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Walt Disney and Human Resource Management

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Introduction

The Walt Disney Company is famous for providing entertainment to people and

motivating them by the power of the inspirational storytelling, stimulating creativity in minds

and using the latest technology all across the world. It was established in 1923, and began being

known as Disney brother’s studio. However, before establishment the Disney Brothers Studio, it

worked in many places as an animator and illustrator in Kansas. In 1955 Walt Disney launched

Disney land in Anaheim, California and it quickly became one of the best places where different

cartoon characters could be seen.

The company has faced a number of challenges over the time period. Human resource

management is basically a strategic strategy to the efficient and effective management of

individuals in the organization in a way that they aid their business to acquire a competitive

advantage (Ahmed & Nisar, 2015). It is intended to maximize the performance of the employees

in association with the strategic aims of the employer. Each organization has its human resource

policies. There are a number of human resource policies of Walt Disney. The policy of human

resource is regarded as an important document that describes procedures, code of control and

rules of the organization that has to be followed by the employees. The aim of this paper is to

describe the approach of the multinational corporation and discuss aspects related to human

resource management. The paper also discusses the human resource policies in terms of their

effectiveness and ERPF model.

Approach of Walt Disney

Strategic management of human resources includes a future oriented phenomenon of

implementing and establishing human resource program (Truss & Gratton, 1994). The approach
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of Walt Disney is grounded on the interplay of 3 roles including the realist, the dreamer and the

critic. For every role a distinct room should be developed. When a person is dreamer he is

passionate, creative, lets his imagination run, thinks of the big picture and allows himself to think

big (Kamoche, 1996). A person who is realist thinks more logically, narrows down the visions to

a short list, makes effective decisions and develops an action plan to turn the idea into the form

of reality. An individual who is critic thinks in a more critical way and thinks about the obstacles

he will face and what possible could go wrong. From its establishment, the Disney Company

kept implementing certain interpretative strategies that led to its success.

The company's Mission Statement as well as the Vision Statement establish the mood for

much of its success. The extension of latest technology and an international market have

impacted the corporate strategies of the company; hence, the business strategies of the country

have transformed with the times. After Walt Disney established the business, a crucial strategy

was to propose the great storytelling of Disney to life with enticing experiences that should have

never been imagined before. In 2012, Chief Executive Officer and President Robert Iger

recognized three distinct strategies that were essentially effective for Disney throughout the

years. He stated that these strategies have been particularly instrumental in the success of the

company majorly in the last seven years. The three major strategies of Disney are to produce

high-quality content, and to make that content more appealing and accessible (Guest, 1987).

Walt Disney has a generic approach for competitive advantage that exploits the

individuality of the products delivered in the mass media, industries of amusement park and

entertainment. In accordance with the model of Michael E. Porter it was demonstrated that a

generic competitive approach allows the business to establish and preserve its competitiveness in
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certain target market. The generic competitive approach of Disney is formed on developing its

products distinct from that of the competitors. On the other side the intensive approaches of the

corporation for growth are dedicated to establishing novel products that are suitable for universal

market trends. The organizations grows on the basis of creativity and innovation which further

enables the business to contest in opposition to huge firms. For instance the organization

competes in opposition to Viacom Inc, Sont Corporation, Comcast Corporation and Time

Warner. The rigorous growth approaches and generic strategy of the company tends to address

competitive landscape. Via strategic aims and competitive advantages the company handles

challenges in the environment of industry in an effective and competitive way. This in return

strengthens its strategic approach (Kamoche, 1996).

The generic competitive approach of Walt Disney pushes for the strategic aims based on

the product. Such focus is important for supporting efforts related to development of product in

order to differentiate the organization from competitors. For instance, the strategic aim of

establishing novel amplified realism products adds to the individuality of the Disney experience.

On the basis of generic approach, another pertinent strategic aim is to reinforce the competitive

advantages via marketing approaches that reinforce the individuality of the brand of the company

(Karadjova-Stoev & Mujtaba, 2016). Such marketing approaches are part of the marketing mix

of Disney. Moreover, associated managerial efforts denotes to the accomplishment of the vision

and mission statements of Disney in the universal market for mass media, products of themes

parks and entertainment. The uniqueness of the brand aids in accomplishing the leadership of the

industry. In association with the generic competitive approach in the model of Porter, intensive

approaches should differentiate to help the business grow.

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Another feature of the human resource strategy of Disney is that the workers are very

clear and are aware of their roles related to jobs and objectives and they have the liberty to think

beyond their boundaries. This helps them to become independent and also helps them to increase

their productivity (Putri, 2016). There is high focus on the training as well as development of the

workers. The workers of Disney are well-equipped with required professional, technical,

managerial and other knowledge related to development of skills and career. The strength of the

company is that its approach is competitive and is based on the grounds of creativity and

innovation. The weakness is that its approach is not much diverse.

International HR Department of Walt Disney

Planning related Human resource planning provides the mechanisms through which

businesses can make sure that they have the right workers who are capable of fulfilling those

tasks that can aid the organization fulfill its goals. Problems such as hiring of staff, establishing

staff, retaining of staff, succession planning along with relocation and downsizing should be

accommodated in the plans of human resource. The nature of the existing and changing

environment of business needs flexible and strategic plans related to human resource. Disney

should strategize regarding how to manage human resources in the present worldwide

expansions in an effective way (Ahmed & Nisar, 2015).

