Running Head: Term Paper 1

Term Paper: Disney Case Analysis

International School of Management

[Student Name]

Innovation Competence

26th March 2021

(Total Words: 7096)

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Part I: Innovation Management

Part 1: How Disney has been Using Different Approaches to Remain Innovative

Sustained innovation and creativity that Disney continues to enjoy comes from its

mastery and understanding of the market it is dealing with. The company depends on various

tools to maintain innovation and creativity. One of the factors that have assured Disney of such

immense success is the leadership and management style. It is essential to identify the role of a

management team in the success of any organization. The leaders of this mega organization went

out of their way to identify how they could ensure this company remains relevant. Another factor

is organization and hierarchy. With visionary leadership, Disney depended heavily on assigning

specific tasks and roles to productive and efficient team members for their prompt execution.

These two factors determine how well the employees are empowered and inspired. The

empowerment manifests itself in the freedom that these employees have when executing the

tasks they are tasked to perform. According to the International School of Management, the

following are the most conspicuous approaches that Disney has used to enjoy continuous

innovativeness.

The first technique is being future-oriented. The International School of Management (3)

that Disney had animated early days. All its activities started in 1923 when the organization's

operations shifted to California from Kansas. In Kansas, Walt Disney had created Alice’s World

cartoon. The arrival in California opened new doors and avenues for selling the Alice comedies

to the various distributor. Fast-forward, in 1934, Walt, a member of the management team,

communicated his desires to create an animated film by developing the already-existing Seven

Dwarfs and Snow White. Despite receiving criticism from within, Walt was not ready to listen to

the discouragements from other members. The complaint served as the stepping stone for Walt to
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even focus on the future of this project. If the colleagues supported him, the project would not

have taken the time until its release. However, after at least three years of waiting, the film was

finally released on December 21, 1937. To the surprise of all the company members, this film

was the biggest hit they ever made. There are two achievements that proved the film’s success.

Firstly, the film earned at least $8 million when it debuted the market. This revenue is enormous,

particularly at that when money had greater value. The second proof of the film’s success was its

ability to win eight Academy Awards.

Such a huge success can only be associated with Walt’s persistence despite being

discouraged by the colleagues. The success was shaken by the advent of the Second World War.

The war made the film industry too expansive, leading to reduced demands. Being a future-

oriented organization, Disney remained in the market, trying to find better ways to be

competitive once again.

The second technique is being strategic. Throughout history, Disney has been strategic in

all its activities. The strategy saw the organization being successful in various activities and

operations it executed. It never rested and enjoyed its previous success for long. Instead, it

sought new ways of doing business. After the Second World War, the company tried new ways

to ensure it got back to the market. Its innovativeness and strategy were seen in introducing a

movie named Treasure Island, Cinderella, an animated classical feature, and the first-ever Disney

television show. The introduction of the television show happened around Christmas time. These

products were the main drivers of success for the organization in the 50s and 60s. Again, the

company never took a break. It strategically introduced various educational subsidiary films (4).

July 17, 1955 saw an introduction of one of the most successful products from this organization,

Disney Theme Park. The International School of Management confirms that it had to spend
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several years of planning and building for Disney to produce this program. Around 16 years

afterwards, Disney created Disney World. The EPCOT Center and the Tokyo Disneyland

followed in 1982 and 1983 respectively. All these products' success and good reception confirm

that the company was successful in almost all the activities and projects it executed. The timing

of all the project debuts was adequate and accurate to attract the reaction and reception of the

consumers. Therefore, strategy in terms of time of releasing the products makes the organization

have sustained innovativeness.

Another strategy is diversification between the 1980s and 1990s (International School of

Management). Disney depended on research and study to establish the preferences and tastes of

the target audience. The company launched that moviemaking started to change in the late 1900s

within America. The American families were shifting from the traditional family films that had

been the most famous and common way to reach this audience. The times demanded that it

attracted the teenage and adult customers using new methods. To meet and keep up with the

changing movie consumption landscape, the organization created Touchstone Pictures. This was

a new label under the leadership of very creative leaders. Michael Eisner served as the chairman

while Frank Wells became the president. One of the greatest strengths of these two leaders is that

both were visionary. They assumed office and started to find ways for maximizing the

organization’s assets. They worked to reintroduce some of the programs and services that had

long been forgotten. For example, Disney had stopped all the programs related to network

televisions in the early 1980s. It had replaced it with cable networks called the Disney Channel.

The leaders used visionary and the practical market analysis to forgo the full adoption of the

well-paying Pay-TV services. The leadership saw the value that a strong network presence in its
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operations. Therefore, it proceeded to produce Golden Girls, a very successful program of the

time.

Another service that the organization reintroduced was the Sunday Night Television that

aired Disney Sunday Movie. The company produced some films through the syndication market

while producing others through video cassettes. It had to adopt a new technique called the “sell-

through” that enabled it to attain the sales feet it had never attained before. Through

diversification and a proper understanding of the market, the firm partnered with other successful

producers such as George Lucas and Francis Coppola to further drive the agenda. Such

partnerships saw the organization reaching new targets and new markets. The associations bore

the Disney-MGM Studio Theme Park. This strategy was one of the most successful in the history

of Disney because it came with great success. According to the International School of

Management, Disney managed to generate revenues worth more than $100 million for every

movie that is produced.

