One of the most popular tourist attractions in America is Disney World at Orlando in the State of Florida. It is a theme park with numerous attractions and a visit to America is not considered complete without the visit to Disney World. Prior to the opening of Disney World at Orlando, there was a similar theme park near Los Angeles in the State of California, known as Disneyland. Disneyland was a creation of Walt Disney, a famous family moviemaker whohad produced such movie hits as Fantasia and Snow White. Disneyland is a family entertainment phenomenon and is also known as magic kingdom. Following Walt Disney's death, the magic kingdom hit a downward trend. The management rested on the past laurels of its success and the organization stagnated into its status quo. It shunned innovation and stayed in its ivory tower away from the pulse of the audience. It became fearful to change and by all accounts, it was not fully utilizing its potential or its resources and considering the demand for its products and services, it was undercharging for its licensing of cartoon characters and admission to its theme parks. Michael Eisner, the head of the Disney organization felt that he had to become more like Walt Disney, an innovator and a risk taker who encouraged creativity and who had built the Disney Empire. After analyzing the situation carefully, he devised a plan that would encourage openness to change, and culture of strong creativity, that was always a hallmark of Disney's success.Wisner himself came up with a number of new and creative ideas including new healthfood restaurants and he encouraged an induced creativity among others and creativity became one of his top priorities. His idea of creating a Euro Disneyland in Paris came into high focus. He met with 12 of the world's most respected architects in a widely creative session to bring out as best design for the theme park as possible. He encouraged and rewarded new ideas, opened the channels of communication, and took the members into confidence by sharing with them his strategic plans and ambitious growth strategies. One change that came into being was the renovation and expansion of its hotel chains. He ordered an ambitious $1,000,000,000 hotel expansion plan that doubled its room capacity to 20,000 and came at par with the well-known Ritz Carlton chain of hotels. The movie business that had practically come to a standstill and was hardly reaching break-even point got a boost of creativity. By tightening budget without sacrificing quality and working with adventurous scripts and unknown but talented actors, it became a dominant force in the American movie industry and produced such hit films as Beauty and the Beast, Pretty Woman, Ruthless People and so on. Michael Wisner's creativity, openness, innovation, and team spirit has not been without its rewards. From 1984 to 1990, Disney's sales increased from $1,700,000,000 to almost $6,000,000,000. Disney has expanded his family entertainment business to include book publishing and records and has opened a theme park in Japan. Michael Wisner made a dramatic turnaround of Disney fortune in 1980s. He is even more ambitious during the 1990s and calls it The Disney Decade. He has surrounded himself with ambitious, energetic, and creative staff and he expects a period of extensive growth for Disney operations around the Globe. With the fall of close societies and advent of instant communications and emphasis on internationalization, he is very optimistic that Disney will become a household name around the World, as it did in America.

Questions

1. Why do you think that the Disney organization, once a highly successful and growing organization become stagnant after the death of its founder Walt Disney? Describe as many reasons as possible.

2. How important is Michael Wisner's role in the process of turnaround of the Co's fortunes? Does it mean that the success of the entire organization depends upon the philosophy of its CEOs? Give reasons.

3. List and explain the internal and external forces that necessitated the change in the outlook of Disney operations.

4. Can you identify the change agents that were at work in changing the behavior of the organizational members?

5. If you were hired as a consultant to the organization, what changes would you suggest, if any, to bring Disney organization into the global limelight?