Introduction
The Walt Disney Company has grown to be among the greatest media organization globally. Having a robust business plan and value chain enabled the organization to attain success. The company’s strategy is not to stick to a single business model but rather to diversify its assets across a wide range of industries, including filmmaking, theme parks, and merchandise. As a result, the company has essentially guaranteed its long-term sustainability and future success.
Current Value Chain of the Company
The value chain is an institutional succession of operations related to primary and supporting functions. By focusing on the value Disney can provide to their consumers, they can maximize their profitability. When examining the value chain of the Walt Disney Corporation, it is obvious that the organization has made efforts to provide services to its consumers (Putri, 2019). The Company’s primary functions include, but are not limited to, supply chain management, operations, and marketing. Primary actions are frequently more focused on the customer or the customer value (Putri, 2019). Whereas secondary or support activities sometimes take place behind closed doors (Putri, 2019). These comprise research and development divisions, information systems, human resources, accounting and finance, and other stages of business infrastructure.
An in-depth examination of the company’s primary operations shows that the company has an excellent operation unit, supply chain, as well as a media promotion powerhouse. The company theme parks demand an exceptionally high degree of administration. The organization must maintain an open and continuous supply chain to guarantee that the theme parks obtain the necessary goods to stay active. This covers the food and goods sold at the company’s theme parks (Putri, 2019). Along with operations, the company’s personnel and staffing approach must be solid. The whole atmosphere of the Disney theme park is focused on customer satisfaction. Financially, the firm is also not hesitant to invest millions in park upgrades to modernize rides, encounters, and attractions, most of which are sold at a huge premium to guests eager to spend for the encounter.
Justification of Changes to the Value Chain
When examining the company’s value chain, there should be no significant alterations or adjustments. The executive team of the Walt Disney Firm is doing an outstanding job of maintaining the company’s competitiveness in all of its sectors by consistently altering how the company runs and what is manufactured. Whether spending on park services or extending their existing relationships with media suppliers, Walt Disney Company is willing to adapt to stay at the summit of the local and international food chain.
The introduction of Disney+ exemplifies the company’s strategy of capturing its core value and earnings rather than licensing its content to other streaming platforms. The continuous expansion of broadcasting services attempts to harness that financial value in-house (Putri, 2019). Disney has constantly renovated its theme parks and recently introduced a new park section dedicated to their biggest recent purchase, Star Wars. The firm studied what Star Wars enthusiasts want to encounter in a Star Wars-themed park and has been striving to develop that knowledge fully (Putri, 2019). By including rides that enable consumers to experience anything from space travel to making their lightsabers and Droids, Disney has embraced what they’ve learned and run with it.
Disney has a robust supply chain that enables them to maintain product inventory in their theme parks and most retail outlets. It is amazing to have a well-thought-out logistics, production, and distribution strategy. Although most logistics groups can always progress, it seems as if Disney is performing exceptionally well in this area, especially in 2021, when materials are scarce (Putri, 2019). Logistics were practically difficult to maintain due to the scarcity of the transportation sector.
Management
The Walt Disney Organization began as a modest animation firm producing short, animated cartoons, but Walt saw the possibility for excellence and expanded into animated movies. Following the huge success, Walt and the firm continued to produce animated films after animated films, all of which were financial triumphs at that time and are today regarded masterpieces. Walt proceeded to expand the firm and, in 1955, created the first Disneyland in California (Rothaermel et al., 2020; Boguszewicz-Kreft et al., 2019). The park’s phenomenal success enabled the corporation to remain financially stable for generations to follow. This inventiveness and desire to invest exemplify the Walt Disney Firm’s mentality to retain continually. Following Walt’s demise, his brother Roy assumed the CEO role (Rothaermel et al., 2020; Boguszewicz-Kreft et al., 2019). He oversaw the building and launching of a new park, Disney World, in Florida, continuing Walt’s ambition and vision for expansion.
Michael Eisner assumed over the corporation and concentrated on sales growth for the next two decades. During his tenure, the company’s market worth increased from $1.8 billion to $80 billion (Rothaermel et al., 2020; Boguszewicz-Kreft et al., 2019). Eisner thought that the corporation could become the planet’s media powerhouse by concentrating on creativity. As such, he invested $30 million in Disney’s film and cartoon department to automate animation operations and minimize the time required to make Disney films (Boguszewicz-Kreft et al., 2019). Eisner’s concentration was not just on movies and animation; he also created numerous new theme parks across the globe, particularly in France and Hong Kong, to help integrate into the worldwide market in ways other than traditional media usage.
However, his concentration on retail alienated many customers and financiers. Eisner was replaced as CEO by Bob Iger in the year 2005 (Rothaermel et al., 2020; Boguszewicz-Kreft et al., 2019). Iger reshaped the firm’s foundation by focusing on fresh content, innovative technology, and global expansion. Iger also started improving the company’s management perspective, which had been perceived as micromanaging, leading senior management groups to lose employee confidence (Rothaermel et al., 2020). Under Iger, the business bought Pixar, Marvel, 21st Century Fox, and Lucasfilm (Rothaermel et al., 2020). The organization must emphasize management, allocating, and enabling people to supervise initiatives. This has helped the firm develop significantly while also gaining workers’ goodwill and confidence in senior management.
