Disney Leadership

 

When most people think of Walt Disney, they think of a certain funny little mouse and all his friends are perhaps the first things to come to mind. It may also be that some reflect on a trip to one of Disney’s magical theme parks or resorts. Walt Disney is world renown for many things, but within the business community Walt Disney is celebrated for the company’s culture as well as its leadership and management techniques. The management and leadership teams at Walt Disney are committed to the service and to the company’s values and beliefs. Preserving Disney’s culture and ideologies are one of management’s many focuses, with the leadership focus on motivating cast members to work toward the company’s goals to be the world's leading entertainment provider, and to remain creative and innovative inspiring the imagination of people all over the world.  An organization’s organization’s manageme management nt and leaders leaders have many important important responsibilitie responsibilities s and roles to play in an effort to maintain a healthy organizational culture. Walt Disney’s dedication to service excellence is the virtual heartbeat of Disney’s culture. Disney’s management and leadership teams concentrate their efforts on developing and maintaining an organizational structure that is focused on the company’s culture and ideologies. Although for most organizations there are differences in management and leadership’s roles, responsibilities, and even in methodologies, at Walt Disney World management and leadership are combined into one cohesive unit. Management typically serves more planning, organizing, and controlling functionalities that are engineered to accomplish the overall organizational goals. The leadership role is usually more focused on the goals of smaller units, motivating and directing individuals to achieve those goals.  According to Bateman Bateman & Snell’s Snell’s Management: Management: Leading Leading and Collaborating Collaborating in a Competitive World, a good leader possesses a set of five key behaviors. These behaviors combine what organizations need with what people want. These behaviors include modeling the way through their own  behavior and actions, actions, encouraging the hearts of those they are leading leading,, inspiring the shared vision vision of the organization, challenging existing processes to be innovative and creative, and enabling others to act by giving them the tools that are required. These qualities and behaviors are a part of Disney’s overall management style, thus combining management and leadership into one tremendously successful unit. Walt Disney’s management and leadership team is steadfast in their commitments to leadership excellence through the use of Disney’s leadership philosophies, effective human resource management, the ever present commitment to quality service, loyalty and relationship principles that bond the organization to both guests and cast members, and of course organizational creativity.

Walt Disney recognizes the value of its most important asset—its team. Disney’s management and leadership team has cultivated an organizational culture that promotes a feeling of ownership and pride within employees. Delivering superior service is a standard that is ingrained in employees, or “cast” as Disney refers to employees. "You can

dream, create, and build the most wonderful place on earth, but it takes people to make that dream a reality” ("Working their Magic: Disney culture molds happy employees." Employee Beneft News (2003): ITEM03245001. General OneFile. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. Cast members are encouraged to be passionate, creative and to take ownership of their role. The input and ideas of each and every cast member is also encouraged. Employees are seen as more than just subordinates who are there to follow orders and complete selected selected duties, they are believed to be integral parts of the organization. Cast member selection, training, communication communication efforts from the Disney management and leadership teams fosters an environment that enables employees to deliver the outstanding service that is a part of the Disney commitment while also ensuring a healthy organizational culture.

 

Disney’s management and leadership team “models the way” for cast members with demonstrations of customer service excellence and by rolling up their sleeves to work alongside their teams and this encouraged of others in various departments as well. “ So it wouldn't be unusual for someone who works in accounng to

be seen busing tables in the Magic Kingdom…In addion to seeing the issues hourly cast members face rst-hand, "it's a great way to hear guest comments and improve morale among the cast" "Working their Magic: Disney culture molds happy employees." e mployees." Employee Beneft News  (2003): ITEM03245001. General OneFile. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.

