...WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS, JUNE 1984 One of the best examples of service through people is Walt Disney Productions… How Disney looks upon people, internally and externally, handles them, communicates with them, rewards them, is in my view the basic foundation upon which its five decades of success stand. —Peters and Waterman, In Search of Excellence In Search of Excellence didn’t simplify enough! In the private or public sector, in big business or small, we observe that there are only two ways to create and sustain superior performance over the long haul. First, take exceptional care of your customers via superior service and superior quality. Second, constantly innovate. That’s it. There are no alternatives in achieving long-term superior performance. Financial control is vital but one does not sell financial control. —Peters and Austin, A Passion for Excellence Ron Miller, president and chief executive officer of Disney Productions Inc., pondered the essence of his dilemma. For the past two-and-a-half months, his company had been the subject of a takeover attempt by Saul Steinberg, a well-known raider. The attempt had started innocently enough with the announcement of the purchase of 6.3% of Disney’s outstanding common stock. In subsequent announcements, Steinberg’s holdings rose to 12.1%. When Steinberg announced his intention of acquiring 25% of Disney, Miller undertook a series of evasive actions, including the purchase of Arvida Corporation for...
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...to you. If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme. . . . —Jiminy Cricket On September 22, 1994, Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, one of the most powerful and well-known media conglomerates in the world, stared out the window of his Burbank office, contemplating the current situation surrounding the Disney’s America theme park. Ever since November 8, 1993, when the Wall Street Journal first broke the news that Disney was planning to build a theme park near Washington, DC, ongoing national debate over the location and concept of the $650 million park caused tremendous frustration. Eisner thought back over the events of the past year. How could his great idea have run into such formidable resistance? The Controversy Comes to a Head Eisner’s secretary clipped several newspaper articles covering two parades that took place on September 17 in Washington, DC. Several hundred Disney opponents from over 50 anti-Disney organizations marched past the White House and rallied on the National Mall in protest of the park. On the same day in the streets of Haymarket, Virginia near the proposed park site, Mickey Mouse and 101 local children dressed as Dalmatians appeared in a parade that was filled with pro-Disney sentiment. Eisner was particularly struck by the contrast between the two pictures: one showing an anti-Disney display from the National Mall protest and another of Mickey and Minnie Mouse being driven through the streets of Haymarket during the exuberant...
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...to you. If your heart is in your dreams, no request is too extreme. . . . —Jiminy Cricket On September 22, 1994, Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, one of the most powerful and well-known media conglomerates in the world, stared out the window of his Burbank office, contemplating the current situation surrounding the Disney’s America theme park. Ever since November 8, 1993, when the Wall Street Journal first broke the news that Disney was planning to build a theme park near Washington, DC, ongoing national debate over the location and concept of the $650 million park caused tremendous frustration. Eisner thought back over the events of the past year. How could his great idea have run into such formidable resistance? The Controversy Comes to a Head Eisner’s secretary clipped several newspaper articles covering two parades that took place on September 17 in Washington, DC. Several hundred Disney opponents from over 50 anti-Disney organizations marched past the White House and rallied on the National Mall in protest of the park. On the same day in the streets of Haymarket, Virginia near the proposed park site, Mickey Mouse and 101 local children dressed as Dalmatians appeared in a parade that was filled with pro-Disney sentiment. Eisner was particularly struck by the contrast between the two pictures: one showing an anti-Disney display from the National Mall protest and another of Mickey and Minnie Mouse being driven through the streets of Haymarket during the exuberant...
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...The Not-So-Wonderful World of EuroDisney—Things Are Better Now at Paris Disneyland Bonjour, Mickey! In April 1992, EuroDisney SCA opened its doors to European visitors. Located by the river Marne some 20 miles east of Paris, it was designed to be the biggest and most lavish theme park that Walt Disney Company (Disney) had built to date—Bigger than Disneyland in Anaheim, California; Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida; and Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. In 1989, EuroDisney was expected to be a surefire moneymaker for its parent, Disney, led by Chairman Michael Eisner and President Frank Wells. Since then, sadly, Wells was killed in an air accident in spring of 1994, and EuroDisney lost nearly $1 billion during the 1992-1993 fiscal year. Much to Disney management’s surprise, Europeans failed to “go goofy” over Mickey, unlike their Japanese counterparts. Between 1990 and early 1992, some 14 million people had visited Tokyo Disneyland, with three-quarters being repeat visitors. A family of four staying overnight at a nearby hotel would easily spend $600 on a visit to the park. In contrast, at Euro Disney, families were reluctant to spend the $280 a day needed to enjoy the attractions of the park, including les hamburgers and les milkshakes. Staying overnight was out of the question for many because hotel rooms were so high priced. For example, prices ranged from $110 to $380 a night at the Newport Bay Club, the largest of EuroDisney’s six new hotels and one of the biggest...
