2015

Strategic Audit of
the Walt Disney
Company

Lechinan Irina Ana

Current Situation of the Walt Disney Company

Walt Disney performed very well over the past year being ranked #11 on
Forbes The Worlds Most Valuable Brands list 2015, with a brand value of
$34.6 B and a one year value change of 26%, ranking 3rd, as far as this
performance indicator is concerned being topped only by Facebook and
Amazon and closely followed by Sony and Starbucks. Given that all these
companies enumerated cover industries such as technology and beverage, one
can safely state that Walt Disney is the leisure industry leader, more specifically
the Broadcasting and Cable industry. Walt Disney also has a market capital of
$179,5 and registered sales of $ 49,78 B in 2014. (forbes.com). It is also
included in all the important lists conceived by Forbs, as follows:

#11 World's Most Valuable Brands

#84 Global 2000
#178 in Sales
#58 in Profit
#299 in Assets
#33 in Market value
#110 America's Best Employers
forbes.com

Disneys strategic posture is also overall well secured but perhaps not
well enough structured. The companys public website does not offer a distinct
reference as far as its mission is concerned, the mission statement being
included in the corporations objectives. According to the site, these are: The
Walt Disney Company's objective is to be one of the world's leading producers
and providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to
differentiate its content, services and consumer products. The company's
primary financial goals are to maximize earnings and cash flow, and to allocate
capital toward growth initiatives that will drive long-term shareholder value.
(thewaltdisneycompany.com)
According to the changes brought by new millennium through the
emergence of the digital era, there is a shift of the power balance from the
producer towards the consumer, thus it is highly recommended to any company
to modify and adapt its strategies accordingly (Ogrean, 2013, 30).
Disneys statement however is clearly product-oriented and unfortunately
does not make any references to the customer. It has been formulated with
regards to the companys investors (the statement can be found on the Investor
Relations section of the public website) but should have included references to
the customers or satisfying the customers needs or requirements and references
to its staff members and collaborators as well. Overall, we can conclude that

Disneys mission/objective statement is not complex enough and does not

address all issues recommended for this part.
Regarding the companys strategies, these too are not specifically and
clearly stated. In order to find information about them on their website, one has
to perform a broad search through the different sections. The best information
regarding this aspect was found in the Business Services section of the
website. Disneys main strategy is focused on diversity, as stated by the
company itself The Walt Disney Company is a diversified worldwide
entertainment company with operations in four major business segments: Studio
Entertainment, Parks and Resorts, Media Networks and Consumer Products.
They also believe that that including diverse suppliers in their sourcing process
provides them a good opportunity to develop highest quality and cost-effective
business solutions. (thewaltdisneycompany.com)
Thus far the companys diversity strategy has proved to be a success, not
only as far as suppliers and partners are concerned, but also with regards to its
products. It is safe to say that they offer a great variety of products and services
which are a great success in their industry branch (for instance Media networks
Disney channel and ABC; Resorts Disneyland; Studio entertainment
Disney Animations, Pixar and Marvel; Consumer products Disney Store).
Another component of Disneys diversity is the diversity among its Studio
Entertainment branch products. There are four distinct stages in the evolution of
management systems, with the last two being management through
anticipation of changes and management through quick and flexible
responses, which both seem to have been adopted (Ogrean, 2013, 43-44).
In 2006 Disney bought Pixar, an animation studio focusing on computer
animated films, followed in 2009 by the acquisition on Marvel Comics, a
famous company focused on comics (a lot of which have been adapted into
movies). This purchases have brought about costs of billions of dollars but
turned out to have been wise decisions. With Pixar and Marvel, Disney greatly
diversified its entertainment products, adapting to the new animation means
(computer generated animations-Pixar) and to a new audience (superhero
movies attract a more adult public as compared to the young one previously
targeted by Disney). This is the result of a long term strategic planning on part
of the company. The strategic management process has to continuously
monitor events and emerging internal and external trends (Ogrean, 2015, 53)
and Disney did exactly that.
As far as the companys current policies are concerned, the website does
enumerate quite a number of them referring to issues of great public concern,
amongst the most important we have:
-

Code of product for manufacturers and product safety

Environmental policy and paper sourcing
Human and animal rights policy

Health cleaning at parks and resorts

Online safety for children
Smoking in movies and others

All policies are consistent with each other and reflect the companys global
operations. Through search engines I could not find instances where its current
public policies have been breached.
1. Corporate Governance
The company offers information about its board of directors, listing them
and providing a short one paragraph description with biographical data about
every one of them. The board consists of ten members:
-