To further drive the diversification plan, the company introduced Hollywood Pictures. It

later proceeded to acquire the Wrather Corp. that would own the Disneyland Hotel. Another

property invested in is the Los Angeles television station called KHJ that would later be renamed

KCAL. In terms of merchandise, Disney made a step to acquire Childcraft. Again, the

organization established and opened various successful stores. The success story of Disney

continued to hit the airwaves. By 1996, Disney was reported to have at least 450 Disney stores

across the globe. The number of stores rose to at least 725 just three years later. Therefore, the

organization’s success relied on diversification. It had animation programs, books, films, and

Disney press. Such a diversification of products and services meant that it would appeal to at

least every generation in one way or another. The individuals that did not love Disney films may
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have loved the Disney books. On the other hand, the Disney target audience that did not like the

Disney discover magazines would prefer to consume different products and services. The

implication is that, even if the market for one [development changed, the company would not

just fall to its feet because it would continue dealing in other products and targeting other groups

of consumers.

Diversification has a special relationship with innovativeness. When the demand for a

single product changes, the company may use this time to try and establish what would best fit

the needs of the consumers. It would use this time to conduct market research to find better

insights into what the market has. In the process of market research, the organization is likely to

establish the tastes and preferences of the other groups too before it gets too late. With the results

from the results from the market study, the firm can task its teams to find solutions and answers

that would better address the complaints and the customers’ preferences.

The last technique involves growth and acquisition in the 2000s (International School of

Management). Disney managed to open two theme parks in 2001. The first theme park named

Disney’s California Adventure came in February. It was followed by Anaheim and Tokyo

Disney Sea that came in September. In March 2002, the company opened Walt Disney Studios.

The Hong Kong Disneyland would be opened just three years later, in 2005. Again, in 2008, the

company managed to repurchase the Disney Stores. Another achievement was establishing the

Disney-operated language training center called the Disney English that was established in

China.

Fast-forward, In June 2014, Disney created the Disney Accelerator. It collaborated with

Techstar to use this creation for innovation purposes. The creation would facilitate the expansion
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of various innovation activities. In 2018, Disney established the Disney Direct-to-Consumers.

This program would reduce the distribution of products from the company to the consumers

without following some channels that may be inconveniencing. The program was aligned with

the organization’s desire to shift to personalized and on-demand entertainment. ESPN+ was a

good partnership to ensure that the organization explored new markets and opportunities.

All these strategies have been crucial for Disney to remain innovative throughout the

time it has been operational. Times and technologies change, but Disney continues to enjoy

massive success because of its innovativeness. Therefore, Disney’s success and innovativeness

are primarily influenced by the future-orientedness, being strategic, diversification, and growth

and acquisitions.

Question 2: Corporate Culture and Organization and how it Fosters Innovation at Disney

Adhocracy Culture

In the adhocracy culture, the management put much emphasis on the employees’

creativity and energy. The management takes the initiative to encourage the employees to take

risks in various ways because the higher the risk, the bigger the return if all goes well.

Leadership is not left behind in any way because it leads the pack in terms of innovation and

entrepreneurship. Leadership depends on its creativity and the creativity of the employees.

Therefore, the management allows the employees some extent of creative freedom and

individual ingenuity to a bigger extent. This culture was evident at Disney after the 1980s

incidences that affected the market. During this time, the organization changed the management.

With Michael Eisner and Frank Wells at the helm of the organization’s operations, everything

seemed to be changing in favor of the organization’s operations. The desire of the two leaders to
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ensure the organization maximized profit saw them introduce and reintroduce various policies,

programs, and practices that would lead to success.

In some instances, the leaders advised against certain programs in favor of others. An

example is when the leaders introduced a strong network presence to continue serving alongside

the “Pay-TV” service. Also, the two leaders championed the return of various programs that had

been successful previously. One of such programs was Sunday Night Television. Also, the

leaders found an opportunity and reason to diversify the available programs to ensure that at least

the tastes and preferences of different customers were respected. This level of innovation can

only be attributed to the existence of adhocracy culture. The leaders were willing to identify

ways to be more successful and continue operating even if the conditions changed.

The Market Culture

Disney relied on its market culture to determine what the customers wanted with

precision. The market culture revolves around integrating various factors to remain competitive

and successful even if new producers with better approaches come into the market. The market

culture encompasses all the activities that would ensure the organization is moving towards

achieving better results. Being goal-oriented calls upon the leaders to be challenging and

demanding. They can only confirm the organization succeeds if they are ready to give the right

direction.

