Task 1

Walt Disney is considered as one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time. Not only did
he create a unique business venture but he also proved it highly successful. Born in the
year 1901 he was of a modest upbringing. He founded the Disney Brothers in 1920’s
and in 1928 he developed the now infamous “Mickey Mouse” character. It is conjectured
that he drew inspiration from an actual mouse who lived in his studio.

Walt Disney produced the “Mickey Mouse” cartoon series in an era where silent
movies / cartoons were still the norm. Even though there were other cartoons which had
a sound track connected to the visualization, it was not well in par with the action
throughout the movie. Disney used a then innovative technology called a “Click track”
which kept the musicians in precise timing. As a result the character’s actions were an
exact match with the music, and helped with the cartoons comedic timings. And thus the
“Mickey Mouse” cartoon became Walt Disney’s first success.

Disney then ventured into full length feature animations, which were Technicolor and
advanced in technology. He was also the first to introduce synchronized sound. As a
result he released many animations like “Snow white and the Seven Dwarfs”,
“Pinochio”, “Bambi” etc. which were all successful and helped in gain a massive
popularity. He then followed up on his success by introducing live action films such as
the crucially claimed animated movie “Cinderella” and the film “Mary Poppins”, which
was a book story book adaption, where he fought and won over the rights by its author.
The latter earned him several awards including five academy awards.

We can see that Walt Disney, through his company Disney Brothers Studio gained a
competitive advantage by using modern technology that was not in use by his
competition at that time and used to gain a successful entrants to the market. His
barriers for entry in the animation industry was minimum as his competition could not
compete with his products because of his superior technology. It is said that he created
a “Golden Era” for animation, therefore making his studio truly the pioneer in the
industry.

Furthermore, Disney used the popularity he received from the animations to diversify his
portfolio by opening up a theme park, which was truly one of its kind. Thus, he opened
the first ever amusement park and named it “Disneyland” in 1955. He used the
differentiation strategy to diversify his company’s product range thus earning him a
more diversified and widespread consumer base. He also ventured into other projects
such as planning the “Winter Olympics”, “Moscow Fair” etc.

He further solidified his popularity and the company’s success through entering into
television. He produced shows such the “Mickey Mouse Club” and the “Walt Disney’s
Disneyland” which also provided the funding for Disneyland.

Today the Walt Disney Company is a multinational conglomerate with a net worth of an
estimated 130 billion USD. The Walt Disney Studios is its primary operating studio, but
it includes Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel Studios
(which is presently a huge success), 20th Century Studios, etc. The company also has
other media outlets such as the Disney Media Networks. Disney also owns and
operates the ABC broadcast network, cable television networks such as the Disney
Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic. Thus catering to a massive
media viewing population.

Other ventures include the theme parks (14 in total around the world), publishing,
merchandizing entities, music and theatre ventures as well. Thus the company has truly
ensured that it caters almost all the segments of the market.

The Walt Disney Company utilizes a strategy led by its founder Walt Disney himself that
ensures competitive advantage over its rival companies by capitalizing on the
uniqueness of products offered in the entertainment, mass media, and amusement park
industries. He uses product differentiation to gain the upper hand in the market.

Even though the company’s competitive strategy is based on making its products
different from those of competitors, its intensive strategies for growth are focused on
developing new products that suit global market trends. Therefore the company focuses
and devote extensive capital on research and development i.e. to keep ahead of its
competitor’s technology, to keep up with the consumer demands, to examine market
trends etc. Growth through product innovation which stems from creativity, enables the
business to compete against huge companies. Companies such as Viacom
Incorporation, Time Warner Incorporation, Sony Corporation, CBS Corporation etc. are
the biggest competitors of the field (Global market trends 2019).

According to the Ansoff Matrix, which describes the strategies that could be used for
product-market relationships and trends (Ansoffmatrix.com, 2015), Walt Disney
Company uses the Product Development Strategy as the primary intensive growth
strategy.

The Product Development Strategy has been used because the company has
introduced and marketed new products to the already there market (Baker and Hart
2007). Such instance involves the release of a completely new movie by the studio. An
example is the growth by introducing technologically enhanced products, such as
movies for customers in the international market.

