The Walt Disney Company
Walt Disney Company is a global entertainment company with four divisions: Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, and Consumer Products (Argus Research, 2008). The company owns and leverages well-known brands and symbols, ranging from Mickey Mouse and the Lion King to ESPN and ABC (Argus Research, 2008). Disney also acquired the animated movie producer Pixar Animation Studios in May of 2006.
The company is lead by Robert Iger, who has been running the company since 2005 when Michael Isner stepped down. Since taking over operations of the company, Iger has been busy doing deals, making alliances and catapulting Disney into the forefront of technological change in the media industry. Mr. Iger was able to get Steve Jobs and Pixar first into an alliance to supply Disney/ABC television content to Apple’s iTunes store for play on its video ipod. He then arranged Disney’s acquisition of Pixar. The spinoff of the ABC radio business in 2007 was another of Mr. Iger’s initiatives, as he foresaw broadcast radio’s continued downward spiral (Argus Research, 2008). According to news reports, he helped facilitate the successful negotiation on the new Directors Guild and Writers Guild contracts.
As a content oriented company, Disney’s top strategic priorities include creativity and innovation, international expansion, and leveraging new technology applications (Standard & Poor’s, 2008). Under CEO Robert Iger, senior management has aggressively explored new avenues to offer its branded content, characters and entertainment franchises across emerging digital platforms such as broadband and ...