Case Study Analysis of Disney: Implementation of Technologies for Customer Relationship Management

This report analyses the implementation of technologies for customer relationship management in Walt Disney theme parks. It discusses the enterprise systems adopted by Disney, the difficulties faced, and the assessment of success of the adopted system.

Running head: CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF DISNEY
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF DISNEY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF DISNEY
Executive Summary
This report is based on the analysis of the case study of Walt Disney related to the
implementation of technologies for the purpose of improving the customer relationship
management related processes. The various applications that were formulated by
Walt Disney using the modern technologies are analysed in the report in detail. The other
major points of discussion are the issues that are faced by the company in the implementation
and integration of modern technologies. The assessment of the effects of integration of
technologies on the revenues of the company is a major part of the report. The discussion is
concluded by stating that the implementation of technologies have helped Disney in gaining
its revenues.

2CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF DISNEY
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Problems and opportunities faced by Disney.................................................................3
Nature of enterprise system adopted by Disney.............................................................5
Difficulties faced by Disney in adopting the system.....................................................8
Assessment of success of the adopted system................................................................9
Conclusion....................................................................................................................10
References....................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The Walt Disney Company which is known as Disney, is a multinational
entertainment and mass media based organization which is of American origin. The
headquarters of the organization is located at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.
Disney has acquired the position of the world’s second biggest conglomerate of the media
field in terms of the total revenues of the organization. The company was established on 16th
October, 1923by Roy O. Disney and Walt Disney (The Walt Disney Company. 2018). The
organization has become a leader in the industry of animation before it expanded the business
operations in other fields like, television, film production, theme parks. The company further
started its operations under other names like, Walt Disney Production and The Walt Disney
Studio. Disney has also acquired many corporate divisions so that they are able to market
content that is more mature and is associated with its flagship brands. The three other major
divisions of Disney are Consumer and Experiences Products and the parks of Walt Disney
(The Walt Disney Company. 2018).
The report will be mainly based on the case study of the Walt Disney theme parks
where new technologies have been used for the purpose of customer relationship
management. The ways by which the organization has formulated various new strategies for
the management of customer relationships will be discussed and analysed in the report in
detail.
Problems and opportunities faced by Disney
The major problems that were faced by Walt Disney in the year 2002 were related to
the long lines that were formed by the customers at the rides and at the restaurants that
operate inside the park. The problem was faced at all the theme parks of the organization and
the highest issues were found in the Magic Kingdom which was one of the oldest theme parks

4CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF DISNEY
of Walt Disney. These issues were not only being faced by the theme parks of Walt Disney,
this has been a major issue in the amusement park industry. The long lines and the high prices
have been major reasons behind the loss of customers of the various amusement parks. The
revenues of the Walt Disney theme parks were found to be lower by 8% in the year 2002 as
compared to the revenues that were earned in the year 2001 (Akram, Rana and Bhatti 2017).
The major reason behind the lack of revenues of the park were found to be decline in the
attendance of customers and the lower occupancy rates at the various hotels. The rise that has
been seen in the prices of the tickets have also caused a lack of revenues for the theme parks
of Disney. The prices of the tickets have gone through a rise of 20% in the year 1998. The
range of prices have already reached the limit up to which the customers are ready to spend
for amusement and entertainment related activities (Aryee et al. 2015).
Disney has been trying to attract customers to its theme parks by reducing the prices
of tickets by 42%. This had increased the attendance of customers in the park, however, had
immense effects on the operating income of the organization. The income of Disney fell by
18% in the year 2003 from the year 2002. The costs of the company on the other hand
continued to rise after the attacks that had taken place on September 11. The organization has
a huge employee base of 54,000 people and the health care related costs of these employees
amounted to around 250 million dollars. The main goal of the organization is to increase its
revenues with less capital that is available (Brenner et al. 2015).
The CIO of the organization, Roger Berry is therefore planning to implement cutting
edge and high level technologies to further increase the revenues of Disney. The aim of the
management is also to restore the lustre of the aging brand which can boost the attendance of
employees and increase their efficiencies. The mission the management was to use to Walt
Disney as the test area for the business experiment which was ambitious in nature namely, the
IT convergence. The concept of IT convergence included the combination of the smart

5CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF DISNEY
sensors, satellites for global positioning, mobile devices and wireless technology. The goal of
the management is to reduce the hassles that are faced by the customers while they wait in the
lines (Chang, Wong and Fang 2014). This was aimed at enhancing the experience of the
customers and influence the behaviour of the various visitors. The organizations need to
integrate technology in their various processes in the modern business environment as the
deployment of technology is not enough. The implementation of modern technologies in the
various processes of the organization had provided huge opportunities to Walt Disney
(Choudhury and Harrigan 2014).
Nature of enterprise system adopted by Disney
The first system that was implemented by the management of Walt Disney to enhance
the experience of the customers to the highest levels was the stuffed doll named Pal Mickey
which was around 10 ½ inches tall. The doll was made with the help of the latest and modern
technologies which can be used effectively for the purpose of customer relationship
management. The doll was used by the organization to provide tips to the customers about the
rides which have the lowest waiting lines and the information related to various events were
also provided by Pal Mickey. The research and development team of the organization was
able to develop this doll so that it can provide various types of information to the customers
waiting in the lines of the rides (Cioinsight.com. 2018). The doll was filled with 700
messages which enabled it to say something in the various situations. The product was
mainly developed to provide entertainment to the kids and encourage the customers who are
waiting in the lines of the rides. The technologists and experts have commented that Pal
Mickey was an initiative taken by Disney to bridge the gap between that static data of the
customers that is held by the company and the process of dynamic data management. The
innovative stuffed doll of Walt Disney was able to collect the real time data of the customers
and the various processes in the organization. This further help them to analyse the behaviour

6CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF DISNEY
of the customers and provide the type of information that is required by them (Eichorn 2017).
This exchange of information was helpful for the customers and the management of the
organization as well. The coordination of information was helpful in increasing the efficiency
of the organization and the various processes. The innovation that was implemented by
Disney was considered to be the next big thing in the technological market. The data of the
customers thereby helped the organization in analysing the behaviour and offer them the
appropriate strategies. The company has been trying to experiment with strategies that which
goes beyond the current CRM related processes (Fidel, Schlesinger and Cervera 2015).
Another major enterprise strategy that was implemented by Walt Disney to enhance
the results at the various theme parks was named “Destination Disney Strategy”. The was the
new strategy that was related to the experience that was provided to the customers by the
organization. The company has aimed to leverage the technologies both in the front line and
behind the scenes to personalize the experience of customers. The technology was
implemented in such a manner so that the management of the organization is able to organise
the entire vacation related plans of the customers (Fjermestad and Cho 2015). The vacation
plan included hotels in which the park visitors are planning to stay and the restaurants where
they are about to visit. The PDA of the customers will remind them about the various parts of
their vacation plans beforehand so that they do not miss any part of the plans. Disney has also
planned to make the data related to the customers accessible for all the levels of the business
so that the employees belonging to any level can access the customer data and try to act
accordingly (Forbes.com. 2018).
A major initiative was also taken by Disney which was able to tie the Destination
Disney strategy. This initiative was a website named, Magical Gatherings which was aimed
at boosting the new revenues of the organization. The new revenues were earned from the
group bookings that were made for the group events or reunions of the business

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organizations. The strategy of Destination Disney did not stop and the researchers of the
organization have started rolling out the location-aware and interactive programs which have
been helpful for the executives to cut the costs on the back end operations. The efforts taken
by the organization were mainly related to the management of the parking fleet of more than
260 buses. The technology related to mobile internet and GPS help Disney to manage the
fleet of the organization in an effective manner. The organization is further planning to
expand the services related to digital imaging (Hasanian, Chong and Gan 2015). This will
help the guests who are staying at the Disney hotels to use the television sets in their rooms to
review the photographs that were taken by them and then purchase these from the company.
Disney has implemented data-smart cards which have helped them to pay for the rides
as they avail each of them. This service helps the organization to decrease the lines at the
various ride counters. The e-ride approach of the company was designed to charge the
customers for the best and the most famous rides of the Disney theme park. The data-smart
cards were linked to the database of the customers and were able to provide all the relevant
information related to their preferences and choices. This concept was implemented as a part
of the various efforts that were made for the purpose of attracting customers towards the
amusement parks of Walt Disney (Hassan et al. 2015).
The various mobile applications that have been implemented by Walt in the recent
years are, the Walt Disney World Maps, which has the map of the entire space of the theme
parks of the organization. The Disney World Dining was also formulated which had the
entire menus of all the restaurants that located nearby. The Disney World Park Hours, the
Disney World Notescast, The Disney World Wait Times Free and the Mouse Memo are all
the major applications that have been formulated by Walt Disney for the purpose of providing
the best services to the customers (Kasemsap 2015).

8CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF DISNEY
Difficulties faced by Disney in adopting the system
The creation of the mobile CRM related device by Walt Disney had helped the
organization in serving the customers in a much better way as compared to the traditional
methods. The customers were provided with entertainment while they waited for their chance
in the long lines of the rides and the restaurants that operated in the theme parks. The
implementation of the various processes by Walt Disney had to face issues that were related
to the privacy related concerns of the customers. The visitors of the park were quite
uncomfortable about location tracking services that were employed by the organization. The
technologists have said that the persuasive technologies have sometimes crossed the lines
privacy which have further led to discontentment among the customers (Khodakarami and
Chan 2014). This has been major barrier that was related to the implementation of integrated
technologies in the theme parks of Walt Disney. The organization had to therefore
discontinue Pal Mickey after 6 years of its implementation in the various theme parks. Disney
had some major concerns about the ways by which the customers were going to take the
implementation of Pal Mickey in the processes of the organization. The main aim was to
place the product in such a manner so that it is able to become the friend of the customers
rather than becoming a supervisor. The customer-friendly technologies can further help the
organization in gaining their trust effectively (Navimipour and Soltani 2016). The company
had also implemented various other high technology based mobile applications which have
the aim to assist the customers for the purpose choosing the rides that are most preferable for
them. The company mainly relies on the various guests so that they are able to receive the
real-time information about various processes that are implemented in the organizations. This
is a major drawback as the customers are not always reliable in case of providing correct
information to the management of the organization which can enable them to update the
information present in their database (Nyadzayo and Khajehzadeh 2016).

9CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF DISNEY
Assessment of success of the adopted system
The implementation of technologies has affected the revenues and the profitability of
the Walt Disney theme parks in a positive manner. The innovation in the services and
products of the organization have been affected by the new technologies. The expectation
levels of the customers of Disney have also increased in the process. The talented team of the
company has been able to use the various Disney experiences and stories to make them social
and interactive in nature. The organization has made some major developments in the
interactive areas of the theme parks. For example, the Mickey’s Fun Wheel which is located
in the adventure park of Disney California comes alive during the “World of Colour”
(Romano Jr and Fjermestad 2015). The guests can use the personal mobile devices and access
the Wi-Fi network and become a part of an interactive pre-show game. Another example of
the innovative initiatives is the top-secret mission which comes into operation in Epcot at the
Walt Disney World. The guests at the Disney Resort and Spa at Aulani leads the customers
through a scavenger hunt which employs high technologies. The customers and their families
are provided with various opportunities to search for the hidden statues, solve riddles and
discover the surprises. This helps the organization in engaging the customers of the different
age groups (Santouridis and Veraki 2017). The entertaining and captivating activities that are
offered by the company with the help of technologies have helped them in attracting more
customers and increasing revenues. The future operations of the organization have been
based on the attention that is provided by Disney to the experience of the customers and the
details. The environment in which the organization is operating is going through continuous
changes and it is quite tough for the research team of the company to implement these
changes in their product offerings. The parks of the organization are heavily influenced by
the usage of various technologies for the purpose of customer service enhancement. This has

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helped the organization in increasing its revenues and reducing the waiting lines that used to
be present for their rides (Trainor et al. 2014).
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that the modern technologies are always
helpful for enhancing the revenues of various organizations. The revenues of Disney theme
parks had decreased due to the long waiting lines and the high prices of the tickets. The
organization had aimed towards enhancing the customer experience which can help in
increasing their visit in the theme parks. The price levels of the tickets have also been
decreased so that the customers are able to enjoy the various facilities of the theme parks
without spending money which is over their limits.

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