The Walt Disney organizaon is said to “culvate” leaders in general sta and management alike. Disney looks to the commitment and enthusiasc parcipaon of its leaders to create a successful and healthy environment for all and is referred to as “inclusive leadership”. Disney believes that leadership behaviors are linked to successful guest experiences, successful guest experiences, and overall organizaonal success as well. “Leaders movate people, develop their talents, and provide proper resources and rewards to them to succeed. Most importantly, leaders view all levels of employees as capable of taking a leadership role in coming up with and implemenng creave ideas and soluons. Such inclusive leadership generates a vital, creave culture” Taylor, Craig R., and Cindy Wheatley-Lovoy. "Leadership: lessons from the Magic Kingdom." Training & Development  52.7  52.7 (1998): 22+. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. Part of Walt Disney’s vision is to be a global entertainment force. Globalizaon management strategy is essenal to allow for Disney’s connued global success and plans for expansion. Walt Disney president Robert Iger says idenfying “local tastes and market trends” are essenal for global market expansion. This has become a part of management’s focus. "Disney President and CEO Robert A. Iger Says Brand Depth, Not Breadth, is Key to Eecve Globalizaon." US Newswire 11 Sept. 2007. Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. This includes studying the cultures of various countries to make determinaons about what entertainment vehicles would be most consistent with that culture’s ideals, needs, and desires--as well was what is appropriate within those cultures. “Strong pressures for local responsiveness emerge when consumer tastes and preferences differ  significantly  significantly among countries. In such cases, products and/or  marketing messages have to be customized….Pressures for local responsiveness also emerge when there are differences in traditional practices among countries” pg 224. Advertising needs may differ depending on the target company and of course media and movie productions may be edited and even produced in a variety of languages. Walt Disney is a multinational corporation and therefore the multinational model is used as its organizational model and is also used to determine global strategy. A multinational model is “ An organizational model that consists of the subsidiaries in each country in which a company does business, with ultimate control exercised by the parent company” pg 226. Because Walt Disney is a multinational corporation management must also consider the prevailing governments of the various countries its business units u nits inhabit. Disney has been successful at acquiring financial assistance from foreign governments for projects to create resorts. This is derivative of agreements with these governments, such as France, that would create jobs within those countries as well as attract tourism. France offered Disney a discounted price on land for Disney’s Disneyland Paris project, as well as lowered tax

 Apr. rates as interest rates on loans. Wasko, Janet. "The Magical-Market World of Disney." Monthly Review  Apr. 2001: 56. Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.” In addion to this, Disney’s management strategy for globalizaon has created the means to produce and license products in foreign markets, saving the company a great deal of money in the process. Good relaonships with foreign countries and management’s eorts to maintain the same principles of the Disney culture and ideals in foreign counterparts have been instrumental in Disney’s global success story. Disney has been able to integrate its respected organizaonal culture into its business units over and across the seas. Walt Disney’s management and leadership strategies for maintaining a healthy and strong organizaonal culture are quite oen beyond reproach and have even been used as a model for other companies. As a maer of fact, the Disney Instute oers a widely-successful professional development

 

program that has become one the most celebrated programs in the world. Disney’s management and leadership team visits with aendees and students to share the “tail behind the magic” and give insight into the standards and principles that has made the Disney organizaon so successful. It would be dicult to cricize an organizaon with such a strong culture as Walt Disney and one would be hard pressed to nd ways to improve upon what could easily be construed as near perfecon. But just as Disney promotes creavity and innovaon from cast members, an analysis of management and leaderships eorts should include the viewpoint of a fresh pair of creave and innovave eyes. Researching more about the organizaonal culture of Walt Disney will uncover a culture that fosters leadership and learning opportunies for cast members. But research also uncovers that fact that although the organizaonal culture is sll very strong, the growth of the company has at mes in history overshadowed the “family” feeling that was once a much stronger force within the culture. The culture began to become less focused on the happiness of cast members. Although this has been changing and improving with the departure of former Disney president and CEO Michael Eisner, there are sll considerable eorts being made by exisng management and leadership to further improve in this area. From personal experience, rapid growth can take an organizaon’s focus away from certain ideals and create more of a focus on the nancial aspect of growth. This makes sense when taken at face value, but the fact remains that without the people who need to be on the front lines in an organizaon, this success cannot occur and will eventually cease. It is important for an organizaon—regardless of its size—to remain commied and dedicated to the human resources that make these successes possible. In the case of a company such as Walt Disney that are such large and global forces this can be especially challenging. However, the Disney way requires that a certain amount of aenon be paid to its cast members and the ideals of the company are based on family that includes not only Disney’s guests, but cast members as well. Therefore, this has been easily reced and addressed by Disney’s management and today the organizaonal culture is as strong as it ever was. An organizaon cannot hope to experience and achieve a certain level of success without paying special aenon to creang a sturdy organizaonal culture. An organizaon like Walt Disney that has goal and roots founded based on its culture must always work to ensure management and leadership are maintaining and sustaining organizaonal cultural health. This requires commitment and applicaon that Walt Disney’s management and leadership team has clearly mastered both on a domesc and foreign plaorm. Walt Disney has been an engaging force for people all over the world and this could not occur without Disney’s having rst engaged its people. For people are the best tools an organizaon has to build success, and it takes the best eorts of management and leadership to inspire, insgate and create the best organizaonal culture in which people can thrive.