This case is comprised of the company's history, from 1923 to 2001. The Walt years are described, as is the company's decline after his death and its resurgence under Eisner, some topics are devoted to Eisner's strategic challenges in 2001: managing synergy, managing the brand, and managing creativity. The case was written by Michael G. Rukstad and David Collis The case was uploaded with a Walt Disney font, but Slideshare was not able to detect that

1. Walt
Disney
I only hope that we never lose sight of one
thing – that it was all started by a mouse

2. The Rise of Walt
Disney• Formed by two brothers Walt and Roy with focus on short stories.
• First major hit was “Oswald, the lucky rabbit”
• Minor changes to the rabbit led to the creation of “Mickey Mouse”
• Adding synchronized Sound.
• Licensed mickey mouse for earning cash in the short term
• A flat, non hierarchical structure with focus on team work,
communication and co operation
• First full length movie to sustain the business with goal of releasing two
feature films per year.

3. The Walt Disney era
1923
1928
Founded
company
Mickey
mouse
launch
1937
Snow White –
1st feature film
– full length
1940
Company went
public
1950
Launched 1st
TV Special
Own
distribution
Channel
1963
1955
Opening of
Disney Land
1966
Death of Mr.
Walt

4. Post Walt Disney – 1967-1984
• Walt Disney world(Theme park) opened in 1971.
• Disney opened in house travel company to increase traffic in park.
• Tokyo Disneyland announced in 1976 wholly owned by Japanese
partner.
• Film output constantly declined because of lack of creativity.
• New Label Touchstone to target teen/adult market was introduced.
• Deteriorating financial performance due to incurring high cost to
finish EPCOT.
• Oil tycoon Sid Bass invested $365 million, reinstating Roy E. Disney to
the board, and ending all hostile takeover attempts.

5. The turnaround 1984-1993
• Eisner former President and CEO of paramount Pictures was named as
Chairman and CEO of Disney
• He committed to a return on stockholder equity exceeding 20%.
• He viewed “managing creativity” as Disney’s most distinctive corporate
skill.
• Top priority was to revitalize Disney’s movie and TV business, started the
Disney Sunday Movie in 1986 to put disney back on map.
• Sold independent TV station some of the programming that Disney had
accumulated over the years.
• Box office share improves from 4% to 19% because 27 out of 33 movies
were profitable

6. • Disney pursued strong scripts from less established writers and well
known actors in career slump and TV actors then movie stars.
• Decision to expand animation staff and accelerate production by
increasing frequency of animation movies.
• Invested $30 million in CAPS to make Who Framed Roger Rabbit,
which was a huge success.
• Further Profits came from merchandising and licensing agreements.

7. Maximizing theme park
profitability
• Investments made on attractions
• Attendance building strategies to promote growth and revenues
• National television ads, special events, media broadcast events
• Lifting restrictions
• Raised ticket prices

8. Co-ordination among businesses
• Overlaps amongst expanded businesses
• Negotiated internal transfer pricing ( Disney film library material)
• Corporate marketing function
• Marketing calendar
• Monthly meeting – interdivisional issues
• Library committee
• In-house media buying group
• Joint co-ordination of important events
I think our biggest achievement till date has been bringing back to life an inherent Disney synergy
that enables each part of the our business to draw from, build from, and bolster others
-Michael Eisner

9. Disney’s Expansion
• Pioneered the concept of retail-as-entertainment concept with the launch of Disney
Stores in 1987
• In the late eighties to early nineties, Disney founded Hollywood records (a pop music
label), Disney Press (publisher of children books), and Hyperion Books (an adult
publishing label). Each of these divisions proved to be successful because of their
low start up costs and huge profits.
• Opening of Euro Disney (later renamed to Disneyland Paris) allowed Disney to have
theme park operations within Europe, whereas new attractions were added to the
existing parks
• With acquisition of Miramax in 1993 and establishing Hollywood Pictures, Disney
were expanding their movie business

10. 1994 and the Turmoil
Broke Box office record.
Net revenue $700mn
Re-Financed through deal
from Saudi Prince and
European banks
The
transitions
Wells Eisner
Katzenberg Departure
Led executives to leave company or
change roles
• Second largest acquisition in the history of US
• Observers of the merger were skeptical for the purchase price; 22 times the 1995 earning and
synergies due to vertical integration
• Press reports of cultural clashes between ABC and Disney
• ABC executives were uncomfortable on the fact that how ABC was used to cross promote Disney
Product

11. Disney Slumps To The End Of Century
• Disney’s approach to
filmmaking had changed
dramatically
• Movies needed to stand
out
• The change was necessary
because of growing impact
of international audiences,
who were attracted to
movies with big name stars
and with expensive special
effects
• Average budget rose from
$22mn to $55mn
Movies Home Division Videos
DisneyLand(s) and
merchandises
• Major driver for growth
in 1990
• With dropping revenues
, Disney decided to
make all but 10 of its
animated films available
• Only one would be on
the shelves each year,
release to be promoted
by company wise
marketing
• Build more than one
park site to turn park
into resort
• Online selling of
merchandises

12. Challenges: Managing synergies
• Key to synergies was Disney Dimension.
• Larger bonuses were awarded to those who had been most
committed to synergies.
• Synergies boosted cross-promotion.
• With help of cross-merchandising, Disney intended to make each new
animated film to function as a mini-industry.
• Focus was on generating more revenue from outside U.S, it planned
to integrate its overseas operations.
• Horizontally, Disney began developing new venues in the US, LIKE
ESPN zones, sports restaurants multistory facility like DisneyQuest.

13. • It also expanded in cruise ships and educational retreats.
• Disney Institute opened in 1996 focused on fitness and adventure in
learning.
• Vertically, major initiatives involved Internet and TV.
• Synergy drove lower cost on theme park as well.
• But Disney had far too many relationship to productively manage.

14. Challenges: Managing the Brand
• New businesses faced the prospect of damaging the brand.
• Controversy over show Ellen because of her sexuality and ethnicity
• Resentment shown by Catholic group for movie Priest
• Stereotypical portrayal in Aladdin faced the decrement by Arab-
Americans
• Disney theme park got delayed for 2 years because Kundun faced
apprehension from Chinese govt.
Disney had a much traditional approach based on myths, fairy tales
and history whereas Nickelodeon’s targeted the kids by keeping
pace with the time.

15. Challenges: Managing the Creativity
• Traditional techniques for managing creativity gong show for
brainstorming ideas across the divisions
• Was a success for some projects Little Mermaid, Pocahontas
• Major drawback was the important people pulling out of those
meetings because nobody liked his/her idea getting dismissed
so the group dynamics were always at stake. As a result 75
executives left the company in 1994-2000.

16. Learnings and takeaways
• The Walt Disney has been extremely successful in the past 94 years due to the
vision of Walt Disney himself and the strategic management skills of Michael
Eisner
• It is possible that the immense diversification within the company will be its
downfall, as it may simply become too large to manage. However, it has
managed to stay strong and will most likely continue on its upward path.
•Largest media and Entertainment company
•Strong Brand Equity
•Innovation and Differentiation
High Investment with high risk involved
Frequent Changes in Senior Management
Limited range of target audience
Global Localization
Diversification Business
Entertainment Value
Mobile First Generation
Major Competitors (Universal Studios, Paramount
Pictures)
Government Policies
Piracy
The Walt
Disney
Company
S
O
W
T