Future Changes in the Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company is an American institution closely identified with Mickey Mouse and world-famous theme parks. However, the company, which has had only two leaders of note in its long history, is a multinational entertainment conglomerate which has moved out of traditional "family" entertainment into providing entertainment for many different audiences around the world. It embraced new technology with its acquisition of ABC/Capital Cities in the late 1990s, and international diversity with its expansion first to Japan, then France and now it has announced that it will be building a theme park in China. The company's leadership, and its ability to transcend the tenure of its current leader, will be tested in coming years as the company encounters new challenges previously unimagined. This research considers the company's leadership orientation, the challenges the company is likely to face in the near future, and recommendations on how the company can thrive in this new environment.

Founded by Walter Elias Disney and run by Walt and his brother Roy (who handled the finances), the Disney transformed American movies and entertainment in a way which few other companies have done. Disney introduced full-length animation features to the American public with Snow White, and brought out animated shorts featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and a host of singing animals and plants. Walt used his own charismatic and transformational leaders

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in the 1980s with the same family image and banal image that the Disney brand represented. Touchstone Pictures began producing films that Disney would not have produced under the Disney brand, including Down and Out in Beverly Hills, which was the first film released by the Disney company with an "R" rating (Grover 73). Later Hollywood Pictures was added to the company's portfolio to release other "adult" pictures; Hollywood Records handles recorded entertainment. Eisner also returned the company to the tradition of releasing animated films; these were overseen by Katzenberg in the early years of the duo's tenure at Disney. Movies such as Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast gave the company not only much-needed revenue and a return to its animation tradition, but also provide vast new opportunities for merchandising. Eisner oversaw the opening of Disney Stores, which are the first merchandising outlets owned and operated by the company outside the parks, and watched the company's stock and his own compensation soar from the time he assumed leadership (Furman 1119B0986). Disney and the Future Under Eisner, Disney embraced new technology, releasing films on videotape and DVDs and taking advantage of the marketi

Category: Business - F