In the context of Michael Porter’s model, The Walt Disney Company’s generic
competitive strategy and intensive growth strategies are aligned for product-focused
development the equivalent merchandise which can be used as a great marketing tool
to generate more revenue through higher customer satisfaction. It is further seen
through the current organizational structure of the company, which has been formulated
to properly encompass the flow of the new product development activities. The
Research and Development stages has been added to each different segment of
Disney’s diversified portfolio. Therefore it is ensured that the corporate managerial
strategy of Product Development helps in the truly unique and diverse nature of
Disney’s product range. Also another related strategic goal is to achieve that business
growth is achieved by effectively encouraging customers to purchase Disney’s products
on the basis of their unique attributes, such as in entertainment experience.

The Market Penetration strategy has been used as a secondary strategy by the
company because the company’s growth is only achieved partially through this strategy.
Therefore it is seen that Disney only uses this strategy to increase its revenue through
the sale of its existing products. But they are marketed to the existing market. Here, an
intensive regiment of advertising and promotions are used. As example, we can see this
strategy in motion when Disney targets its global customers. Campaigns are
established across the countries in many different languages to ensure that that the
product has been catered across the world in masses. The business strengths shown in
the SWOT analysis of Disney contribute to success in implementing this intensive
growth strategy. A strong brand based on the differentiation generic strategy creates
competitive advantage to attract customers to the company’s products, and to manage
customers’ expectations.

Market Development. Market development is an intensive growth strategy that is less

frequently used in The Walt Disney Company’s business. In growing the business, this
intensive strategy requires the company to introduce its existing products to new
markets or market segments. For example, growth is achieved by establishing
operations in new markets, such as through a new Disneyland amusement park to
capture a regional market. Even with competitive challenges, entry into new markets
can increase the company strengths to manage the industry’s competitive forces shown
in the Porter’s Five Forces analysis of Disney. A key strategic objective in market
development is to use the differentiation generic competitive strategy to successfully
introduce the company’s products into new markets.

Diversification. The Walt Disney Company uses diversification as a supporting intensive

strategy for business growth. Developing or acquiring new businesses is the typical
approach in this intensive growth strategy. For example, through the establishment of
the Disney Cruise Line, the company grew by entering the cruise line market of the
tourism and hospitality industries. The differentiation generic strategy develops the
competitive advantage of new business operations that use the company’s brand.
Under diversification, a strategic objective is to manage competitive challenges by
developing new businesses that grow the company’s presence and brand popularity in
the international market (Wiley, 2005) It is concluded that the differentiated strategy
provides the most excellent business performance in the market (Anderson and Smith
2010)

Another relevant strategic objective used by the Disney Company is to reinforce the
competitive advantages through marketing strategies, which are part of the marketing
mix or 4Ps. High marketing of the company brand and its uniqueness have helped in
the market leadership. The Porter’s model state that competitive strategies must involve
differentiation to grow the business (Harvard Business Review, March (2001), pp. 2–
19), which the Disney Company has practiced successfully.
Many experts have said that a strategic gap is an opportunity in the competitive
environment that is not being fully exploited by competitors (Johnson,G.,Scholes,T,
Tsitsianis,N.,& Yin,Y.P.,(2008), and here we can see how Disney has not missed any
opportunities in the market

Task 2

Strategic formulation is being defined as “The determination of the basic long term goals
and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation
of resources necessary for carrying out these goals”(Chandler, 1962)

Competition is the core of the success or failure of firms (Porter, M. E., 1985), therefore
formulating competitive strategies ensures a profitable and successful position in the
market. Strategies such as new product development, product differentiation, market
penetration or market development have been the main focus for many firms to be
successful in the late 1980’s to beginnings of the 2000’s. And they have been rightly
focused too, as their strategies have been proven to be successful throughout.

However during the last decade or so, we have been witnessing a gradually increasing
focus on sustainability and environmentalism. This has been a global change in the
socio economy as a direct result of the increasing awareness and publications of global
warming, climate change, animal extinction, natural disasters etc. People are being
more focused on environmental protection, conservation and sustainability, therefore
making the company’s shift their strategies which encompasses these core values as
well.

