Disney Questions

1. (20 points) Disney has been successful over a very long period of time. How do they manage to stay successful? What are their top three strengths and weaknesses (including key assets) by business line (page 18)? How do they rank in terms of importance for Disney? Have they changed over time?

2. (20 points) The acquisition of CapCities/ABC was the second largest acquisition (at the time) in US history. Why did Disney feel like they needed to pursue this purchase? What type of diversification strategy was this? The acquisition presented some opportunities; however, it also presented some challenges. What were the challenges the company faced? How did they overcome them?

3. (20 points) The key to a successful acquisition/merger is almost always integration (combining the organizations in some meaningful and synergistic way). The values and culture of Disney have been a key ingredient in their success. What was the difference in values/culture between CapCities/ABC and Disney? What kinds of challenges did this create? How did they manage this?

4. (20 points) Disney is involved in a variety of different businesses. What is the level of diversification in the Disney portfolio? What strategy are they pursuing? How would you represent these business lines and this strategy using the BCG model? Where should the firm focus?

5. (20 points) The success of most organizations is based on having the right group of people. Disney experienced a “brain drain” in the period from 1994 – 2000 losing ~75 top-level executives. It is likely that the company lost many others that went with those leaders. What implications will this have on the prospects for success at Disney? How will they deal with this? How did they recover after the departure of Walt Disney and Roy Disney?