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Disney Pixar

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Making Disney Pixar Into A Learning Organization * James M. Haley and Mohammed H. Sidky This study examines how leadership, teamwork, and organizational learning can contribute in making mergers and acquisitions work. Our intention is to identify critical factors and practices needed for merger success. Our research is part of an ongoing project, and builds on previous analysis of merger success/failure in such organizations as Standard Oil, Exxon Mobile, and Time Warner-AOL. In this paper, we turn our attention to the recent merger of Pixar and Disney. In our view, the Disney-Pixar case seems to be a good example of a successful merger in progress. This is demonstrated very clearly by recent box office successes such as Academy Award…show more content…
Share holders suffered even more, as stock prices plummeted from the time the merger was first announced. A major part of the failure of this merger was the fact that developing a “learning culture” was never considered, and no strategic vision was created for the newly merged organizations. For example Time Warner Cable’s high speed Internet services, Road Runner, as part of its profitable cable operations was never integrated with AOL as Case explained in his 2005 article in the Washington Post (6/ 11/05: B01). The first AOL Time Warner Annual Report (2000) claimed that it was fostering “… a nimble, entrepreneurial culture that recognizes that it can only succeed if everyone supports the new organization based on a shared set of values and common goals.” Unfortunately, the team-work necessary to integrate the two companies never happened, because there was no shared strategic vision of what the merger should be, and where it would be going. Merger Failure and the Need for a Culture of Learning According to some estimates, 85% of merger failures are related to the mismanagement of cultural issues. Awareness of cultural differences is then seen as an issue of primary concern when organizations merge. According to Miller (2000:8): “Once you develop an understanding of the current culture, and have compared that with the goals of the merged
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