Analyzing Business Management Strategies for The Walt Disney Company

This report examines the business management of The Walt Disney Company, focusing on the challenges faced by the company, including brand fatigue and the need for updated characters and stories. The analysis delves into the current situation, highlighting issues such as stagnant growth and the impact of past acquisitions. The report then explores potential strategies, including thematic overhauls of parks, customer immersion through fan engagement, and a renewed focus on customer service and classic characters. The paper also addresses the critical question of expansion versus retrenchment, offering insights into how Disney can regain its market position and revitalize its brand. The strategies include leveraging Disney's assets, reflecting its core beliefs, and adapting to evolving market demands. Ultimately, the report seeks to provide feasible solutions to help Disney overcome its current challenges and reclaim its former success.

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT FOR DISNEY
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Executive Summary
Walt Disney Company is one of the most popular and best known entertainment organisations on
the planet. The company was established by Walt Disney in 1928, with the creation of Mickey
Mouse. Since then, the company has evolved much bigger and has countless characters under its
copyright today. However, recent market conditions have shown that the company has been
suffering. The last CEO of the company did help the orgnaisation in many ways, but has also
contributed to a lot of problems and issues. The following paper looks into the problems, trying
to find the root causes of the problems faced by the company and also contains views and ideas
of the new CEO regarding what strategies can be adopted so that Disney can once again find its
path and regain its golden, now lost, status in the world.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Current situation of the company....................................................................................................3
Thoughts to resolve the issues.........................................................................................................4
Strategies..........................................................................................................................................5
The question of expansion or retrench.............................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The Walt Disney Company is one of the most well-known brands in the world that has a
number of businesses under its conglomerate umbrella. It was established by Walt Disney in
1923 in California. Over the years Disney has created some of the most iconic characters ever
and has enjoyed huge popularity across the globe, encompassing every age group (Fiascone &
Christensen, 2014). However, during the course pf their operations Disney has also faced
criticism over poor script writing, low quality production and animation qualities. Poor acting
skills have always been a cause for headache of the company’s films. Disney has acquired other
iconic companies in recent years with hopes to expand their business and overcome the problems
they had been facing. Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm were two of the biggest addition to
the conglomerate that gave the company hopes to make a comeback from the slump that hit the
company. The following paper is set to look into the matters that are pestering Disney and try to
give a feasible solution that would be beneficial to the company’s current condition and help the
company out of the unfortunate circumstances as soon as possible (Baxter, 2016).
Current situation of the company
Disney is one of the biggest and most profitable organisations on the planet. But the
biggest problem for the company that has been ailing the business of Disney is the fact that the
company has become stagnant and has not evolved. The company has been called to become
“too old”: brand fatigue has set in. the characters of the company are legendary but they were all
created far long back. Most of the sales of the company still comes from either Mickey Mouse
and Winnie the Pooh, the later character being created in 1961 and the former in 1928
(Gonneville, 2013). Not being able to provide the fans with new characters and stories have
heavily affected the company’s business. To overcome this, Disney paired up with Pixar Studios,

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to breathe new life into the company. But legal disputes over the control of the production and
the plot led this to be come astray. Acquiring Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm did not help
the company as much as it had hoped for either. Recent ambitious projects and movies did not
instigate positive force into the functions of Disney. High School Musical 3, Bolt, Race to Witch
Mountain, Confessions of a Shopaholic; all failed to meet their expectations. The movies cost
Disney a significant amount of money and did not make enough market profit, making the
troubles of the company only greater (Graham, Lawrence & Requejo, 2014).
Thoughts to resolve the issues
There are several critical questions that the new CEO of the company at the moment.
After the legal dispute with Pixar, during the time of the last CEO Michael Eisner, the new CEO
had to go through a lot of trouble to persuade the CEO of Pixar, Steve Jobs, to convince Pixar’s
President Ed Catmull and creative head John Lasseter to join Disney again on against the
promise of giving them full control over the animation and financial controls of the animated
movies.
Along with being called “too old”, Disney characters have also been told to be too young
as they rarely have any significant appeal to teenagers, who are on the cusp of adolescence and
view Disney characters as for the kids younger than them (Wills, 2017).
With so many problems riddling the business and internal operations of the company, the
basic and most important question is about how can these be tackled efficiently and what are the
correct strategies that can adopted to make sure this period of slump gets over for Disney. The
new CEO has successfully re-initiated the Disney-Pixar collaboration after much attempts and a
number of promises to Catmull and Lasseter. Still there are a number of other issues that need to

