Oral and Written Presentations Preparing for Case Analysis What to Expect When examining cases others will question & probe ideas related to the case Helps with developing analytical skills Innovative and original thought is important Identifying problems and likely solutions There are 6 steps in the case analysis framework 1. Gaining familiarity 2. Recognizing symptoms 3. Identifying goals 4. conduct analysis 5. Making the diagnosis 6. Action planning Case Outline Strategic profile and case analysis purpose Situation analysis General environment Industry analysis Identification of environmental opportunities and threats and firm strengths and weaknesses Competitor analysis Internal analysis (include financial analysis when possible) Strategy formulation Overall criteria Alternatives for the company to consider (include at least 3 alternatives) Evaluate each alternative against the overall criteria Alternative of choice (identify the best alternative and explain why) State specifics actions that need to be taken Control Describe the control and evaluation system that will be used to ensure the strategy does as expected Describe corrective actions to be taken should the plan fail to meet expectations Strategic Profile Discuss critical facts in the case that affect the company and its competitors Gather additional outside information where possible Use your own personal knowledge and experiences when possible Do not simply restate facts – instead show how the facts helped aid/guided you in your understanding and development of solutions Analysis Stage Focus on external environmental issues affecting the firm General factors Industry factors Competition, Examine internal issues affecting the firm SWOT analysis is a common format for conducting this analysis Synthesize the information from the internal and external analysis and develop unique insights about the challenges facing the organization Situational Analysis Your analysis should focus on trends in the six segments of the general environment: Technological Demographics Economic Political legal Sociocultural Global trends Evaluate the case along these trends and predict how they may impact the company in the future Industry Analysis Porter's five forces is a useful tool for industry analysis Discuss the attractiveness of the industry Competitor Analysis Analyze each competitor's strategy Strengths and weaknesses Strategic intent Capabilities and core competencies Conduct personal research when necessary Google, newspapers, bibliographies, directories, industry ratios etc… Internal analysis Evaluate the internal operations of the form – identify strengths and weaknesses Evaluate the following areas (not a comprehensive list) Supply chain Internal expenses Facilities Internal trends Identify areas where a competitive advantage can be developed Conduct financial analysis to uncover hidden problems .

1. Oral and Written Presentations
Preparing for Case Analysis
What to Expect
When examining cases others will question & probe ideas
related to the case
Helps with developing analytical skills
Innovative and original thought is important
Identifying problems and likely solutions
There are 6 steps in the case analysis framework
1. Gaining familiarity
2. Recognizing symptoms
3. Identifying goals
4. conduct analysis
5. Making the diagnosis
6. Action planning

2. Case Outline
Strategic profile and case analysis purpose
Situation analysis
General environment
Industry analysis
Identification of environmental opportunities and threats and
firm strengths and weaknesses
Competitor analysis
Internal analysis (include financial analysis when possible)
Strategy formulation
Overall criteria
Alternatives for the company to consider (include at least 3
alternatives)
Evaluate each alternative against the overall criteria
Alternative of choice (identify the best alternative and explain
why)
State specifics actions that need to be taken
Control
Describe the control and evaluation system that will be used to
ensure the strategy does as expected
Describe corrective actions to be taken should the plan fail to
meet expectations
Strategic Profile
Discuss critical facts in the case that affect the company and its
competitors
Gather additional outside information where possible
Use your own personal knowledge and experiences when

3. possible
Do not simply restate facts – instead show how the facts helped
aid/guided you in your understanding and development of
solutions
Analysis Stage
Focus on external environmental issues affecting the firm
General factors
Industry factors
Competition,
Examine internal issues affecting the firm
SWOT analysis is a common format for conducting this analysis
Synthesize the information from the internal and external
analysis and develop unique insights about the challenges
facing the organization
Situational Analysis
Your analysis should focus on trends in the six segments of the
general environment:
Technological
Demographics
Economic
Political legal
Sociocultural
Global trends
Evaluate the case along these trends and predict how they may

4. impact the company in the future
Industry Analysis
Porter's five forces is a useful tool for industry analysis
Discuss the attractiveness of the industry
Competitor Analysis
Analyze each competitor's strategy
Strengths and weaknesses
Strategic intent
Capabilities and core competencies
Conduct personal research when necessary
Google, newspapers, bibliographies, directories, industry ratios
etc…
Internal analysis
Evaluate the internal operations of the form – identify strengths
and weaknesses
Evaluate the following areas (not a comprehensive list)
Supply chain