Susan Arnold (board member since 2007)

John S. Chen (board member since 2004)
Jack Dorsey (board member since 2013)
Robert A. Iger (chairman and chief executive officer)
Fred H. Langhammer (board member since 2005)
Aylwin B. Lewis (board member since 2004)
Monica C. Lozano (board member since 2000)
Robert W. Matschullat (board member since 2002)
Sheryl Sandberg (board member since 2010)
Orin C. Smith (board member since 2006)
thewaltdisneycompany.com

The companys tenure policy prohibits board membership for more than
15 years, thus the oldest board member, Monica C. Lozano, has held this
position for 15 years and will not be able to be re-elected by the shareholders
within the Annual Meeting next year.
As far as the members knowledge, skills and backgrounds are concerned,
these pieces of information too are presented on the website for each individual.
They all present an impressing resume, having worked for top companys such
as Twitter, Facebook, Google, Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, MC Donalds,
Blackberry, Bank of America and others.
Regarding the companys shares, amongst the board members Mr. Robert
A. Iger, the chairman and chief executive officer, owns most of them. The
shares of the company are divided as follows:
Breakdown
% of Shares Held by All Insider and
5% Owners:

8%

% of Shares Held by Institutional &

Mutual Fund Owners:
% of Float Held by Institutional &
Mutual Fund Owners:
Number of Institutions Holding Shares:

65%
70%
1529

The shares with direct owners are divided as follows:

Major Direct Holders (Forms 3 & 4)
Holder
IGER ROBERT A
STAGGS THOMAS O
BRAVERMAN ALAN N
MCCARTHY CHRISTINE
M
RASULO JAMES A

Shares
1,137,483
85,984
154,087

Reported
May 12, 2015
Feb 4, 2015
Mar 4, 2015

102,894 Jan 26, 2015

91,902 Mar 13, 2015
finance.yahoo.com

Regarding Disneys top management, their chairman, Robert A. Iger, is

also the chief of the two management divisions, Corporate and Business Unit.
According to the site, the Corporate division consists of ten members:
- Andy Bird
Chairman, Walt Disney International
-Alan Braverman
Senior Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
-Ronald L. Iden
Senior Vice President, Global Security
-Kevin Mayer
Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Business Development and
Technology Group
-Christine M. McCarthy
Executive Vice President, Corporate Real Estate, Sourcing, Alliances, and
Treasurer
-Zenia Mucha
Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications
-Jayne Parker
Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer
-Jay Rasulo
Senior Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

-Brent Woodford
Senior Vice President, Planning and Control
The business unit consists of five members:
-John Skipper
Co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks and President, ESPN
-Thomas O. Staggs
Chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
-Alan Horn
Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios
-Anne Sweeney
Co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks, and President, ABC Television Group
-James Pitaro
President, Disney Interactive
All top management members are well established professionals covering
a great variety of fields of expertise, from communications to finances to
marketing and technology. They all present an impressive resume, having
worked for top companies all over the world. Furthermore, some of them have
worked in different departments occupying different positions within the Disney
company for decades.
The strategic management requires, in order for a company to obtain
success, the integration of the following systems:
Management
Marketing
Financial
Production
R&D
HR
Informational (Ogrean, 2013, 7)
Looking at the functions occupied by top management we can safely state
that all this systems are covered by the Walt Disney top management team. As
far as ethic, social responsibility and environmental sustainability are
concerned, the strategic decisions of the top management seem to cover them
all.
Besides its policies covering the areas stated above (Environmental
Policy, Healthy Cleaning, Management of Chemicals in Consumer Products,
Paper Sourcing etc.), the company also has solid business and ethic standards
stated on their website, such as: harassment prevention and discrimination
policies, providing equal opportunities within its hiring practices, providing
staff training in business standards and ethics (thewaltdisneycompany.com).

Implementing, respecting and publicly stating all these policies proves

that Disney makes strategic decisions in a well studied, attentive and sustainable
way.
2.

