CASE STUDY

Le CIRQUE DU SOLEIL:
How to Manage Growth
THE FIFTEENTH EDITION OF EXCALIBUR, THE CANADIAN U NIVERSITY TOURNAMENT IN H UMAN RESOURCES, WAS HELD ON
M ARCH 30 AND 31, 2001, WITH STUDENTS PARTICIPATING FROM 15 UNIVERSITIES IN Q UBEC, O NTARIO, THE M ARITIMES,
AND EVEN M ANITOBA. EACH YEAR, THE TOURNAMENT IS ORGANIZED BY THE O RDRE DES CONSEILLERS EN RESSOURCES
HUMAINES ET EN RELATIONS INDUSTRIELLES AGRS DU Q UBEC IN COLLABORATION WITH THE COLE DES SCIENCES DE LA
GESTION DE LU NIVERSIT DU Q UBEC M ONTRAL. FOR THE THIRD TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE TOURNAMENT, WE WERE
ABLE TO PRESENT PARTICIPANTS WITH A REAL CASE, WHICH CERTAINLY ADDS INTEREST TO THE EXERCISE.

Y
ou are a team of con su ltan ts
sp ecializin g in h u m an
resou rces an d labou r rela-
tion s m an agem en t. Your firm
of con sultan ts en joys a very
go o d rep u t at io n fo r t h e
q u ality of th e services offered , esp e-
cially to large-scale in tern ation al com -
p an ies. Havin g h eard tell of th e excel-
len ce of you r services, Cirq u e d u Soleil
h as ap p ro ach ed yo u . Aft er several
m eetin gs with rep resen tatives from
th eir Hu m an Resou rces Dep artm en t,
you h ave n oted th e followin g facts:
Cirque duSoleil
Fou n d ed in 1984 by a grou p of you n g
street p erform ers, Cirq u e d u Soleil h as
been in con stan t evolu tion sin ce its
creation . Th e com p an y en joys excel-
len t in tern ation al recogn ition an d is
rep u ted to h ave rein ven ted circu s arts.
W h ile Cirq u e d u Soleil h ad sales of
$1.7 m illion , 50 em p loyees an d 23
p erform ers in 1984, in 2000, sales will
reach $407 m illion an d it will em p loy
1,370 em p loyees an d 445 p erform ers.
It will p resen t seven sh ows in 2000 on
t h ree co n t in en t s: No rt h Am erica,
Eu rop e an d Asia. Also, in ord er to ad e-
q u ately m an age all its p erson n el, it
h as fo u r sep arat e h ead q u art ers.
Besid es In tern ation al Head q u arters in
Mo n t real, it h as fo u r o t h er h ead
offices: Head q u arters Am erica, also
in Mon treal, Head q u arters Eu rop e

12 EFFECTI F - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001


in Am sterd am , Head q u arters Las
Vegas in Las Vegas, an d , last ly,
Head q u art ers Asia-Pacific in
Sin gap ore.
W h ile Cirq u e d u Soleil wou ld like
to fin d an d exp loit n ew n ich es related
to p resen tin g sh ows, th e m ajority of
its reven u es com e from ticket sales.
Th u s, th e vital n u cleu s of th e Cirq u e
rem ain s p resen t in g sh o ws. In t h is
resp ect, th e Cirq u e h as fou r fixed
sh ows, two tou rin g sh ows in Asia, on e
in No rt h Am erica an d an o t h er in
Eu rop e. A tou rin g sh ow com p rises 150
to 200 p eop le, in clu d in g 50 to 70 p er-
form ers, an d it h as to relocate, on
average, every six weeks, wh ich
d em an d s very skilled logistics an d
effective p lan n in g of th e en try au th o-
rization s for th e d ifferen t cou n tries on
th e tou r. Relocatin g m ean s m ovin g
p erso n n el, t h eir b aggage an d t h e
Cirq u es eq u ip m en t fro m t o wn t o
town . It also m ean s lod gin g all th ese
p eop le an d en su rin g th ey obtain th e
req u ired visas an d work p erm its in
ord er to be able to p ractice th eir art in
th e cou n tries th e tou r is visitin g.
To attain th e level of excellen ce set
by Cirq u e d u Soleil, talen t scou ts an d
recru iters travel th e globe in search of
artists, creators, coach es, m u sician s,
etc. Con seq u en tly, th e Cirq u es p er-
form ers an d p erson n el com e from
m ore th an 30 cou n tries an d sp eak var-
iou s lan gu ages. Also, wh ile th e aver-
age age o f em p lo yees is relat ively
you n g at 32, th e age of th e p erform ers
an d em p loyees varies from 3 to 62.
In sh ort, Cirq u e d u Soleil is an
in tern ation al com p an y, fu elled by th e
level of excellen ce it h as ach ieved in
th e p ast an d its con stan t d esire to
p u sh th e lim its.
Development project
As well as con tin u in g to create an d
p rod u ce n ew sh ows, Cirq u e d u Soleil
wan t s t o d iversify it s co m m ercial
activities. In d eed , it wou ld like to see
itself d evelop th e p rod u ction of au d io-
visu al works su ch as th e sou n d tracks
of th e d ifferen t sh ows, exp lore th e
field of p u blish in g an d con tin u e to
p rom ote som e strategic agreem en ts
with p artn ers in th e h otel bu sin ess.
Cirq u e d u Soleil h as also set itself th e
objective of ad d in g two or th ree tou rs
with in five years, wh ich will h ave th e
effect o f b rin gin g t h e n u m b er o f
em p loyees req u ired to ach ieve su ch
an objective to abou t 2,000.
Management
Cirq u e d u Soleil h as ad op ted a m an -
agem en t style in its own im age, th at
is, d yn am ic, vibran t an d im agin ative.
