THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY: SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND CONTROVERSIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA|Course hero helper

Posted: February 26th, 2023

INSTRUCTIONS:
The objective of the integrated semester is to help you extend your knowledge of how the
finance, operations, management, and marketing disciplines work, and how they integrate
their functioning in the real world of business.  This assignment is an assessment of how well
you understand this integration.

Please read all the instructions carefully before beginning to answer the questions. The
assignment must be submitted as instructed.  You will lose points if you fail to follow the
instructions or if the submission is formatted incorrectly.
• The assignment should be prepared as a Word document.
• The document should be double-spaced, using Arial font #12.
• Add any Appendices at the end of the Word document.
• Your reference sources, in addition to the base case and question sets, should be online
sites and articles, Bloomberg terminals, your Integrated Semester textbooks, PowerPoint
slides, and other sources you professor assigns.

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There are two Disney cases that you must read to complete this assignment.
You must also refresh your understanding of the six key operations management functions
(listed below for your convenience) discussed in the course and their impact on the other
areas (finance, marketing, management/HR).
Forecasting    Project Management
Quality Management  Process Design
Supply Chain Management Inventory Management

1.Out of the six OM Functions, which, if any, were impacted by the sexual harassment
controversies in Disney. How and why? (50 -100 words)
2. Leadership plays an important role in shaping up the operations of a corporation. Were the
six OM functions impacted by leadership styles of Isner and Iger? How and Why? (100 – 150
words)
3. As you know that in a corporation, decisions made in one functional area [finance,
Marketing, operations, HR practices (management)] impact on the other functional areas.
Disney is considering opening a new Disney Park in a foreign country.  Select two OM
decisions (out of the six) that, in your opinion, require a high degree of interaction from the
other three functional areas. Justify your selections while highlighting the impact of OM
related decisions on the other areas. (150 – 250 words)

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY: SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND CONTROVERSIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA1

Wiboon Kittilaksanawong and Yiwen Chen wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality.

This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized, or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) cases@ivey.ca; www.iveycases.com. Our goal is to publish materials of the highest quality; submit any errata to publishcases@ivey.ca.

Copyright © 2020, Ivey Business School Foundation Version: 2020-08-27

“In a strange way, I am the brand manager of Disney.”

– Robert Iger, chief executive officer (CEO) of The Walt Disney Company. 2

Between 2017 and 2019, The Walt Disney Company (Disney)—a 96-year-old diversified multinational United States (US)-based mass media and entertainment conglomerate—faced two major scandals that threatened to damage its family-friendly brand image.3 Disney’s brand value had decreased by 5 per cent from 2017 to 2018, although it remained the most valuable media brand worldwide (see Exhibit 1).4 In

November 2017, John Lasseter, the executive producer who oversaw all the films made by Pixar Animation Studios (Pixar), was accused of sexual misconduct at Pixar. Following the allegations, he left the company in December 2018.5 Then, between June and September 2018 at Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC (Lucasfilm), Rian Johnson, the writer and director of The Last Jedi, a major instalment in the pop-culture

phenomenon Star Wars, posted unprofessional, aggressive, and insulting remarks on his personal Twitter account directed toward fans who hated the series.6 In April 2019, Iger announced that no new Star Wars movies directed or written by Johnson would be put into active development.7

Given that Disney’s nearly 100 years of global success had been built on its family-friendly brand image,

why did the company not take immediate action to address these two scandals? Instead, Disney chose not to make any comments about the scandals. Lasseter continued to work for the company for over a year after the sexual harassment scandal broke, while Johnson remained affiliated with the company for almost a year before the announcement that the development of his movie had been stopped. How could Disney mitigate the losses from these two scandals and prevent the same thing from happening again? What should Disney do to further grow its sustainably?

DISNEY

Founded in 1923 by Walt and Roy Disney, The Walt Disney Company was a multinational mass media and entertainment company. 8 The company’s debut film was Steamboat Willie, a short animation that featured the character Mickey Mouse. In 1990, Disney arranged for financing of $200 million from Nomura

For the exclusive use of H. Elwahsh, 2023.

This document is authorized for use only by Heba Elwahsh in Disney Winter and Spring 2023 taught by Deniz Ozenbas, Montclair State University from Dec 2022 to Jun 2023.

Page 2 9B20M147

Securities Co., Ltd. to fund its growth.9 In 1991, it generated 28 per cent of its total revenues from its home video distribution, hotels, and merchandising activities. 10 In 1993, Disney acquired Miramax, LLC (Miramax Films) to broaden its movie offering for adults.11 In 1996, it acquired Capital Cities/ABC Inc.,

an American media company, in an effort to enhance its international competitiveness. 12 Disney’s

businesses e

SOLUTION

The sexual harassment controversies in Disney could have impacted the Quality Management and HR Management functions of OM. The accusations of sexual misconduct by John Lasseter and the allegations of unprofessional behavior by Rian Johnson could have led to a loss of trust among employees and customers. This could have affected the quality of the products and services offered by Disney, as employees may have been demotivated or distracted. Additionally, HR Management may have been impacted as Disney may have faced difficulties in attracting and retaining talent due to a tarnished reputation.

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