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...Disney in Asia, Again? Raymond H. Lopez, Ph.D. Contact Person: Raymond H. Lopez, Ph.D. Pace University Lubin School of Business 1 Martine Avenue, 5th Floor White Plains, NY 10606 Tel: (914)422-4165 Fax: (914)422-4184 E-mail: rlopez@pace.edu December 2001 Disney in Asia, Again? “We could be getting close to the time for a major Disney attraction in the world’s most populous nation.” [i] “I am completely confident that Chinese people love Mickey no less than they love a Big Mac.” [ii] Early in 1999, Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, voiced his opinions concerning potential markets for his firm’s entertainment products and services. A major thrust for the new millenium would be development in Asia. The firm had now achieved a certain level of experience with owning and/or managing assets and operations outside the United States. They had two competing models that would be utilized to analyze and ascertain the financial and operating structure of their next foray into the global business arena. Their first experience was Tokyo Disneyland. Modeled after Disneyland in California and located six miles from downtown Tokyo, the park opened in 1983 and was literally a cultural and financial success from day one. However, not all of the potential financial benefits accrued to Disney shareholders, since the facility was entirely owned by The Oriental Land Company. Disney generated a large and growing stream of fee...
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...include in their return income tax are the cost of rent and renovation/remodeling. Under IRC Sec. 61(a)(5) gross income derived from any type of sources and one of them is received rent or accrued for the occupancy of real estate or the use of personal property. However, IRC Sec. 280 A(g) states, “If a dwelling unit is used during the taxable year by the taxpayer as a residence and such dwelling unit is actually rented for less than 15 days during the taxpayer year, then the income derived from such use for the taxable year shall not be included in the gross income of such taxpayer under section 61,” (mentioned above). Although, the Letter Ruling 8104117 with references to the IRC Sec. 280 A(g) issued by Internal Revenue Service applies only to the taxpayers who request it, this could not be a used as a proper example because there is enough substantial authority that supports the exclusion of rent from the Rattameyers’ gross income. In addition, they rented the house to the show producers for less than 15 days and the improvements were made by them as tenants. There is also substantial authority to exclude cost of renovation/remodeling from the Rattameyer’ income tax return. IRC Sec. 109 that states, “Gross income does not include income derived by a lessor or real property on the termination of a lease, representing the value of such property attributed to buildings erected or other improvements made by lessee.” However, there is no substantial authority that would support...
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...Pace University DigitalCommons@Pace Case Studies Lubin School of Business 3-1-2002 Disney in Asia, Again Raymond H. Lopez Pace University Recommended Citation Lopez, Raymond H., "Disney in Asia, Again" (2002). Case Studies. Paper 3. http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/business_cases/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Lubin School of Business at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Case Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact rracelis@pace.edu. CASE STUDIES No. 26 March 2002 Disney in Asia, Again? by Raymond H. Lopez, Ph.D. Professor of Economics and Finance Lubin School of Business Pace University DISNEY IN ASIA, AGAIN? by Raymond H. Lopez, Ph.D. Raymond H. Lopez is Professor of Finance at the Lubin School of Business of Pace University. Introduction INTRODUCTION “We could be getting close to the time for a major Disney attraction in the world’s most populous nation.” 1 “I am completely confident that Chinese people love Mickey no less than they love a Big Mac.” 2 Early in 1999, Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, voiced his opinions concerning potential markets for his firm’s entertainment products and services. A major thrust for the new millenium would be development in Asia. The firm had now achieved a certain level of experience with owning and/or managing assets and operations outside the United States...