The primary members of the team of human resources of the company of Walt Disney

involve Leonard Grossi, Tyson Tinsley, Marge Randolph, Mary Jayne Parker, Annie Romas and

Linda Lampley-Ike. The team of human resources of Walt Disney has a direct influence on the

overall culture of company which is given the rating of B by workers. The CEO of the company

i.e. Bob Chapek has been ranked 69/100 by workers. As the enforcers of the culture of company,

it is interesting to know what the department of human resources thinks about the culture of Walt
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Disney in comparison to some of the other sections or departments. The team of human

resources ranked their culture as 83/100 which is basically twelve percent higher as compared to

the average rating of the culture (71/100) given by the overall organization. The department of

human resources of Walt Disney has a direct influence on the environment of work. Workers rate

their environment as B+ and are satisfied with the environment of the company.

Analysis of the HR Policies

Businesses and companies have a variety of human resource related policies that describe

how human resources are handled. In a number of cases there is a regulatory or legal supplies

that insists on the survival of such policies. The culture and structure of organizations influences

human resource management. At the company, the HRM related policies and culture tends to

play an important role. Handling cross cultures is the major factor of function of HRM within the

global background (Truss & Lynda Gratton, 2006). Human resource policies are very significant

for any business as it can be very effective at developing and supporting the desired culture of

organization. Via regulatory policies of human resource, Disney has been able to handle their

rights related to intellectual property throughout the organization from its workers to the external

policies. Measuring the human resource management is as important as planning it. A number of

industry related norms and benchmarking could be utilized to measure it. The Walt Disney

organization integrates effective business standards along with proficient HR policies. Following

are some of the HR policies of Walt Disney:

Non-discrimination Policy

The workplace practices and policies of Disney involve the obligations to non-

discrimination as well as liberty from harassment and require that the organization should refrain
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from entering into the relations that indirectly or directly expose the members of the cast and

workers to undue safety and health threats. Such non-discriminatory policies are comprehensive

in their standards in accordance with business conduct. The strength of this policy is that Disney

delivers its standards of the business conduct to workers and occasionally delivers training to

workers on topics covered in the Standards. The organization has introduced amenability

trainings on a number of aspects related to regulations involving the training regarding the

standards of the company in association with ethics and business conduct. The weakness of this

policy is that it is it has difficulty in adapting with the regional and global trends that are shifting

rapidly.

Policy related to Teamwork

At Disney, workers and leaders work mutually and constructively to deliver advantages

to their guests. This policy is effective and is geocentric because it is applicable to each person

regardless of their nationality. The team members at Disney share the responsibility which gives

them the sense of fulfillment in their achievements. In the work teams that are self-managed,

workers are encouraged to form their individual roles and take accountability for their actions

(Putri, 2019). The frontline workers at Disney are competent in recognizing problems and

resolving them so they can provide responsive as well as relevant services to their clients. As

they obtain feedback and requirements directly from the clients, the members of team are able to

utilize this direct data to react accurately. This permits workers at Disney resorts, parks and

restaurants to be more practical.

Recruitment Policy
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The effectiveness of the recruitment policy of Disney lies in the fact that it hires the best

individual and offers them sufficient space to carry out their duties. This also lies in line with the

EPRG model that also focuses on selecting the right individuals for the right duty at the right

moment (Putri, 2016). Walt Disney gives equal significance for the discovering the internal

talent as it gives to the external talents. Walt Disney strives to guarantee that its workforce

mirrors a global diversity with workers coming from various parts of the world.

Recommendations

Following are some of the recommendations that can be considered by HRM to improve

its practice. There are some of the areas where Disney could enhance their human resource

management and one of the significant aspect is that Disney still has high rate of worker

turnover. If this high rate of turnover is managed it will permit them to restrain their costs of

recruitment along with training and cost of induction of novel employees (Putri, 2019). Walt

Disney suggests that the organization should develop a strategy which decreases the expenses

during the development of their products to reduce the cost of the product. This will help the

organization to deliver a quality product to the clients at a low cost. If an organizations delivers

products of low quality to the clients then it will lose its clients who give value to the quality of

the products instead of the price.

Walt Disney needs to preserve the quality as well as affordable price. In this way the

organization will uphold its position in the certain market and it will also acquire opportunities to

extend its business (Karadjova-Stoev & Mujtaba, 2016). Walt Disney should also release the

characters and cartoons in accordance with the preference and interest of the clients because their

interest may vary. If entertainment films and characters are not liked by the consumers then there
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will be a reduction in the income of the organization. Moreover, the company also needs to

develop distinct kinds of products to maintain its position in the market. Walt Disney should

appeal the market via the educational and innovative products.

Conclusion

The human resource management of Disney has a number of roles. The HR approach of

Walt Disney originates from its commitment drive positively engaged individuals instead of

hiring the effective talent. Walt Disney considers that a positive attitude for employees is

important for assisting organization in delivering innovative and creative content to the clients

because it works on the framework of creativity and innovation. Moreover, the culture of

corporate is grounded on the virtues of diversity and optimism. Disney has effectively

amalgamated its strategy of human resource with its values.

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References

Ahmed, S., & Nisar, T. (2015). Green Human Resource Management: Policies and practices.

Cogent Business & Management, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2015.1030817

Guest, D. (1987). Human resource management and industrial relations. Journal of Management

Studies, 24(5).

Karadjova-Stoev, G., & Mujtaba, B. (2016). Strategic Human Resource Management And

Global Expansion Lessons From The Euro Disney Challenges In France. International

Business & Economics Research Journal, 15(3), p. 79.

Kamoche, K. (1996). Strategic human resource management within a resurce-capibiluty view of

the firm. Journal of Management Studies, 33(2), p. 213-233.

Putri, S. A. E. (2019). The Existence of Mickey Mouse as The Walt Disney Company’s Mascot

in the Global Value Chain Perspective. MASYARAKAT: Jurnal Sosiologi, p.77-112.

Truss, C., & Gratton, L. (1994). Strategic human resource management: a conceptual approach.

The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 5(3).