5. Internal expenses
Facilities
Internal trends
Identify areas where a competitive advantage can be developed
Conduct financial analysis to uncover hidden problems
Developing Alternatives
After analyzing the case details you should develop a set of
alternatives for the company to consider
Alternatives = plausible solutions to the company’s problems
Generate a set of criteria and goals for that the alternatives must
satisfy
Alternatives should be realistic and based within normal
business expectations and parameters
Select the best alternative to address the company’s challenges
Alternative should match the company’s strengths or improve
the firm in weak areas
Alternatives should protect the firm from external threats
Evaluation and Control
Discuss procedures that will be used to evaluate the success of
the strategy
Discuss the steps the organization will take should the
implementation begin to deviate from the expected outcomes
(i.e., contingency plans)
Worse case scenario planning

6. The Walt Disney Company:
Corporate Business Strategy
Background and Business Challenge
Walt Disney, founded in 1923, is now a house hold name.
Originally a cartoon studio in Hollywood, the company has
grown to a full fledge entertainment company with sales
exceeding 3 billion dollars. Disney competes in a number of
industries: film, television, theme parks, and consumer
products. Since its inception Walt Disney (hereby referred to as
Disney) has experienced substantial growth and is now
challenged with maintaining its growth (over 20% annual) while
maintaining its values, traditions, and company image. The
purpose of this business case is to explore the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing Disney. A
thorough analysis will be conducted involving management
policies, company structure, and financials all for the purpose
of providing a set of strategic recommendations which are
designed to help Disney maintain a 20% or more annual growth.
Company history
In 1928, Disney released the world’s first fully synchronized
sound cartoon “Steamboat Willie”; additionally, the company
introduced the iconic Mickey Mouse. Following these releases
Disney went on to develop a number of additional family
cartoons. Disney won three Academy Awards in 1937. In 1940,
Disney issued an IPO to raise funds to fuel its growing
business. This proved to be very important, as the company
experienced economic hardships during the 1940s – mainly due
to the war in Europe (WWII). During the war Disney's business
suffered. In order to address the slow sales, Disney expanded

7. into educational training videos. However, the decade following
the war brought increased opportunities and revenue. In the
1950s Disney launched its first television special “One hour in
wonderland” and started work on Disney Land in California.
WED Enterprises was formed to house Disney Land and other
theme parks. Throughout the 1950s Disney took steps to reduce
its operating expenses, merchandise its products, and bring
various services in-house. As Disney Land became more
profitable, Disney brought in-house the concessions and other
park operations. Disney also severed ties with RKO, a company
Disney used for film distribution, and formed Buena Vista
Distribution to handle all film distribution activities. Bringing
services in-house helped Disney save money and maintain tight
control over business activities.
Disneyland was in its infancy when Walt Disney passed away.
Following the CEO’s death, Walt Disney’s brother, Roy Disney,
took over as CEO and expressed strong commitment to his
brother’s vision for the company. During his tenure, Roy Disney
finished and opened Disney World (in 1971). Disney World
quickly became the world’s most popular and profitable theme
park. Disney followed this success by partnering with a
company to build a Disney Land in Japan.
During the late 1960s and 1970s, Disney reduced its production
of animated films and focused more on live-action films, which
focused on teenagers - who were believed to be more profitable.
Disney also purchased Arvida Corporation, a real estate
company, to assist in running Disney’s vast real estate holdings.
As time passed, leadership in the Disney Corporation evolved.
Eventually, the key management positions were filled with non-
family and non (pre-existing) Disney officers. In October 1984
Michael Eisner was named Chairman and CEO. Frank Wells,
former CEO of Paramount Pictures, was named Chief Operating
officer (COO). Despite the organizational changes, the company
remained true to its core values, which are as follows:
1. To ensure Disney remains a world-class entertainment
company