Th e organ ic n atu re of h ow it op erates
p u ts each em p loyee in a p osition th at
allows h im or h er to con tribu te to a
com m on work. Cirq u e d u Soleil firm -
ly believes th at, by ap p ealin g to every-
on es in telligen ce, all objectives are
ach ievable. Also, com m u n ication s are
extrem ely op en an d th e m oral au th or-
it y t h at cert ain h ierarch ical t it les
cou ld im p ose is p ractically n on -exis-
ten t. An d a Cirq u e d u Soleil core
valu e is resp ect for cu ltu ral d iversity.
C
ommunications are extremely open and the moral
moral authority
authority that certain
that certain hierarchical
hierarchical
titles could
could
imposeimpose is practically
is practically non-existent.
non-existent.
In sp ite of th e con tin u ou s growth
th e com p an y h as exp erien ced , it h as
always kn own h ow to en su re coh e-
sion am on g em p loyees an d m ain tain
a stron g sen se of belon gin g.
Challengestobe met
Given its growth p lan s, both in term s
of th e n u m ber of sh ows p resen ted an d
th e establish m en t of n ew com m ercial
activities, Cirq u e d u Soleil m u st ap p ly
itself to ad ap tin g its stru ctu re an d ,
above all, to en su rin g th at its m an -
agers h ave th e ability to su p p ort su ch
d evelop m en t. In th is resp ect, several
m an agers wh o h ave grown u p with
Cirq u e d u Soleil an d wh o h ave th u s
acq u ired broad op eratin g exp erien ce
are h avin g som e d ifficu lty m ovin g to
a strategic m an agem en t m od e. Given
th eir exten sive kn owled ge of h ow th e
Cirq u e o p erat es, t h ey t o o o ft en
rem ain occu p ied or p reoccu p ied with
o p erat in g q u est io n s, rat h er t h an
in vestin g th eir en ergy m ore in strate-
gic p lan n in g.
EFFECTI F - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001
CASE STUDY
Also, given th e in creased n u m ber
of tou rs p lan n ed , an oth er p roblem
th at alread y exists is likely to get big-
ger. Du e to th e d ifficu lt tou rin g con d i-
tion s, su ch as th e freq u en t reloca-
tion s, th e in creased n u m ber of sh ows
p er week an d workin g con d ition s in
gen eral, t h e t u rn o ver rat e am o n g
em p loyees is very h igh . On average,
th ey work for th e Cirq u e between 19
an d 24 m o n t h s, wh ich creat es a
tu rn over rate of 18-22%. In sp ite of
th e efforts m ad e to red u ce th e in con -
ven ien ces in h eren t in tou rin g, p rob-
lem s still rem ain . For exam p le, th e
Cirq u e offers th e services of a tu tor to
ch ild p erform ers an d to th e ch ild ren
of p erform ers. However, becau se of
th e costs th is wou ld en tail, th is service
can n ot be offered to all th e ch ild ren
of its p erson n el. Desp ite th e ad van ta-
geo u s salaries, Cirq u e d u So leil is
titles
exp erien cin g so m e d ifficu lt ies in
retain in g its tou rin g p erson n el.
Fin ally, it is im p ortan t to n ote th at,
in th e tou rin g sh ows an d in In ter-
n ation al Head q u arters in Mon treal,
th e p resen ce of m an y p eop le of d iffer-
en t n ation alities, sp eakin g d ifferen t
lan gu ages, is a ch allen ge. In d eed ,
wh ile t h e p resen ce o f Q u eb ec o r
Can ad ian p erform ers at In tern ation al
Head q u arters an d on tou rs is often
secon d ary, h avin g several n ation ali-
ties greatly in flu en ces th e q u ality of
com m u n ication s. An d , d ep en d in g on
th e cu ltu ral baggage of each p erson ,
th e p ercep tion of th e m essage com -
m un icated can differ greatly. Sin ce cul-
tu ral referen ces are very d ivergen t,
wh at are in n ocuous gestures to som e
h ave u n exp ect ed im p licat io n s fo r
oth ers. However, despite th ese difficul-
ties in p ercep tion , Cirq u e d u Soleil h as
always greatly valu ed cu ltu ral d iversi-
ty an d h as always em p h asized th e
rich n ess it brin gs, rath er th an th e d if-
feren ces it creates. Non eth eless, th e
13
 CASE STUDY
Cirq u e d u So leil h as t o co n st an t ly
m an age st ereo t yp es an d p reju d ices.
Th is situ ation is even m ore p alp able
at In t ern at io n al Head q u art ers in
Mon treal sin ce th e p erform ers wh o
work th ere are, for th e m ost p art, p ass-
in g th rou gh , eith er with th e aim of
learn in g a n ew n u m ber, or to take u p
t rain in g again fo llo win g an in ju ry.
Also, p eop le of th e sam e n ation ality
often rem ain am on g th em selves with -
ou t m ixin g very m u ch with oth er p er-
form ers of d ifferen t n ation alities.
The students analysis
Cirque du Soleil: Toward a Strategic Management Mode
By Un iversit de Sh erbrookes team
Hereisananalysisof thecasesubmittedbyCirqueduSoleil,aspresented
bytheTournament winners,theteamfromUniversitdeSherbrooke.The
team memberswere Marie Brard, Vronique Ct and Jolle Gagn. It
shouldbenotedthat participantshadjust onehour tostudythecasethey
weregiven.
Diagnostic
C
irq u e d u So leil en jo ys in t er-
n at io n al reco gn it io n . W it h a
u n iq u e st yle, it is rep u t ed t o
h ave rein ven ted th e art of th e
circu s. Havin g attain ed a q u ite excep -
tion al level of excellen ce, it h as exp eri-
en ced st ro n g gro w t h sin ce it w as
fou n d ed in 1984.
