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Kung Fu Panda

Case Analysis

Shraddha Mahadick 4th SEM, Sec A

Synopsis
Kung Fu Panda chronicles the induction and transformation of Po, a cuddly Giant Panda from an immature daydreaming noodle-sellers son to a master Kung Fu specialist with a heart of Gold. Po is chosen to be the dragon warrior unwittingly by the ancient Kung Fu Master of Masters Oogway, only to be looked down upon with deceit and contempt by the Furious Five, the expert Kung Fu warriors as well as Master Shifu. Po is encouraged to quit but out of self belief, Po decides to stay after being told by Oogway that Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a Mystery and Today is a gift and that is why its called the Present A highly motivated Po, decides to stay and when Master Oogway passes away after making Master Shifu promise that he would train Po, Master Shifu begins to believe in Po. Master Shifu is well aware of the fact that Po cannot be trained by merely using normal training techniques and hence decides to make use of Pos weakness for food to train him. Apart from this he also takes him to the birthplace of Kung Fu just to motivate him. Po is motivated and begins to train under Shifu. Shifu uses food as a bait to teach Kung Fu and manages to get a good response from Po. Po begins to get motivated by the presence of food and trains hard unsuspectingly and goes on to master the art of Kung Fu only to defeat the dreaded Tai Lung and become the undisputed Dragon warrior who brings peace and harmony to the valley

Human Resource Management Perspective


From an HRM perspective this film case emphasizes upon the technique through which an employee can be turned around in terms of performance as well as abilities by : a) Motivation b) Identifying weaknesses and making use of them c) Trying to train employees by using a customized Program d) Inspiring employees to believe in themselves and their strengths e) Making employees appreciate their own value in the organization. By making use of these core principles Master Shifu tries to mould Po into the kind of warrior who is required to suit the situation This further brings about another perspective of HR Training specifically, the use of critical incidents as a benchmark towards training individuals. The critical incident that triggered the search for the dragon warrior was Master Oogways vision about the return of Tai Lung and hence Po, was trained keeping in mind that some day he would have to combat Tai Lung.

Motivation
The technique used to motivate Po is closely related to Abraham Maslows NeedHierarchy theory where Po is motivated to train himself in order to fulfill the basic physiological need of food. Master Shifu induces Po to master the skills in Kung Fu by keeping food out of his reach such that in order to reach to it he is forced to undertake difficult and complex splits, kicks and flying movements Po, does all of this only so that he reaches the food. After training for quite some time his body becomes agile and flexible to such an extent that he is able to combat Master Shifu. In this combat over a dumpling, Po exhibits not only agility of the body but also a maturity of the mind when after winning the dumpling he unceremoniously declares that he is not hungry. Po, not only exhibits a need for the fulfillment of physiological needs but also for that of recognition from his peers and superiors i.e the Furious Five and Master Shifu Here, this kind of motivation is only possible as Master Shifu is able to identify the needs and weaknesses of Po. It is hence important to understand your employee well.

Customized training program


A customized training program that takes into consideration the needs, motives and goals is the answer to an effective training program that could be instrumental in turning around the employee from someone with no skills at all to someone who is competent and skilled It is also important to keep in mind the levels of previous learning that the employee has (Starting from level 0 in Pos case) before designing a training program as a learned employee may not be interested in re-learning while an amateur needs to start from scratch. A customizes training program not only enables the trainer to understand the needs of the trainee but also come up with suitable solutions that can contribute to the enhancement of the entire program as well as improvements in the trainees skills

Inspiration
It is very essential that employees are always inspired and motivated to do better then what they are doing presently and also to contribute to the development of the organization as an entity For this to happen its essential to develop in them a favorable self concept that acts as tool towards self development and hence development of the organization In Pos case, this happened when Master Oogway encouraged Po not to quit but to take on every challenge head on and prove it to the world that he is the real dragon warrior. The fact was reiterated when Po discovered the meaning of the ancient scroll, believing in your own self and ones own abilities. It is very important that an employee believes in his/her own talents and skills as this is where confidence stems from. Apart from this its also seen that Po begins to share an endearing relationship with Master Shifu by the end of the training program. He, begins to respect the fact that Master Shifu has indeed put in a lot of effort to coach him and appreciates the same, It is hence imperative for the Trainer-trainee relationship to be one of respect and understanding.

Recommendations
Importance of peers in learning: it is clear that peers contribute a lot to the learning process. This is portrayed in the case when Po is inspired to do better and actually learn Kung Fu due to his admiration for the Furious Five and at the same time backed out on being ridiculed by them. Hence these peers could have been used in an effective manner to train Po and equip him to fight the dragon warrior. Even in real life training situations its often seen that peers play an important role in encouraging learning to take place. From this case it is evident that motivation and inspiration to learn are the two main components that lead an individual towards learning.

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