Marketing
Perhaps no other firm has been as effective in marketing as Disney has been. By establishing an in-house marketing crew, the business can control marketing expenditures while also supervising all marketing and promotional activities related to the business. The corporation has employed various marketing methods to increase brand awareness, including a tremendous surge of merchandise from the 1980s to the late 1990s (Boguszewicz-Kreft et al., 2019). Additionally, the corporation has acquired media properties like ABC, allowing for additional marketing options while being the biggest media provider in the US.
As technology advances and evolves, Disney has expanded into new areas. Disney is always marketing its brand with a strong online presence, whether through media channels or countless promotions throughout the internet (Rothaermel et al., 2020). The corporation has adopted social media, promoting several new goods and releasing public remarks on its accounts to appear more relevant and accessible to current customers (Boguszewicz-Kreft et al., 2019). By investing heavily in marketing, Disney can also sell itself into the market depending on the services and commodities it offers. This is accomplished via a value-based approach in its marketing executions.
Given its immense success in the marketing sector, it is critical that Disney continues to promote its goods in the same manner they have in the past. It has utilized a well-rounded and customer-centered marketing approach that has enabled it to profit from a diverse range of products through various channels (Rothaermel et al., 2020). Additionally, the corporation has advertised its parks and cruise ships, acquiring a big portion of the travel market. This has been a successful marketing strategy for the corporation.
Finance
The Walt Disney Company is doing well financially. The firm has achieved unprecedented growth and profitability, allowing it to acquire more holdings in order to expand its financial achievement. The firm has grown to become a global leader in several areas, including their, and continues to expand. Between 2015 and 2019, the corporation increased its cash and expenditures from 4,269 to 5,444 (Rothaermel et al., 2020; Boguszewicz-Kreft et al., 2019). The financial performance for the same four-year period demonstrates an increase in all profit sectors and improvement in the corporation’s investment portfolio. Cost increases, including operational and cost of commodities sold, are to be anticipated given the company’s current expansion. This must not be seen negatively since expenses tend to rise as a business (Boguszewicz-Kreft et al., 2019). An important recommendation is that The Walt Disney Company’s financial strategy remains unchanged. This is due to the firm’s rapid expansion and has continued to do so in recent years.
Management Information Systems
The Disney ERP system performs a vital function in theme park development. Plan-o-grams, a kind of computer-aided design process, develop Disney parks and decide where to position various amenities. The plan-o-grams employ real-time CCTV data; for example, clients’ parking habits are tracked for months to determine whether extra space is required. According to one Disney survey, visitors who drove themselves likely remained for 2-3 days (Allen, 2020). These visitors are more likely to spend at the theme park’s hotels. Those who go by bus or rent a car usually stay for a day (Allen, 2020). Queues for excursions and other events are analyzed using CCTV surveillance to guarantee that consumers will not wait long hours. Finance, legal, and other top and intermediate management are connected to the core ERP database (Allen, 2020). Internal IS teams handle permanent workers, contract workers, and customer support groups (Allen, 2020). Disney maintains its functional workflows between internal and external activities using effective information systems and business processes. This has enabled them to lower expenses and ultimately ticket prices, attracting more people.
Design exhibits and trade fair booths, tailor travels and rides, access systems, tracking systems, and use novel display technologies like RFID should be performed by the IT department. Using RFDI technology, bracelets can give security and comfort to visitors to attractions sites. According to previous studies, 27% of Disney Park households lose their children (Allen, 2020). RFID technology may assist avoid kid loss by storing basic details such as identities, phone numbers, and addresses of the people wearing the band.
Conclusion
Walt Disney organization has evolved to be one of the world’s largest media companies. The firm’s key tasks are supply chain management, operations, and marketing. Primary activities are often more customer- or value-oriented. At the same time, secondary or support operations are sometimes conducted covertly. Perhaps no other company has been as successful at marketing as Disney has been. The company has increased brand recognition via various marketing strategies, including a massive jump in goods sales.
References
Allen, P. J. (2020). Disney’s enterprise energy management systems. In P.J, Allen (Ed.), Web Based Enterprise Energy and Building Automation Systems. (1st ed., pp. 269–275). River Publishers.
Boguszewicz-Kreft, M., Kreft, J., & Żurek, P. (2019). Myth and Storytelling: The case of the Walt Disney Company. In J. Kreft, S. Kuczamer-Kłopotowska, & A. Kalinowska-Żeleźnik (Eds.), Myth in Modern Media Management and Marketing (pp. 22-49). IGI Global. Web.
Putri, S. A. E. (2019). The existence of Mickey Mouse as The Walt Disney Company’s mascot in the global value chain perspective. MASYARAKAT: Jurnal Sosiologi, 24(1). Web.
Rothaermel, F. T., Inamdar, N., & King, D. R. (2020). The Walt Disney Company. McGraw Hill Publishers.