Management Report: Challenges and Strategies for Walt Disney Company

This report provides a comprehensive case analysis of the Walt Disney Company, examining key challenges and proposing solutions. The report identifies several issues, including strained relationships with Pixar, the 'too old' aspect of certain characters and the age compression problem, and declining film quality. Applying management theories such as Human Relations, Innovation Management, and Total Quality Management, the report analyzes the root causes of these problems. The analysis includes the impact of Steve Jobs and Pixar's demands on the company's operations. The report concludes with recommendations for improvement, emphasizing the importance of focusing on quality, fostering better partnerships, and encouraging innovation to ensure the company's long-term success and relevance in the competitive entertainment industry. The report also highlights the need to address the company's aging characters and appeal to a broader customer base.

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

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Executive Summary
The given report throws light on the Case Analysis of the Walt Disney Company. The Walt
Disney Company has been recently facing certain problems with respect to the performance in
various sections. Some of these problems include problems with respect to the relationships with
its strategic clients and the quality of the films being produced. Hence, the report follows a
systematic format whereby the different issues being faced by the firm have been discussed,
followed by related theory application. Certain recommendations with respect to the given
problem has been analyzed in order to ensure and advice how the company might perform well.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Problem statement...........................................................................................................................3
Issues being faced by the company.................................................................................................3
Issue with Steve Jobs...................................................................................................................3
Too old aspect and Age compression problem............................................................................4
Quality of films............................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The company Walt Disney was established by an American entrepreneur, animation and
film producer named Walt Disney. The Walt Disney Company was established in order to work
in the animation industry and there had been several developments into the cartoon industry. The
company has earned the most number of Academy Awards and won 22 Oscars from around 60
nominations (Drucker, 2017). The company received various Golden Globe awards as well. The
primary purpose of the given report is to throw light on and identify the problem statement with
respect to the given case related to Walt Disney (Watts, 2013).
The report will be following a structured format whereby the different problems which
have been identified in the case study will be elaborated upon and discussed along with various
theories. In the following section, recommendations as to how the problem must be improved
will be provided along with examples. The company has been performing well, however lately it
has been facing certain problems, which shall be analyzed in the sections below.
Problem statement
The problems being faced by the company include problems related to spoilt relationships with
the Pixar studios, Old characters and the Age compression aspect. Furthermore, there are
quality issues with their animated film as well.
Recently, the company has not been performing well with respect to different aspects of
the firm and hence the given section will be discussing certain problems with reference to
various management theories and make an analysis of how the company needs to improve
performance.
Issues being faced by the company
Issue with Steve Jobs

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The Pixar Company produces animate movies which tend to help Disney to distribute and
market its products. Furthermore, Disney has a right to produce and sell different sequels to
Pixar Films. In the past, the company has sold various movies like the Toy story, without
indulging the involvement of Pixar. However, there arose an issue whereby the company ; Pixar,
wanted to engage in a relationship with Walt Disney company but wanted to have creative as
well as financial control over the films (Bratton & Gold, 2017). However, when the CEO,
disagreed with this, the company was unable to proceed and the relationships became sour. Pixar
began to look out for other partners and this will not be beneficial for the long term of the
company. For this purpose, it became important to engage in a deal which was beneficial for the
firm as well (Swift & Piff, 2014). They agreed to pay a larger price, but were not willing to
combine their operations, until and unless they were given the control which was higher than the
previous deal (Wheelen, Hunger, Hoffman, & Bamford, 2017).The primary reason behind this
may be the spoilt relationship between the CEO of Pixar and the previous CEO of Disney.
A theory related to the given situation might be the theory of Human Relations. The
Human Relations theory was formed in 1920s during the industrial revolution. The theory
stresses on the belief that people tend to become a part of an organization which reflects different
growth prospects and a development in the future domain. For this purpose, it is important to
engage in meaningful relationships with different organizational members and partners in order
to ensure that the company is doing well and prospers.
Too old aspect and Age compression problem
The Disney animation had another set of problems as well which was the `too old`
problem. Under the too old problem, the brand has been suffering from a brand fatigues as
people began to get bored of the classic but rather ageing characteristics which are the Mickey
Mouse and the Winnie the Pooh (Myers, 2013). In such a scenario, although the viewers who
were more than 80% percent of them liked to view the given cartoon characteristics, they did not
find it interesting enough. They were however, unable to relate to them as the concept seemed
too old for them (Wild, Wild, & Han, 2014). Hence, for this purpose, the popularity of the given
brand has been going down comparatively. This poses a threat for the company as the company
might face certain problems and a restrained demand as the customers may not be willing to
watch characters which have aged and become obsolete. The company needs to urgently come