Disney showed the value of the market culture at different times. However, the most

memorable time was in the 1980s and 1990s. The organization had been successful in various

aspects. Although it had faced other challenges, it continued to pursue its dreams without losing

focus. In the 1980s, Disney realized that the traditional film market was shifting to a new market
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with new demands. This change found Disney in its prime in the production of traditional family

films. Sticking to the traditional products meant that it would not meet the customers' new needs

that it had served successfully for barely six decades. The firm had to fit in the group of

companies that produced films for the teenage and adult markets.

Another time that Disney had to go with the trends of the market was in 2019. It

established that other companies such as Amazon and Netflix were the leading providers of

streaming services. Therefore, it got into the streaming industry uniquely and attractively. With

its streaming services called Disney+, the company attracted the target customers using offers

such as Pixar, National Geographic, and Star Wars. This move was just the beginning of more

extraordinary things to come. The International School of Management (6) confirms that Disney

intends to put all its live streaming content under the same page to ensure that the consumers

navigate through them quickly and comfortably. This market culture works in favor of this

company because of the projected success. The organization uses diversification of products to

ensure that it keeps up with the latest market trends.

Hierarchy Culture

This culture revolves around the structural control that the organization has in place to

run its daily affairs and operations. The hierarchy exists in an organization to ensure that matters

and issues are addressed the right way. The higher leadership positions leaders are in charge of

coordinating and monitoring the organization’s activities and processes. The same management

has the responsibility of ensuring that the operations and activities are efficient and predictable.

The fundamental values guiding this aspect are uniformity and consistency. In Disney’s case,

consistency and uniformity are always the driving forces. Since its establishment, times and
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trends have changed, but the organization has survived these changes throughout. In some cases,

the organization had to adopt new ways to handle the competitive market. It is with proper and

compelling that the organization has remained successful and consistent. Disney gets its

communication from the leaders who help make vital and informed decisions for its continuous

success. Intriguingly, the changes and the subsequent success the organization experienced in the

1980 and 1990s came from the leaders’ decisions and suggestions
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Part II: Project Management

Project background.

Disney's proposed project is to modernize their old cartoon content taking advantage of

the current graphic development. As illustrated in the case (such as Pinocchio, Cinderella, or

Snow White), most of their successful cartoons were designed before the '50s. Even though they

are still a success, critics claim that they lack the expressivity and potential which new

technology provides. This project aims to merge Disney with a 3D Movie designing company

entitled, AnimeMe which is located in Japan. The organization in cause uses the latest technology

to develop 3d motion pictures at a high-quality level. Due to the potential profit of releasing an

enhanced version of previous cartoon movies, Disney considers acquiring this organization a

profitable business, and due to that, this project management aims to analyze this opportunity

further and present a potential template for the given project.

Project options.

For the given project, Disney has various options which they could approach to ensure their

goal which is to modernize their old cartoons through new technology. In the given scenario,

AnimeMe provided the organization with two project options as depicted in the table above. One

of them is for them to sell their business together with the team which will become part of

Disney Corporation. On the other one is to continue staying an independent organization where

Disney can outsource their request. Both options come with their own advantages and

disadvantages as listed below.

AnimeMe proposed options for Disney

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Outsourcing Acquiring the Company

Description Disney can create a partnership Disney can buy the technology and labor
with Anime where they outsource of AnimeMe without having to renew
the works for each Disney move their contract for each movie.
individually.
Advantages Lower fees High privacy measures due to the fact
Increased flexibility that all the edits are conducted
Quality improvement internally.
Time economy The team is able to control every aspect
of the designing process.
The team is able to invest more in this
department to enhance their used
technology which will promote better
quality 3D Movies by Disney.
Disadvantages The organization will not be able Higher Cost which is not always feasible
to control the team. especially in case of cinematics which are
High risk of failure in case there is not a success.
a miscommunication. More time invested in managing the new
High dependency on the other team.
organization. Additional costs for implementing the
team in Disney’s hierarchy .
Associated Risks Lose Control over the project Some of the team members might
management. decline the offer to work for Disney.
Incapacity to meet the deadline. The investment might not be feasible if
the new released movies fail to be
successful in the box office.
Potential Costs Lower price as it is paid per movie Higher investment in the beginning

Recommendation Not recommended due to the fact
that Disney plans to enhance
more than a single cartoon.
Recommended, despite the fact that
there is a higher investment in the
beginning, the organization will be able
to gain high profit by re-editing most of
their older cartoons.

Smart Objectives.

Unifying and developing clarity for the organizational objectives would be one of the

smart goals in this proposition for a mergers and acquisition. Laser-focus towards the set goals is

required in the preparation for a mergers and acquisition from both Disney and the fictions

Company and how this process could benefit the both of them positively. In various
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unanticipated ways including creative leverage stimulation of resources from the both parties

ensures on an added value on the unified goals. Leaders from both the companies need to be

broght together as a first step in preparing the organizations the merger and acquisition.

The second smart objective in the project that in propose would be identification of the

culture combinations that will maximize the results. It is very essential to get involved in the

determination of the shape of the new culture. Disney and the fictions company opt to identify

their cultural combinations and make proper assessments. The following are examples of

SMART objectives for the given collaboration:

 Redesign their oldest movie (entitled Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs released in

1937) by 1st of June 2022, release it in the major markets such as Europe, U.S, and

China, evaluate its success, and determine the potential of the movies being redesigned.