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be resolved quickly. Disney faces a critical question at this specific juncture of time: whether to
expand its operations or to downsize on everything and resolve the financial troubles first.
Strategies
The company has many strategies as its upcoming projects that are going to hopefully
turn the adversities around and make the company see bright days ahead. There are some core
plans that the company wants to turn into reality and these ideas are to be manifested in the core
ideals of the company: to make the world a happier place for everyone alike (Meinel, 2016).
Theming: Disney understands a basic fact about marketing; making special themes have the
power to attract a lot of attention, which in turn is a guarantor of better sales. Without the themes
and iconic aspect to Disney’s characters, there is hardly anything special about them (Wasko,
2013). This is the most important thing about Disney and the single aspect that is to be given the
most priority to jump start the company’s performance and reputation again. Disney aims to
overhaul their Disneyland and other major parks with themes as the guidelines for the purpose.
Everything from the rides, to the park decorations will be subjected to a specific theme and every
operation and function of those would revolve around the chosen theme (Wills, 2017).
Understanding the cash potential of the Disney assets is a major thing to do and this could
possibly turn the entire scenario in favour of Disney if these assets are used in an efficient and
skillful manner.
A vital thing Disney has to ensure is to reflect its beliefs and ideologies in every function
it has. Going back to the roots of the company is the way that has the ability to bring a lot of
exposure to the company, as the characters of the company have remained untouched by time.
New plots are to be introduced, which would revive the old characters and make them

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contemporary and valid once again (Meinel, 2016). Disney has to be able to make the customers
and fans feel like that Disney cares for them and are still the providers of the happiest things on
the planet.
Immersion: Making decisions that would involve the fans in the decision making provcess may
be a great way to reach out and communicate with the customers. Making them feel like they are
a part of the revival process of the company can make the whole thing much more intimate,
making customers and fans want to help in the strategies that would re-energise the company
(Bolman & Deal, 2015). Fans can be made to participate in programs and contests where they
can create characters of their own. Competitions where the backstories of the lives of these
characters can be told by the creators themselves to other fans. The best of these would be
selected by Disney that have potential to become the next Disney sensation. The company would
then involve these sporadic spontaneous creators and begin investing in these projects. A lot of
market appreciation and new market exposure can be gained by this strategy (Meinel, 2016).
This would also help the company to evolve and update itself as well as becoming well versed
about the current market requirements. The ideas that will not be chosen would lend useful
insights about what the customers want, and this can prove to be immensely useful in providing
the creative team of Disney with new materials that may result in new stories and characters.
Disney has always been something more than just characters. It has the power to immerse
the viewer to be immersed in what is being shown. This engulfing characteristic of the company
has to be brought back if Disney wishes to revive its former glory (Olk, Rainsford & Tsungting,
2015).
Setting priorities: Disney has historically been the maker of characters and producers of TV
shows that have often made the viewer or the customer feel like a royalty. This ability to treat the

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customers in a way that they would always cherish is a highly valued quality of Disney that has
lost its charisma in the recent years (Zipes, 2016). Disney aims to embark on widespread
campaigns that would be a strategic dive to bring this back again and instill a feeling of being
loved and attention giving to its customers. Disney movies have always been the place which
made fans believe that even the most ordinary person can be a princess. A frog can be the ruler
of kingdoms. This fantasy world creation and finding hope even in the most mundane and
ordinary is a defining trait of Disney. The campaigns that are thought of would be done in
random places: roadside stalls to open air demonstrations as well as targeting the malls (Zipes,
2016). A lot of audience attention is sure to be gained, which would make the people attending,
or even the passing by people, these demonstrations feel special, albeit being momentarily.
In today’s world, good customer service is something that has become a rarity, and
Disney’s ability to make the customers feel so special is surely going to make people want to buy
Disney products once again and visit the theme parks.
Using the myths of the company: However far may the company roam and it may acquire a lot
of new materials and characters, but its history is still the most popular thing about Disney.
Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Donald Duck are still some of the most popular characters ever to have
been created. Disney plans to bring back these timeless classics with new materials. Making the
characters up to date so that more of the current young generation can relate to these and not
discard them as obsolete (Wills, 2017). Disney has new creative teams and has set up committees
that are dedicated towards achieving this particular goal: to make the classic characters relevant
again. By updating the old characters, Disney would be tapping into its prime source of market
popularity that made the company what it is today.