As a result companies these days have been shifting their core strategies according to
the triple bottom line. Accordingly the triple constrains include; social, environmental
and financial aspects. Main difference from traditional strategic principles being the
inclusion of ecological (or environmental) and social measures. The TBL dimensions
are also commonly called the three Ps: people, planet and profits (Andrew Savitz,
2006).

The first P indicates “People”. It considers the human factor in the company in an
internal and external framework. The internal environment consisting of the employees.
The labour involved or Human resources involved in the company or business entity.
The external environment includes all other humans in the interacting market or its
surrounding which is being affected by the company i.e. the wider community where a
corporation does business. Another way to look at “people” is, how much does a
company benefit society? A triple bottom line company pays fair wages and takes steps
to ensure humane working conditions at supplier factories.

A business that follow the triple bottom strategy instead of following the traditional
competitive advantage strategy and focus on only their customers, always makes it their
principle to operate in a manner which advantages the society at large. Triple bottom
line companies make an effort to “give back” to the community. We can also see that
these companies have more interest in welfare programs and sustainability initiatives.
For example, 3M partners with United Way to fund STEM education across the world
(Company website). This initiative is an instance of “enlightened self-interest”—acting to
further the interests of others, ultimately, to serve one’s own self-interest. The
community benefits, and 3M provides itself a well-educated source of scientists and
innovators for generations to come.

The second P is of course the “Planet”. It is obvious that people are growing more and
more concerned about the environmental aspects such as global warming and climate
change. Therefore it is no surprise when the society as one has the view that the
company’s which has a greater hand at harming the environment should also
experience its price. And because this view is global and strong the company’s cannot
simply shy away from becoming more environmental friendly. Global NGO’s, PETA,
United Nations and other clubs and societies have also experienced a stronger voice
since late becoming it increasingly evident that sustainability is crucial. Therefore
companies ensure that they minimize the carbon footprint, and other ecological
eradication methods in their operations are truly minimized as much as possible.
Therefore they take initiatives such as more focus on recycling, renewable energy
sources, reduction of waste, paperless environments, improving sustainability overall.

One company who is famous in its environmental sustainability has of course been
Apple Inc. They have announced that a percentage as high as 93% of its total energy
has been generated from renewable energy sources (Company website). Other leading
companies such as Google and Facebook also invests heavily on being Green.

The third and last P is “Profit”. We should remember that while it is important that the
companies are being environmental and ecofriendly, at the end of the day there is no
use of a company being non profitable. Revenue generation is a company’s sole
objective. But in the context of the triple bottom line strategy it is said understood that
even if business entities pursue revenue generation it is being followed in a method in a
way that the other P’s in the concept “People” and “Planet” are not endangered. The
business plan of a company following the 3P strategy ensures that the business plan
and the strategies used in pursuing profitability always ensures environmental
sustainability and people responsibility.

As an example the furniture conglomerate IKEA reported a collective sales revenue of

$37.6 billion in 2016. It was reported that the company has generated revenue by
recycling its waste and producing some of its bestselling products. Earlier the company
has reported the waste of the company had been costly as much as 1 million USD
annually. Currently IKEA is following a path to “zero waste to landfill” worldwide.
According to Joanna Yarrow, IKEA’s head of sustainability for the UK, “We don’t do this
because we’re tree huggers, we do this because it’s very cost effective.” (Pinter et al.,
1995)
Throughout the history many methods of measuring sustainability by using indicators
such as geography and project character at different levels have been described
(Mitchell, et al.;Kuik and Verbruggen,(1991), such as the concept of 'triple bottom line
accounting’ (Elkington, (1997), which formulates small scale analyses, and highlights
the importance of including social and environmental dimensions in their operations and
implementation of corporate business strategies (Movat, (2002). All in all we can see
the high focus on the triple bottom line strategy while the slow degeneration of the more
outdated competitive strategies and customer satisfaction models.