 Focus on all the other movies which were released before the 50s and redesign each of

them by the beginning of 2030 using the new technology provided by AnimeMe.

 During the timeframe of 2022-2030, focus on using the technology adopted by

AnimeMe, to create new Disney movies aimed to increase the reputation and profitability

of the company by attracting new potential customers and determining if the acquisition

is proven to be profitable over time or if they have to sell this department.

The relevance of all the three proposed SMART goals is represented by the fact that the

organization functions in a highly competitive market. In order to maintain their current

leadership position, they need to improve their technology and enhance their best sales with the

help of this new acquisition. Each movie's profit will represent the measurable element, and the

acquisition and goals will be pointed out to be achieved if the profit exceeds the investment

value.
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Agile method and setting up an agile team.

Basing on the merger and acquisition move by the two companies Disney and AnimeMe,

through the application of the scrum methodology in the project a lot was achieved. The Agile

scrum methodology allowed room for collaborations among the team members working on the

complex project by allowing the project to focus on delivering iterations of a number of products

to present to the stakeholders. The agile project management focuses on breaking down larger

projects into manageable tasks which are actualized in short periods of time during the life-time

of the project. Parties that adopt the agile methodology finish their work faster. In other words, it

will allow the proposed project of enhancing various Disney movies to be divided into subtypes

which will facilitate the designing process.

The agile methodology aims in the production of shorter cycles of development and

frequent releasing of projects. The two companies need to start by understanding the

organization’s value, the end goal and how to achieve it. Through this agile methodology of

project planning both the companies will achieve address project additions and also changes. The

second agile methodology that will be used by the Disney and AnimeMe would be creation of a

product roadmap where there is the breakdown of the company features that make up a final

product. A product backlog will also be developed at this stage which includes all the

deliverables and the features.

The agile team will indulge in pulling of tasks from the backlog upon the sprinting of

your plans at later point in time. Release planning is another step in the agile methodology where

the projects features are released at the closure of each cycle, keeping in mind the project’s

shorter development cycles. High level planning opts to be made before the project begins.

Another process used in the agile methodology would be the sprint planning where both parties
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hold a meeting with the tasks determining their accomplishments during the sprint. The work

flow should be visually documented to ensuring the teams transparency. Daily stand-ups

provides a platform for briefing from each team members on their accomplishments. I would set

up my agile team for their project roles through identifying the scrum master and the product

owner. This would be followed by recognizing the members from the development team. I would

also set them up for their role through ascertaining on all of the subject matters expert and all of

the stakeholders. Another essential thing I would put into consideration would be the training all

the agile team members and the stakeholders and finally considering spending more time

together as a team.

Aims breakdown and the aims to deliver in my project

Disney organization is trying to remain viable in a competitive market. Due to technological

updates, this is becoming harder and harder as an independent organization. To stay in the

competitive market in a leading position, the aim of this project is to sign a collaboration or

buying contract with AnimeMe, which will take care of the designing phase for the movie

enhancement project. The aim of this project is to be able to re-release their previous successful

cartoons and, in this way, increase their revenues.

The following represent the deliverables for the proposed project:

 Provide a unique visual experience for Disney's fans by updating their cartoons with the

latest technology.

 Implement this technology to create better visuals for upcoming movies.

 Increase their subscription rate for the Disney+ platform, which offers to their customers

the possibility to visualize all their released cartoons and movies.

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 Overall, enhance the image of Disney in the community and ensure that they will be able

to maintain the leading position in the competitive market.

A work breakdown structure

The work breakdown structure refer to the decomposition of the deliverable-oriented

hierarchy of work to be executed by the teams project to accomplish the objectives of the project

and get to create the deliverables required. The root node and level 2 of the work breakdown

structure defines the planned outcomes of the project scope. Children of the parent node

represent 100% of their parent node. The purpose of the work breakdown structure is to define

and organize the total scope of the business.

The project charters

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The project charter is a typically, formal short document that describes the whole project

in its entirety, it includes how the project will be carried out, the objectives of the project. It is

very essential in project planning as it is used in the entire project cycle.

Project Name: Enhancing the Visual Effect of previous Disney cartoons

Start Date 1th April 2021 Opportunity The current COVID19 pandemic has led
to a raise in numbers of people who
watch movies from their home. Due to
that, this is a perfect time to invest in
the industry of cinematography.
st
Due Date 1 June 2022 Goal Visually enhance the old movies
through the usage of latest technology
provided by AnimeMe (the first movie
which will be tested is Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs)
Project  By 1 June the company will be able to finish redesigning the assigned
st

movie and evaluate the success of the project. The movie will then be
Objectives released in the major markets such as China, U.S.A and Europe.
 If the project is successful, all the other movies released before 1950 will
pass through the same process cycle with the aim of being released by
the end of 2030.
 In addition, the technology acquire will be used to design new movies
which will increase the presence on the market for the given
organization