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...WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS, JUNE 1984 One of the best examples of service through people is Walt Disney Productions… How Disney looks upon people, internally and externally, handles them, communicates with them, rewards them, is in my view the basic foundation upon which its five decades of success stand. —Peters and Waterman, In Search of Excellence In Search of Excellence didn’t simplify enough! In the private or public sector, in big business or small, we observe that there are only two ways to create and sustain superior performance over the long haul. First, take exceptional care of your customers via superior service and superior quality. Second, constantly innovate. That’s it. There are no alternatives in achieving long-term superior performance. Financial control is vital but one does not sell financial control. —Peters and Austin, A Passion for Excellence Ron Miller, president and chief executive officer of Disney Productions Inc., pondered the essence of his dilemma. For the past two-and-a-half months, his company had been the subject of a takeover attempt by Saul Steinberg, a well-known raider. The attempt had started innocently enough with the announcement of the purchase of 6.3% of Disney’s outstanding common stock. In subsequent announcements, Steinberg’s holdings rose to 12.1%. When Steinberg announced his intention of acquiring 25% of Disney, Miller undertook a series of evasive actions, including the purchase of Arvida Corporation for $200 million in common...
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...animals has altered our sense of the wild and cleared the way for environmental decline. As the close of the twentieth century approaches and our world becomes more and more urban our knowledge of nature is increasingly second-hand. Those of us in cities, whose non-human neighbors tend toward rats, pigeons and dandelions, are dependent on the media for our understanding of the natural world – or at least that part of it not adapted to urban life. It is from movies, television and packaged tourism that we derive our sense of nature. For the last half century, it has been Walt Disney and his corporate estate that have provided that sense. In doing so Disney has instilled an appreciation of nature in generations of media consumers. Many environmentalists and animal-rights activists credit Disney with awaking their concern for the environment. But this appreciation has not been delivered in a value-free package. From the outset Disney’s nature films have supported the notion that the natural world’s chief value lies in the profit that industrial society can extract from it. At first this support took the form of simple paeans to the righteousness of logging, mining and urban development. Now, amidst the increasing commodification of everything from tribal myth to basmati rice, the value extracted from nature is the right to define nature. Disney covets that right and will gain it at our peril. Not much besides hindsight distinguishes the company’s early work from its predecessors and...
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...and Long term Orientation. The case study in this paper focuses more towards the cultural difference between employees of Disneyland that are located in different countries. Using Hofstede’s 4 culture dimension, highlighting main cultural differences between United States and France: Disneyland is an American Idea of a theme park which serves as a recreational place for children and families. This theme park originally started from Anaheim, California (United States) and later on after receiving massive response from visitors all around the globe, the directors of the company started off with opening similar type of theme parks with the same name of Disneyland in Orlando (US), Tokyo (Japan) and at Marne-la-Vallee (France). Although Disneyland did not find much difficulties in starting off their operations in Orlando and Tokyo and attracting large number of visitors in both locations but the response at Euro Disneyland had been alarming for the company. The Euro Disneyland had 12000 employees and most of them were from France. With the American idea being implemented in France,...
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...| The Walt Disney Company | | Business Research Project | | The Walt Disney Company | | Business Research Project | Contemporary Business 2012 Authored by: **** Contemporary Business 2012 Authored by: ***** "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." The Walt Disney Company started on October 16, 1923 as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, a joint venture of brothers Walt and Roy Disney. Three years later the company had produced two movies and purchased a studio in Hollywood, California where the company nearly sank due to pitfalls in distribution rights, but was saved by the creation of Mickey Mouse. The company released their first full-length feature film, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, in 1932 which became the highest grossing film of its time. But afterwards, the expenses of production caused difficulties with the next few animated films; then the advent of World War II halted the production of films as the Walt Disney Company contributed its skills to the war effort. After the war it was difficult for the company to pick up where it had left off, but the 1950s proved a turning point with the production of movies such as Treasure...
