Walt Disney Corporation

Researches done by different firms have shown that corporate entrepreneurship has had a positive impact on profits and the capital structure of a company. They have also shown that with corporate entrepreneurship the company is successful in the delivery and satisfaction of the customer which becomes a key item in a company. However, corporate entrepreneurship has its own cost but in the long run the costs are overrun by the benefits. Different companies have shown success in different fields. Companies involved in making money through innovation and invention are known as corporate entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is the process in a business or a corporation of coming up with new ideas of a business, services, products or even how to manufacture. Entrepreneurship can be the adding up of value to existing products in an organization. Success in corporate entrepreneurship is crucial in the sense that for a company to survive and do well in the market the product must sell ( Hasan & Duran 2006). A product becomes competitive in the market because of the new strategies and also constant upgrading that is done to the product. Success in corporate entrepreneurship is measured through how much profit the company makes. It can also be measured through the working conditions of the workers and the relationship between the workers and managers.

A good example of success in corporate success is Walt Disney. Walt Disney is a media company is located in America having its headquarters in Walt Disney. It grew from animation production firm into film production (Capodagli & Jackson 1999). The objective of Walt Disney Media Company is to be the leading and largest media company in information dissemination and entertainment. Financially, the company aims at maximizing earnings as well as ensuring customer satisfaction. This company offers a range of media services that includes ABC television network. The company is keeping in line with the objective of increasing its growth through its superb strategies. The acquisition of Marvel Entertainment had considerable influence on the growth of this media company. This paper seeks to analyze the Walt Disney Media Company in line with its success in corporate entrepreneurship and the theories and constructs used to their success.

In the line of production and satisfying of customers, the Walt Disney Media Company offers a variety of services that include cable television network, broadcast television network, radio, and online media among others. The variety of services offered by this media firm makes it more competitive and enables it to reach a wide range of customers (Capodagli & Jackson 1999). The item that is well known in this media on the department of film production is the Mickey Mouse cartoon creation. The Disney interactive media group is tasked with overseeing websites and interactive media and it generates revenue through advertisements of sales and subscriptions. Other services such as Disney online facilitate access to television, music, Disney movies among others ( Tieck 2010).

Disney mobile on the other hand allows access to the content on entertainment. The services owned by Disney Company facilitate dissemination of information and hence endeavor to satisfy the consumer needs. Innovation has been evident in this company because of the changes it has undergone in the company. The company has successfully mutated itself from an animation company to a highly competitive media house. Dissemination of information in this case is changing from one time to the other and also with the change in technology. A company like Walt Disney has to have intrapreneurs in the company for it to stand competition against other companies in the media industry. Disney Company is well aware of the competition posed by other large companies and thus ensures quality products and services to meet the consumer needs. Generation of revenue is enhanced by the capability of the company to remain more competitive in a perfect competition market. The presence of various services and products offered makes the company’s income be high (Dansereau& Yammarino 2007).

One of the models used by Walt Disney Media Company is the Guth and Ginsberg intrapreneurship model. This model in essence incorporates two types of the phenomenon and also the processes which are around them. They are, coming up with new businesses from existing ones through internal innovation or ventures in the companies. The other one is the transformation that is done to the organization through renewal of the organization. In this model some factors are incorporated as antecedents of entrepreneurship from within. They are environment; this includes competition and technology changes. The other is strategic leadership in the organization, which include values and behaviors portrayed in the organization. This includes the relationship between workers of the organization and managers that are involved in the policy making of the company (Hiaasen 1998). Codes of conduct and code of ethics is also crucial factor in the organization because they portray the image of the company.

Walt Disney has codes of conduct that govern their workers in the organization. They do this to maintain the quality of their work and also the image of the company in the outside world. They include integrity in the company from the managers to the workers, integrity must be adhered to. Trust is another code of conduct in Walt Disney Company. This is based on their commitment to guests and customers of the company. Teamwork also matters in Walt Disney Company since it governs the relationship and commitment towards each other. In the media industry teamwork is essential as all must work together to bring the news to the ears of the public. A reporter must work hand in hand with the technician so that the information can be recorded (Byrne & McQuillan 1999).

. The editor also must work with them to help bring out quality from the work they recorded. Engineers on the other hands must ensure that the information reaches the intended destination.

