Strategic reference point theory two basic strategic alternatives

Walt Disney Company (Burbank, California)

Should Disney grow, stabilize, or retrench? If Disney should grow, where? If stabile, how do you improve quality to keep doing what Disney has been doing, but even better? Finally, retrenchment would mean shrinking Disney’s size and scope. If you were to do this, what divisions would you shrink or sell?

Is Disney a content business, creating characters and stories? Or is it a technology/distribution business that simply needs to find ways to buy content wherever it can?

From a strategic perspective, how should Disney’s different entertainment areas be managed? Should there be one grand strategy (i.e., growth, stability, retrenchment) that every division follows, or should each division have a focused strategy for its own market and customers?

© 2016 Cengage Learning

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Walt Disney Company Headquarters, Burbank, California

Over two decades, your predecessor and boss at the Walt Disney Company, CEO Michael Eisner, accomplished much, starting the Disney Channel, the Disney Stores, and Disneyland Paris, and acquiring ABC television, Starwave Web services (from Microsoft cofounder Paul Allan), and Infoseek (an early Web search engine). But his strong personality and critical management style created conflict with shareholders, creative partners, and board members, including Roy Disney, nephew of founder Walt Disney.

One of your first moves as Disney’s new CEO was repairing relationships with Pixar Studios and its then CEO Steve Jobs. Pixar produced computer-animated movies for Disney to distribute and market. Disney also had the right to produce sequels to Pixar Films, such as Toy Story, without Pixar’s involvement. Jobs argued, however, that Pixar should have total financial and creative control over its films. When Disney CEO Michael Eisner disagreed, relations broke down, with Pixar seeking other partners. On becoming CEO, you approached Jobs about Disney buying Pixar for $7 billion. More important than the price, however, was promising Jobs and Pixar’s leadership, President Ed Catmull and creative guru John Lasseter, total creative control of Pixar’s films and Disney’s storied but struggling animation unit. Said Jobs, “I wasn’t sure I could get Ed and John to come to Disney unless they had that control.”

Although Pixar and Disney animation thrived under the new arrangement, Disney still had a number of critical strategic problems to address. Disney was “too old” and suffering from brand fatigue as its classic but aging characters, Mickey Mouse (created in 1928) and Winnie-the-Pooh (licensed by Disney in 1961), accounted for 80 percent of consumer sales. On the other hand, Disney was also “too young” and suffering from “age compression,” meaning it appealed only to young children and not preteens, who gravitated to Nickelodeon, and certainly not to teens at all. Finally, despite its legendary animated films, over time Disney products had developed a reputation for low-quality production, poor acting, and weak scripts. Movies “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” “Beverly Hills Chihuahua,” “Bolt,” “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” “Race to Witch Mountain,” and “Bedtime Stories” disappointed audiences and failed to meet financial goals. As you told your board of directors, “It’s not the marketplace, it’s our slate [of TV shows and movies].”

With many of Disney’s brands and products clearly suffering, you face a basic decision: Should Disney grow, stabilize, or retrench? Disney is an entertainment conglomerate with Walt Disney Studios (films), parks and resorts (including Disney Cruise lines and vacations), consumer products (i.e., toys, clothing, books, magazines, and merchandise), and media networks such as TV (ABC, ESPN, Disney Channels, ABC Family), radio, and the Disney Interactive Media Group (online, mobile, and video games and products). If Disney should grow, where? Like Pixar, is another strategic acquisition necessary? If so, what company should it acquire? If stability, how do you improve quality to keep doing what Disney has been doing, but even better? Finally, retrenchment would mean shrinking Disney’s size and scope. If you were to do this, what divisions would you shrink or sell?