Righ t n ow, Cirq u e d u Soleil h as an
im p ortan t p roject, wh ich is to d iversify
its com m ercial activities. To h elp th e
com p an y su cceed with th is p roject, we
th ou gh t it im p ortan t to first d eterm in e
its stren gth s an d th e obstacles it faces.
Am o n g t h e co m p an ys p rin cip al
stren gth s are coh esion am on g em p loy-
ees, a stron g sen se of belon gin g, in ter-
14 EFFECTI F - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001
YOURMANDATE
You h ave been given a m an d ate by Le
Cirq u e d u Soleil to p rop ose solu tion s
to th e p roblem s raised by th e facts
d escribed above.
To do so , yo u m ust:
1. state you r u n d erstan d in g of th e
situ ation at Cirq u e d u Soleil;
2. p recisely d eterm in e th e n eed s of
Cirq u e d u Soleil in th e sh ort an d
m ed iu m term ;
con d ition s, wh ich in clu d e m an y relo-
estin g an d attractive salary con d ition s.
As well, th e op en , d yn am ic style of
m an agem en t, creative an d well ad ap t-
ed to th e world in wh ich th e com p an y
evolves, sh ows th at Cirq u e d u Soleil is
an organ ization th at em braces ch an ge
an d in n ovation . Lastly, th e p resen ce of
d ifferen t n ation alities in its p erson n el
creates a won d erfu l d iversity.
Bu t th ere are som e obstacles th at
Cirq u e d u So leil m u st t ake in t o
accou n t in im p lem en tin g its p roject.
First of all, m an agers are cu rren tly p re-
occu p ied by q u estion s of an op era-
tion al n atu re. Th ey th erefore d o n ot
h ave th e tim e to act on q u estion s of a
strategic n atu re. Th is p roblem n eed s to
be iron ed ou t.
3. in ligh t of th ose n eed s, m ake
p ro visio n s fo r t h e o b st acles
en visaged ;
4. fin ally, establish a p lan of action
by form u latin g p ossible solu tion s
to th e p roblem s you h ave id en tified .
You m u st th en ju stify th e p rop osed
so lu t io n s, t akin g in t o acco u n t t h e
valu es tran sm itted by Cirq u e d u Soleil.
Th e com p an y is also exp erien cin g a
h igh tu rn over rate, d u e to several fac-
tors, in p articu lar th e d ifficu lt workin g
cation s an d a large n u m ber of sh ows
each week.
An oth er im p ortan t p oin t th at n eed s
to be worked on is th e p roblem of com -
m u n icat io n . It s p erso n n el in clu d es
m an y cu ltu res, a wid e d iversity, an d
variou s lan gu ages, wh ich com p licate
com m u n ication s.
Also, d ecision m akin g is d ecen tral-
ized . Cirq u e d u Soleil in effect h as fou r
h ead q u arters, wh ich cou ld lead to a
lack of coh esion in d ecision s. Th is state
of affairs m ay be a weakn ess, an obsta-
cle. Bu t it m ay also be a stren gth , sin ce
m an agers d o n ot n ecessarily an d con -
stan tly h ave to wait for a d ecision from
top m an agem en t before actin g.
Given t h ese vario u s fin d in gs, it
seem s th at Cirq u e d u Soleil will h ave to
m eet certain ch allen ges in ord er to
ach ieve p roject objectives: to sh ift to a
strategic m an agem en t m od e, to red u ce

th e p resen t tu rn over rate, an d to m an -
age well th e cu ltu ral d iversity th at is
on e of its stren gth s, an d on e th at m ay
becom e a win n in g con d ition .
ActionPlanandActionSteps
Th e th ree-p art action p lan p rop oses
variou s solu tion s th at sh ou ld en able
Cirq u e d u Soleil to su cceed in its p ro-
ject to d iversify com m ercial activities.
Th ese solu tion s are accom p an ied by
action step s, sin ce it will be im p ortan t
to p u t m ech an ism s in p lace to en su re
th e solu tion s com e alive an d are tran s-
lated in to d ay-to-d ay action .
Sh ift to a strategic m an agem en t
m o de
Let u s begin by t h e fact o r t h at
ap p ears th e m ost im p ortan t in p roject
su ccess, t h at is, t h e st rat egic sh ift ,
wh ich is to p ersu ad e m an agers to m ove
from a op eration al to a m ore strategic
m an agem en t m od e.
First of all, it is im p ortan t to com -
m u n icate th e reason s for th is sh ift to
m an agers, to exp lain h ow it will u n fold
in ord er to p lan th e ch an ge an d to
d raw u p strategies. Meetin gs are n eed -
ed to con vin ce m an agers to becom e
m ore strategic an d it is p rim ord ial th at
top m an agem en t be in volved in th is
p rocess. For, if top m an agem en t is con -
vin ced of th e n eed for a sh ift to a
strategic m an agem en t m od e, it m u st
com m u n icate th ese valu es so th e m an -
agers, t o o , b eco m e assu red o f t h e
im p ortan ce of th e ch an ge.
To h elp th em becom e strategic, it
will obviou sly be n ecessary to give
tools to th ose m an agers wh ose roles are
to be tran sform ed . W h at th is m ean s, of
cou rse, is train in g to en able th em to
acq u ire th e skills an d th u s be able to
assu m e th eir n ew resp on sibilities. A
good way to ach ieve th is goal is to
establish a p artn ersh ip with sch ools of
m an agem en t on every con tin en t. Bu t
it can begin first with a p ilot p roject, to
be carried ou t in Mon tral, wh ere in ter-
n ation al h ead q u arters is located . After
reach in g an agreem en t with a sch ool of
m an agem en t , t h e h u m an reso u rces
d ep art m en t , t o p m an agem en t , an d
resou rces from th e sch ool will d esign a
p rogram , ad ap ted to th e cu ltu re of th e
organ ization , th at p u ts th e em p h asis
on th e d evelop m en t of strategic p lan -
n in g skills. Followin g th at, th e tran sfer
of wh at h as been learn ed will n eed to
be m easu red to see if m an agers are
p u ttin g th eir n ew kn owled ge in to p rac-
tice. To d o th is, p erh ap s in d ivid u al
m eetin gs with th ese p eop le or grou p
m eetin gs with top m an agem en t cou ld
be h eld to valid ate p articip an ts satis-
faction with th e p rogram .
