Section 2 Group 1

The Walt Disney Company

The Entertainment King
Abhilash Dutta
Abhishek Singh Rana
Alok Pathak
Ankur Rao
Bhanu Prashast
Harshit Sodhani

FT172001
FT172002
FT172009
FT172016
FT172024
FT172031

Section 2 - Group 1

Brief history of Disney

The Walt Disney Years(1923-1966)
1923 Walter Elias Disney launches the Disney Brothers Studio with his
brother Roy Disney
1928 Mickey Mouse the character is born
1940 Walt Disney goes public
1954 Expansion into television
1955 Theme park Disneyland
1966 Walt Disney passes away
Post Walt Disney Years(1967 onwards)
1971 Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida
1976 First major international expansion, Tokyo Disneyland announced in
1976
1980 Financial condition of Disney deteriorating with increasing costs and
dismal performance of various divisions i.e. to finish EPCOT, investing new
cable venture
1984 Roy Disney resigns from the BOD for poor performance
1984 - Michael Eisner takes over as Chairman and CEO, Frank Wells named
Section
Group
1
3
president; Eisner shift
focus2 -on
growth
with targets & maximizing

Timeline Continues

1988 Turnaround of Disneys film division and high investment in

animation technology

1990 Focus on maximizing theme park profitability.

1993 Enters broad way with Beauty and the Beast

1994 Frank Wells killed in helicopter crash and major attrition in senior
leadership of the company

1995 Disney bought ABC, second biggest acquisition in US history at the

time

1999 Cost cutting plan undertaken by company

Section 2 - Group 1

HIGH

BCG Matrix
STAR
?

LOW

Market
Growth

Internet And
Direct Marketing

DOG

Theme
Park

Media
Network

COW

Consumer
Products

Section 2 - Group 1

Studio
Entertainme
nt

SWOT Analysis
Strengths

Weakness

Brand Recognition
Strong Diversification
Creative Processes
Strong customer service
Responsiveness to Markets

High Risk Factor

Large R&D costs
High Sunk costs

Threat

Opportunity
Opportunity to renovate attractions
in Parks and Resorts
Openings in other areas of the travel
business
Use cable and satellite to make
money with their network
New audiences

Economic recession leading to slow

growth rate
Intellectual property (protection of)
Changes in Technology
Park and Resorts Divisions success
is unpredictable

Section 2 - Group 1

Key Issues
Revitalization of TV and Movies
Expanding into New Businesses, Regions, and Audiences
Maximizing Theme Park Profitability
Coordination Among Businesses

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Suggestions
Focus on developing new strategies that will help in lowering the costs as it
faces tough competition.
Improve organizational structure as too many CEOs lead to a bloated payroll.
Focus on developing new products & build new attractions across segments.
Disney has always been highlighted through its strong characters, as Eisner
said it all started with mouse. Of late unique characters with universal appeal
are missing & havent been paid much attention to , so the company should
focus on creating new characters.
Focus on consumer products such as educational software's & gaming.
Inadequate footprint in developing countries, where a different cost strategy
should be followed when compared to developed nations or continue with their
current strategy in developed countries where their presence is still low.
Some theme parks are incurring heavy losses due to inadequate market
research & lack of understanding about demographic & socio-culture . Thus
when entering into new geographic locations the company should take this into
account & its better to follow a franchise model.
Internet and digitization has brought about revenue opportunities as well as
threats, for example copyright and infringement issues. To exploit opportunities
and mitigate threats, a robust IT infrastructure should be invested upon.

Section 2 - Group 1

Section 2 - Group 1