Walt Disney Company Walt Disney is more than just a billion dollar industry in not only the United States, but all over the world. Walt Disney represents the idea of happiness and a sense of tradition for families all over the world. According to the case in the text, Walt Disney has fallen 26 percent in 2006 with their Movie Studio being the worst performing division reporting in an operating loss of $12 million dollars. Their number of DVD sales is also part of their structure that has been declining since 2006 up to 2009. Walt Disney needs to change up their strategic plan from what it was when the company was founded back in 1923. They cannot expect to keep up with the competition if they are not willing to change their plan and start gearing it towards their future instead of the past and present. Mission and Vision Statements. According to the text, Disney’s mission statement 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.” It also states that Disney does not have vision statements. In order to gear their strategy for the future, it is crucial that Disney develops clear and concise vision statements. I think this is the first problem that contributes to their recent dramatic revenue drop and a simple step that will help them out on an all-around basis. Vision statements answer the question “What do we want to become?” The text states that it is important to develop vision statements and needs to be considered the first step in strategic planning. Walt Disney has completely skipped this step in the planning. Not having a vision statement might have gotten them by last century, due to the lack of competition, but in the 21st century, it is very important that they define a vision statement so that their mission statement is more on track and in line with their future goals. I think their vision statement needs to be something like “Our vision is to create a world of adventure and imagination.” This encompasses the tradition concept they have created and is very whimsical. I do think that only Walt Disney could get away with a vision statement like that and they need to embrace that characteristic. I also feel like after they have decided on a vision statement, that they should review and revise their mission statement. I think this is important because now that we are in 2012, it has proved to be dramatically different than in 1923. I think it needs to be updated and needs to include concepts that make them different than their competitors. In the case, it states just how much competition they have in all four SBU units. In the 20th century I do not think Disney had much competition which caused them to rule in every department, but now that is completely different and their mission statement needs to be strong so that it puts them above their competition. External Opportunities and Threats. Organizations have to be aware of the external opportunities and threats that are going on in the world. This could be another factor in why Disney’s net income has fallen and is something that needs to be addressed. In the case it states many times about how the United States is in a recession and how Americans are now concentrating on needs versus spending money on wants. Disney wants to have a clear strategic plan for the future and determining the external opportunities to take advantage of is very important for this strategy. Disney also needs to be aware of the threats that are going on so that they can either avoid them, or strategically plan on how to turn these threats into potential new opportunities. In Exhibit 4, it states the revenues of each of the four SBU units from 2006-2008. This exhibit is important to study because it clearly shows that the media networks and the park and resorts are two of the leading units that have the highest revenues for the organization. These two parts of the organizational structure have also both increased by about a million each year from 2006 to 2008. The last parts of the structure are studio entertainment and consumer products. These two have not been doing as well. Studio entertainment has actually been decreasing and consumer products has been increasing but not by millions. It increase the revenues for these two portions of the organization, Disney needs to be aware of some external opportunities that are going on right now. One thing that I think could help their strategic plan is being more aware of the opportunity of producing green products. There is a growing need to be more earth friendly among human beings, especially Americans. Disney needs to take up on this opportunity with their consumer products because it is something that just keeps growing and it benefits everyone with no consequences. People would embrace the fact that Disney has jumped on board with the green epidemic that is going on right now. Another opportunity that Disney can take advantage of right now is the growing market on the Internet. This market is moving rapidly and with Disney selling and marketing consumer products as one of their structural units, they can easily encompass more Internet selling into their strategic plan. In the studio entertainment department there are few companies that dominate this industry with Disney being number two with 11.7 percent of distribution of movies and their number one competitor, Warner Brothers, being at number one spot with 17.10 percent. The production and distribution of movies in the United States and Europe is a market bringing in $150 billion in revenues annually. I do not think it is a good idea for Disney to get out of this industry which means they have to strengthen it so that it grows in the future and so that they can dominate this industry at some point. Disney has produced many popular classics over the last century that may not be up to date with the new technology we have available now. Disney has already started releasing their movies again for consumers in blue-ray and HD. With the recent distribution of 3D televisions to consumers, Disney needs to take advantage of that and release more of their classics to the public so that they can be now watched in 3D. Even though we are in a recession, many Americans can afford the latest luxuries and right now in the TV industry, it is the 3D flat screens. Long-Term Objectives. Objectives are vital for an organization because it sets the direction for that organization and how they want to be in the future. With Disney wanting to improve its strategy for the future, this is something that has to be done and makes sense to do for the company. Since Walt Disney is in four dominate divisions, objectives need to be set for each one, especially for consumer products and studio entertainment since that is where they are mainly lacking. Summary. I think that Walt Disney will always be a successful industry but I do think with the addition of a vision statement, revising of the mission statement, being more aware of the recent external opportunities and threats, and lastly, with the creation of some long-term objectives, Disney’s strategic plan will be that must stronger and efficient.