Later, th e roles of th ese m an agers
will n eed to be red efin ed an d th eir
au th orities, sp h ere of action , sou rces of
in form ation , an d h ow th ey are goin g
to be able to in flu en ce com p an y strate-
gy will n eed to be d eterm in ed . If th ey
are to p lan m ore strategically, th ey will
n eed clear d irection an d th eir resp on si-
bilities will n eed to be d efin ed , wh ich
sh o u ld b e d o n e jo in t ly b y h u m an
resou rces an d top m an agem en t.
Lastly, in th is p art of th e action
p lan , step s taken m u st u n d erscore th e
su ccess of th e strategic sh ift. Th e tran s-
form ation will n eed to be recogn ized ,
ach ievem en ts an d im p rovem en ts cele-
brated , so as to m otivate oth ers to p er-
severe in th is m ajor tran sform ation .
Recogn ition is an essen tial step in th is
ch an ge p rocess. Th is m ay be in form al:
for exam p le, a m em ber of top m an age-
m en t con gratu lates a m an ager wh o h as
taken a strategic step th at h as given
good resu lts. Th is recogn ition m ay also
be m ore official: su ch as a Recogn ition
Din n er at wh ich p rizes are award ed to
th ose wh o h ave d istin gu ish ed th em -
selves, th u s creatin g role m od els for
th eir colleagu es wh o will wan t to im i-
tate th em an d also be recogn ized .
Plan n in g recruitm en t
In th e sam e vein , th at is, from th e
viewp oin t of a strategic sh ift, let u s
tu rn to th e secon d p art of th e action
p lan . In ord er to realize its p roject,
Cirq u e d u Soleil wan ts to in crease its
p erso n n el co n sid erab ly wit h in t h e
com in g five years. Recru itm en t th ere-
fore n eed s to be p lan n ed in ord er to
en su re th e resou rces are th ere on tim e.
First, an in ven tory n eed s to be d rawn
u p of th e p rofiles sou gh t. We th en p ro-
p ose establish in g a d ataban k so th at
fu tu re em p loyees, wh o cu rren tly m ay
n o t be available, can be co n t act ed
wh en n eed ed . Th e com p an y will th u s
h ave a ban k o f can d id at es alread y
ju d ged su itable. Also, recru iters an d
EFFECTI F - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001
CASE STUDY
scou ts will n eed to be m et in ord er to
exp lain th eir n ew m an d ate to th em :
with in five years, th e cu rren t work
force of 1,370 em p loyees will rise to
2,000. Th u s, th ey will h ave to recru it,
in p articu lar, n u m erou s p erform ers an d
sp ecialized tech n ician s.
On th e oth er h an d , a p artn ersh ip
cou ld be establish ed with sch ools to
recru it p erfo rm ers an d t ech n ician s,
an d also to h elp th em get to kn ow
Cirq u e d u Soleil, to in form th em abou t
th e p ossibilities of em p loym en t in th is
d yn am ic organ ization , wh ich is attrac-
tive to you n g p eop le. W h at is called for
th erefore is to con cretely p lan su cces-
sion : with cole d u cirq u e, am on g oth -
ers, to d eterm in e wh o are th e on es wh o
will be read y in on e, two or five years,
to actu ally p articip ate in sh ows; with
th e cole d es tech n iq u es d e scn e, to
p rom ote Cirq u e d u Soleil an d to try to
target th ose wh o h ave th e p oten tial to
work with in th e organ ization .
Also in term s of recru itm en t, th e
n ew skills th at will be n eed ed will h ave
to be p lan n ed , as well as th e talen ts
th at th e Cirq u e will n eed in th e fu tu re,
sin ce th e organ ization is con stan tly
in trod u cin g n ew sh ows th at req u ire
List of Winners
1st prize
Un i v e rsi t d e Sh e rb ro o k e
Jolle Gagn
Marie Brard
Vron iq u e Ct
2nd prize
La u re n t i a n Un i v e rsi t y
Tracey Corrigan
Mich ael Valen te
Jean Serge Bid al
3rd prize
Fa c u l t d e s sc i e n c e s
d e l a d m i n i st ra t i o n
d e l Un i v e rsi t La v a l
Fran ois Pou liot
Fran ois Bold u c
Sbastien Au d y
15
 CASE STUDY
h irin g p erform ers from all sorts of
field s. To d o th is, m eetin gs n eed to be
arran ged between top m an agem en t
an d th e p eop le resp on sible for th e
d esign of n ew sh ows in ord er to estab-
lish th e p rofile of em p loyees sou gh t, as
well as th e n eed s for p erson n el in th e
com in g years. Th u s, h irin g 100-150
n ew em p loyees each year m igh t also
be foreseen , so as n ot to h ave to face a
lack of resou rces in five years tim e.
An oth er step in th is p art of th e
action p lan is to red u ce tu rn over. After
h avin g recru ited th em , th e com p an y
m u st kn o w h o w t o ret ain t h ese
em p lo yees. Th u s, p eo p le wh o are
read y to travel an d wh o like travellin g
h ave to be fou n d th at is, p eop le with
th e p rofile of a traveller. Th is m u st be
in sist ed o n d u rin g recru it m en t in
ord er to h ire p eop le for wh om th is
asp ect of th e job will be a m otivation .