External Environment: Sustainability issues

The Walt Disney Company operates at a global level, with operating points,
parks and resorts spread around the world. The website provides a good
overview through the following map:

thewaltdisneycompany.com
However, as stated, this is just an overview, by clicking on the various locations
we find that in each of the mapped parts there are considerably more operating
points. For instance, for Europe there are no less than twenty locations in
different countries.
Being such a vast company and covering almost the whole globe Disney
must have designed multiple, well thought out strategies to deal with climate,
including global temperature, storms, floods, draughts, solar and wind
phenomena, not to mention extreme instances of these, natural disasters. Below
we have as a reference point the natural disasters of 2011 at a global level:

usatoday30.usatoday.com
These are just the major negative natural manifestations threatening the
different Disney locations, not to mention the smaller manifestations which, if
not dealt with strongly, can cause major damage. All these aspects are
considered threats to the companys operations and there can hardly be any
opportunities arising from these negative natural phenomena (threat).
As far as the societal environment is concerned, these too are hard to
identify for all of Disneys location given that it operates across the whole
globe. In order to narrow down the operating points, I will focus on the location
of the main Disney parks and resorts. According to the official website, these
are situated in:
-

America (California, Florida, Hawaii)

Japan (Tokyo)
Hong Kong
Shanghai (China)
France (Paris)

As far as the economic environment is concerned, all the locations have

seemingly been carefully chosen, all places enumerated being economically
stable (opportunity). This gives customers the ability to spend part of their
earnings in entertainment. Furthermore, Disneys target group consists primary
of children and teenagers, and parents even if their financial situation is not
exquisite- will invest in the happiness of their offspring (opportunity).
However, when the economic situation is strongly unstable, entertainment will
not be on the customers top priority list and the companys income can be
affected in a negative way (threat). On the other hand, the latter applies only to
extremely negative economical fluctuations, because the customers need for
entertainment may rise in the case of a mild economical imbalance as a means
of compensation (opportunity).

As far as the political legal aspect is concerned this can give rise to
more threats than opportunities. The company did adapt to the legal
requirements of the country they operate their parks (opportunity). And the
countries they opened their parks in are at the moment very stable politically
and legally (opportunity). But the diversity of its locations, operating not only
in different countries but also on different continents poses a risk because they
need to constantly be prepared for regulations in one country which do not
apply for other locations. For instance a new regulation prohibiting smoking in
public places can bring along large costs for the company through the need of
setting up special smoking rooms (threat).
Regarding the socio-cultural Disney adapted themselves to this type of
environment in the various countries. This domain tends to be stable on the long
turn, culture and society change slowly and gradually over decades, thus there
should be no major problems in this area (opportunity). However, Disney has
to be careful regarding their animation and film products since there are a lot of
opinions stating that their protagonists are not enough racially diversified since
most of them are Caucasian (threat).
Concerning the technological environment Disney has proven to quickly
adapt until now. They were specialized in animation and as soon as computer
generated animation has emerged, they purchased a company which is an expert
on the field (Pixar), assuring its technological progress (opportunity).
Furthermore, all countries Disney operates in are technologically evolved, thus
they do not need to worry that their various locations will lack in this field
(opportunity).
As far as the Task Environment is concerned, according to Porters law
we have to consider the new entrants, the consumers, the substitute products,
the suppliers as influencers of the competition within the industry (Ogrean,
2013, 170). Considering that Disney is the absolute leader of its industry and the
human need of entertainment both in good and in bad times regardless of
location, I would rate the forces as follows:
a. Threat of new entrants low; the company has a long history having started
as a cartoon studio in the 1920s and today it is one of the most valuable brands
in the world. Furthermore, they are constantly improving their products and new
entrants would have to be extremely innovative to pose a threat.
b. Bargaining power of buyers high; being a business to customer company
Disney is strongly dependent on them. They are the audience of their TV
stations and films, they are the visitors in its parks and resorts.
c. Threat of substitute products or services medium; even if Disney is the
industry leader in entertainment, covering so many branches of the industry
gives rise to the threat brought about by substitute products and services. Up
until now Disney has offered great quality and if they continue to do so this
threat will affect them.

d. Bargaining power of suppliers medium; being such a vast and influential

company Disney can substitute its suppliers should the situation strongly require
that since many other firms would like to fill those roles. However the size of
the company and its many branches do require a stable relationship with its
suppliers, because a major supplier change might prove to be quite an
inconvenience.
e. Rivalry among competing firms low; by having a long history and
covering so many fields, Disney does not have many direct competitors.
Furthermore, it excels in all its fields of operation, as can be seen also in the
following table of its results in 2013 compared with its competitors:

marketrealist.com
Overall, according to the above analysis, the external factors summary looks
like follows:
Opportunities
Current economical stability in the countries
where Disney operates
Customers willing to spend on entertainment for
their children regardless of minor economical
fluctuations
Current political stability in the countries where
Disney operates
Disney already culturally adapted to its various
location, and cultural changes emerge slowly
Disney adapts quickly technologically

Weight Rating Weighted

score
0,20
4
0,8
0,25

0,75

0,20

0,15

0,45

0,20
1

1
4

Threats
Natural phenomena across the globe
Risk of legal regulation changes stability in the
countries where Disney operates
Lack of racial diversity in Disney animations
Disneys customers have a high bargaining
power

Weight Rating Weighted

score
0,35
4
1,4
0,25
3
0,75
0,10
0,30
1

3.