Proposed Milestones Beginning Date End DATE

Discuss the proposal of AnimeMe 1th April 2021 1th April 2021

Take a final decision regarding one of their proposal 11th April 2021 11th April 2021

(Outsource/ acquire their department)

Hold a committee meeting informing the team regarding 12th April 2021 12th April 2021

future projects

Review the proposals 12th April 2021 1st June 2021

Design Phase 2st June 2021 1st January 2022

Mass Production Phase 5th January 2022 15th March 2022

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Distribution and marketing phase 1th April 2022 1st June 2022

Team Members and potential Stakeholders

Stakeholder Core Team

X CEO A The Project Manager

Y Director of Financial B The Production

Resources Department manager

Z Potential Sponsor C The Marketing

Manager

W Director of Sale and D IT Service and Graphic

Distribution Designing Manager

E Logistics

The project activity network

The activity on node diagram is used to provide a representation of the entire project

schedule visually.

A = Discuss the Proposal with the rest of the Disney Team = 1 day

B = Discuss the option with AnimeMe = 1 day

C= Take A decision = 2 day

D= Designing Phase = 290 days

E= Evaluation Phase = 100 days

A (1)

Start Finish

B(1)
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C (2) D E
(290) (100)

The diagram above represents a “finish-to-start” type of precedence where one activity needs to

be completed before another activity starts.

Establishing of a Gantt chart

The Gantt charts are useful for the scheduling and planning of projects. The Gantt chart

helps in determining resources needed and assessing the period the project will take (Mišanková

et al., 2017). The project’s Gantt chart will include three major milestones namely the

communications, decisions and deliverables milestones. The milestones checkpoints specify vital

points along the project schedule. As it can be seen in the graphic designed below, the project

start date is 1th of April 2021 while the end date is 1st June 2022. A budget of approximately

5.000.000 $ was allocated to this project. The following represents a list of key milestones:

In addition, the members of the team will be divided as it follows:

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In the given chart, the red marks are representative for the management team and indicate

the period of negotiations and decision making. The orange shapes are representative for the

AnimeMe designing team and represent the design and production phase. The blue shape

represent the marketing and sale department works once the movie is done.

Project organization Chart

In a project organization the structure of the project is created as a separate division. The

project organization facilitates in the implementation and coordination of the project activity.

Identification of the potential stakeholders The process of identification of the stakeholders

involves the selection between the primary and the secondary stakeholders. The primary

stakeholders are the beneficiaries who stand gaining something such as goods, skills and social

connections. The targets are usually those who may not stand or stand with the aim of gaining

personally as such helping in the identification of the potential stakeholders. In this case during

the process of mergers and acquisition both parties from the Disney and factious company opt to

be on high alert.
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Risk Assessment
Threat
Shipping issues of the movies in
DVD format
Quality Issues
Incorrect budget due to increased
value of raw material
Collaboration Issues
21
Level of Risk Potential Solutions
Very High Risk (6) Discuss Alternative 3PL
which could provide support
Very high risk (6) Re-test the current
technology and provide
feedback to the team with
the elements which need to
be improved.
High Risk (6) Either add additional funds
which can be retrieved from
bank loans or decrease the
amount of work in order to
allow team members to
focus mostly on the given
projects.
Low Risk (2) Ensure an exclusivity
contract with AnimeMe or
hold additional meetings to
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discuss new clauses

Lack of other resources
Project is not done in the given
timeframe
Medium Risk Find alternative suppliers
which will be able to provide
the resources at a lower
price.
Medium Risk (4) Either hire additional work
labor or present the situation
to AnimeMe team

Customer satisfaction is low
High cost of shipping
Medium Risk (5) Research the market and
determine what is the
current need of the
customers. Adjust future
movies based on these
trends.
High Risk (6) Ask the marketing team to
come up with an alternative
distribution plan which is
more feasible.

Risk Assessment Matrix

Frequency of the Issue

1 2 3

Severity of the 1 Low Low Medium

provided issues 2 Low Medium Medium

3 Medium High Very High Risk

The figure above can be used to classify the risk assessment provided above based on the

frequency of the issue listed and its severity. This will help the management team prioritize those

issues, which can have a huge impact on the success of the project. For example, quality issue is

at the top of the list due to the fact that it can be a frequent problem that can decrease client

satisfaction and is contradictory to the overall purpose of this project

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Stakeholder matrix

There can be significant conflicts during a project over who must get involved in the

decision making, this certainly occurs to a project that changes the process or systems of a

company such as the formation of a merger such as the Disney and a fictions company. Through

the decision matrix of the stakeholders, there is the assigning of responsibility and authority for

the main part of the project.