Recru itm en t th at is targeted at you n g
p eop le cou ld also be an oth er way of
red u cin g th e tu rn over rate. We kn ow
th at you n g p eop le tod ay, with ou t a
fam ily to su p p ort, are often read y to
travel an d to take u p th e ch allen ge of
in tern ation al m obility.
Also, to accom p lish th is m assive
recru itin g, Cirq u e d u Soleil n eed s to be
p rom oted am on g stu d en ts an d work-
ers. Stu d en ts, in p articu lar, wh o are
leavin g sch ool an d wh o often h ave
fewer fam ily obligation s, are m ost like-
ly to be in tern ation ally m obile. Th is
p rom otion of th e organ ization cou ld
be don e th rough in form ation session s
an d m en torin g program s. Con cretely,
wh at th is m ean s is th at people from
Cirque du Soleil n eed to visit sch ools to
prom ote th eir position s an d th e culture
of th e organ ization to youn g studen ts
at th e cole du cirque or sch ools th at
teach stage-m an agem en t tech n iques.
Lastly, it is im p ortan t to m on itor
em p loyee satisfaction . Th ere are p rob-
ably step s th at can be taken , som e sim -
p le, oth ers th at will req u ire establish -
in g a lon g-term ap p roach . Th e organ i-
zation th u s n eed s to con su lt, th rou gh
su rveys, with ex-em p loyees in p articu -
lar, in ord er to d iscover wh at led th em
to leave th e organ ization , an d with
cu rren t em p loyees in ord er to kn ow
wh at m easu res to ap p ly to im p rove
th eir work.
16 EFFECTI F - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001
Man agem en t o f diversity
Here is th e th ird p art of th e action
p lan , wh ich d eals with m an agem en t
of d iversity. Th is d iversity is an asset,
bu t it can also becom e an obstacle
becau se p eop le fin d it d ifficu lt to com -
m u n icat e an d becau se cu lt u res are
som etim es d iam etrically op p osed . Bu t,
fu n d am en tally, it is an asset an d p eo-
p le h ave to be tau gh t to resp ect th is
d iversity. We p rop ose h old in g a cu ltu r-
al exch an ge before th e start of a tou r,
wh ich will brin g p eop le togeth er to
talk to each oth er, to d iscover each
oth er, an d to work on com m on activi-
ties. In fact, th ere are m an y in terestin g
ways to foster cu ltu ral exch an ges, su ch
as a cu ltu ral sh ow, a bu ffet of n ation s
wh ere everyon e is in vited to taste
food s from d ifferen t cou n tries, etc.
In th is con text, com m u n ication is
p rim ord ial. For exam p le, som e p eop le
are n o d ou bt willin g to learn oth er lan -
gu ages. Th e organ ization cou ld give
th em th e tools to d o so, by, am on g
oth er th in gs, brin gin g togeth er th ose
Here is
what a professor has to say:
Solving applied problems using theory and research.
By Robert R Ha ccou n ,
Pr o f esso r o f Hu m an Reso u r ce M an ag em en t , Yo r k Un i ver si t y
The Cirque duSoleil andthe three HR
problemsof the case
M
u lti-p olar an d m u lti-lin gu al,
with m u lti-cu ltu ral an d geo-
grap h ically d isp ersed m em -
bers (m an y of th em top p ro-
fessio n als), wit h t h e wo rld as it s
recru itm en t basin an d with reven u es
gen erated on th ree con tin en ts, con -
wh o wan t to learn th e sam e lan gu age,
p rocu rin g a train in g CDROM for th ose
in terested , etc. Also, em p loyees can be
h elp ed to u n d erstan d th e cu ltu re of
oth ers arou n d th em by brin gin g, in
tu rn , books, CDROMs, tou rist vid eos,
etc., th at will en able th ose in terested
to easily fin d in form ation . An In tran et
is also a m arvellou s tool for en cou rag-
in g th e tran sm ission of com m u n ica-
tion th rou gh ou t th e wh ole organ iza-
tion .
Fin ally, we h ave also seen th at th ere
is a problem regardin g stereotypes at th e
h eadquarters in Mon tral. Spon sorin g
n ew arrivals would also h elp th em in te-
grate better, but is im portan t th at th is be
on a volun tary basis.
Conclusion
Ou r aim , via th ese variou s solu tion s, is
to p u t Cirq u e d u Soleil on th e road to
o rgan izat io n al d evelo p m en t , wh ich
will en able it to be able to act wh en it
fin d s itself faced with th e variou s situ -
ation s covered in th is p resen tation .
cern ed with am bitiou s p lan s for a
d iversified an d exp an d in g p rod u ct lin e
th is is th e Cirq u e d u Soleil, a p ost-
m o d ern , p ro t o t yp ical 21st -cen t u ry
corp oration .
Th e th ree ch allen ges described in
th e case are su bstan tial an d th e Cirq u e
is n ot u n iq u e in facin g th em . As HR
p roblem s go, th ese th ree are in th e
m ajor leagu e.

1. Reten tio n : Retain in g th e p eop le
wh ose con tribu tion s ad d valu e to th e
organ ization
2. Cultural in tegrity: Main tain in g a
d istin ct an d fu n ction al organ ization al
cu ltu re given a m u lti-cu ltu ral an d geo-
grap h ically d isp ersed m an agerial force.
3. Strategic m an agem en t: Develop in g
a m an agerial force th at resp on ds to tac-
tical issu es an d p roblem s strategically,
th at sees th e big p ictu re an d acts on it.
Retention
Th e Cirq u e, th e case tells u s, reward s
its p eop le very well, allows th em to
op erate in an op en , sop h isticated en vi-
ron m en t, u n d er a lead ersh ip th at h on -
ou rs an d resp ects th e in d ivid u al an d
leaves p len ty of room for in d ivid u al
in p u ts, growth an d accom p lish m en ts.
