Walt Disney 's Social Responsibilities

The Walt Disney Company values the diversity of ideas, perspective, gifts, talents, experiences, and backgrounds that each employee represents within the company. Richardson says,

Walt Disney once said, “It’s not the magic that makes it work, it’s the work that makes the magic.” (Capodagli & Jackson, 2007). Walt Disney was truly a visionary and ethical leader that used his talents as a transformational leader and artist to dream up a world that has stood the test of time for nearly 90 years. In this paper I will explain why he was both a visionary and ethical leader. It will show that he used inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation to further his clear and easy to follow vision, inspire his personnel, and leverage their creativity. It will also show why I believe Walt Disney fit into the traits of an ethical leader by valuing his team members and creating an environment of mutual trust and respect. Then I will tell you how I have used the same transformational leadership behaviors to lead my people, have made sure not to fall into an ethical trap and take credit for the work others do. All leaders could learn something from Walt’s visionary leadership.

Attention Getter: As Walt Disney once stated, “To all who come to this happy place, Welcome. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Hoping that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to the entire world (IMDb, n.d.).”

Disneyland was Walt Disney’s dream of a theme park that would be, in his words, “The Happiest Place on Earth”. Walt understood too well that the people that were hired would need to be taught how to create that elusive atmosphere. He called on Van France to assist him in creating what has become a world renowned training program. This program taught their employees, or “cast members”, to achieve the ultimate result, a “good show”.

Disneyland is a huge organization which has about 20,000 direct Disney employees and 3,800 third-party employees. But, every employee is controlled by top management without any remonstrant. The employees are happy with their work and perform well at work. This make a lot of profit for Disneyland. Disneyland as the self-proclaimed “happiest place on earth” occupies an enviable position in the amusement and entertainment worlds as well as the commercial world in general. What make Disneyland so successful in the world? Is just because of Walt Disney?

Disney Point #1 - In order to delight your customers, you must put your employees first!

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.

Disney strives to maintain a workforce that reflects open opportunity, where everyone is at an advantage by the company potential.

Ask anyone about the name Walt Disney and they’ll immediately know who you’re talking about, no matter what age they are. Very few people can say that they are known by all age demographics. Love him or hate him you can’t act as if you’ve never heard of him or seen one of his movies during your childhood. Disney famous for his fairy tale animated films and theme park has shaped American society to this day. He in a way tells the classic tale of the American, a boy from nothing who grows up to be someone and have their dreams come true. An inspiration to film makers and creative minds from all backgrounds. Without Walt Disney the society we live in today would be vastly different from what we see.

Walt Disney Company is an expanded global company with operations in four major business segments i.e. Studio Entertainment, Media Networks, Consumer Products and Parks and Resorts. The company has a workforce of more than 15,000 employees in more than 40 countries across the globe. In addition to having a huge workforce, the firm is largely renowned for its success and profitability in all its business segments on an annual basis. One of the most important aspects that have contributed to its growth and profitability throughout the years is its compensation program. The firm has compensation programs for all its employees because of its consideration of employees as one of the major stakeholders of its operations. However, Walt Disney Company has experienced significant challenges in relation to its compensation program because of the various peer groups used in this process. As a result, the company's compensation program has significant structural flaw because of its size and complexity.

The Walt Disney Company started as a small entertainment company in 1923 (Disney.com, 2011). Since that time the company has used various strategies enabling them to grow into a global entertainment company.

Disney is an internationally renowned company known for its creativity and amazing storytelling. Disney movies always manage to keep you on the edge of your seat. Disney’s many innovations help make people's lives thrilling and exciting. Today Disney is one of the best known companies in the world. The company wouldn't exist if it hadn’t been for Walt Disney, the founder of the Walt Disney Company, and Walt Disney Studios. Disney may appear to be a household company, but it is only because of how hard Walt Disney worked, and all the innovations the Walt Disney Company has made in the past, to make Disney the great company it is today.

Welcome to the happiest place on earth, otherwise known as hell. Imagine entering a place where the air smells like fresh homemade cookies, the lush green trees are shaped like animated characters, and the sidewalks are always squeaky clean. The employees or “cast members” appear to be clean-cut, happy, wholesome, all-American people. This is the image Walt Disney World provides for its guests. But what goes on behind the scenes at Disney? Until a person has worked for the “big mouse” she won’t be able to understand the torture that can go on for employees. I’ve been in that Disney “cult,” part of the “wonderful world of Disney.”

The Disney theme park is an organization that focuses on customer satisfaction. The management style at the Disney theme park is very diverse and non-traditional. All employees from janitors to performers are called “cast members.” Managers at the Disney theme park focus on the role of employees in service delivery. Employees are broadly trained in communication, quality awareness, and customer service. Employees at the Disney theme park have regular team meetings for effectiveness evaluations. Disney theme park employees are additionally made

The ability to communicate his vision was just the beginning of Walt Disney’s leadership characteristics. Simply stating ones vision is not enough, you must motivate your followers to reach goals, and Disney was an excellent motivator. One tactic he used to motivate employees was encouraging innovation and rewarding good ideas. In pursuit of additional funding to create new films, Disney reached out to his employees on possible ways to obtain funding from Disneyland. A team of seven people decided to increase revenue they would open the park on weekdays and allow corporate members to offer discounted tickets for their employees. Overall, their plan was a huge success. To reward his employees for their success, on Christmas day each employee opened their door to find Mickey Mouse standing there with an envelope. Inside it were 100 shares of Disney stock, 25 $1,000 bills and a hand-written note from Walt: “It’s fantastic. You’re fantastic. Do it again” (Bradt, 2015).