8. 2. To maximize shareholder wealth by maintaining a 20%
annual growth rate
3. Maintain the integrity of Disney’s name and brand
4. Accomplish all the above while not compromising company
culture and traditions.
Company Structure
In 1988, Disney consisted of three major business segments, (a)
Walt Disney Studios, (b) Disney Consumer Products, and (c)
Walt Disney Attractions. Disney also had a corporate R&D
division and a real estate department. Walt Disney Studies was
responsible for all film and film related activities. This included
but was not limited to animation, live action films, film
distribution – Buena Vista -, home video, and TV. Disney
consumer products was responsible for all Disney licensing and
joint promotional activities, Disney books, magazines, records
and the sale of products via the theme parks. Walt Disney
Attractions was responsible for all theme parks, hotels, the
travel agency, and international entertainment facilities.
In addition to the core businesses, Disney also had a research
and development department and real estate division. Walt
Disney Imagineering was the name for the R&D division which
consisted of 900 employees and was responsible for generating
new attractions, special effects, and facilities for new ventures.
Disney Development Company was responsible for Disney's real
estate development projects which included hotels, commercial
retail, and residential establishments.
Environmental and competitive analysis
Similar to other industries, the entertainment industry has
undergone a number of significant changes over the 10 year
timeframe discussed in this case. For example, the
entertainment industry has undergone technological changes -
films went from asynchronous format to a seamless synchronous
format. Along with the evolution of film formatting and
technology, consumer tastes and expectations evolved. The
average consumer has increasingly sophisticated tastes when it
comes to movie and television expectations – these expectations

9. extend to: picture & sound quality, product availability, and
complexity of storyline/plot formation. Indeed, children expect
programs to have greater levels of cognitive engagement and
complexity.
While the industry underwent significant evolution, it is
important to note that for the most part Disney was at the
forefront of the change, constantly offering customers new and
more innovative products. Nonetheless, customers are fickle and
quick to forget past innovations and product offerings. Disney
understood this concept, and; as such, instituted a policy of
reintroducing the classic films which created the company's
initial success. This strategy proved extremely successful, as it
informed new generations of original Disney animations which
are now embedded in the national conscientious. This nostalgia
based strategy proved to be a lucrative endeavor, because not
only did it keep past animations relevant, but it required little
effort or money on the part of the company.
While the timeframe in this case precedes the explosive
globalization trend experienced in the late 1990s and 2000s, it
is important to note that globalization activities were well
underway. In fact, many of the top firms were engaging in
international business. Disney capitalized on the increasing
trend of globalization, by opening up several locations around
the world (Europe and Japan). While Disney didn’t manage the
day-to-day activities, Disney was instrumental in the design,
licensing of characters, and operational aspects of each theme
park. The international theme parks proved to be an extremely
lucrative profit-sharing model for Disney.
Competitive landscape
As the entertainment industry grew, it quickly became evident
that Disney's competitive landscape would be dominated by a
few large diversified publically held conglomerates. These
organizations were diverse, wide reaching, and had significantly
deep financial resources. Disney’s primary competition was as
follows: Warner Brothers, Gulf Western, and MCA. A graphical
illustration of the company’s focus areas is noted in the chart

10. below.
TV
Movies
Music
Real Estate
Print
Theme Parks
Merchandise
Warner Brothers
x
x
x
x
Gulf Western
x
x
x
MCA
x
x
x
x
x
x
Disney
x

11. x
x
x
x
x
Despite strong competition, Disney maintained its position as a
leading entertainment company. This was due, in large part, to
its strategic focus (i.e., family friendly films), the nostalgic
history of the company (i.e., cartoon characters like Mickey
Mouse and Bambi), and its unmatched theme park execution. In
fact, the revenue from Disney theme parks eventually surpassed
the revenue from all other Disney divisions. With over 40
million visitors, Disney World is doing nearly 10 times the
traffic of the next most visited theme park (Sea World, Florida).
Average ticket price for admission in to Disney world (in 1987)
was 28 dollars, providing approximately 1.1 billion dollars in
annual revenue.
Disney is also among the top three companies in box office
ticket sales. While paramount is outperforming Disney in box
office ticket sales (overall sales all movies) by nearly 6%,
Disney and Warner Brothers are running neck and neck in box
office ticket sales. Disney has 14% marketshare while Warner
Brothers is claiming 13% market share.
When it comes to the competitive landscape, Disney has
successfully differentiated itself from its competition.
Nonetheless, it is important to understand that while many of
Disney's competitors are located in the same industries, the
strategic focus of each company varies greatly. For example,
both Warner Brothers and Gulf Western compete in the print
industry, however one company focuses on textbooks while the
other focuses on comic books. Moreover, two competitors could
be in the film industry with little competitive overlap because
one company focuses on children films and the other focuses on
young adult films. This allows each company to be successful in