4
4

0,4
1,2
3,75

Internal Environment: Strengths and Weaknesses

On Disneys official website we have the following statement regarding

the companys management: Disneys leadership team manages the worlds
largest media company [] Their strategic direction for The Walt Disney
Company focuses on generating the best creative content possible, fostering
innovation and utilizing the latest technology, while expanding into new
markets around the world. (thewaltdisneycompany.com). The site itself does not
offer, however, a comprehensive organizational chart, but by using the search
engines I could find a very complex graphic depiction of the companys
structure and working processes:

atissuejournal.com

The image depicts the animation studios creational structure and without
having to perform a detailed analysis we can conclude that the organization type
is not a hierarchical one but a cyclic one, with the managers/directors placed at
the core of the company. From the center towards the outer circle we have the
various department leaders who communicate with the directors and among
themselves on the one side, and with their staff on the other. Even if the chart
states that it designates operations and not authorities, this is a model which can
not be implemented and sustained at companies following a strict hierarchical
model. The company structure can hardly compare to the structure of other
companies in its industry given the multitude of fields it covers.
As far as the corporate culture is concerned, the companys values are
clearly stated on the website dedicated to people looking for a career at Disney.
At the core of their values lie diversity and culture. Regarding the cultural
aspects, the side enumerates following values:

Innovation: We are committed to a tradition of innovation and

technology.
o
Quality: We strive to set a high standard of excellence across all product
categories.
o
Community: We create positive and inclusive ideas about families.
o
Storytelling: Timeless and engaging stories delight and inspire.
o
Optimism: At The Walt Disney Company, entertainment is about hope,
aspiration and positive outcomes.
o
Decency: We honor and respect the trust people place in us.
(disneycareers.com)
These values are positive and universal so it is easy for all employees
across the globe to adhere to them, regardless of nationality, race or religion.
Furthermore, hiring people from the countries they are based in assures a
quicker alignment of the operating point to the local culture and values.
As far as the corporate resources are concerned, being a market leader
ensures Disney enough resources to maintain its position and obtaining success.
As far as the marketing component is concerned, as stated in the introductory
chapter describing the companys current situation, Disney is ranked 11 th on the
most valuable brand list published by Forbes, which shows that it excels in this
field. Its main points of interest in this field are, as stated on disneycareers.com,
the following:

Brand Strategy
Development of Integrated Franchise Plans
Consumer Insights
Multicultural Market Development

Companywide CRM Programs

Consumer Data Strategy
Product Marketing
Advertising
Promotions
Packaging
Point-of-Purchase Displays

Despite its success, the company still invests great amounts of money on
advertising. According to the Business Insider, Disney spent $ 1.96 billion on
advertising in 2013, which was a 4.5% increase from 2012. The costs were
divided the following way: TV: $524 million; magazines: $113 million;
newspapers: $23 million; internet: $140 million and other media: $1.1 billion.
Regarding the companys finances, as stated, Walt Disney has a market capital
of $179,5 and registered sales of $ 49,78 B. (forbes.com).
The company periodically publishes annual reports and quarterly earning
reports for all its operating points. Lets take for example the report published
for the second quarter of 2015. Among others, it states the following: The Walt
Disney Company today reported earnings of $2.1 billion for its second fiscal
quarter ended March 28, 2015. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the second
quarter increased 14% to $1.23 from $1.08 in the prior-year quarter. EPS for the
six months ended March 28, 2015 increased 18% to $2.50 from $2.11 in the
prior-year period. Excluding certain items affecting comparability, EPS for the
six months increased 16%. The following table summarizes the second quarter
and six-month results for fiscal 2015 and 2014:

(thewaltdisneycompany.com)

