Competitive Challenges Of Disney : The Success Of Walt Disney

Disney’s long-run success is mainly due to creating value through diversification. Their corporate strategies (primarily under CEO Eisner) include three dimensions: horizontal and geographic expansion as well as vertical integration. Disney is a prime example of how to achieve long-run success through the choices of business, the choice of how many activities to undertake, the choice of how many businesses to be in, the choice of how to manage a portfolio of businesses and the choice of how to create synergies between those businesses (3, p.191-221). All these choices and decisions are

The Walt Disney Company is considered to be one of the most active family entertainment companies in the world. Primarily Disney became known as an animated film company and a cartoon creator. Later, the company expanded its range of activities into other markets through the Disney stores and theme parks around the world. The Walt Disney Company’s key objective is to be the world’s premier family entertainment company through the ongoing development of its powerful brand and character franchises.

Growing up in a family that loves Disneyland, I have had many opportunities to visit Disney parks and watch Disney movies and television shows. My childhood was filled with fairy dust and Mickey Mouse ears. As I got older I learned that the Walt Disney company not only provides fun entertainment, but it also spends large amounts of money to make the lives of others better through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility outweigh the costs. Corporations spend millions of dollars a year on CSR, but receive greater benefits that make the costs of CSR worth it. Corporate Social Responsibility improves companies’ reputation as well as increases total sales and income. When companies incorporate CSR they have better employee and consumer ratings. CSR improves the life and quality of customers as well as the community, which makes for a long-lasting business. The Walt Disney Company is a corporation that focuses strongly on incorporating CSR into their business and making the world a better place. Corporate social responsibility not only profits the company, but it also benefits the organizations they are helping, such as the community, the environment, the economy, employees, customers and the world.

Recent years have seen a major growth in the Walt Disney Company "enterprise" as one would call it. Growing from movies, TV, theme parks, stores to Broadway shows, Disney Company has set a benchmark for other companies. Early in 1996, Disney completed its acquisition of Capital/ABC. The $19 Billion deal brought the country's top television network to the Disney, in addition to 10 TV Stations, 21 radio stations, 7 daily newspapers, and ownership positions in 4 cable networks.

The organization has a broad range of business sectors that would be very difficult to imitate. This sets this sets them above and beyond competition.

The Walt Disney Company has seen their share of success in taking their parks and resorts into global markets. “60 years ago, the first Disney theme park opened, in California and was the brainchild of Walt Disney himself, who was motivated by the lack of entertainment options available to him and his two young daughters.” (Forbes, 2016). Disneyland California penetrated the market rapidly, and its popularity led to the opening of Disney World in Florida, followed by global expansion in Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong. Their latest expansion came in June 2016, on a 963 acres’ site in Shanghai, China (Xu, 2012). After one year in operation, Shanghai Disneyland is outpacing their most optimistic projections, and the park’s

In order for Disney to remain a dominate player within all of its markets, the company must focus on key aspects of its internal environment. Disney must concentrate on aspects such as core competencies, corporate governance, and synergies to assist in forming a sustainable competitive advantage.

The Disney Corporation has had both positive and negative effects on American society. Disney has majorly affected both the youth and adults in America by way they interact with each other, what they expect from each other, and how parents bring up their youth in harsh and unrealistic expectations according to Disney. Disney has fostered a strong sense of imagination in the past, present and future youth of America. This sense of imagination is necessary to the development of children when it comes to success in life and self-confidence. The Disney Corporation knows how to work it’s audience for a profit and mastering that skill has allowed Disney to accumulated billions by advertising and selling fantasies to young children and their parents. It’s also these very ideas that influence what Americans believe our government and policies should be founded on. In “The Mouse That Roared” the author states “Education is never innocent, because it always presupposes a particular view of citizenship, culture, and society. And yet it is this very appeal to innocence, bleached of any semblance of politics, that has become a defining feature in Disney culture and pedagogy” (Giroux 31) This quote defines Disney at large. Disney has created the idea of ‘imagination’ in American society and perpetuates it in everything America does and influences everything America stands. In everyday American life, politics and business, The Disney Corporation has a hand in it.

Introduction: The Walt Disney Company is on the threshold of a new era. Michael Eisner has stepped down from his position as CEO and turned over the reigns to Robert Iger. A lot of turmoil has been brewing through the company over the last four years; many people are hoping that this change in leadership will put Disney back on the road to success. Issues began around mid-2002; when declining earnings, fleeing shareholders, and

Strategic Planning is the process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organizations goals and capabilities as well as emerging market conditions and opportunities. Disney's primary strategic objective is to product high-quality content through their entire product mix. The company also had a record financial performance in 2010 led by the Disney movie studio last year was the first in history to make two film that crossed the billion-dollar mark at the global box office Toy Story 3 and Disney's Alice in Wonderland. Another strategic objective that Disney has set is the goal to make experiences more memorable and accessible through innovative technology. The final strategic objective that Disney has focused on is international expansion.

According to Robert Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Disney’s corporate strategy for diversification is a combination of three objectives that are to be achieved through the fundamental alignment of the Company’s core business units. The three objectives to be achieved by The Walt Disney Company are (1) creating high-quality family content, (2) exploiting technological innovations to make entertainment experiences more memorable, and (3) expanding internationally. The Walt Disney Company’s three objectives that make up the Company’s corporate strategy are to be achieved through each of the Company’s core business units that are split up in to five divisions (1) media networks, (2) parks and resorts, (3) studio entertainment, (4) consumer product, and (5) interactive media.

1. What is Walt Disney Company’s corporate generic strategy? Explain the reason for your answer.

The Walt Disney Company is an outstanding renowned entertainment and media corporation with business ventures in Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, The Walt Disney Studios, Disney Consumer Products, and Disney Interactive. Walt Disney Company is a diversified corporation with products all around the world. (The Walt Disney Company, n.d.)

The Walt Disney Studio’s Diversity Mission Statement is “To create an inclusive environment that is open to all perspectives, allowing us to tell compelling stories in film, animation and music that visually and emotionally reflect our audience worldwide.” “The Walt Disney Studios maintains that the only existing boundaries are those of talent, ambition, imagination and innovation.” (Moore, 2007)

The Brand of Disney is our major distinctive competency. With our assortment of characters, primarily our star Mickey Mouse, we are known worldwide through various sources which provides us a competitive advantage. Disney theme parks are reinforced by Disney TV programs, merchandise and movies. The company has unique ability to consistently produce entertainment in various mediums while keeping cost fairly low.