12. its respective area with little direct competition.
Disney market position
In this section, we take a close look at the internal workings of
Disney and begin to identify areas where the company can
improve in order to maintain or exceed a 20% annual growth
rate. To this extent, the following SWOT analysis was
conducted:
Activity
weight
rating
Weighted score
short
Intermediate
Long
S1
Organizational culture
0.14
5
0.7
x
S2
Brand name
0.17
5
0.85
x
W1
Expensive - isolation a number of potential buyers
0.1
3
0.3

13. x
W2
Fractured internal operations
0.05
3
0.15
x
T1
Economy - this is a discretionary product
0.17
2
0.34
x
T2
Expensive to maintain (labor, land, etc)
0.05
3
0.15
x
T3
Constant need to innovate
0.07
4
0.28
x
O1

14. International expansion
0.1
3
0.3
x
O2
Alliances/partnerships
0.1
3
0.3
x
O3
Franchises/license theme park concept
0.05
3
0.15
x
Careful review of the SWOT analysis reveals that Disney has a
significant amount of opportunities and very few weaknesses.
Disney's weakness reflect typical management and
communication challenges associated with running a multi-
national diversified company (i.e., duplication of business
activities, wasted internal resources, over spending). Any
actions taken by Disney to improve on its weaknesses will
result in direct saving to the bottom line because the actions
represent a reduction in operating expenses.
More importantly, Disney has a number of opportunities. Most
of the opportunities involve international expansion and joint
partnerships. For many families, traveling to Disney World is a

15. dream – a once and a lifetime vacation. In fact, many families
save money for years just to afford a trip to Disney World. On
one hand this is a excellent illustration of the strength of
Disney’s brand, but on the other hand this represents lost
revenue. For the thousands of families that never make it to
Disney World or the thousands of families that would attend
more than once. Perhaps Disney could consider bringing the
Disney magic to those families. Joint partnerships and alliances
could possibly help achieve this goal.
Financial analysis
Since its inception, Disney has experienced substantial growth.
This growth is manifest across a number of different
performance measures (e.g., customers, employees, and
revenue). Most notably, Disney's sales have nearly doubled in
three years - going from 1.6 billion to 2.9 billion in 1987. Even
more impressive is the percentage change in Return on Assets -
over 200% increase in just three years. Additionally, the
company's net income has increased over 300% - going from .1
billion in 1984 to .45 billion in 1987.
Disney
1984
1985
1986
1987
Sales ($ Billions)
1.6
2
2.5
2.9
Net Income ($ Billions)
0.1
0.17
0.25
0.45
Return on Equity (%)
9.3

16. 14.6
17.4
21.3
P/E ratio
19
15
20
21
ROA (%)
4
6
8
13
Based on the financial analysis, Disney has managed to fulfill
its strategic objective of +20% annual growth. Further analysis
reveals that significant revenues come from Disney's theme
parks (over half of the company's income). While the theme
parks outperform all others company divisions in sales, it is
important to note that percentage change (improvement) from
1980 to 1987, is less than that of the film and TV department.
Nonetheless, both divisions have experienced significant
growth, and the theme parks continue to produce large amounts
of revenue.
Disney business performance:
$ in millions
1980
1982
1984
1985
1986
1987
7 year % growth 1980
Film and TV

17. Sales
161
202
165
320
512
876
82%
Operating income
52
20
-33
34
52
131
60%
Theme parks
Sales
643
726
1097
1258
1524
1834

18. 65%
Operating income
123
128
186
255
404
549
78%
Consumer products
Operating income
52
48
54
56
72
97
46%
From 1940 to 1987, Disney has demonstrated sound fiscal
management. With a current ratio of 2.49 (a 32% improvement
from 1975), Disney is in a strong position to pay off all of its
creditors and have plenty of money left to operate the company.
Additionally Disney has increased its return on equity (ROE)
from 10% in 1975 to 24.1% in 1987 - a 59% improvement.
Despite the evidence of Disney's sound fiscal management
policies, the company has in recent years began to use more
financial leverage. In fact, the company's debt-to-assets ratio
went from 10% in 1975 to .31% in 1987. While this debt

