Organizational climate is one of the most significant characteristics that describe a workplace and helps understand human behavior in any organization. Organizational climate can be defined in a colloquial or technical sense. In simple terms, it describes how a person feels when working in an organization. In technical terms, an organization climate is defined as the features of a work environment that determine the overall perception of the employees living and working in that environment, and how it influences their behavior and motivation. Organizational climate is an important area of study because it determines how employees feel and behave in an environment. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to examine the organizational climate at Disney during the tenure of the CEO, Michael Eisner.
Michael Eisner’s management at Disney had lasted for twenty years, and it enabled him to establish a strong leadership environment incorporation. He believed that leadership was something unique to each company, industry, and group of employees. The type of organization climate at Disney during his tenure was impoverished because Eisner always avoided being autocratic. He gave the employees occasional opportunities to participate in the company’s decision-making process, although the central power still resided with him.
In addition, his management approach was based on hands-on experience, and he believed that there was no other way to lead than how he did it himself. Indeed, Eisner had four rules for leading, which he believed improves creativity, and these are: being an example, always being present, being a nudge, and being an idea generator.
The idea of being an example meant acting in a way that inspired other people to behave in a similar manner. Being present implied being there and using body language to gauge employees’ interest in certain projects. Nudging involves pushing employees or managers to an idea to improve it and test its validity. Finally, generating ideas implied that leaders were to be practical and were mandated to contribute to ideas. Therefore, they were to be ready for any criticism of their own ideas. These rules did not play out well, as Eisner expected as they contributed to the failure experienced in the company during the last periods of his tenure.
In order to improve the organizational climate, Disney needs to recognize that the most important “lever” is a manager’s own behavior. The motivation and behavior of people in a working environment are boosted by altering managerial practices, and this has the effect of improving the climate, which translates to improved productivity and increases the company’s overall performance. Moreover, Disney needs to develop a system for measuring the organizational climate. The purpose of the system should be to point out the organization’s weaknesses and evaluate the overall results.
In conclusion, it is clear that Eisner’s tenure shows how an authoritative manager can seize stakeholders’ control ability in a company. Shared values and clear visions are important aspects of strategic leadership in any organization in the world. The strategic implication of Eisner indicated the innate tendency of employees to display loyalty to an authoritative leader even when it conflicts with their legal and ethical duties. Therefore, Eisner failed to operate at the strategic level effectively, and his dismissal in the year 2004 as Disney’s CEO, through the “Save Disney” campaign, was justified.