WALT DISNEY

Walt Disney

Walt Disney

Competitive Theory

During the existence of the Disney Company these five elements have evolved. Currently, Robert Iger, President and CEO portrays the current state of the five elements in a recent speech, stating: (The Walt Disney Company 2009)

“Creativity extends to be the essence of Disney, even as our enterprises elaborate over boundaries and newspapers platforms, it is the foundation for nearly everything we do, the source of our power and our success, and the fuel that will power us into the future. Fostering and encouraging that creativity - from movies to television, from animation to live-action, from theme parks to consumer products to our online business - is our top priority… We must continue to cultivate a culture of creativity, to move boldly and take intelligent risks necessary for innovation, growth and success in the future. A future that, as always, will be propelled by the power of Disney's creative spirit.” (DISNEY 2004)

From Robert Iger speech we establish that creativity is the strongest intangible asset the company has that cannot be duplicated. Iger desires creativity to be placed into all aspects of the company's Operation and International Expansion plans.

Vertical Integration

Disney uses ABC as a marketing outlet for all of their products, services, or goods. Its large domestic presence expanded their broadcasting advertisement revenue from $3 million in 1995, to 98 million in 1996, and $206 million in 2008.3 The Walt Disney Company recognized that they needed an infrastructure to distribute their creative content, marketing content, and promotional content. (The Walt Disney Company 2009) ABC originally was very profitable, prior 1999. Recently, ABC has struggled, but Disney is keen on making sure ABC stays strong. Disney wants to make sure that ABC fits their strategic move, a marketing outlet, and their financial needs. 3By acquiring ABC, Disney was able to reach 99% of domestic households.

In 2006 the acquisition of Pixar is a form of backward integration. (MSNBC 2009) When the contract between the two companies was nearing its end, Disney realized that they could not compete with Pixar's content and fearing losing the company to a rival, thus Disney acquired Pixar for $7.4 billion. This illustrated backward integration, since this reestablished Disney a producer of content and not just a distributor. (Hoovers 2009) Finally, this added to Walt Disney's creative and innovation part of the business by integrating Pixar's creative team into Disney's other operations. (MSNBC 2009) The Walt Disney Company had excellent marketing and finical backing abilities, but was losing its value and recognitions of creativity; with the purchase of Pixar this reestablished what was lost. 4Originally, Walt Disney Company was the financer, marketer, and distributor for Pixar.

Strategic Alliances

Throughout Disney's existence it has formed several strategic alliances to help with producing branded consumer goods, as well as supplying its theme parks. In the 1980's Michael Eisner wanted to bring in actors and directors for their studios that where at career lows. For example the production of Down and Out in Beverly Hills, ...