The Management at the Walt Disney Company - Research Paper Example

Global Team Development

Introduction

The objectives of this research are to establish the primary changes that development of a global team has brought to the Walt Disney Company. The development of the global team requires sufficient resources set aside to ensure that team attains the necessary skills and knowledge to manage the operations of the company on a global platform. The Walt Disney Company started off when two brothers Walter and Roy decided to start an entertainment channel that would entirely concentrate on production of animations. The two brothers were equal partners in the beginning when the company was known as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in 1923. Roy later suggested that the company should undergo a transformation which involved a change in its name to The Walt Disney Studio. The company created its first cartoon characters Mickey and Minnie mouse which grew to become very popular in children entertainment sector (Atzori et al., 2012). The entertainment appreciated the content developed by the Walt Disney Company, and this propelled it to great success which prompted the company to venture into other fields in the entertainment sector. The Walt Disney Company ventured into production of consumer products which were mainly meant for kids. This deal was reached when Roy accepted an offer to have the cartoon characters printed on children’s paper towels. The Walt Disney Company became a public company in 1940, and that expanded its capital base and enhanced its expansion and investment in foreign territories. In 1955, the company pioneered a different approach to the entertainment when it opened its first Disneyland theme park.

The theme parks were a great attraction and boosted the success of the company even further. At the same time, the company ventured into the television business where it opened up various television stations. The Walt Disney Company currently has diversified its operations into four distinct industries which are; consumer products, theme parks and resorts, media networks and studio entertainment (The Walt Disney Company, 2017). The consumer products sector is involved in development, sales, and promotion of products that represent the Disney characters. The Television, radio, and cable properties are the core of the media network. All these expansions have led to the rise of the company’s dominance in the Global market.

Literature Review

Every global company’s competitive advantage depends on its ability to coordinate critical resources and information that are spread across different geographical locations. The Walt Disney global team targets several emerging markets which the company believes would be advantageous for its business. These markets include Latin America, Japan, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. These emerging markets have particularly been selected by the Walt Disney Company due to their consistent economic growth and the increased population size. The most recent achievement by the Walt Disney is venturing out into Shanghai which is one of the rapidly developing China urban centers. China is believed to have a population of over 1.3 Billion people which requires an expansion of the initial investment as the current Disney Resort in Hong Kong does not meet the needs of the population. Besides the rapid growth and stable economy China has a GDP growth of approximately +10.3% in the recent year (Freeman, 2014). This means that the Chinese population has money to spend on luxuries such as the Disney resort. Most of the competitors that the Walt Disney company faces in the industry have also gone international by expanding their operations in most of the emerging markets. Disney has however been able to maintain a constant delivery of quality service and enhanced customer experience which has given it a competitive advantage over other players in the industry.

The Walt Disney Company's success in the global market has not been easy to achieve. The company has taken many years to study and analyze trends in some emerging market such as China and Japan. Global team development refers to the strategic move by the human resource department to compose a team to represent a company in the world market. This team is usually comprised of professionals who take the responsibility of promoting the business as well as enhancing its corporate image in the international market (Ingelsson Et al, 2012). Ingelsson talks about the development of global teams in international organizations, whereby Walt Disney Corporation is one of the organizations quoted in the article. The Walt Disney Company has continually invested in the development of a reliable global team that would give them a competitive advantage in the international market. Global teams require proactive attention and continued support as they are responsible for the success of the business in the global market. The increased competition in the industry requires the Disney Company to develop a reliable global team that will be able to propel its popularity and sales in the international markets.

Research Methodology

Data collection techniques such as structured questionnaires were used to attain information about the Walt Disney global team development from relevant sources. This information was used together with information attained from analysis of literature material on the same topic. The sources utilized in this study were believed to be credible and to contain relevant information about the global operations of the company. This was one of the strategies that ensured that the research attained reliable information on the global team development in the Walt Disney Company. The second method involved analysis of scholarly and peer reviewed articles which are believed to contain authentic information about the global team development.

Findings and Discussion

From the research, it was evident that the Walt Disney Company has implemented numerous strategies to bring together its global team. The research revealed that the company makes use emotional regulation strategies on the onstage workers which is a fulfillment of one of the regulations that were passed by the organization (Siklos, 2009). Sirklos talks about a film that was developed by the Walt Disney Corporation about the late apple chief executive officer steve jobs. The article talks about innovation which is encouraged throughout the administration of the Walt Disney Company and the role it has played in ensuring that the company develops a workforce that upholds its global goals and ambitions. This is usually quite useful for the global team as besides getting the ultimate satisfaction, it has supportive teams that it can rely on. The establishment of the global team has also ensured that the Walt Disney Company adheres to international standards that regulate the entertainment industry. This has been a sure way to boost the corporate image of the company as well as to attract more potential customers in the international market (Reyers & Matusitz, 2012). Team work is one of the strategies that have enhanced production of quality content by the company. Its emphasis on establishing a good relationship with its global partners has enhanced the creation of a reliable global team that is able to propel the company to ultimate success.

The Walt Disney global team follows several strategies which include the Path-Goal model, the contingency theory, and the team work theory. All these are combined to come up with a management system which has enabled the company to remain successful in the industry. A path-goal model is an approach that defines the primary goals as well as the procedures that the team should follow to achieve them (Reyers & Matusitz, 2012). The team is expected to keep focused on the path and the goals only. The goal is to increase your employees' motivation, empowerment, and satisfaction, so they become productive members of the organization. The contingency theory which is also applied by the Walt Disney Company emphasizes on the best corporate organizational approach that enables making the best decisions for a company.

Conclusion

The Walt Disney’s management establishment of a global team was a move that brought a revolution in its global operations. The company uses theories such as path goal, the contingency and the team work theories as revealed by research on its operations. These strategies are put in place to guide the team have enhanced the continued success of the company in beating completion and venturing into new global markets. The company has managed to come up with an efficient management scheme which has enhanced its success. Management plays a significant role in the success of a business. The management at the Walt Disney Company has proved to be both competent and experienced. The global team which is focused on the emerging markets such as China, Japan, and Asia has enabled the company to venture into these regions successfully.