Therefore we can illustrate that the general impression of the triple bottom line or 3BL
paradigm is that a company’s ultimate success or profitability should be computed not
just by the outmoded monetary or commercial outcome, but also by its sociological,
ecological and environmental management (Norman and MacDonald, (2004)

Task 3

Culture is defined in different manners according to many aspects for the purposes of
research. A more famous definition is that ‘‘Culture is the collective programming of the
mind which distinguishes one group from another’’ (Hofstede’s (1984) in relation with
organizations.

Forbes magazine once described that “Culture is Currency” (Forbes.com(2020), and

accurately so, as a company cannot survive without the proper functioning of its’ human
resources, and in turn the humans will not be functioning at their maximum capacity if
the environment that they are working in not viable. Essentially all employees and
external parties want a “work friendly” environment. E-commerce and globalization are
external changes that are transforming business and society today. On a political map,
the boundaries between countries may be clear, but on a competitive map showing the
real flow of financial and industrial activity, the boundaries have largely disappeared.
(Henk,W.Volbarda et al.(2011).

With globalization and increased access to more communities, people of different

nationalities, ethnicities, racial back grounds etc. have merged together in work place.
This is inevitable with the growing technology and other socio economic factors.

It is evident that companies have to contemplate the cultural issues in their daily
businesses to operate successfully in the global marketplace. To succeed in managing
human resources that is increasingly diverse and multinational, managers need
knowledge about cultural differences and similarities among people from different
backgrounds (Golembiewski, 2000). In context it is essential that managerial tiers as
well as the peers acknowledge and sensitive to the differences and in turn contribute to
their effectiveness in cross cultural communication.

We should always keep in mind that diversity issues cost money, time and also
efficiency. Where these issues are not mitigated and coped suitably they can lead to
many problems. Consequences such as unhealthy strains between employees or with
management, overall high rate of employee turnover, reduction of efficiency and
productivity of the daily operations as well as the overall financial loss, due to lack of
team work and increased conflict, inability to appeal and maintain a talented group of
human resources at the company, cost for complaint handling and legal ventures. Also
the cost for recruitment and training will also be higher due to lack of human resources
detainment (Stockdale and Crosby, 2004)

Furthermore, according to Hofstede (1984) successfully managing cultural differences

can enhance organizational effectiveness and give an organization a strong competitive
advantage. Accordingly he classified four dimensions of culture. They are; power
distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity.
They help in conceptualizing the effects of cultural diversity in the organization
(Hofstede, G (1984).

The company should always be to disengage in discrimination at all aspects.

Harassment, discrimination based activity or communication based on any aspect such
as the race, colour, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, marital status,
religion, caste, creed etc. should be completely discouraged at the individual employee
level. This policy should apply to all employees regardless of the management
hierarchy, region, operational level etc. Practices when hiring new employees, selection
of employees for various opportunities/ activities, for the base of promotions, transfers,
merit increase, salary and allowances, training and development, demotion, and
separation (Henderson, 2001) should not be based on discrimination.

The companies, from the top level to the bottom level need to comprehend and accept
cultural and communication differences. All employees need to respect these
differences, be flexible when working and even show empathy and understanding when
a difficulty arise due to communication differences etc. This can only be possible if the
employees are knowledgeable and aware about cultural differences, company policies,
ethics, understand values, be respectable, and improve in communication. Major
importance should be to operate a trustworthy, open and honest communication
channel for employee feedback, grievance handling, general help and assistance. This
channel should always facilitate the trust and team work of the employees. (Griffin and
Hirsch, 1998).

The company that addresses and responds to problems that arise from diversity are
considered more successful. This should be addressed in the company strategy’s root
level by reflecting its It must reflect its attitude on diversity in the mission statement,
marketing tools, employee portfolio etc. But it also a growing principal because
company’s can also mitigate issues arising from diversity through various common and
ongoing behavioral and social practices (Jackson, 1999).

Therefore it is crucial that the company makes effort to keep the working place an
operative and effective environment which facilitates communication, team work,
diversity, respect and healthy competition too. Basically it is crucial that the harmony in
the work place is kept intact for a business to be successful and grow.