Th is organ ization sh ou ld n ot h ave a
reten tion p roblem an d in gen eral th is
is so. However, tu rn over on tou r aver-
ages a trou blesom e 20% an n u ally. As
th e bu lk of th e Cirq u es corp orate
in com e is gen erated by th e tou rs, th is
sign als an issu e of strategic sign ifi-
can ce.
Attem p ts by th e Cirq u e as well as
th e stu d en ts to resolve th e p roblem
(im p licitly) relies on a fifty-year-old
con cep tion of tu rn over, Marsh an d
Sim on s p u sh -p u ll th eory: Sim p ly
p u t, d issatisfyin g con d ition s p u sh
p eop le ou t of an organ ization , wh ile
rem ovin g th ese job d issatisfiers p u lls
th em back in . Th erefore elim in atin g
d issatisfiers, as th e Cirq u e h as d on e,
sh o u ld red u ce t u rn o ver. To t h e
Cirq u es ch agrin , in t erven in g wit h
action s sh ap ed by th is th eory d id n ot
su ccessfu lly red u ce tu rn over. W h y?
Th e p u sh -p u ll in terven tion s u sed
by th e Cirq u e d ep en d on accu rate
p roblem id en tification m ech an ism s.
Th is req u ires excellen t exit in terviews
th at are system atic, form al, p rofession -
ally con d u cted an d ou tsou rced . It is
n o t clear fro m t h e case t h at t h e
Cirq u es system m eets th ese criteria.
Hen ce it is im p erative th at th e exit
in terview system be reviewed an d , if
fou n d d eficien t, corrected alon g th ose
lin es. However, even if th e job irritan ts
were id en tified an d ap p rop riately cor-
rected , th e su ccess of su ch in terven -
t io n s rem ain s u n cert ain sin ce t h e
p u sh -p u ll m od el of tu rn over u n d erly-
in g th e in terven tion logic is p rovin g
su b op tim al.
In th e p ast ten years Tom Lee an d
Terry Mitch ell of th e Un iversity of
Wash in gt o n h ave d evelo p ed t h e
u n fo ld in g m o d el o f em p lo yee
tu rn over, an en cou ragin g altern ative
to th e p u sh -p u ll m od el wh ich su g-
gests a d ifferen t in terven tion strategy.
We all h old relatively stable an d
p erm an en t im ages of ou rselves in rela-
tion to ou r work. Like wh ite n oise,
th ese im ages p erm eate u s an d , like
wh ite n oise, we h ard ly p ay atten tion
to th em . On occasion h owever, a sp e-
cific even t (term ed a sh ock) triggers
a co gn it ive p ro cess in wh ich o u r
im ages are com p ared to th e jobs we
h old .
Sh ocks are objective even ts th at
m ay be sp ecific to a p erson (su ch as a
p ay raise d en ied ) or th ey m ay be gen -
eral, affectin g all em p loyees (i.e. a
m erger). Sh ocks m ay be job related
(e.g. a p rom otion d en ied , an attractive
altern ative job offer) or n ot (e.g. win -
n in g th e lottery, th e loss of a loved
on e). However, it is th e cogn ition s (th e
th in kin g an d com p arison p rocess) an d
n ot th e sh ock p er se th at brin g abou t
t h e d ecisio n t o st ay o r t o leave.
Accord in g to th is view, focu sin g on th e
sh ocks (as p u sh -p u ll su ggests) is less
likely to be su ccessfu l th an focu sin g on
th e cogn ition s.
Ou r ability to cop e with sh ocks is
severely red u ced d u rin g stressfu l tim es
an d research h as rep eated ly sh own
th at cop in g is m ore d ifficu lt wh en
in d ivid u als are cu t off from th eir su p -
p ort system s m ain ly frien d s an d fam -
ily as wou ld be th e case on tou r.
Tu rn over is greater on tou r becau se
even ts th at occu r on tou r m ay h ave
greater sh ock valu e th an th e sam e
even ts occu rrin g at h om e. To recog-
n ize th is issu e is to m ove forward
t o ward s a viab le so lu t io n t o t h e
tu rn over p roblem th at is tailored to
th e Cirq u e. Su ccessfu lly d ealin g with
t u rn o ver su ggest s a t h ree-p ro n ged
ap p roach : (a) Th e creation of realistic
job im ages th rou gh th e u se of realistic
job p reviews, (b) th e train in g of local
EFFECTI F - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001
CASE STUDY
m an agem en t to im p rove sh ock m an -
agem en t an d , (c) th e offerin g of p ro-
fession al su p p ort services d u rin g tou rs.
T
he "push-pull"
interventions used
by the Cirque
depend on accurate
problem identification
mechanisms.
(1) Realistic im ages are less likely to
be violated by sh ocks th an u n realistic
im ages. Research con firm s th e im p or-
tan ce of realistic exp ectation s in sh ap -
in g cop in g resp on ses. Th erefore th e
in stitu tion of realistic job p reviews
before th e p erson join s th e tou r is a
m an d at o ry first st ep in red u cin g
tu rn over.
(2) Most job-related sh ocks in volve
im m ed iate su p ervisors sin ce th ey are
t h e m ed iu m t h ro u gh wh ich m o st
organ ization al even ts are fu n n eled to
th e in d ivid u al. How su p ervisors h an -
d le t h e sh o ck even t s is o f crit ical
im p o rt an ce in sh ap in g h o w t h e
em p loyees cogn ition s will d evelop .
Th erefo re, an d as an in it ial st ep ,
im m ed iat e su p erviso rs sh o u ld b e
train ed to u n d erstan d tu rn over an d
in stru cted in th e recogn ition an d h an -
d lin g o f sh o cks. Th is in st ru ct io n
sh ou ld in clu d e an exten sive d iscu ssion
of objective an d p ercep tu al eq u ity.
