The Walt Disney Case Study

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

An organizational design of the Walt Disney Company has a horizontal structure. It is seen in the departmentalization or subdividing into smaller units. The company is currently organized with certain key companies – all brand names – dominating each division. “The business departments of Disney Company are then grouped according to the product and this is a good example of a divisional approach” (Mannheim, 2017). Although each division assigns their executive officers different

Corporate governance is a set of actions used to handle the relationship between stakeholders by determining and controlling the strategic direction and performance of the organization. Corporate governance major concern is making sure that the strategic decisions are effective and that it paves the way towards strategic competitiveness. (Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson, 2017, p. 310). In today’s corporation, the primary objective of corporate governance is to align top-level manager’s and stakeholders interest. That is why corporate governance is involved when there is a conflict of interest between with the owners, managers, and members of the board of directors (Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson, 2017, p. 310-311).

Introduction The Walt Disney Company is an American diversified multinational mass media corporation. It is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. It generated US$ 42.278 billion in 2012. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, and established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. The Walt Disney Company operates as five primary units and segments: The Walt Disney Studios or Studio Entertainment, which includes the company's film, recording label, and theatrical divisions; Parks and Resorts, featuring the company's theme

The Disney Corporation is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. (Disney Corporate, 2009). This company did not become one of the leading corporations in the world without hard work, an extreme dedication to the mission and core values of the organization, and the successful application of the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Many internal and external factors may have a direct impact on the four functions of management like: globalization, ethics, and innovation.

The Stakeholder analysis: The Walt Disney Company stakeholders consist of communities, business partners, board of directors/shareholders, employees, customers/guests, and major business segments. The board of directors/shareholders and the major business segments are in the section of high power, high importance. The board of directors and shareholders expect a return of net asset value and an increase in the growth of dividend payments. They also expect more involvement in the decision of the company. Included in this group are the long time ousted members Roy Disney and Stanley Gold. Major business segments, consist of Entertainment Studios, Consumer Products, Disney Parks and Resorts, and Media Networks. This group expects creative license to work on projects that allow them to express the creativity of their individual organizations. This requires them to have the freedom of innovation and independence to make choices.

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.

The Walt Disney Company is known throughout the world as a leader in entertainment. The strategies that the Walt Disney Company have used include competitive advantage, a growth strategy, and a renewal strategy. When a person mentions a theme park, Disney is the first park that comes to mind. They were not the first theme park, but they have mastered the art of creating memories for adults and children alike. As a former employee of Disney I can vouch for the amount of effort that goes into

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.)

Disney has become a marketing goliath and the #1 entertainment company in the US. They have been able to develop a creativity-driven philosophy that over time was tempered by financial responsibility and that benefitted from powerful synergies between its divisions. From the very beginning, Disney has been synonymous with innovation within the children’s entertainment industry, from their introduction of animations with synchronized audio, full-length animated feature films and then later into theme parks and on-ice and Broadway shows. One important element of Disney’s success was the extent to which they integrated and expanded into different

In the last decades, the number of major corporations that manage to control media has decreased significantly, resulting in a high concentration of ownership. In 2011, only six media companies were responsible for 90% of the things we saw and heard on a daily basis compared to fifty companies in 1983 (Lutz, 2012). The Walt Disney Company is one of them. In this report, we will take a look at how the Company has succeeded in growing into the media corporation it is today.

For my final paper I chose to discuss The Walt Disney Company. Since the Company is so large and made up of four primary business segments, I decided to focus on one particular segment: Parks and Resorts. This segment is composed of the theme parks, cruise-line, and vacation club resorts.

Walt Disney was founded in 1923 and is today the second largest media company after Comcast (The Walt Disney Studios History, n.d.). Disney has assets totaling 92.03 billion dollars, annual revenue of 55.63 billion in 2016 and a market capitalization of $163.48 billion (Total Assets of the Walt Disney Company 2006-2016, n.d.) (Walt Disney Co, n.d.).

Known to be one of the largest producers of multi-media content, Walt Disney and Pixar greatly impacted the entertainment industry with the use of three-dimensional generated content. It quickly gained popularity with the release of its animated movies and especially got the attention of children from their sequels. With the growing popularity, the competition in the media industry began to increase. Disney was then faced with a difficult decision regarding its relationship with Pixar on whether they should acquire or not acquire the company.

As Walt Disney Company is famed for its creativity and strong global brand, Disney appear to create value in its business primarily through a differentiation strategy.