Walt Disney Case Study

        Since the year 1923, when the Walt Disney Company was founded, its tremendous triumph makes economists, business analysts and professionals eager to explain and find the secret ingredient of Disney’s success. Please, allow me to share my point of view on this matter.  

There are several factors that make the company nearly invincible in the business world.  In my opinion, the major tribute must be paid to Walt Disney, whose philosophy was to create universal timeless family entertainment. As an entrepreneur and excellent psychologist, he knew a simple truth – people regardless of their age, race, gender and other characteristics, crave being entertained. This industry will die with the last person on the planet Earth. (Rukstad & Collis, 2009)

In addition, the ability to create value through diversification and realign its business strategy with constantly changing industry trends also greatly contributes to Disney’s success. Another important point worth mentioning is that the management of the Walt Disney Company has a fundamental understanding of corporate strategy and its importance since it allows the company not to lose the sight of its main objectives and ensures long-term success. Exploring this matter further, I would like to commend Disney’s top management on recognizing corporate synergy that “enables each part of the business to draw from, build upon, and bolster the others” as an important element of any company’s well-being. (Rukstad & Collis, 2009)

Discussing the Walt Disney Company and its success obligates us to respectfully mention Michael Eisner – the business professional who played the major role in the company’s resurrection after Disney had nearly avoided takeover and dismemberment. By preserving the corporate values of quality, creativity, entrepreneurship, and teamwork, this new Disney’s chairman and CEO “restarted the heart” of the company. Promoting innovation and improving financial performance became his priorities.  Michael Eisner was the one who rebuilt Disney’s TV and movie business by producing several successful shows, such as the Golden Girls for NBC, and movies, modernizing a computer animated production system, etc. Maximizing theme parks profitability by building new attractions, running national television ads, increasing ticket prices, having parks being open seven days a week, is also one of Eisner’s accomplishments. In addition, during first four years of Michael Eisner being CEO, the Disney Stores were launched and the “retail-as-entertainment” concept was pioneered that resulted in sales per square foot being increased at twice the average rate for retail. Book, magazine and record publishing was also entered by the consumer products division. In 1995, The Walt Disney Company bought ABC, including ESPN and Lifetime, that allowed the company to expand its media network business and promote the brand. As MBA students we always look at a company financial data to evaluate its performance and rate of success, – for Disney, its net income grew from $98 millions in 1984(the year Michael Eisner became chief executive officer)  to $522 millions in 1988 ( four years since Eisner took the job). Overall, we can conclude that Eisner’s strategy and approach proved themselves to work. (Rukstad & Collis, 2009)