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up with a new concept and creative ideas which will enable the firm to perform well within its
realm (Brigham, Ehrhardt, Nason, & Gessaroli, 2016).
The innovations management theory states that the companies cannot remain stable
though out and is required to evolve and bring about creativity in its operations so as to ensure
that the given firm is able to place its foot well in the firm and ensure that it is able to compete
with the latest trends. If the firm is unable to do so then it will not be able to survive in the given
industry for a long period of time.
The firm is comparatively very young and currently suffers from age compression
problems. It means that it appeals to only the younger crowd and not even the teenagers who are
between the ages of 13-20. Hence, as the market selected for the given channel is very restricted
the success and the growth has become increasingly restricted. For this purpose, it has been
advised that the company needs to incorporate a wider customer base and also ensure that the
given company is able to provide fresher contents which will be able to target viewers belonging
to every age group. This shall ensure that the firm is able to tap the larger crowd and ensure
success in the given domain.
Quality of films
According to the given case study, the company has been facing certain problems related
to the poor quality of the films which it makes as well (Hill, Jones, & Schilling, 2014). The
company has been engaging itself in the production of various legendary animated films over the
time and has performed well in that given domain, however recently, the quality of the products
has gone down drastically and the company has been engaging in poor quality production, weak
acting skills and weak scripts (Adekola & Sergi, 2016). The examples of such disasters are the
High school musical 33, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Bolt and the Confessions of a shopaholic.
Such movies although appeared to be of a good content were unable to attract the audience and
lagged the power to impress the customers. Wetmore, apart from appearing to be a bore to the
given audience, the given films did not perform well financially as well (Armstrong, Kotler,
Harker, & Brennan, 2015). The company has realized this situation and has tried to come up with
new concepts and ideas, but has not been performing well and has been facing problems, with
respect to the quality. If the given company is unable to perform well, it will succumb under the
competition which is quite cut throated at present.

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Furthermore, although Disney has been acquiring new brands and products, the given
conglomerate together has not been performing well and for this purpose, there have been
situations where the company has considered whether it should be applying a retrenchment
strategy or a stable one.
A theory in relation to the given situation might be the theory related to Total quality
Management (Gollenia, 2016). The Total Quality management theory states that the given
company needs to adopt a large variety of strategies which will ensure that the company is able
to perform well and that, the quality of the goods or the services which have been produced
under the realm of the given firm are optimum (Chang, 2016). This is because; quality plays a
key role in impressing the audience. If the quality of the goods and services being delivered by
the company are optimum, then it will be able to easily ensure that it achieves success.
The theory of Quality Management defines a relation between the quality of the goods
produced and the popularity amongst the customers. It stresses upon the fact that if a company is
able to produce good quality products then it will be able to fulfill consumer need. Furthermore,
goods sold at better quality also possess the power and can be charged high for. Hence, the
company needs to bring about its focus on quality at present. Through the given initiative it
needs to ensure that the company brings about quality in its productions.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the given analysis it can be stated that, the Walt Disney Company is not
being able to live up to its name. This is because, the company had a popular image earlier and it
was not going through any related problems, however recently, the company has been facing
sever strategic problems and it needs to seen to it that the company adopts a proper strategy to
combat with all the given problems (Baden-Fuller & Mangematin, 2013). Once the company will
be able to successfully face all the problems, it will be able to ensure that it is successfully
engaging in a relationship with its stakeholders which will bring about its long term growth and
prosperity.