Honesty is also valued in Walt Disney media house since it gives their commitment to the company and also to their shareholders. The company is always built on honesty and integrity which bring out personal responsibility to the company. It is achieved through, protecting the company’s assets, reducing conflicts of interests, accurate record keeping and financial reporting. In the company, auditing and accounting matters are taken seriously and also not everybody in the company is allowed on behalf of the company. Another factor is playing by the rules which show the company’s commitment to lawful business practices. It is achieved through adhering to competition laws, product safety, and money laundering and most importantly anticorruption and anti bribery. The last of the major code of conducts is respect (Ludvigson, Campbell & National Bureau of Economic Research 1998). Respect in the organization shows the company’s commitment to the community. This is achieved through an international presence, labor standards, taking care of the environment and also political and charitable activities.

Organizational form is also another crucial factor in the model. This includes structure and processes in the organization. The management structure is vital as it shows how long an idea takes before it is fully implemented. The structure of a company is also beneficial in decision making. Another factor in the model is the organizational performance. In this factor efficiency is the key factor and job satisfaction. In the area of Walt Disney efficiency is extremely beneficial as customers always require accurate information and the information should be disseminated in time. Information dissemination requires a lot of care because of the importance it carries to the customers. Lack of efficiency in the media field causes a significant change in the customer base of the organization. Customers rely with the media company that in their opinion is the most efficient company in the delivery of the information. Walt Disney has put a lot of effort in ensuring their efficiency is upgraded. Their shift from a company just dealing with animation to a major competitor in the field of media has shown a lot of effort in efficiency upgrading (Dansereau & Yammarino 2007).

In the spirit of product differentiation, Walt Disney operates a large section of the media landscape. The company has managed to integrate control in its operations including entering into mergers and acquisition in an attempt to control the market. There are varieties of products and services that are offered by Walt Disney media. Television and radio is one of products by this media firm. Broadcasting generates billions of money by use of airwaves. Walt Disney Company owns the ABC television and owns a radio service corporation. This serves to air the various programs that Disney has and in making advertisements. The company keeps on upgrading their airwaves to relayof information efficient. This shows how much they value product differentiation.

The officers’ in charge of production have done quite a good job by offering quite a variety of items. Walt Disney studios offer a variety of shows ranging from movies to music. This offers entertainment to consumers throughout the world and especially the stage plays. The presence of hit movies enables the company to remain steadfast in the field of entertainment. Disney consumer products also offer a range of products such as books and magazines that serve an important role in the dissemination of information. Disney interactive offers interactive entertainment of high quality across digital media. This includes the online virtual of worlds and the moms and family network of websites. Walt Disney owns media networks such as the ESPN and SOAP net. The internet group in Walt Disney Corporation runs networks for this company and even in other media networks owned by other companies ( Walt Disney Educational Media Company 1977).

. The company has thus been in a position to outsource its media network services to other companies thus expanding its operations. The presence of radio services has been decreasing since ABC radio network was sold to Citadel Broadcasting although the company still owns other radio stations across the world.

The other theory is the model evident in Walt Disney is the model of middle level managers’ entrepreneurial behavior. This model is well linked and associated with successful corporate entrepreneurship like Walt Disney Company. Their aim is usually to develop and improve the organization. This model shows entrepreneurship behavior, entrepreneurial actions that describe that behavior and also the outcomes from the behavior as well as the factors that influence the continuance of the organization. Walt Disney Corporation strives to exploit product market opportunities through innovations and also proactive behaviors. As discussed above Walt Disney has tried to improve their products through the introduction of many varieties of their service. This has helped the firm to facilitate their firm’s efforts to use and exploit fully the current competitive advantage and explore for the opportunities ahead and also the competencies required to successfully go through the opportunities (Disney Institute 2001).

Disney faces a multiple of threats in the field of its operations. These threats results from its objective to grow both regionally and globally. Since there are other large firms that are also going global, the competition they pose to Disney is significant since they will adversely affect the performance of Disney. In this argument therefore, these large firms are a significant threat to the growth and operation of Disney. Disney acquired Marvel in an effort to counter competition. Analysts argue that hasty acquisition may see the corporation make low profits due to increased costs and may affect its brand negatively. In times of economic crises, retaining of employees can pose a great challenge because there are chances that Disney may lose its employees to the competitors thus causing a massive harm in its operations. Disney should have strategies to curb these threats as they endanger the growth of the company (Capodagli & Jackson, 2001).

