The leaders at Disney are up close and personal with the customer and their employees. They encourage employee empowerment, have clearly defined standards, create an organizational culture centered on customer service, and possess a passion to please. Eisner, the current CEO, stated Disney is run on an emotional engine rather than an economic one (Allerton, 1997). It is here that Disney shows how they capitalize on the intellectual capital within the organization. Disney stresses their values, vision, and their focused approach to all its members (Allerton, 1997). It is this vision and the memories that are the very essence Walt Disney hoped children and adults would take home with them.
Walk up to anyone in the western world and ask them what they think of when you mention Walt Disney. Most likely the first thoughts are of the magic kingdom and the castle where children live out their fantasies and adults are taken back to the simpler, more innocent times of their youth. An artistic genius, Walt built this company on promoting American family values, imagination, and fun (Daniel, 2002). The theme parks, resorts and stores are clean and efficient. The parks are a maze of doorways and subterranean tunnels that hide all the backstage activities that are associated with putting on such a great production everyday of the year. This extra attention to detail represents the Disney Corporation’s culture in everyway. All employees know their expectations and what is expected of them. New employees are put through an orientation process where they are taught the company’s history, quality standards, ethics, and Walt Disney core values. It is this adaptive culture that is communicated continuously to its members. Disney culture may speak its own language, but its professional development programs speak the universal language of business. The key factor to any successful company is motivation, which is linking the behavior of its employees to the organizational purpose, and contributing to optimal productivity (Allerton, 1997). It is this strong organizational cultural model that is copied and implemented in many organizations around the world.
The Disney name is associated with magic, innocence, and family fun. The Corporate culture at Disney is to ensure the magic is everywhere, treat customers as guests, and take risks to create innovative ideas. This philosophy is evident in the daily activities of all of the team members from the CEO positions, to the person who sweeps the streets in the magic kingdom. When visiting the parks and resorts, it becomes very evident by the attention to details, and the way members treat the visitors as guests. Today the Disney name and cultural penetration in our lives can almost be compared to the churches of Europe during the medieval period (Emerson, 2004). Disney is more than a global corporation; it is a household name brand that is intertwined into our lives. Disney and its management have been successful in penetrating into our family culture to the point where we eat and drink Disney products, are entertained by Disney media outlets, and sleep with the stuffed Disney characters. It is no wonder why the other corporations of the world envy the Disney organizational behavior.
When visiting Walt Disney locations, wherever they may be, the word magical is used in almost every sentence. The habit of using such words in a sentence when addressing the public, or acting a certain way, and even believing certain thoughts, are all instilled into Walt Disney employees by intense training. Selection is strict, and the chosen members must have great interpersonal and communication skills, be self-motivated, and outgoing. New Disney employees arrive for orientation at Disney University where they are taught early that creativity and innovation from their employees have helped the company grow into what it has become today (Lynch, 2001). By using a model such as the multidisciplinary anchor, where knowledge from all disciplines are used to better the company; Disney can better the services they offer by using ideas from the people that are closest to the scene; the employees. Disney believed in this theory and has made it a common practice to implement ideas generated by its employees (Lynch, 2001). As employees learn the culture of their job and embrace it, they will soon realize the rewards and use it as a motivational tool. Promotion from within the organization is highly stressed and encouraged while lateral transfers are celebrated as promotions as well.
Walt Disney is a name heard all throughout the world. This is apparent by just looking at their employee base. Disney Employees include every color, nationality, background, and range in the ages of 17 to 65 (Cook 1974). In order to find a technique to motivate the people from all over the globe takes a great deal of knowledge. The technique that Disney uses is to link the emotions of the employees to their behavior is to make work a fun and enjoyable place to be. The emotions and feelings of the employees are kept at high levels mainly by the motivation techniques used at Disney. Some examples of motivation techniques used by the Disney Corporation are; recognition for achievements, increased responsibility because of performance, chance for advancement, improved supervision and leadership, and improved maintenance items such as wages and self development opportunities (Cook 1974). The employees associated with the Disney corporation use this motivation in order to represent one of the most famous characters of all time; that of Mickey Mouse.
Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse have been music to the ears of children all around the world. That is no different for most adults, and especially true to the people who work there. Just to be part of the mystic and legend of the Walt Disney Corporation is a reason to be proud. Organizational stories and legends about Walt Disney are made and relived each day. Those stories and legends serve as a powerful reminder to those who work there the way Walt Disney wanted things done. Mickey Mouse being the most famous mouse in the world has many stories and legends about his years. The mastermind who started the whole idea, Walt Disney, also has a few myths and legends about him. One of the biggest myths has to do with Walt Disney being frozen in a cryonic chamber and buried under the Pirates of the Caribbean ride until new advancements in medicine are found to bring him back to life (Mikkelson, 2003). The truth is, after his death, Walt Disney was cremated. The story is just one of the many myths and legends about a corporation that is recognized all over the world.
Those employed by Walt Disney had the unique challenge of turning Walt's dreams into fantasies that would capture the imaginations of children. The Disney model of how to create fantasy via animation was emphasized upon the animators (Artz, 2004). The talents, ambitions, and ideas were filtered through the Disney way of creating animation. Animators were discouraged from experimenting with the presentation of Disney characters. While this may have been limiting for the animators, it provided a consistency with all products displaying the Disney name.
After the death of Walt Disney in 1966, the company suffered financial troubles and needed to make some changes (Daniel, 2002). The driving force for change was survival. Disney met the challenge by embracing new management, new policies, and a diverse workforce including the embracing of homosexuality. The embracement and celebration of homosexuality has hurt the image of Disney as being wholesome and family oriented. American mainstream family values generally do not support such activities to the point where many religious groups have spoken out and boycotting Disney and its products. The culture changed from focusing on creativity; to making money. Marketing began releasing contemporary versions of some old animated full feature films (Artz, 2004). Capitalizing off the global recognition of their animated characters, Disney has generated revenues in excess of two billion dollars over the last 10 years from the sale of toys and other merchandise. Theme parks in the United States and abroad also feature the familiar characters, attracting more families annually than the 54 national parks combined (Artz, 2004). Instead of investing all of the revenues back into animated films, Disney has diversified by purchasing the ABC television network, several cable networks, and many radio stations.
The Walt Disney Corporation has entered the twenty first century facing many challenges. Disney is the leader at creating and controlling its environment. It is the external elements that may hinder the projected growth of the corporation. However, Disney may already have the winning formula; its strength, stature, vision, and steadfast commitment to excellence and consistency to customer service. Disney has a willingness to take risks and encourage creativity through its most valuable asset, its employees. This willingness to capitalize on the vision of the employees is what Walt Disney promoted over a half century ago. It is the unique corporate culture and employee empowerment that has made the Disney Corporation one of the industry leaders in employee and customer fulfillment. By doing this, it is easy to see why those who work there, or those who visit one of the many Disney themed areas, live happily ever after.
References
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