The Walt Disney Company
Strategic Issues
First Strategic Concern
Walt Disney has experienced various strategic issues, and their tactical approaches have led to success. Its proper management has determined the actual fact that their competitors could take benefit of the proper weaknesses and draw the business behind in terms of market position. Although the issues are limited in such a successful company, they need maximum attention, as it's possible to allow them to act as hazards towards the future welfare of the entire business.
From an instant SWOT analysis, Disney's advantages are diversity and the surplus cash it attains from its business functions. Its weaknesses are the two tactical issues it is lately facing, its opportunities are enlargement possibilities, and its own threats include stiff competition. Among these strategic issues that Walt Disney has been facing is the loss of a good number of readers in the ESPN. Lately, the Entertainment and Sports Encoding Network of Disney is keeping fewer consumers when compared with days gone by years when the business started. The major reason leading to this transfer of customers to other internet programs that offer similar services is the fact that watching athletics with Disney has ended up being more expensive when compared with observing the same sports activities in other internet programs. Its historical market position, which was high in those days, had been achieved through appealing to customers regarding prices. When it's specifically about sports, there are different types of customers. Both parents and youths across the globe have high passions in sports. However, the youths may actually have significantly more time to invest in the sports as compared to the time individuals invest. Therefore, the larger part of customers consists of teenagers, who in most cases are jobless or versatile in conditions their jobs. It is a fact that with their flexibility regarding occupations, the youth does not earn a lot of money, meaning they will always take benefit of companies that deliver services leastwise cost possible. When Disney was affordable, it appealed to both categories of customers effectively by ensuring that it's the most affordable program on earth. However, when the internet-based competitors found a way of broadcasting activities at lower prices yet others free, Disney didn't pay attention to the matching of the standards. Because of this, it lost the youths generally to others. Losing its portion of youths to the competitors is a superb issue, which, were it not for other advantages that exist in the business, would have triggered the downfall of Disney as an international company.
Second Strategic Concern
The second tactical concern that Disney is facing in the presence of its competitors is vitality on the market. Disney is interacting with entertainment, which is all about the personal preferences and preferences of customers. This working is with the capacity of easily leading to its downfall if the business's management will not give attention to the strategic approaches of fulfilling the customers' thirst in conditions of what they have a passion for but will not exist on the market. In case the product exists already, it's the duty of the business to change it and make it more interesting to the clients without changing the likes but scraping the dislikes. With this level of sensitivity, Disney has encountered criticism whenever it has a fresh release on the market up to it encounters motivating response. Bearing in mind that both types of reactions are from customers that the company needs as a duty to please, making changes to draw in a larger part of motivating customers than critics has been an all-time operational goal that could or may never be achieved. It becomes worse when during its evaluation, Disney realizes a loss of positive boasts having turned to critics. That is always a specific message from the general public that the business has made an unpleasant release and if they take it for a craze, their market position will be on the line. This is one way hard it is made for Disney to keep a good market position having focused on the customers' style and preferences only. Other factors like the cost of services make the problem worse than it already is. These two strategic issues just need to be taken care of with the right approach to make the company's future bright (Rukstad & Collis, 2009).
Alternative Factors behind Action
Reduced Quality
To address the above mentioned proper issues and realize the best plan of action, it's important that attention is afforded to the type of the problems. This is achieved by having a value chain analysis that really helps to indicate the business's operational strategy and goals. The increased loss of Entertainment Activities Program Network members will need to have been brought about by a faulty strategy in the organization's way of setting its standards. To solve this, the company can purchase the cheaper systems used by competitors. When other internet providers decided to take part in innovative ways of lowering their prices, the business did not accept this idea, as it searched out for maintenance of quality. As a matter of fact, the internet services providers made a decision to take up new and cheaper facilities that improved this reduced amount of prices to attain out to the clients whom in their point of view, watching sports got become expensive. While carrying this out, the first & most essential side effect they were likely to experience is the reduction of quality.
Reduced Prices
The company can as well alter their operations in ways to just a little reduce their prices and maintain quality at the same time. All the these services were to be availed to customers at a reduced cost, they were also to be exhibited at lower features as compared to those viewed by Disney. In this case, the market of the ESPN was split into two. You can find the low quality of services designed for those that prioritize the money allocated to entertainment, and the other sector of the market produces high quality of services for individuals who do not brain spending a fortune with regard to quality. With this division, this means that Disney is not prepared to bargain its quality of productivity in order to lessen prices and support more customers. This is how it were left with a limited number of customers as compared to its competitors providing services through various internet programs. Reducing prices with retained quality will keep up with the current customers and also to bring back the ones that it lost to challengers.