The Name Their Position Category of Their overall purpose in the

in Disney’s Stakeholder project between Disney and

Organization AnimeMe

X CEO Internal The aim is to evaluate the program

and come up with a final decision
especially when it comes to the
sponsors.
Y Director of Internal Ensure that the budget is followed
Financial as expected and determine potential
Resources hidden costs which need to be
approached during the early stages.
Additional Supplier External Supply the organization with other
Suppler resources needed to complete the
project
Z Potential External Provide funds to ensure that the
Sponsor project is finished in the given
timeframe and the quality is met.
W Director of Sale Internal Determine the approximated
and Distribution number of sales and how they will
be distributed to ensure maximum
reach of the potential customers
D Graphic Internal Ensure that the AnimeMe team is
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Designing /External adequately following the request of

Manager (depending on the board and that the movie is
the project plan enhanced adequately.
approached)

Part III: New Business Models & Design Thinking

Question 1: Describing Disney’s Business Model

Introduction

Since its inception in the year 1923, Walt Disney has grown to emerge as one of the

greatest, largest, and most powerful corporations globally. The company's growth has been a

primary pillar to the growth of the entertainment sector globally. Consequently, the growth of the

entertainment sector has immensely contributed to the economic growth of any country. Before

its growth to become the world's renowned and profitable entertainment company, currently

values at over 130 billion dollars, Walt Disney was closely linked with nobleman's vision and

mission, whom the company was named after (The Wealth Record, 2021). Like any other

entrepreneur's journey, Walt Disney tried several business models, learning hard lessons after

every failure and eventually succeeded. After many attempts, Walt Disney collaborated with his
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brother to lay the groundwork for Disney Studio, culminating in what the company has become

today. The company shifted from being an art to be loved by various people worldwide within

only a few years. In a bid to unearth the company's business model, it is essential to understand

this growth and the possible strategies that the managers and the CEO implemented. This paper

seeks to expose knowledge and understanding of the learned class concepts in building its

business model. This paper seeks to consider the module expectations and experiences gained in

the classroom and how to successfully apply this critical lesson in this assignment and my future

career.

Disney's business model

The company has continued to revolutionize the animation industry globally and has

continued to impact many other fields, such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The company

is highly innovative in a way that at any time, it is continuously seeking new innovative ideas

and business models that will keep the in the industry for more extended periods. The nature of

its abilities to embrace technology has put its customers always coming and seeking its services.

Disney is focused on staying top of the competition, understanding industry dynamics, and

testing out mind-blowing and revolutionary ideas that no other brands can ever imagine. In the

early 1964s, the company began planning and organizing a city-based business model that was

primarily focused on the future, which later transformed into the EPCOT center in 1971. As at

that time, no brand had ever thought of building the future-based park. Due to its innovative

business approaches, the company has been recognized as one of the most valued innovative

brands by the Forbes magazine globally. The Steamboat Willie was Disney's first movie to

incorporate sound. It was voted as one of the most dynamic and interactive content appealing to

its consumers regardless of their ages.

International School of Management 26

Innovation is critical in Disney's business model.

Disney is constantly pushing across boundaries to go beyond expectations and remain

faithful to its mission and vision statement. The company has continued to find new ways of

doing business through various strategies. Disney's brand is all about innovativeness, keeping its

customers returning, and finding ways to gain new markets. The company has remained the

number one priority for families' entertainment. The company has always managed to stay ahead

of the industry after all these years. When making movies was changing in the United States in

the 1980s, audiences were diminishing specifically for traditional family films. This was the core

area for the company's success before. The company foresaw difficulties and stiff competition

during this time. However, the management team maneuvered their way out of this challenge.

They invented a new label and saw the opportunity of maximizing their assets. The new

management diversified the company's operations into cable networks. It implemented a series of

projects, including the Golden girls and the return of Sunday night TV, where Disney movie

premiered. Disney films were frequented on the syndicated market, animated movies produced

on cassettes, and sales increased via the sell-through technique, making the company top the

industry in total revenue and profits again.

Strategic alliances and acquisitions have been part of Disney's business model.

As part of the company's approach to addressing the current strategic issues such as

increased competition and the need to lower its operational costs, Disney has engaged in various

alliances, mergers, and acquisitions of its rivals. Some of these acquisitions consist of Pixar

takeover, Lucas film, Marvel, and the 21st Century Fox. All these acquisitions have worked in

favor of Disney. The Pixar acquisition intended to increase Disney's distribution, creativity, and
International School of Management 27

innovativeness. Disney intensified its innovativeness in 2018 by developing the Disney direct-to-

consumer and international streaming platform. This platform improved the company's streaming

and data collection needed in personalizing the customer experience.

Mission, vision statements, and principles

A mission statement is a short and straightforward statement explaining why the

company exists, its primary purpose or objectives, products and services, customers, and

geographical location. Disney is the primary leader in the entertainment industry and manages to

stay top due to its creativity and innovativeness. Its mission has been towards becoming a global

leader in providing entertainment services through innovation . Technology is ever-changing.

Therefore, as a company, they need to continuously supply its customer's unique content

inaccessible from the rivals. Disney's vision statement focuses on creating innovative products

while utilizing the latest technologies while gaining global market expansion. The company's

primary core values and principles have been to provide its clients with the highest quality

content continuously. Over the years, the company has developed its visible values through its

growth and a good image. The new technology division is an additional element that the

company has been striving to attain. As its main principle, the company's priority is vested

towards providing quality entertainment to its clients at all times. Besides, Disney has cultivated

a culture of creativity amongst its employees (Walt Disney, 2019).