As can be seen in the table above, the company registered positive changes in
income from March 2014 to March 2015, varying from 7% to 28% .
Disney also excels in the R&D department, dedicating a great amount of
effort to this aspect and even having a separate website entirely for this purpose.
Upon entering the website, on the homepage we find the following introduction:
Disney Research was launched in 2008 as an informal network of research labs
that collaborate closely with academic institutions such as Carnegie Mellon
University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). We are
able to combine the best of academia and industry: we work on a broad range of
commercially important challenges, we view publication as a principal
mechanism for quality control, we encourage engagement with the global
research community, and our research has applications that are experienced by
millions of people. We are honoring Walt Disneys legacy of innovation by
researching novel technologies and deploying them on a global scale.
(disneyresearch.com)
According to the website Disney possesses six main research labs based
in California, Pittsburg, Boston and Zurich. Their main subjects of research are
computer graphics, video processing, computer vision, robotics, wireless
communication and mobile computing, human computer interaction, behavioral
science, material research and machine learning and optimization. On the
website we can also find dozens of projects planned and implemented by the
various research teams. All these prove that the R&D field is definitely one of
Disney strengths. Since this one of Disneys main fields of activity is strongly
related to information technologies, most of the facts stated above are also
applicable for this kind of resources.
Walt Disney operates in multiple locations around the globe as already
stated (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Singaport, UK and Ireland, United
States and Canada) and needs a well planned and designed network for
operations and logistics. Their main points of focus and objectives covering this
area, clearly stated and consistent with their overall policy, are published on the
public website are the following:
Retail Sourcing: Our Merchandise Sourcing teams help bring Disney magic to
life by sourcing our branded products globally for The Disney Store, Walt
Disney Parks and Resorts and for our wholesale partners. The team is
passionate about pursuing the lowest total cost of ownership while ensuring
each
product
reflects
our
unique
brand
promise.
Logistics: Our Supply Chain Solutions team work as internal consultants to
identify and implement efficiencies which both reduce costs and our carbon
footprint. The teams ongoing optimization initiatives contribute significantly to
the bottom line. The team also manages the logistics for products from point of
origin
to
their
destination
around
the
globe.
Product Integrity: By applying engineering expertise and administering

meaningful policies, this group protects Disney guests, and our brand, by
ensuring the quality and safety of products that bear the characters, brands, and
intellectual property of The Walt Disney Company and affiliated companies.
(disneycareers.com)
All these prove that despite its diversity of products, services and
locations Disney manages to successfully coordinate its operations and logistic
processes across the globe. The same goes for the human resources component,
despite its ampleness and cultural diversity, the company succeeds in managing
its employees according to its values, mission, objectives and policies as stated
previous within this paper.
The companys current chief human resource officer is Jayne Parker. She
has held this position since 2009, but has worked for the company for twenty
years, and according to the website she has changed the function, culture and
impact of HR across the company to support its business goals and strategies as
well as the needs and aspirations of its 180,000 employees around the world.
She has worked with leaders across Disneys many lines of business to build
and manage an HR organization that reflects their dynamic needs and helps
them achieve their goals and results. While Ms. Parker has been CHRO, Disney
has acquired Marvel, Lucasfilm and Maker Studios, and has grown its global
employee population by more than 30,000 people.
As far as the information technology resources are concerned, since one
of Disneys main resources, the R&D resources, are strongly linked to them, the
facts enumerated above strongly overlap (see the description in the R&D
section above).
Concluding, Disneys core competencies are linked to the diversity of its
products and services, to the variety of its locations spread across the globe, to
the companys ability to adapt to the economical, technological, political and
socio-cultural trends and changes and to the market. Furthermore, despite its
global outreach, the company still is capable of promoting itself worldwide, of
gaining financial success, of investing in research and informational technology,
of coordinating the operation and logistics processes and managing its human
resources in a cultural sensitive matter.
Opportunities
Well balanced organizational structure
Good marketing strategies
Well developed and structured logistics network
Keeping up with newest technologies
Well developed R&D network

Weight Rating Weighted

score
0,15
3
0,45
0,20
3
0,60
0,25
4
1
0,25
5
1,25
0,15
4
0,6
1
3,90

Threats
Overgrown expansion, structure could be shaky
Ampleness brings about great marketing costs
Difficult quality management for manufacturing
Constant need of creative ideas
Fluctuation of lower placed employees