Stable Products
Thirdly, the actual fact that Disney deals with mainly entertaining products is the primary cause of the actual fact that it's confronted with a strategic problem of working with customers' tastes and choices. In its market, Disney has a potential for obtaining its competitive gain through coping with motivational and educative films more than the amusing movies. An educative product is easier to package with in the sense that it will have nothing to do with the common sense of the customers, and the success will all rely upon your time and effort of the business towards gathering the maximum amount of knowledge in its products as you can. This way, you'll be able to predict the reactions of customers to its new produces. Additionally, these kind of products will maintain the types of customers that the business is attractive to, bearing in mind that the youths would accept advice and the men and women too can help respond positively to bits of advice offered regarding their business and sociable lives. Just to make the point clear, it is for a fact that Disney has invested partially in these areas, however the entertainment has taken a better part of its products. It has not only subjected it to the risk of customers' replies based on their personal tastes and interests but also on the parental drive against time wastage. Their cartoon products, for case, are found to be too much attractive to the kids to the scope that they neglect to focus on other requirements such as academics works. This creates a drive between the animation products and parents as they force the kids to balance all areas of life. On the other hand, parents also make use of the products to make promises and satisfying children every time they want them to activate in or maintain good do. An example is an instance where in fact the children are determined to work harder and perform better in class to become permitted to watch cartoon during their holidays. All it requires to do is buy facilities that will provide this kind of production. This might make their result stable, predictable and even more profiting. All the above alternatives can be executed in Disney to energize its occupation (Rukstad & Collis, 2009).
Recommendations
Evaluation
The alternative of earning strategic alterations to lessen the bills of producing their products in order to lower the costs of their services is a possible approach for the ESPN issue. This allows them to avail the same quality of services to customers at a realistic price. Which means that they will be appealing to both the customers that value quality more than cost and those that are out there negotiating for lower prices. In this situation, they have attained competition efficiency in the sense that opponents that provide services at lower prices as Disney does will never be providing as high quality as that of Disney. Upon this word, Disney can be boosted by other secondary factors such as ensuring there's a constant movement of game exhibits throughout the growing season. This means that they will be displaying sports situations even when the firms with the indegent quality of facilities will be facing breakdowns for just one reason or another. Disney will be the home for customers who aren't ready for interrupted lessons while watching suits. However, if Disney chooses to follow suit as its rivals and produce low-quality products, it'll be confronted with the con of losing customers who value quality. These qualities of attraction will not only help Disney to retain its current customers but also recreate the youth they have lost as potential customers. This way, the current position of the business in the market will be maintained, and the opportunity to grow will have been utilized to make Disney's future more encouraging. As its only con, Disney will experience an added cost of functioning. This is why, on an individual level, I would recommend the alternative of making strategic alterations to reduce the expenditures of producing their products in order to lower the costs with their services as an approach for the ESPN issue. When the cartoons and other entertainment videos do not seem to be interesting to customers as the company expects it, you will see a decrease of the income, as the customers will not choose the product. The most detrimental con of it is the simple fact that previews that are viewed before the release of the merchandise may lead to customers shying away from the product early on enough. The effective reason for these previews is to help the company anticipate the performance of the merchandise in the market before it is released. The response of customers can help to detect the situation awaiting the release of a new product, but it will not help in offering a solution for the trouble. Therefore, although the business will avoid tampering with its good historical reputation, it will not have evaded loss as the product has already been produced, causeing this to be alternative not good enough. This is a sign that there surely is not short slice towards evading this instability apart from engaging in more products that will promote positional security on the market. Hence, to suppress the second tactical issue, I would recommend that Disney calls for good thing about its stability on the market to seize the opportunity of expansion through working with the merchandise that it has not dealt with before.
Feasibility
On the other hand, if Disney determines to embrace the cheap facilities like competitors have one to tamper with quality only for the sake of prices, they will end up losing customers that value quality, which is the major con of this alternative. Secondly, they have performed below their functional standards of consistently maintaining the high quality of its products. The sole benefit of this alternative is the actual fact that it'll earn back its lost customers who value cheap products. The fact that the cons exceed the advantages, in cases like this, makes this option not feasible. The alternative of showing previews does not help to find alternatives for the instability of products. Which means that the act won't have supplied the major expectation, thus, so that it is not possible.
Implementation
Disney should make programs to reduce the price tag on jogging and lower the prices of the high-quality goods. This will help the company to reach out to the customers who do not watch Disney sports as a result of high prices. Second of all, it should start to take steps towards embracing other types of products in the market in order to attain balance. Since one of the talents of Disney Company is the fact it always has a considerable movement of capital, this implies it gets the capability to indulge in the line of other products as heftily as it has done with entertainment. Therefore, everything Disney's management requires is to make decisions based on the expansion strategies that focus on this objective as an functional goal. Offering other styles of films and movies will allow the company to realize stability in conditions of its market position. Appealing to the complete market with motivational and educative products is simpler than the entertainment form of attraction.
References
Rukstad, M. G. & Collis, D. (2009). The Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment Ruler. Brighton: Harvard Business School.