Strategic planning and Porter's generic strategies

One of the concepts learned in the classroom was on the basics of porter's generic

strategies. These strategies are low, focus, and differentiated strategy. Therefore, an organization

must choose between the strategies or select all of them as long as they help the company attain a
International School of Management 28

competitive advantage. In Disney's case, Disney uses a differentiated strategy and focuses on the

uniqueness of its products to create a competitive value (Trainer, 2019). Amusement parks,

entertainment, and mass media are examples of how Disney utilizes the differentiation strategy

to create its competitive advantage. Disney's management has also used the shoemaker's concept

of strategic planning of 1995 to define their future business endeavors. Strategic planning is a

step-by-step process of solving business-related problems once they occur and how making

decisions. Since its inception, the company's management figures have applied the concept of

strategic planning in forecasting the company's future in terms of beating the competition and

addressing the ever-changing technology. Besides, strategic thinking has been part of the

company's doing while setting plans for its future operations and eliminating all the possible

risks.

Disney SWOT Analysis

Disney's successful business model is allied to its understanding of its internal

environment and external environment. Through the continuous scanning of its internal

environment, the company can effectively deal with the external environment (threats and

opportunities).

Strengths Weaknesses
 Huge resources  High overhead expenditures as
 Business experience indicated in its financial statements
 Low product cost strategies
 Popular brand globally
 Creative employees
 Several shareholders who have kept
the company’s financial risk
International School of Management 29

Opportunities Threats
 Global market expansion  Stiff competition necessitates new
 Diversifications into untapped markets strategies daily. Globalization of the
 New attractions at their home packs company’s operations has lowered the

 Development of new departments risk of competition.

 Covid-19 pandemic has increased the
company’s cost. This has lowered its
profitability (Disney Annual Report,
2020).

The company's strategic plan has found that keeping employees happy in the workplace

allows employees to work at the best of their abilities. Disney needs their employees to regularly

come up with new creative ideas to stay ahead of their competitors. Disney has to face numerous

competitors daily due to the competitive industry. But with their values and practices, it is easier

for it to work a way out back to the top of the industry.

How it has adapted to the latest streaming technologies

Video streaming is transforming the media and the entertainment landscape, with more

than 5 million users recorded on Netflix's streaming platforms. Although it delayed recognizing

the strategic thinking of developing its streaming platform, Disney is now developing three

primary streaming services that will make it favorably compete with Netflix and other streaming

companies. In a bid to beat the competition from Netflix, Showmax, and Amazon Prime, Disney

developed its innovative streaming platform known as Disney+, which has been at the forefront

of providing its clients with a wide variety of streaming content such as Star Wars, Pixar, and

several others. According to Sherman (2020), Disney seeks to outperform its rivals in the
International School of Management 30

streaming sector by creating content out of its intellectual property and using hit characters to

introduce its unique shows and movies. Besides, the company's management has resolved to start

producing quality and original content. Disney has strategically reorganized its media department

to work towards this goal. Lastly, they have acquired the BAMTech platform, a unique and

robust product critical in handling various streaming at a time (Sanchez, 2019).

Conclusions

The models shown above have documented vital strategies that the company uses to

continue growing and dominating the market. While analyzing the case study presented, it is

clear that Disney has adopted a more scalable business model whose brands consist of various

value propositions. This model is critical in generating revenue for the company from various

sources. Its business model is not only focused on creating movies but developing and creating

sustainable brands. Analyzing the company's business model was not an easy task. However, it

was critical in helping me understand and apply the various concepts learned in the classroom. It

was much easier to analyze the company's business model since its inception by utilizing models

and approaches learned from the classroom such as SWOT analysis, Porter's generic strategies,

mission statement, vision statement, and core value. Mission, vision, and core values focused on

innovativeness and creativity critical components in Disney's business model. The company's

focus on customer satisfaction is linked with the company's success.

Question 2: Persona Profile of a streaming user.

Targeted Market

The Disney plus streaming services' target audience consists of all families with children

that need to have exclusive access to the streaming content in the form of movies, music, and
International School of Management 31

documentaries at the comfort of their homes. The targeted audience needs to have internet

connectivity since streaming strongly depends on internet connectivity and coverage. Disney is

required to provide documentation of all the potential customer's preferences, tastes, and habits,

which will be essential in identifying its streaming target market. The first step in developing the

Disney Streaming service persona is first to comprehend and understand the various user

demographics and psychographics in terms of where they are located, age, and income.

Critical common details

After the successful process of identifying the target market and how to reach out to that

market, the company will rely on mobile applications and the website to get the attention of the

potential customers. The Disney plus streaming services seek to provide content for all ages.

