The Walt
Company is a transnational entertainment company with five business segments:
1) Media Networks
2) Parks and Resorts
3) Studio Entertainment
4) Consumer Products
5) Interactive Media
(The Walt Disney Company, 2014)







The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1923 (Global Footprint, n.d.)
Robert Iger has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 2000 (Jurevicius, 2013)
In 2013, Disney brought in $45 billion in revenue (Business Week,
2014)
Disney has built 45 resorts and 12 theme parks including Tokyo
Disney Resort in 1983, Tokyo DisneySea in 2001, and Hong Kong
Disneyland Resort in 2005 (The Walt Disney Company, n.d.)
Disney acquired ABC in 1996 and ESPN in 1997 (The Walt Disney
Company, n.d.)
Disney’s media networks also include Lifetime, Hyperion Books, The
History Channel, and A&E (The Walt Disney Company, n.d.)

•
The Walt Disney Company is a global company with U.S. headquarters in Burbank, CA
•
• Operates in 40 countries
Employs approximately 166,000
• Africa: 20
• Asia and Oceania: 9,120
• Europe and Middle East: 6,080
• Latin America: 1,270
• U.S. and Canada: 118,070
(The Walt Disney Company, n.d.)


According to the theory, organizational culture is a company’s shared vision, values, symbols, language, beliefs, and habits that determine its priorities and guide its decision-making. Organizational culture is passed down through history and socialized into new members
(Denison, 1996).

Four culture orientations: clan (teamwork and employee welfare), adhocracy (entrepreneurship, growth, and innovation), hierarchy
(order, formalization, and control), and market (goals, tasks, completion of actions, and outcomes) (Kotter, 2012)

Organizational culture theory will serve as the theoretical framework to understand Disney’s operations

Disney’s global success can partially be attributed to its enduring, positive organizational culture which it instills into employees worldwide.

The Walt Disney Company’s organizational culture consists of its shared vision, values, symbols, language, beliefs, and habits.
Innovation
Decency
Optimism
Quality
Be the leading global producer/provider of entertainment and information
Make people happy
Community
Storytelling
(Disney Careers, n.d.)


Centralized casting center recruits talent that embodies Disney’s core values and ensures that values are communicated consistently worldwide

Enter into the Disney narrative with Mickey Mouse ear-shaped archways and
Alice in Wonderland doorknobs
(Ingelsson, Eriksson, & Lilja, 2012)


Cast members promote Disney’s organizational culture on the job to deliver a personal and magical experience to each individual


Treat each attendee as a valued guest, not an impersonal consumer
“Smile factory”- Act cheerful whenever in front of the public
 Acting rude, bored, or insincere could detract from each guest’s experience and undermine the entire Disney enterprise
(Maanen, 1990)


Maintaining a diverse workforce is critical for Disney’s vision and its goal of global community-building

Company offers international program where individuals from around the world can live and work at Walt Disney World.
Participants can:

Connect with diverse others


Be exposed to Disney culture and work ethic
Learn leadership, presentation, and customer service skills
(Disney International Programs, n.d.)


Despite rigorous on-the-job requirements, employee satisfaction is high due to:




Social recruiting and selection process into the “Disney family”
Videos that set job expectations
Individuals matched with job that best suits their passions and interests
Significance and cooperation of roles highlighted through language- audition vs. job interview, cast member vs. employee


Creative empowerment through brainstorming sessions
Perks- free park admission, discounted merchandise
(Nguyen & Kleiner, 2005)


Disney products serve as memory makers and memory takers
(Brockus, 2004)

Disney films promote decency in viewers (Brockus, 2004)

Encourage prosocial behavior- helping, sharing, and comforting others

Disney committed to innovation- fills in gaps in marketplace to remain a viable global entertainment option


ABC is first TV network to make programs available for download on Itunes
(“Disney/ABC Television Group,” 2010)
Glocalize theme parks- Hong Kong Disneyland with feng shui design, Chinese cuisine, and workers speaking local dialects (Matusitz, 2011)



A strong, unified organizational culture has drawbacks
Expansion overseas seen as imperialistic- promotes Western values at the expense of the local cultures


Extended alcohol ban to Paris Disneyland despite French norm of drinking a glass of wine with a meal (Wasko, Phillips, & Meehan 2001)
Exploited Chinese culture at Hong Kong Disneyland with Mickey Mouse shaped dim sum and traditional robes emblazoned with Disney characters (Fung & Lee,
2009)


Disney’s domestic and international success is related to its strong organizational culture based on the values of decency, optimism, storytelling, innovation, quality, and community combined with its vision to make people happy

Its organizational culture is reinforced worldwide through its products as well as by recruiting and training cast members





How well is Disney’s vision achieved at home vs. abroad?
Are there differences between domestic and international Disney employee satisfaction levels?
Besides imperialism, are there additional drawbacks to Disney promoting a consistent organizational culture worldwide?
Beyond organizational culture, which other factors contribute to
Disney’s global success?

Brockus, S. (2004). Where magic lives: Disney's cultivation, co-creation, and control of
America's cultural objects. Popular Communication, 2(4), 191-211.
Denison, D. (1996). What is the difference between organizational culture and organizational climate? A native’s point of view on a decade of paradigm wars. Academy of Management
Review, 21(3), 619-654.
Disney/ABC Television Group. (2010). MediaWeek, 20(20), AEF14.
Disney Careers. (n.d.) Culture & Diversity. Retrieved from http://disneycareers.com/en/working-here/culture-diversity.
Disney International Programs (n.d.). Disney Careers. Retrieved from http://ip.disneycareers.com/en/default.
Fung, A., & Lee, M. Localizing a global amusement park: Hong Kong Disneyland.
Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 23(2), 197-208.
Ingelsson, P., Eriksson, M., & Lilja, J. (2012). Can selecting the right values help TQM implementation? A case study about organisational homogeneity at the Walt
Disney Company. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 23(1), 1-11.

Kotter, J. (2012, September 27). The key to changing organizational culture. Forbes.
Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2012/09/27/the-key-tochanging-organizational-culture.
Maanen, J. (1990). The smile factory: Work at Disneyland. Reframing Organizational Culture, 58-
76.
Matusitz, J. (2011). Disney's successful adaptation in Hong Kong: A glocalization perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 28(4), 667-681.
Nguyen, H. & Kleiner, B. (2005). Effective human resource management in the entertainment industry. Management Research News, 28(2), 100-107.
The Walt Disney Company. (2014, January). Fiscal year 2013 annual financial report
and shareholder letter. Retrieved from http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/sites/default/files/reports/10k-wrap-2013.pdf.
The Walt Disney Company. (n.d.) Investor Relations. Retrieved from http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/investors.
Wasko, J., Phillips, M., & Meehan, E. (2001). Dazzled by Disney? The global Disney
audiences project. London: Leicester University Press.