Issues Faced by Walt Disney in the Entertainment Industry

This assignment focuses on the internal and external issues faced by Walt Disney in the entertainment industry. It analyzes the competition, future outlook, and implementation of tools for business success.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Internal and external issues..............................................................................................................2
Competition.....................................................................................................................................3
Future outlook..................................................................................................................................4
Implementation of tools for business success..................................................................................4
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................5

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Introduction
The assignment focuses on the issues that are faced by Walt Disney in its business while
trying to maintain its composure in the entertainment industry. Walt Disney is the biggest mass
media conglomerate that provides entertainment to the viewers on a large scale
(Thewaltdisneycompany 2019). After the analysis of the strengths and weakness of the company
the internal issues that Walt Disney can face can be taken into account.
At the same time, based on the opportunities and threats, the external issues of the
company can be analysed. These issues can help in identifying the potential that the company
possess in the entertainment sector. The assignment also tries to identify the competition that is
faced by Walt Disney along with the future outlook of the company. The implementation of tools
required for gaining success in business is also analysed so that Walt Disney can continue with
the reputation it has and look for improvements.
Internal and external issues
According to Shaw and Barry (2015), the analysis of the internal and external issues can
help in understanding the threats that are involved with the company. In order to analyse the
internal issue, it is necessary to identify the weakness that Walt Disney possess. From the SWOT
analysis conducted earlier, it can be seen that one of the biggest internal issue of the company is
that it has lost its subscription with ESPN and as a result have lost multiple domestic television
networks. This can be considered as a huge disadvantage for the profit making purpose of the
company as with the loss of subscription, people started to view other shows which resulted in
the change of taste from the shows usually telecasted in Walt Disney.

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At the same time, the major external issue of the company is the fact that the investment
made may not be effective in attracting and developing the resorts or parks associated with the
company. This can have a negative impact in the revenue of the company as the failure to meet
the demands of the customers can provide Walt Disney with the disadvantage of attracting
audience (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2017). The lack of ability to attract the audience can cause Walt
Disney to lose out against the competitors, particularly to the entertainment networks that have
entered the market in recent times. In this regard, an analysis can be made about the competition
that the company have to face within the entertainment sector.
Competition
In the recent years, Walt Disney has faced competition from various entertainment
industries. Some of the entertainment companies that provide stiff competition to Walt Disney
include Viacom, Time Warner, 21st Century Fox, Sony, CBS and Comcast. The main
competition that is provided by these companies is in the field of TV, cable and other media
markets. As stated by Laudon and Traver (2016) the growth rate of media in the network
distribution channel can be considered as competitive mainly because of the change of taste in
the mind of the people. Apart from the TV channels, Walt Disney also faces competition from
sports market.
The company featured well with the sports channel ESPN which provided about 24% of
the total revenue it earned. However, the offers related to binding packages have depleted the
popularity of the company. In the case of theme park market, Walt Disney faces competition
from Six Flags Entertainment, Cedar Fair and Universal Studios (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2017).
The competition in the theme park market has increased with the development of Harry Potter

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books and movies that are featured in the Universal Studios Park. Hence, a look towards the
future of the company can be taken into account.
Future outlook
Based on the analysis of the competition along with the internal and external issue, it can
be said that the future outlook of Walt Disney can be considered as weak. This is because with
the changes in time, the tastes of the people changes continuously. Hence, Walt Disney needs to
develop its investors as well as the employees so that the company can analyse and fend off the
threats.
Implementation of tools for business success
In order to succeed in the business sector, Walt Disney needs to improve the number of
employees that exist in the company. As stated by Schaltegger and Burritt (2017) without the
support of the employees, it can be difficult for the company to continue with the subscription of
the business and maintain the theme parks. At the same time, it needs the support from the
investors so that the company can continue to maintain its dominance in the entertainment media
and at the same time mitigate the threats posed by the existing competitors and the new entrants.

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Bibliography
Davies, P. W. (2016). Current issues in business ethics. Routledge.
Goss, D. (2015). Small Business and Society (Routledge Revivals). Routledge.
Laudon, K. C., & Traver, C. G. (2016). E-commerce: business, technology, society.
Schaltegger, S., & Burritt, R. (2017). Contemporary environmental accounting: issues, concepts
and practice. Routledge.
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016). Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons.
Shaw, W. H., & Barry, V. (2015). Moral issues in business. Cengage Learning.
Thewaltdisneycompany. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/

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Appendix
SWOT analysis of Walt Disney
Strengths Opportunities
Internal External  The positive brand image and good
financial strength has created scopes
and opportunities for the business to
excel in terms of revenue generation
and for attaining competitive
advantage in business
 With character merchandise and
licensing, new scopes are created for
business expansion
 There are more parks and resorts open
in various places of the world, which
extends business value creation and
for gaining competitive advantage in
business as well
 The strong brand equity has helped in
becoming one of the best global
brands, which could further assist in
developing more animated movies
 Walt Disney
Studios is
currently one
of the largest
producers of
animated and
motion
pictures that
has been a
major media
and
entertainment
conglomerate
in the entire
world
 The company
has been
serving
 New parks
and resorts are
opened in
various places
including
Disneyland
parks and
resorts in
Paris, Hong
Kong,
Hawaii, etc
(Disney.com,
2019).
 The
generation of
revenue by
selling
admission

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customers
worldwide and
maintains a
diversified
business,
which has
helped in
breaking
several box
office records
(Karadjova-
Stoev &
Mujtaba,
2016)
 The
company’s
signature
movies
include
Marvel and
Star Wars
movies that
are popular
tickets along
with
generating
revenue from
vacation club
properties and
sales of cruise
vacations
 The products
offerings are
not limited to
films but also
character
merchandises,
licensing of
publications,
books and
magazines
 This has
increased the
operating
income by 15
percent as
through its theatrical releases and
family friendly business projects
associated with it
 With the strong brand presence, it has
become easier for the company to
produce live action and animated
motion pictures, direct to video
content along with musical recordings
and live stage plays to increase client
retention
 The Consumer products segment has
facilitated the licensing structure,
publishers and intellectual properties
too for ensuring best quality lifestyle
content across interactive media
platforms (Kogan & Papanikolaou
2014)

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among people
 Maintained a
sustainable
position by
managing an
organisational
hierarchy and
extensive
media
networks
along with
studio
entertainment,
consumer
products and
interactive
media.
 The increased
income has
been generated
with the
increased
numbers of
well and has
reached more
than $937
million
 Disney holds
a positive
brand image
and
sustainable
position
within the
industry
 Disney owns
and operates
the ABC
Television
network to
reach most of
the
households in
United States

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advertisements
and affiliate
fees
contributing to
the
accomplishme
nt of vision
and mission of
the
organisation

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Weaknesses Threats
Internal External
 Loss of many
subscribers at
ESPN, which
has resulted in
losing
multiple
domestic
television
networks
along with
pushing down
subscription
rates
(Karadjova-
Stoev &
Mujtaba,
2016)
 The sports
channel
owned by
Disney, i.e.,
ESPN has
suffered loss
due to the free
live sports
streaming
 The
investments
made by
shareholders
often might
result in
making a
resort or park
attraction an
entire bomb,
which could
affect the
income
statement
negatively
 Failing to
meet the
global
demands and
expectations
could also
affect the
revenue
generation on
a negative
note
 The increased level of piracy might
affect the business by reducing the
revenue generated from the sales of
DVDs
 High competition level with the
presence of new entrants into the
market
 The technology disruption could also
affect the business function and hinder
the production of animated movies
and live action series too (Kogan &
Papanikolaou, 2014)