Bergamini Zack Bergamini Professor Wolcott ENC 1102 April 5, 2013 Literature Review: Walt Disney The following

literature review is about how The Walt Disney World Company, one of the largest companies in the world, treats their front line employees. These employees are treated like slaves while working (Kober, 2010, Perlin 2011, & Shortsleeve, 2004). The front line employees also called cast members are the ones who operate the ride systems, cashiers at food stands and store locations, and park operations such as custodial. For the amount of work these employee actually have to do, the pay and benefits are poor. Like every worldwide company, Disney is under much media scrutiny, especially with their employees. Disney cannot discriminate or treat their employees poor because then they will have a jaded public image. This is not what a company needs when their main goal is obviously revenue but the revenue comes from the high-class service Disney is supposed to supply to every guest equally (Smoodin, 1994 & Wallace 1996). With that need of high-class service, the amount of stress the employees are put under is tough for an Florida hot eight-hour shift these cast members must work daily (Perlin, 2011 & Prevot, 2011). There is a misconception of how Disney treats their front line employees, it is not bad in any way, but the work they do is not comparable for the hours and the effort they put in on a weekly basis and through the different articles, journals, and interviews found in my research hopefully a person wanting to work for them is not afraid to jump, but maybe can bring these points up with the company.

Bergamini Amount of Work Compared to Pay: If you are working as a front line employee at Walt Disney World or any other Disney park across the world you are guaranteed to work at least 40 hours a week. Disney can get away with having some employees work more than forty hours thanks to fine print in the paperwork they have employees sign and date before actually working (Perlin, 2011 & Prevot, 2011). They work you to the bone, Disney wants everything out of you and you have to be in perfect guest service behavior the entire time (Smoodin, 1994 & Wallace 1996). Researchers agreed that working at Disney is complex, an employee will not just have to work his or her own designated area, but they are performers, they have to put on a show as well (Shortsleeve, 2004 & Perlin, 2011). Disney believes that the employees are cast members and that the park is a stage the word cast is in cast member thus where no matter where you are on stage you must be in topnotch form (Smoodin, 1994 &Wallace, 1996). If the employees are supposed to do so much, then most researchers believe that working them so much is not the ideal way to go. They feel the pay given to the front line employees is way too low. Their hourly wage, which is minimum wage at just upwards of $7.50 an hour, is deemed unfair for many of the scholars. Which is definitely not a large sum of money at all. It can be increased or fixed very easily.

Walt Disneys Idealisms: Walts view on how employees should work at the theme parks is how the company based their training and work ethics (Bryman, 1999 & Garcia, 2010). Bryman suggested Walt was a totalitarian leader, the managers followed his leadership style, and thus the employees were frightened in their job. They did not want to be fired at all. Garcia went on to say that most employees especially during the 1970s and 80s where Disney was lead in a totalitarian state.

Bergamini Employees could not even talk to each other while seen by guests, they were like robots in a sense it was business only for employees. The only fun they could have is interaction between guests, not each other (Bryman, 1999 & Garcia, 2010). Both thought that seemed irrational. However, once Michael Eisner took over the company, the managerial leadership changed and the employees were give more freedom (Bryman, 1999). Prevot understood this change, he studied that the guest service improved, and ratings were higher than ever before. The more democratic, modern leadership was a blessing for employees. Prevot went on to say that with times changing Disney has to make more changes to the way they treat employees in order to keep a low turnover rate, save money and keep a reputable reputation towards the public media and future guests.

Conclusion: It is has been shown the amount of work and the way Walt Disney went about leading his managers was unfair to the front line employees. Researchers have found that change is necessary for employees to be treated fairly. Kober, Perlin, Shortsleeve, Smoodin, and Wallace examined the ways Disney works their employees may be too much when you add in the many facets of the job, long hours, and the weather. Especially when they are not receiving good enough pay for their job. Bryman, Garcia, and Prevot studied Walt Disney leadership style and how change has helped employees greatly, but it can still be changed for the better. However, through this research they never discussed how Disney could change their outlook on frontline employees with better pay plans and benefits to not only increase better customer service, but to create a better working environment where the employees actually are pleased with their pay.

Bergamini That is exactly what I am going to accumulate through my research. Therefore, if I do end up working at Disney World I can bring that up as suggestions for future use.

Bergamini Works Cited Bryman, Alan. Disney and his Worlds. Routledge, 1995. 64-77. Print. Bryman, Alan. "The Disneyization of Society." The Sociological Review 47.1 1999. 25-47. Print. Garcia, Jason. "Walt Disney World Cast Members Can Relax a Bit about Their Look." Orlando Sentinel. 14 June 2010. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. Kober, Jeff. "Are Disney Cast Members Mousetrapped?" Magic of Business by Jeff Kober. Mouse Planet, 9 Dec. 2010. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. Perlin, Ross. "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom." Guernica / A Magazine of Art & Politics. 1 May 2011. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. Prevot, Arnaud. "THE MARKETING OF AMERICANA: PROMOTING THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY AND HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTORS IN THE FRENCH MARKET." Consortium Journal of Hospitality & Tourism 15.2 (2011): 35-45. Print. Shortsleeve, Kevin. "The Wonderful World of the Depression: Disney, Despotism, and the 1930s. Or, Why Disney Scares Us." Project MUSE - The Wonderful World of the Depression: Disney, Despotism, and the 1930s. Or, Why Disney Scares Us. The Lion and the Unicorn, 30 Jan. 2004. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. Smoodin, Eric Loren. "Disney and the Corporate Agenda." Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom. New York: Routledge, 1994. Print. Wallace, Mike. Mickey Mouse History and Other Essays on American Memory. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1996. Print.