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Recommendations
The following recommendations have been made for the given company in order to see to
it that it will be able to overcome the current problems that it has been facing in the given
domain:
1. Focus on Quality
Quality is often described as the key to success and thus, it is advised, that for the long
term benefit of the given organization, the company needs to engage in production of goods and
services which are of premium quality. Quality uplifts the brand image of the company and it
also ensures that the firm remains in competition for a long time. It is commonly known that
although the prices of the products and services can be competed with however, it is not possible
for the given organization to compete with the firm in terms of quality. Hence, if Disney is able
to produce fewer films, but ensure the quality of the movie is good and the story is interesting, it
will easily be able to achieve success in the given domain and ensure that it performs well.
2. Ensure better relationships with the partners
The Pixar partners are crucial partners of the firm who need to be engaged in a strong
bond with firm. The Pixar Company has got proper experience in the domain of the business of
movies and for this purpose; it can be easily relied upon. Furthermore, apart from experience, the
given firm also has long term resources like creativity and popularity which are often crucial in a
film`s success (Tukker & Tischner, 2017). For this reason, although the demands of the current
CEO may appear to be inconsistent with the given scenario of the business, but they have
strategy experience which is beneficial for the firm.
3. Innovate
The company needs to concentrate on innovation. Disney has been focusing on a limited
type of movies and films since a very long time and for this reason the concept and image
associated with the Walt Disney movies company has become a rather obsolete one (Mannheim,
2016). The company needs to ensure that in order to be able to achieve success in the given
business domain, it will be required to engage in practices which will gave rise to proper
relationships. Such proper relationships will then give rise to engagement in work which will be

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able to appeal to all crowds and compete with the latest innovations as well. This innovation can
come in form of new characters or stories.
4. Follow a stabilized strategy
The company needs to keep a hold on its various domains. The company needs to ensure that it
is being able to easily maintain quality in the given offerings instead of spreading out into other
domains (Thomas, 2017). From the analysis of the given case, it could be easily analyzed that the
firm is not being able to manage its current resources well. However, if the company follows a
stabilize strategy, then it will easily be able to ensure that it is keeping an eye on all its units.
5. Retrench in the Animated domain
As the company is not being able to perform well in the given animated section, it has
been advised that the company should retrench the Animation film domain. The company should
produce a fewer films in a year and invest in stories that are bound to be a success.

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References
Adekola, A., & Sergi, B. S. (2016). Global business management: A cross-cultural
perspective. . .Routledge.
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2015). Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education.
Baden-Fuller, C., & Mangematin, V. (2013). Business models: A challenging agenda. Strategic
Organization. 11(4), , 418-427.
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. . Palgrave.
Brigham, E. F., Ehrhardt, M. C., Nason, R. R., & Gessaroli, J. (2016). Financial Managment:
Theory And Practice, Canadian Edition.. Nelson Education.
Chang, J. F. (2016). Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. . CRC
Press.
Drucker, P. F. (2017). The Theory of the Business. In (Harvard Business Review Classics).
Harvard Business Press.
Gollenia, L. A. (2016). Business transformation management methodology. Routledge.
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., & Schilling, M. A. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an integrated
approach. . Cengage Learning.
Mannheim, S. (2016). Walt Disney and the quest for community. Routledge.
Myers, M. D. (2013). Qualitative research in business and management. . Sage.
Swift, L., & Piff, S. (2014). Quantitative methods: for business, management and finance.
Palgrave Macmillan.
Thomas, B. (2017). Walt Disney: An American Original. . Disney Electronic Content.
Tukker, A., & Tischner, U. (2017). New business for old Europe. . Taylor & Francis.
Watts, S. (2013). The magic kingdom: Walt Disney and the American way of life. . University of
Missouri Press.
Wheelen, T. L., Hunger, J. D., Hoffman, A. N., & Bamford, C. E. (2017). Strategic management
and business policy. pearson.
Wild, J. J., Wild, K. L., & Han, J. C. (2014). International business. . Pearson Education Limited.

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