Cirque Du Soleil-Final

Dr.Sarita Kumari, Professor (HRM),SIESCOMS

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Cirque Du Soleil


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Teaching Objectives• To analyze the operation of performer-centric organization and

the challenges such an organization faced.

• To analyze an organization that successfully fostered and managed creativity.

• To explore cirque’s strategy.

• To understand the way cirque’s structure and process fostered its extraordinary performances

• To understand the challenges presented by diversification and sustained growth.


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Questions

• What is cirque’s product and its strategy?

• How has cirque structured and supported its casts to deliver superior performances?

• What are the challenges to cirque’s continued growth and /or diversification?


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Analyzing the Cirque Magic

• Extreme Creativity:

Cirque had to tap:

1. Deepest imagination of its performers and directors.2. Physical skill of its performers and directors.

Extreme creativity attracted audience and served as recruiting and motivational tool for cirque.


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Analyzing the Cirque Magic Cont…

• Marketing the Magic:

-Marketing did not shape cirque’s shows.-Cirque insulated performers from marketing.-Cirque’s shows are inner-directed.-Cirque carefully searched locales with sufficient income levels to be able to pay high ticket prices.-The marketing department encouraged customer loyalty.


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Analyzing the Cirque Magic Cont…

• Paying for the Magic:-To recover all the expenses cirque set very high ticket prices.Concerns:• High ticket prices limited the number of audience in a given

locale, leading to possibility of market saturation.

• High prices made it difficult for family entertainment.

• Some insiders objected high prices on principle.

Strategy to tackle this-----Cirque Lite having fewer artists and lessexpensive to produce.


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Reinventing the Circus• To understand how cirque’s management created a social context to

enhance the cast's capacity for collaboration, service, and growth.

• In his book Leading Teams, J.Richard Hackman identifies five conditions that foster the likelihood of team effectiveness.

1. Defining the team in such a way that work requires real team work.

2. Identifying a compelling direction for the team’s work.

3. Instituting an enabling structure that facilitates group interaction.

4. Providing a supportive organizational context.

5. Making available expert coaching.


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Reinventing the Circus Cont…• Defining a Real Team:

1. Has the cirque’s work designed in such a way as to require group members to work interdependently to achieve an identifiable collective outcome?(Cirque has integrated its various acts into a single narrative, supported by a musical score that seamlessly moved the show from one act to another)

2. Are the boundaries of the group clear?(Cirque’s branding served to create clear boundaries and further integrate the cast).The touring life too also created a boundary around each cast)

3. Does the group have the necessary authority to manage its own work?(The autonomy of the cast to manage its work varied according to what stage of development each show was in. Once a show was on the road each touring company had a fair degree of autonomy in determining the nature of the performance.)


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Reinventing the Circus Cont…• Setting the Direction: - Guy Laliberte, cirque’s founder and owner, played the key role in setting cirque’s direction.General Views of Hackman:• Setting direction for a team always involves the exercise of

authority.• When a leader exercises authority, team members are likely to

react in one of two ways:1. They may view the leader as an omniscient figure on whom they

depend. 2. They may consider the leader as an over controlling person who

must somehow be repelled, subverted or replaced.


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Reinventing the Circus Cont…• Setting the Direction Cont…: -Cirque’s employees appeared to regard Laliberte more as a benevolent, omniscient figure than as a megalomaniacal director.The keys to Laliberte authority were:-His history as a performer.-His consistent track record. With each success, he gained more authority.-His ownership of cirque. The man was making bets with his own money.


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Reinventing the Circus Cont…• Instituting an Enabling Structure:General Views of Hackman:• Leaders should consider three key structural features when they

create work teams:1. The design of the work(One of the most important outcome of

successful work design is internal motivation. Individuals have internal motivation when they :

• Perceived their work to be meaningful, • Feel personally responsible for outcomes, and • Receive feedback as to their efforts. Cirque has reflected all three conditions)


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Reinventing the Circus Cont…• Instituting an Enabling Structure Cont…:General Views of Hackman Cont…:2. The key norms of the team(Cirque has embraced ethos of

artistic and bohemian life. A wide range of behaviour was tolerated and great deal of allowances were made for personal differences)

3. The composition of the team(Cirque was very careful in selecting candidates on the basis of technical skills and ability to be generous in performance by giving emphasis upon multiculturalism)


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Reinventing the Circus Cont…• Supportive Context:-Cirque supported its artists both on the road and off the road.

-Management motivated staff by getting them to come and watch performances of the circus by understanding the importance and meaning of their own jobs.

-Cirque invested in its internal communications through employee newsletter.

-Cirque’s lower levels of direct compensation was offset by a high level of indirect compensation.


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Reinventing the Circus Cont…• Expert Coaching:

-Cirque offered three types of coaching:

1. The direction involved in directly improving a show.

2. Educational efforts aimed at improving cast effectiveness(language training).

3. Developmental efforts to increase the general skill level of performers through outside experts.


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Challenges for Future

• Keeping it fresh while keeping it real.• Choosing wise routes for diversification.• Leadership succession.• Introducing greater planning and structure.


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THANK YOU

Cirque Du Soleil-Final

Documents

Transcript of Cirque Du Soleil-Final