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...permission. To request permission to reproduce materials, contact Catherine Lombard, administrative officer, IUMI, HEC, BFSH1, CH-1015 Lausanne-Dorigny, Switzerland; phone 00 41 21 692 3310 ; fax 00 41 21 692 3495; e-mail admin.mim@hec.unil.ch. © IUMI/HEC, 2003 Version: (A) 2003-09-10 Disney www.disney.com is the biggest entertainment company in the world with a market value of US$38 billion, and one of the oldest, continuously operating since 1923. Today it is comprised of filmed entertainment businesses, major media networks, publishing, theme parks, resorts, a cruise-line, real estate, and consumer products. Disney‟s first international park opened in Tokyo, Japan in 1983. Tokyo Disneyland opened with a flourish and continued to do well until the softening of Japan‟s economy in the 1990‟s, from which it has yet to recover. In an effort to boost attendance, the older male-oriented Tokyo DisneySea Park opened in 2001.1 Disney is currently building Hong Kong Disneyland (www.info.gov.hk/disneyland), which is scheduled to open in 2005 – about the time that Universal Studios will open China‟s first world-standard 1 theme park in Shanghai.2 There has been criticism of value-for-money at Disney parks, which total ten worldwide,...
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...Analyzing the Walt Disney Company Damian Diaz MGMT 5120 Managing Organizational Design and Change Section 001 10/11/14 Overview and History The Walt Disney Company (WDC), headquartered in Burbank, California, was founded on October 16, 1923 by Walt Disney and his brother Roy Disney. WDC has five business segments which include studio entertainment, parks and resorts, media networks, consumer products and interactive media (Company Overview). With approximately 175,000 employees and an annual revenue of 45 billion dollars, the Walt Disney Company is one of the biggest entertainment corporations in the world (Fiscal Year 2013 Annual Financial Report And Shareholder Letter). Mission Statement The Walt Disney Company is a leading international entertainment and media enterprise founded in U.S. It operates five separate Disney segments: Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, The Walt Disney Studios, Disney Consumer Products and Disney Interactive. Disney Media Networks is the most significant Walt Disney business segment. Disney products include television programs, books, magazines, musical recordings and movies (Mission statement of Walt Disney). Studio Entertainment From the early beginnings, the company established themselves as a leader in the American animation industry. The iconic Mickey Mouse cartoon debuted on November 18, 1928 titled Steamboat Willie, which also marked the first appearance of Minnie Mouse. In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor...
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...elaborates about the issues faced by the Walt Disney Company when expanding to international borders. It first begins with the history of how Disneyland became so successful and expanded to various states across the country. It then describes about its first international success namely the Tokyo Disneyland and the factors affecting it. The case then describes Disney’s decision of expanding into Europe. The various differences and problems faced in setting up of the amusement park. Some of the major issues in setting up of the park were: * Cultural differences between the European and the American market * Environmental and location factors for setting up the amusement park * Financing and initial business plan were not analysed thoroughly in synchronisation with external economic factors * French labour laws were not taken into account while inducting the workforce * Management issues such as different attractions in the park It was understood that the chief reason for Euro Disney’s failure was a lack of understanding of European culture on Disney’s part. Based on the understanding from the case following recommendations were made: * A study in history and an understanding of the European market place would have enabled the Disney executives to anticipate many of its problems. * The mantra “think globally, act locally” would have helped Disney in better catering to the local needs. For instance, Disney does not sell alcohol within the parks and...
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...Washington University S-02-001 Published: 2002 Revised: 2009 Disney Corporate Strategy (A) Barbarians at the Magic Kingdom’s Gate* Introduction The next big takeover fight – and it would be a beauty – may involve Walt Disney Productions. By the time you get this issue, Disney’s defense strategy may already be unfolding. But it will produce no quick victory for Disney even if a white knight comes along, and even if the principle attacker, Saul Steinberg, can be bought off. One by one, Hollywood’s great studios have been plucked by the smart out-of-town moneymen. Paramount by the late Charles Bluhdorn. Twentieth Century-Fox by Marvin Davis and Marc Rich. MGMUnited Artists by Kirk Kerkorian. Columbia by Coca-Cola. Now, it may be Disney’s turn. But Disney will not go quietly. - Forbes, June 4, 1984 Ron Miller, Disney Productions’ CEO reflected on the remarkable events of the past several months. Disney, the symbol of wholesome family entertainment, had become the target of a hostile takeover attempt by a well-known raider, Saul Steinberg. Steinberg now owned 12% of the firm and was threatening to acquire more. While Miller had orchestrated several defensive maneuvers, Steinberg had now announced a public tender offer to purchase 49% of the equity at a price that was a 45% premium over where the stock had been prior to the raid. To fund this purchase, Steinberg was promising to sell the film library and certain real estate assets to outside investors. Steinberg also had a track record...
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