This content ranges from movies, animation movies, documentaries, and shows from Disney,

Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National geographic. Therefore, focusing on the entire family

members' subscription is critical for its success. According to Disney (2020), there is a need to

apprehend why and where these services will be accessed. Lastly, understanding how the

streaming service from the company works and is used will be highly essential.

Creating a distinct and unique persona

Under this step, Disney needs to adopt the subscriber's communication mode when

support is required. The only foreseeable challenge is keeping our systems open for all customer

inquiries. For older adults, signing up for the streaming services in selecting and updating their

profiles with the streaming services will be a real challenge. However, we expect that in every

family, there is a youth who is techno-savvy and will require few steps in just creating the

profiles and updating information.

Mission, vision, and priorities development

International School of Management 32

Disney's mission has been to become a global leader in providing entertainment services

through innovation. Technology is ever-changing. Therefore, as a company, they need to

continuously supply its customer's unique content inaccessible from the rivals. Disney's vision

statement focuses on creating innovative products while utilizing the latest technologies while

gaining global market expansion. The company's primary core values and principles have been to

provide its clients with the highest quality content continuously. In this spirit, the development of

its streaming services is another innovative idea that the company seeks to maintain its customers

and keep them coming back. The primary decision here is that the company has done its part and

must now allow the customer to make their choice.

Content needs

The mobile application and the movie database require information regarding the latest

shows and unique programs for customers. Continual guidance, education, and continuously

reassuring the subscribers with sublime content is critical. Therefore, the company must assess

the platform with what the industry needs or even offers.

Persona profile – Disney Streaming Services

The profile of a subscriber for the Disney streaming services from the company. Disney

is focused on delivering innovative, creative, and quality services than what the competition

offers. The company has always been focused on staying on top of the competition.

Personal information

 Name: Olivia Curtis Junior Ali

 Location – Dubai, India

 Age: 17 years

 Marital Status: Single

International School of Management 33

 Education: High school student

 Occupation: Part-time Customer service officer in Indiana retail store.

 Salary: 20 dollars per hour

Purchasing Criteria

After experiencing the services of Netflix, Showmax, and Amazon prime, Olivia wants to

try the new service from Disney in the market. This provides the company with a good boost on

winning her as a potential subscriber to its streaming services. Olivia spends few hours online

comparing the services of the company with other brands available in the market. What matters

to her is the quality of the streaming services, which gives Disney an advantage to gain her.

Top priorities

The subscriber's top priority is creating the user profile, security of the payment options,

and set various profiles for users based on the content to be accessible for each profile. Olivia

wants her five-year-old sister to watch movies and other educative content on the same platform

but with a suitable profile.

Information sources

Olivia relies heavily on google search and social media platforms to gain more

information.

Influencer

Her friends influence Olivia Ali at the workplace and school on the streaming service

offered by Disney. They have convinced her that Disney streaming service offers quality,

innovative and unique content daily. Therefore, she would like to subscribe to the Disney

streaming service.

Subscription Scenario
International School of Management 34

Olivia wants to subscribe to Disney's new streaming service. She has been convinced

through informational search and her friends that Disney is offering quality streaming services.

Therefore the following diagram represents the steps she will have to take to start watching her

first movie and show on Disney.

International School of Management 35

Start

Access the
Disney plus
Service Online

No
Create
Account

Select
Invoice Payment
Feedback Plan (Basic, Completed (enjoy your first show)
standard or
premium)

Create User
profiles
depending on
users

Fig. Disney Subscription scenario

International School of Management 36

References

Disney Annual Report. (2020). Thewaltdisneycompany.com. Retrieved 26 March 2021, from

https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/app/uploads/2021/01/2020-Annual-Report.pdf.

International School of Management (n.d.). Disney Case

Mišanková, M., & Kočišová, K. (2016). Strategic implementation as a part of strategic

management. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 110, 861-870.

Oduro, I. M., & Agyei, S. K. (2017). Mergers & acquisition and firm performance: Evidence

from the Ghana Stock Exchange. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 4(7), 99-

107.

Sanchez, L. (2019). How Disney Is Adapting to a Streaming World | The Motley Fool. The

Motley Fool. Retrieved 26 March 2021, from

https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/02/28/how-will-disney-compete-in-a-streaming-

world.aspx.

Sherman, A. (2020). Retrieved 26 March 2021, from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/11/disney-

is-executing-streaming-better-than-competition.html.

The Wealth Record. (2021). Disney Net Worth 2021, Wiki, Revenue, Founders | The Wealth

Record. Thewealthrecord.com. Retrieved 26 March 2021, from

https://www.thewealthrecord.com/celebs-bio-wiki-salary-earnings-2019-2020-2021-

2022-2023-2024-2025/other/disney-net-worth/.

Trainer, D. (2019). Disney’s Strategy Is Working. Forbes. Retrieved 26 March 2021, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/12/11/disneys-strategy-is-working/?

sh=3f7e672a56b0.
International School of Management 37

Walt Disney. (2019). Disney Ranks High Among Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies -

The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company. Retrieved 26 March 2021, from

https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-ranks-high-among-fast-companys-most-

innovative-companies/.