increasing the

    intellectual diversity of the team members removes any potential for a group

    to all come to gather and focus on a single idea from the most assertive

    member but instead enables the team to focus on the most innovative and

    creative ideas devised by the team. By increasing intellectual diversity,

    aligning team members with the mission’s goals the team will solidify and

    bond tightly together improving efficiency and productivity while meeting the

    intent of the project (Santana, 2015).

    CO A is meet in this scenario by the innovative and unique way with

    which Geibel has defined the teams for Disney. CO C identifies the

    technological competency of Disney as that of making animated films with a

    competency in devising and innovating creative ways to bring others together

    in teams. CO E is meet with the design and innovative way they have created

    autonomous teams.

    W. COOK – NETW583
    MANAGING INNOVATION TEAMS AT DISNEY CASE ANALYSIS 4

    What are the pros and cons of the teams being so autonomous?

    Pros – Autonomous teams improve innovation and creativity. By

    combining multiple individuals with diverse skills, capabilities, and

    experience in a team you improve project performance and gain enhanced

    efficiency. More people working together on a common project with a focused

    goal will typically yield more ideas than a single individual can devise, and

    more members will mean more work completed. Autonomous teams can share the

    workload, share resources, create comradery, foster group support, and

    improve morale for other employees (Kokemuller, n.d.).

    Cons – Autonomous teams can expose issues when the team’s dynamics are

    too extreme. If some members are more innovative or experienced, they may

    shoulder the bulk of the decision making leading to dissension among the

    team. Some individuals will perform at a slower pace expecting others to

    pick up the slack which can cause internal team strife. Teams with no

    defined leader may suffer from power struggles from individuals wanting

    control (Kokemuller, n.d.).

    CO D is meet by the implementation of the collaborative autonomous

    teams and creating a culture that focuses on innovation and creativity.

    Is Disney's team approach most suited to creative projects, or would it work

    equally well in other kinds of industries?

    Collaborating with other individuals who are naturally creative with

    varying levels of experience, differing skillsets, levels of knowledge, but

    with the same goal and focus, lend to a unique manner for developing

    innovation and creativity (Dobos, 2017). Disney’s approach to building a

    W. COOK – NETW583
    MANAGING INNOVATION TEAMS AT DISNEY CASE ANALYSIS 5

    diverse and autonomous team works will in creative environments and would

    work equally well in any situation where collaboration between team members

    is needed. In today’s technologically advanced society with ever-increasing

    media-rich environments that incorporate collaboration as a form of socially

    connecting with others, individuals are exposed to collaborative and diverse

    teams from many avenues. This leads those entering the workforce to expect

    similar environments that allow for social collaboration and teamwork.

    Individuals are now naturally accustomed to working in a team from early on

    in their lives, from online video gaming to developing the next killer

    application, everyone is working in a group with diversity as a norm and

    collaboration the vehicle (Santana, 2015).

    CO D is meet by the implementation of the collaborative autonomous

    teams and creating a culture that is focused on innovation and creativity.

    W. COOK – NETW583
    MANAGING INNOVATION TEAMS AT DISNEY CASE ANALYSIS 6

    WORKS CITED

    Dobos, J. (2017). The Importance and Benefits of Collaboration and Teamwork

    in the Creative Industries | Cogswell College. Cogswell.edu. Retrieved

    4 April 2018, from https://cogswell.edu/blog/importance-collaboration-

    teamwork-creative-industry/

    Drew (2014). The Big Benefits of Small Teams. Blog.taskworld.com. Retrieved 1

    April 2018, from http://blog.taskworld.com/the-big-benefits-of-small-

    teams

    Kokemuller, N. What Is an Autonomous Work Group?. Smallbusiness.chron.com.

    Retrieved 2 April 2018, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/autonomous-

    work-group-14402.html

    Santana, J. (2015). How to Build a High-Performing, Diverse and Inclusive

    Super A-Team. INSIGHT Into Diversity. Retrieved 3 April 2018, from

    http://www.insightintodiversity.com/how-to-build-a-high-performing-

    diverse-and-inclusive-super-a-team/

    W. COOK – NETW583

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