ASSIGNMENT #1: STRATEGIC PLANNING AND HUMAN RESOURCES 2

Assignment #1: Strategic Planning and Human Resources

A sound business strategy is the foundation of every successful enterprise. It may seem
simple, but it involves rigorous strategic planning at different levels of the organization to formulate
an effective and lasting strategy. Strategic planning is essential as it provides guidelines for making
decisions regarding the company’s long-term goals and strategies (Bohlander & Snell, 2011).
Moreover, as businesses are increasingly making decisions based on people implications and human
capital, it is necessary to factor in human resources (HR) in all stages of strategic planning. Agnostic
to any business process, the first stage is always critical, which in the case of strategic planning is
forming the vision, mission, and values of the organization. To illustrate, the case of The Walt Disney
Company is scrutinized below in terms of its vision/mission statement as well as the role HR plays in
the company’s strategic planning.
A critique of Walt Disney’s mission statement
The Walt Disney Company is a much bigger enterprise than most people perceive it to be. It
comprises a large corporate family of media and entertainment brands, which fall under one umbrella
and follow one mission statement. Specifically, the company’s main business segments are (1) the
Disney media networks, (2) amusement parks, hotels, and products, and (3) music and animation
studios – all of which operate on a global scale (Walt Disney website, 2019). With such a fleet, the
importance of Disney’s mission statement becomes paramount in delivering a unified experience to
its customers.
"The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world's leading producers and
providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our
content, services, and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and
profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world."

In strategic management circles, Disney’s international popularity and success are often
attributed to its aforementioned mission statement and effective strategic planning.
It is important to note that Disney’s “mission statement” actually encapsulates both its vision
and mission. In theory, the mission is the purpose of the organization that determines how it operates.
Vision, on the other hand, is the long-term direction of where the company is headed in its industry
in the future (Bohlander & Snell, 2011). Collins and Paras (1996) further pointed out that the vision
should include the company’s core ideology and envisioned future. Thus, the first sentence (i.e. … to
be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.) in Disney’s
“mission statement” actually pertains to its vision, and the remainder refers to its mission.
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For Disney’s vision, it definitely checks the boxes of a good vision statement as it is future-
oriented, talks about global industry leadership against competition as a long-term goal, covers the
strategic intent, and provides a glimpse of the business nature. Since Disney aims for global
leadership in entertainment (Williams, 2019), the vision statement clearly expresses what the
company is trying to achieve in the long term. However, unlike the “entertainment” aspect in the
vision, it is not clear in the statement as to what type of “information” Disney seeks to provide.
Briefly specifying the type of information would better clarify the strategic intent of the company.
In the mission statement, there is action conveyed by Disney in that it uses its brands to
differentiate its product mix and develop them in a certain style that is core to the company. This
properly expresses the purpose of the company. It is also evident that the mission broadly captures
the different mix of offerings (i.e. content, services, and consumer) that Disney provides as well as
adjectives (i.e. creative, innovative and profitable) to describe these offerings. Therefore, the
statement clearly and specifically covers Disney’s mission by defining the company’s purpose and
the scope of its operations, as a good mission statement should.
Overall, the company’s vision and mission clearly encompass the company’s strategy and
serve as a strong first step for a successful strategic plan. While the statement clearly works, it could
be made even more powerful by splitting the vision and mission into separate statements. This would
minimize confusion and improve the usage of the statements for better decision-making at the
managerial level.
Companies must also factor in present-day changes in the business landscape that can
potentially affect the effectiveness of the vision and mission statement. The table below outlines
some current trends and their implications on the vision, mission, and values of an organization.
Changes/Disruptors in Business Landscape Implications to Vision, Mission, and Values
Account for diversity, global mindset, and
Globalization
expanding markets
Mass personalization Adjust statement to be more customer-centric
Emergence of the information age Show openness to technology
Scarcity of human capital Increase emphasis on people and talent
Display green initiatives and corporate social
Environmental concern
responsibility

The role of HR in Strategic Management

Truly successful companies like Walt Disney understand that the functional level strategies,
including that of HR, must support the overall corporate strategy (Bora, Borah & Chungyalpa, 2017).
When HR planning is linked to strategic management, HR needs to play a vital role in the success of
the strategic plan.
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Once the vision and mission are established, companies can then formulate specific business
strategies to navigate towards the vision (Pasternek, 2012). It is HR’s job to communicate the vision
and mission regularly to the employees. In recruitment, the company’s HR should aim to hire
employees with consistent values to that of the organization. Furthermore, it should use the vision
and mission as a basis of creating a desirable company culture, code of conduct, job descriptions and
behaviors, and employee rewards (Bohlander & Scott, 2011). By successfully reinforcing the vision
and mission, Disney’s HR plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the same magical vibe and culture is
present across all of the company’s brands and products.
Beyond the first step of forming the vision/mission, HR must also be involved in the
subsequent steps of the strategic plan. The next step of the strategic plan is external and internal
analysis, followed by strategy formulation, then strategy implementation, and lastly, evaluation.
(Bohlander & Scott, 2011). In the external analysis, HR should be wary of the competition and
demographic trends, and it should utilize benchmarking for better insights. In the internal analysis,
HR can add value by integrating knowledge, analyzing culture, and mapping the demand and supply
of its labor. In strategy formulation, HR can establish productivity, quality, and service goals to serve
as inputs to the overall business strategy. In strategy implementation, HR should work towards
reconciling employee supply and demand. Additionally, it may use training and rewards to motivate
employees to achieve the strategy. Finally, in the evaluation stage, HR can look into human capital
metrics using tools such as the balanced scorecard. With these steps, an HR strategy helps implement
an overall business strategy by feeding its functional inputs into the different stages of the strategic
plan.
Conclusion
As evidenced by Walt Disney’s case, the vision/mission statement is very important in
building a company’s brand and strategic plan. Because the vision, mission, and values are the
first step in any strategic plan, companies must thoughtfully sculpt a formidable overarching
vision and mission statement in order to build a robust foundation for the entire strategic
planning process. Within the strategic plan, the increasing focus on “people” calls for HR to step
in and simultaneously shape the HR strategy in line with the overall business strategy. Using this
combined approach, companies are able to build lasting strategic plans that are not only effective
but also flexible to various changes in the organization. Strategic planning is highly critical to
company success because at the end of the day, as organizational consultant Simon Sinek says,
customers don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.
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References

Bora, B., Borah, S., & Chungyalpa, W. (2017). Crafting Strategic Objectives: Examining the
Role of Business Vision and Mission Statements. Journal of Entrepreneurship &
Organization Management, 06(01), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.4172/2169-026x.1000205

Collins, J., & Porras, J. (1996). Building your company’s vision. Harvard Business Review,
(September-October 1996).

Pasternek, K. (2012). Establishing your vision, mission, and strategy. Marshall Strategy, Inc.

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PebKJYzPvgw

Snell, S; Bohlander, G. (2011). Managing human resources (16th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Williams, A. (2019). Walt Disney Company’s Mission Statement & Vision Statement (An
Analysis). Retrieved from http://panmore.com/walt-disney-company-mission-statement-
vision-statement-analysis

About the Walt Disney Company. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/about/