Disney has many opportunities in terms of development and growth. Only 25% of Disney’s income comes from the international market. This means that there is a larger market internationally that is not exploited. The vision of expanding its operation through Europe will give Disney a competitive advantage in the international market. The opportunity in Disney is more beneficial in view of expanding its operation across borders thus the corporation should not leave this opportunity un-utilized since it will result to increased growth of the company The brand of the company that up to date acts as goodwill for the company is a point of strength on the part of the company. The development of individuals and characters that will develop the company is critical to the growth of the company. This is a strong investment to the future growth of the company. Disney should utilize the opportunity posed by the strengths it has to improve its operations. Utilizing this opportunity for the good of the company will help neutralize the effect brought about by the weaknesses (Earley & Singh 2000). Disney enjoys the services of a strong board of directors that has played a crucial role in leading the company towards its achievement.

In respect to Disney being a conglomerate, it incurs high sunk costs that pose a threat to future financial needs. Moreover, maintenance cost of the brand and collection and dissemination of information is high. This is a weakness in the operations of Disney. The attempt by Disney to increase the presence of the internet has a weakness since it will be hard for Disney to outdo its competitors who have already hit a large and popular market like the Google services and Facebook, which either have deals or are owned by Disney’s competitors. Disney should also try to offer a good deal to the lucrative companies not owned by its competitors to supply them with the internet data network.

The most significant weakness is the sunk costs. The corporation should devise ways on how to minimize the costs incurred by its segments in their operations. The strategy I can propose to Disney is for them to outsource some of their jobs. This will give the corporation an advantage as it will not have to deal in the management of operations by the employees of the outsourced company. The result of the corporation’s increased sunk costs is due to the corporation managing a wide range of operations that automatically results to non-performance in some segments. Outsourcing is thus as a strategic solution for this kind of weakness in the corporation (Rukstad, Collis, Levine, & Harvard Business School 2005)

The other evident theory and a construct used by the management of the company are entrepreneurial to orientation to sales growth rate relationship. This model is involved in explaining three processes which are strategic. They are participative in strategic decision making, strategic formation mode and also learning from the failures made previously. This kind of model is partly helpful to Walt Disney because it is more helpful to the firms that apply autocratic decision making and to those that apply emergent strategy formation. It is a major construct in the corporation of Walt Disney through their strategic management and entrepreneurship within the company. In Walt Disney Corporation the firm uses it as a strategic construct with a conceptual domain that includes some positive and predetermined outcomes. This is achieved through management related behaviors, beliefs and preferences. This is usually determined by the top level managers. The major objective of this company is to achieve growth both in the local and international market. To achieve this, it uses certain strategies to overcome the challenges and focus on their goals. The increased technological advancement forces Disney to indulge innovativeness in their operations. They ensure they have in place multiple technologies that make their services accessible to a larger population.

With a market that is yet to be saturated and more companies joining the industry, there is expected competition in the future. Walt should thus devise a strategy on how to counter the competition. Through acquisition Walt Disney can reduce competition and also increase its market coverage. The company also ensures that the leadership role is observed and leaders with credentials are mandated to lead the company. The company focuses on its audience in its quest to offer quality services with an aim to retain the audience. They make their products audience oriented and this has helped them in penetrating external markets (Gross 1996).

However the construct has some challenges that the firm faces that are related to the model. According to a report by Walt Disney chief executive officer, the passing of a board member was a loss to the company. This is a challenge within the company. However, the greatest challenge that the company faces is the competition within the media industry in the market. There are large companies in the media industry that deals in the same products and services as Walt Disney. New York Times is an example, and it has a large market share hence a threat to Walt Disney. Walt should come up with strategies on how to counter this problem. Understanding the value chain in a company has greater advantages as it enables a firm to focus on the key business and to achieving the set objectives (Thomas 1998). Disney should thus be concerned on how the different actors in the operations of the company interact to achieve the desired outcome. Disney should have a well laid out strategy to undertake its operations by containing its competitors and reducing the cost. Disney should integrate its primary activities together with support activities in order to achieve an overall growth. The primary activities are those activities that add directly to the attainment of the company’s objective, while the support activities like procurement and human resource help in the achievement of primary activities. Disney is a large corporation that has grown to become one of the largest corporations in media and internet (Dansereau & Yammarino 2007). The good will of Disney has seen it move to greater heights in the field of its operations. The performance of any company depends on the chain value of the company and the strategies it uses to solve its challenges and weaknesses. There exists competition in every business and thus any firm entering the market should be ready to contain the competition and emerge the best in terms of achieving its set objectives. All opportunities that arise should be utilized if growth and development is to be achieved. With the help of the models and constructs the corporation can improve further in their quest to establish themselves as superpowers in the industry.

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