(3) Fin ally, con sid eration sh ou ld be
given to retain in g th e services of a
p sych ologist to go on tou r with th e
exp licit m an d ate to p rovid e su p p ort
to all in d ivid u als, both su p ervisors
an d em p loyees, in recogn izin g an d
17
 CASE STUDY
h an d lin g sh ocks. Th e cost of su ch a
service is to be con sid ered an in vest-
m en t given th e im p act th at th e tou rs
h ave on corp orate earn in gs.
Cultural cohesionandintegrity
Th e Cirq u es p erson n el is very cu ltu ral-
ly d iversified an d geograp h ically sp read
ou t. Sen ior m an agem en t is con cern ed
th at th is situ ation m ay, in th e lon g
ru n , create a fragm en ted rath er th an a
stron g an d d istin ctive organ ization al
cu ltu re.
Th e st u d en t s an alysin g t h e case
h ave p rop osed several id eas th at m igh t
h elp bu ild h igh er levels of in ter-grou p
in teraction s. I believe th at th ese are
ap p rop riate an d p rom isin g tactics for
en h an cin g in ter-grou p h arm on y an d
com fort. However, I am m ore con -
cern ed with th e strategic p roblem of
b u ild in g an d rein fo rcin g a d ist in ct
R einforcing a distinct organizational culture that
spans national groups without destroying diversity.
o rgan izat io n al cu lt u re t h at sp an s
n at io n al gro u p s wit h o u t d est ro yin g
d iversity. In th e lon g ru n , th is ap p ears
to m e to be th e strategic ch allen ge th e
Cirq u e faces.
Organ ization al cu ltu re refers to th e
accep ted n orm al way of doin g th in gs
in an o rgan izat io n , i.e. t h e sh ared
assu m p tion s. Based on cross-cu ltu ral
research , Nat h alie Delo b b e an d
Ch rist ian Van d en b ergh of th e
Un iversit Cath oliq u e de Lou vain an d I
h ave iden tified th e five core dim en -
sio n s o f o rgan izat io n al cu lt u re: (a)
Recogn ition -su p p ort, (b) Com m itm en t-
solidarity, (c) In n ovation -p rodu ctivity,
(d) Con trol, an d (e) Con tin u ou s learn -
in g. Th e relative em p h asis th e Cirq u e
p laces on each of th ese defin es th e basic
elem en ts of its cu ltu re.
En su rin g a stron g corp orate cu ltu re
req u ires th e Cirq u e to p osition itself
alon g each of th ese five d im en sion s.
18 EFFECTI F - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001
Th e Cirq u e sh ou ld id en tify a u n iq u e
an d con sisten t ran kin g of wh ere it
stan d s on each . How im p ortan t is con -
trol? W h at abou t con tin u ou s learn in g?
However, each region al office m u st be
free t o o p erat io n alize t h ese d im en -
sion s accord in g to th e local cu ltu re.
Sp ecifically, t w o classic seq u en t ial
step s are in d icated .
(1) Sen ior m an agers of all region al
co m p o n en t s o f t h e o rgan izat io n
sh ou ld be con ven ed to d evelop , with
p rofession al gu id an ce, a com m on p osi-
tion resp ectin g core valu es.
(2) Each n at io n al m an agem en t
sh ou ld th en p rovid e, for ap p roval by
h ead q u arters, sp ecific p lan s to be local-
ly en act ed t h at o p erat io n alize an d
d eterm in e in p ractical term s th e core
beh aviou rs an d p olicies d efin in g th eir
ad h eren ce to each core corp orate valu e
for th e sp ecific cu ltu re. Local m an agers
wou ld be h eld accou n table (an d evalu -
ated ) for im p lem en tin g th ese valu es
locally.
Strategicmanagement
Strategic lead ers are form ally d efin ed as
th ose wh o h ave th e ability, th e critical
th in kin g skills an d th e flexibility to
an ticip ate, en vision an d work with
oth ers to in itiate ch an ge th at creates a
su stain able fu tu re for th e organ ization .
Are th ese strategic m an agers m ad e
or born ? In ou r cu rren t u n d erstan d in g,
th e an swer seem s to be th at th ey are
born an d th en th ey are m ad e! Th at
is, creatin g a strategic m an agerial force
m ean s p ickin g th e righ t p eop le, ed u -
catin g an d train in g th em ap p rop riately
an d m an agin g t h em in ways t h at
en co u rage st rat egic t h in kin g. W h ile
th ere is con sid erable con sen su s on th e
foregoin g p rin cip les, th ere is con sid er-
ably less in d efin in g h ow exactly th is
can be ach ieved in p ractice. In fact, of
all th e issu es raised in th e case, th is is
th e m ost seriou s an d in tractable on e
faced by organ ization s tod ay. However
th e followin g th ree-p ron ged ap p roach ,
d erived from recen tly p u blish ed R&D
m ay p rove h elp fu l.
1. Selectin g m an agers: Sin ce strate-
gic m an agers sh ou ld be brigh t, select-
in g, h irin g an d p rom otin g in telligen t
p eop le is a sin e q u a n on for th e d evel-
o p m en t o f st rat egic m an agem en t .
Selection p roced u res sh ou ld th erefore
be reviewed to in su re ap p rop riate in te-
gration an d m easu rem en t of in telli-
gen ce in th e selection seq u en ce. As th e
p ast is th e best p red ictor of th e fu tu re,
th e selection p roced u res sh ou ld also be
reviewed to en su re assessm en t of th e
in d ivid u als p ast d em o n st rat io n o f
strategic orien tation : p attern ed in ter-
view form ats sh ou ld be con sid ered .
2 . Train in g m an agers: Crit ical
th in kin g, on e of th e key in gred ien ts of
strategic m an agem en t can be d evel-
op ed , to som e exten t, th rou gh form al
cou rses. Th ese are com m ercially avail-
able; m ost are fairly sim ilar an d eq u al-
ly effective.