19. utilization ratio is well within reasonable limits, the upwards
trend does suggest that it merits ongoing supervision.
Nonetheless, it is clear to see that Disney's policies, in-house
management, and strategic focus on theme parks is a recipe for
success.
In the next section we review the various strategies which can
help Disney maintain its +20% return on investment for
stockholders.
Strategic recommendations
Since its inception, Disney has experienced tremendous growth.
The company has grown from a cartoon manufacturing and
creation company to a full-fledge diversified entertainment
company. At present, Disney is on the top of its corporate
performance and would like to maintain a company growth of
20% annually. The following strategies are designed to assist
Disney in this endeavor, all the while maintaining the integrity
of the Disney brand and company culture. To help Disney
achieve its goals, the following three strategies have been
developed:
Strategy one: Strategic partnerships and alliances
Disney could develop strategic alliances with successful
midsize theme park operator and allow the operators to install a
Disney themed section of the park. Disney would be primary
consultant on the development and execution of the concept;
while the theme park operator would be responsible for the day
to day operations. Disney would receive consulting fees,
licensing fees, and part of the ticket at the gate for their effort.
Strategy two: International expansion
Open two to three additional Disney World branded theme parks
in other counties – specifically countries in Europe and South
America with growing middle class residents. These theme
parks could follow he existing partnership model as illustrated
by Tokyo Disney Land. All revenues associated with said parks
would belong be split by the partnering company and Disney.
Strategy three: Enter into the gaming industry
Focus on the creation of video games using the Disney

20. characters both movie and cartoon. Also develop a line of
educational games to be used in the classroom by teachers, as
well as parents. The educational games should leverage the
Disney characters both cartoon and live-persons. By focusing
specifically on video game creation (and not the creation of the
gaming system), Disney avoids becoming a technology
company and also avoids being locked into a specific gaming
platform. The strategy of entering full fledge into the gaming
industry also serves to keep Disney characters relevant and
fresh for emerging generations of children.
Evaluating the strategic recommendations
Key Success Factors
Strategic partnerships and alliances
International expansion
Enter into the gaming industry
Weight
Rating
Score
Rating
Score
Rating
Score
Strong financial performance
0.13
3
0.39
3
0.39
4
0.52
Diversified product lines
0.27
3
0.81

21. 3
0.81
5
1.35
Alliances
0.2
5
1
2
1
3
0.6
Strong brand image
0.4
4
1.6
4
1.5
4
1.6
Total
3.8
3.7
4.07
After careful review of Disney's history and current
performance, four key success factors have been identified: (a)
Strong financial performance, (b) Diversified product line, (c )
Alliances, and (d) strong brand image. It has been determined
that any strategic recommendation for Disney must deliver on
said attributes. Given Disney's current success and profitability,
any new strategy must be able to add to financial performance -

22. in a manner that is equal to or greater than Disney's current on-
going strategies. The strategy must also help to diversify
Disney's product line - thereby helping to buffer Disney against
economic downturns. The strategy should also take advantage of
strategic alliances, which can help Disney move quickly and
reduce initial start-up costs. Lastly, the strategy should help
improve or reinforce Disney's branded characters and likeness
around the world.
Final recommendation
After careful examination of the aforementioned strategies, it is
believed that strategy three offers the greatest benefit to Disney.
This conclusion was driven by the need to maintain a
diversified product portfolio and expanding the brand image of
Disney. It is believed that by partnering with existing gaming
companies Disney can create character based games for not only
legacy characters (i.e., Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy,
etc…), but for newer characters both cartoon and live action
characters (i.e., Pirates of the Caribbean). Moreover, Disney can
use its hugely successfully, television and broadcasting abilities
to promote its characters (both new and legacy) thereby,
creating a pull demand for the gaming products and ensuring
ongoing relevance for the Disney brand. Additionally, Disney
can follow its, successful pattern of in-house development and
distribution to its gaming efforts; thereby capturing
considerable savings and ensuring greater profits.
Controls system
To ensure this strategy works successfully, Disney can partner
with successful gaming companies. Once Disney has proven
success in the gaming industry, Disney can shift its strategy to
in-house development and distribution. As means of controlling
systems for this strategy, Disney should set reasonable
development costs and profit expectation for the first set of
games. Monthly reviews of the development costs should be
conducted and ensure that the entire development costs stays
within 5% of projections.
As it relates to marketing and distribution of the product.

23. Disney should soft launch the product in its Disney World and
Land Theme parks. Information form a three month soft launch
should be used to make adjustments and tweaks to the product.
After the insights from the soft launch have been integrated into
the product design and development, Disney should launch the
games first in the United States, then Europe, and Japan. Strict
monthly reviews of financial performance should be in place.
The monthly reviews will help to quickly identify any
challenges and allow Disney to enact timely solutions. After
successful launch in the three aforementioned markets, a world-
wide launch should take place - opening the Disney Gaming to
all remaining markets.
1