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Disney is once again bestowing its faith and hopes upon its creator and the company
views this as almost a guarantee that the company would gain immensely from this as it has over
the years.
Shifting focus while keeping the origin at heart: In parallel to reviving and updating the plots
and the stories of the classic characters, Disney also has to understand that the collective market
demands and people’s choices have evolved. Mickey Mouse is popular, but so is the Incredible
Hulk. The company has to invest significant amounts in its acquired companies. Marvel is one if
the biggest comics icon today and their live action movies are often a spectacle for many.
Children of all ages are attracted towards these characters and even the adults are entertained
(Zornado, 2017). This segment of the company conglomerate has to be given high amount of
priorities and investment. Marvel Entertainment’s own following and loyal fan base would be
exploited by Disney and the movies are going to prove essential to the company’s rebirth.
Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchise copyrights are also owned by Disney. These two
franchise are popular themselves. Star Wars characters have their own business as well and they
also have many things and products to offer to the customers. A diversification is needed at an
earliest so that Disney can focus on many areas at the same time and make use of any possible
means to gain its market grounds (Van de Vijver, 2016).
The question of expansion or retrench
In times of trouble and financial difficulty, it is a logical step to downsizing the company.
It helps to cut down a lot of unnecessary costs and help the company to handle a lot more
pressing issues. However, Disney has always been the place and company that has shown magic
exists even in the simplest of conditions and the supposedly ordinary. That is the reason why the

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CEO has decided that, and the Board has agreed to, the company shall not undergo any
downsizing. The company has endured all the adversities along with its employees and it shall
expand and prosper in the same way (Montgomery, 2015). A lot of focus shift is bound to
happen, but letting employees go is out of the question. The ideology of being the happiest place
on Earth must be retained at any cost. The company will invest heavily in reviving the old
characters, as well as focusing on the new acquired companies.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that Disney is on the verge of changing
their entire operations at the moment and they hope that these changes would be the driving force
that would once again take the company back to its glorious years. The company is firm on the
decision to keep all its employees during this process to re-establish itself in the market and not
lay any employee off. The company’s ideals are still believed in by the employees and that
would be the most important thing that would dictate Disney’s every decision in the future as
well.

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References
Baxter, J. E. (2016). Adult nostalgia and children’s toys past and present. International Journal
of Play, 5(3), 230-243.
Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2015). Think—Or sink. Leader to Leader, 2015(76), 35-40.
Fiascone, R., & Christensen, M. (2014). Disney & Pixar: Building a Magic Kingdom of
Animation.
Gonneville, H. M. (2013). Is Snow White Still the Fairest of Them All? How Once Upon A
Time Reinvents the Image of the Disney Princess.
Graham, J. L., Lawrence, L., & Requejo, W. H. (2014). Reviewing and Improving. In Inventive
Negotiation (pp. 201-210). Palgrave Macmillan US.
Meinel, D. (2016). Exceptional Animation: An Introduction. In Pixar's America (pp. 1-43).
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Montgomery, C. (2015). Cartoon Wasteland: Remediating and Recommodifying Archival Media
in Disney’s Epic Mickey. Media Industries Journal, 2(1).
Olk, P., Rainsford, P., & Tsungting, C. (2015). Creating a Strategic Direction.
Van de Vijver, L. (2016). Going to the exclusive show: Exhibition strategies and moviegoing
memories of Disney’s animated feature films in Ghent (1937–1982). European Journal
of Cultural Studies, 19(4), 403-418.
Wasko, J. (2013). Understanding Disney: The manufacture of fantasy. John Wiley & Sons.
Wills, J. (2017). Disney Culture. Rutgers University Press.

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Zipes, J. (2016). Demystifying Disney: A History of Feature Animation. Marvels & Tales, 30(2),
373.
Zornado, J. (2017). Disney, Pixar, and Neoliberal Nostalgia. In Disney and the Dialectic of
Desire (pp. 175-211). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.