3. Man agin g fo r strategic m an age-
m en t: Th e m ost im p ortan t force for
creatin g strategic m an agers is th e orga-
n izat io n al en viro n m en t . Man agers
n eed to kn ow th at strategic m an age-
m en t is valu ed by th e organ ization .
Th ey n eed to u n d erstan d wh at th e
organ ization m ean s by it an d to believe
th at th ey can d o it. Th ree essen tial
in gred ien ts are req u ired .
(a ) Self-effi ca cy is th e d egree to
wh ich a m an ager believes it p ossible to
act strategically. If we d o n ot believe
som eth in g is p ossible, we are u n likely
to exert th e effort req u ired to ach ieve
it. Twen ty years of research d em on -
strate with aston ish in g con sisten cy th e
critical im p ortan ce of th ese beliefs in
ach ievem en ts of all sorts. W h ile th ere
are m an y ways to d evelop self-efficacy
in oth ers, m od elin g (sh owin g exam -
p les) is an efficien t an d in exp en sive

m et h o d . Co n seq u en t ly, t h e Cirq u e
sh ou ld id en tify an d p u blicize th ose
acts of m an agem en t th at exem p lify
strategic m an agem en t. Th is p u blicity is
S
pecific procedures
when instituted
can result in errors
creating an extremely
positive force in
organizations.
valu able to th e p erson wh ose strategic
accom p lish m en t is p raised , bu t m ore
im p ortan tly it sh ows oth ers th at it is
p ossible: If h e/ sh e can d o th is so can I!
As a con crete first step in th is m od elin g
p rocess, con sid eration sh ou ld be given
t o p u b licize m an agem en t s cu rren t
d evelo p m en t p lan s as im m ed iat e
exam p les o f st rat egic t h in kin g. An
in terview in wh ich th e CEO d escribes
h ow th e strategic vision cam e to be
sh ou ld be con d u cted an d d issem in ated
th rou gh ou t th e en terp rise.
(b) Error Ma na gem ent : A m an ager
at t em p t in g st rat egic b eh avio u r will
m ake errors. Th ese are in evitable. Most
organ ization s d o n ot kn ow h ow to
Th a n k s t o
o u r p a rt n e rs
h an d le or p rofit from th e errors com -
m itted by m an agers. Research con d u ct-
ed by Mich ael Frese in Germ an y h as
id en tified th e role th at error p lays in
m an agerial learn in g. Sp ecific p ro ce-
d u res wh en in stitu ted can resu lt in
errors creatin g an extrem ely p ositive
fo rce in o rgan izat io n s. Th erefo re, I
stron gly recom m en d th at th e Cirq u e
con sid er in stitu tin g on e su ch p rocess
(u n fo rt u n at ely lab eled celeb rat in g
errors) as a sp ecific m ech an ism to
en cou rage a m an agerial style th at is
m ore focu sed on im p rovem en t th an
on error avoid an ce.
(c) Perform a n ce m ea su rem en t :
W h at is m easu red gets d on e is a clas-
sic m an agerial d ictu m an d research
con firm s its valid ity. Th u s, if th e orga-
n ization wish es to see m ore strategic
th in kin g an d beh aviou r it m u st am en d
its p erform an ce m an agem en t system
to assess th e strategic beh aviou r d is-
p layed by th e m an ager. It is likely th at
th e HR d ep artm en t alread y h as th e
reso u rces availab le t o co n d u ct t h is
review. Altern atively, p rofession al gu id -
an ce is read ily available from a wid e
variety of con su ltan ts.
Conclusion
Noth in g is m ore p ractical th an a good
th eory an d n oth in g is m ore th eoreti-
cal th an a good p ractice.
Th e Cirq u es case exem p lifies th ree HR
p ro b lem s cen t ral t o co n t em p o rary
o rgan izat io n s: ret en t io n , cu lt u ral
in t egrit y an d t h e d evelo p m en t o f
strategic m an agem en t. Th ese p roblem s
are d ecep tively com p lex an d p ast solu -
EFFECTI F - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2001
CASE STUDY
tion s h ave been d isap p oin tin g. Th is is
becau se p ast in terven tion s are based on
con cep tion s an d u n d erstan d in g wh ich
h ave yet to in tegrate recen t research
fin d in gs. Fortu n ately, th e th eoretical
d evelop m en ts of th e last d ecad e h ave
p rod u ced a n u m ber of n ew an alytical
tools an d con cep ts th at su ggest n ew
tactics an d p ractical m ean s to resolve
th em . As Ku rt Lewin , on e of th e great
p sych ologists of th e 20th cen tu ry on ce
q u ip p ed : Noth in g is m ore p ractical
th an a good th eory!
Th e strategies an d tactics p rop osed
h ere em erge fro m co n t em p o rary
research an d th eory. However, certain -
t y o f effect s wh en d ealin g wit h
h u m an s an d with work is h ard ly to be
exp ected . It is im p ortan t for m od ern
com p an ies to ap p reciate th at th ey h ave
th e resp on sibility n ot ju st to im p le-
m en t, bu t also to evalu ate, refin e an d
m od ify strategies an d tactics over tim e.
Th is is h ow ou r u n d erstan d in g of orga-
n ization al life will im p rove over tim e.
An ap p rop riate corollary to Lewin s
q u ip m igh t be Noth in g is m ore th eo-
retical th an a good p ractice!
The author is currently on leave from his
position as titular professor of psychology
at Universit de Montral. This analysis
was requested by the Ordre des conseillers
en ressources hum aines et en relations
industrielles agrs du Qubec. Requests
for reprints m ay be addressed to the author
at School of Adm inistrative Studies,
Atkinson Faculty, York University, 4700
Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 3J7;
rhaccoun@yorku.ca.
19