Weight Rating Weighted

score
0,15
4
0,6
0,15
2
0,3
0,30
5
1,5
0,25
3
0,75
0,15
4
0,60
1
3,75

4. Summary and conclusions

As for the analysis of strategic factors, considering the summary of internal
and external factors calculated above, we can reach the following conclusions
regarding the most important factors affecting the companys present and future
performance, and can make the following recommendations:
- External Opportunities: 4/5
This high rating shows that Disney has adopted a very well thought out strategy
to exploit the external opportunities of their environment. In order to keep this
good score they should pay close attention to the economic situation in all the
various countries they operate in and keep their current quality of their
entertainment services and products.
- External Threats: 3,75/5
This score is slightly lower than the one above shoving that at the moment
Disney could pay more attention to the external threats than to the external
opportunities. They should be prepared to the changes in legislation which can
occure in the countries they operate in (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India,
Singapore, UK and Ireland, United States and Canada) and also pay close
attention to the racial diversity depicted in their movies and animated films.
Given that they operate on various countries, the protagonists and heroes in
their movies should be depicted as other races too, besides Caucasians.
- Internal Opportunities: 3,90/ 5
The score is pretty high in this department too, however, what could be
improved is the stopping of a further growth in marketing actions compared
with the last years, since Disney in among the most valuable brands in the
world, the advertising costs could be even lowered a little. Furthermore, even if
the organization is well structured, the company should pay attention and predesign an improved structure in case the company will grow in the future. While
the non-hierarchical structure is the preferred one nowadays, it could pose a
problem if the company grows further.

- Internal Threats: 3,75/5

This score is the same as the one obtained for the external threats and the advice
is similar Disney could pay in this case more slightly attention to the internal
threats than to the internal opportunities. Its considerable size, even though very
profitable at this moment, could become a threat in the future as far as
marketing, manufacturing and human resources are concerned. Another threat is
the constant need of innovative and creative ideas, because creativity is a
unstable factor which can be influenced and enforced only to a certain extent.
Another recommendation in this case is that Disney starts researching for its
films the legends and fairy tales of Asian countries for example, being thus able
to also cover the above mentioned need of racial diversity.
The recommendations regarding the implementation, evaluation and
control of the proposed strategies will narrow them down to two main
strategies. The first one, as can be read above, would focus on cultural aspects
regarding the services and the products provided by Disney. The second one
will focus on the size of the company and the future implications of an eventual
growth.
The first strategy proposal refers to the cultural aspects surrounding Disneys
operation points and also to the lack of racial diversity in its movie products.
Since it is a global business operating in many different countries on more
continents, it could be a good strategic measure to focus on the non- Caucasian
races at this point and develop animated products with more protagonists
belonging to this target group. This also could cover the internal threat of
having to come up constantly with new creative ideas. By exploring the Asian
world for example, with its legends and myths, the producers could discover
stories appealing to the culture of those countries and also to the American and
European ones. As far as implementing costs are concerned, this should not
prove to be very great. The top and middle management of the countries in
question could delegate the forming of a team specially focused on this task to
perform research on the national cultures folklore. Since this would be a
distinct team, no procedures would be needed affecting the rest of the company.
The performance can be measured by the results of the research, focused on
both quantity and quality.
With regards to the second recommended strategy, it is vital for Disney to
keep constant track of the implications of its size: operational costs, human
resource management and marketing costs. The decision of keeping their
current profitable size should be taken by the top management in collaboration
with the board of directors. This plan would be financially feasible because it
would not imply meaningful implementation costs and no new procedures are
required. Furthermore, no new measurement procedures are required, since this
plan would not imply considerable changes, other than maintaining the
company at its current size and focusing on operational, human resources and
marketing performance, which excel at the current size.

5. Bibliography:
Primary sources:
Ogrean, C., Management Strategic, Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu,
2013
Walt Disney Company Websites:
Official website: http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/
Career website: http://disneycareers.com/
Research website: http://www.disneyresearch.com/
Secondary sources:
Atissue, Walt Disneys Creative Organization Chart http://www.atissuejournal.com/2009/08/07/walt-disney%E2%80%99s-creativeorganization-chart/
Business Insider, The 12 Companies That Spend The Most On Advertising http://www.businessinsider.com/12-biggest-advertising-spenders-in-2013-20146?op=1#ixzz3azjn9Gmk
Forbes, The Worlds Most Valuable Brands, Walt Disney http://www.forbes.com/companies/walt-disney/
Market Realist, Guide to Walt Disneys Competitors http://marketrealist.com/analysis/stockanalysis/technology/media/charts/?featured_post=35911&featured_chart=36040
USAToday, Worldwide woes
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/news/extremes/story/2012-0104/world-disasters-costliest-earthquake-tsunami/52377642/1
Yahoo Finance, DIS Major Holders,
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=DIS+Major+Holders