WWYD Walt Disney Company Disney Is an Entertainment Conglomerate That

WWYD Walt Disney Company Disney is an entertainment conglomerate that includes films, theme parks, resorts, a cruise line, consumer products (toys, clothing, books, magazines, and merchandise) , media networks (ABC, ESPN, Disney Channels, and ABC Family) , radio, and the Disney Interactive Media Group (online, mobile, and video games and products) . Over two decades, CEO Michael Eisner accomplished much, but his strong personality and critical management style created conflict with shareholders, creative partners, and board members. New CEO Bob Iger quickly repaired relationships with Pixar Studios and its then-CEO Steve Jobs because Pixar produced profitable computer-animated movies for Disney. Meanwhile Disney had a number of critical strategic problems to address. Disney was "too old" and suffering from brand fatigue with aging characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Winnie-the-Pooh. Disney was also "too young" and suffering from "age compression," meaning it appealed only to young children, not preteens and teens. Finally, despite its legendary animated films, over time, Disney films and DVDs underperformed. Iger found the company in the midst of a deep, global economic recession. Disney Films, which had been profitable, saw revenues drop. At Disney's TV networks, operating income fell, as did the number of 18-49 viewers. Iger was faced with losses and decreasing revenues. With operating income also down sharply at its parks and resorts, Disney offered voluntary buyouts to 600 executives, hoping to significantly cut costs. Further savings were achieved by consolidating departments; the menu planning department at Disneyland in California and the menu planning department at Disney World in Florida were merged into one department serving both parks. While the first step of retrenchment includes significant cost reductions, the next step is recovery, taking strategic actions to return to a growth strategy. After cutting costs, Iger "doubled down" on investments in theme parks, technology, and construction. He reasoned that in the long-term, Disney couldn't afford to pass up significantly lower costs for resort construction and expensive assets like cruise ships brought about by the recession.
Disney also began acquiring other companies. Disney bought Marvel Entertainment (comic book heroes) and Playdom, a company that makes games for Facebook users. Disney's acquisition of Playdom helps the company in terms of technology and online games, giving it access to technology, experience, and expertise, an "acquisition," according to Iger that "would get us there much faster than doing it organically." Disney is an entertainment conglomerate with Walt Disney Studios (films) , parks and resorts (including Disney Cruise lines and vacations) , consumer products (i.e., toys, clothing, books, magazines, and merchandise) , and media networks such as TV (ABC, ESPN, shows and channels (ABC, ESPN, Disney Channels, ABC Family) , radio, and the Disney Interactive Media Group (online, mobile, and video games and products) . Given the number of different entertainment areas that Disney has, what business is Disney really in? Is Disney a content business, creating characters and stories? Or is it a technology/distribution business that simply needs to find ways to buy content wherever it can, for example, buying Pixar, and then delivering that content in ways that customers want (i.e., DVDs, cable channels, iTunes, Netflix, social media, Internet TV, etc.) ? Disney, says Iger, is in the content business, and that creative content, not distribution, is Disney's "heart and soul." "My goal is to make more great content, deliver it to more people, in more places, more often." Creating content in the form of storytelling, not technology, is why Disney bought Pixar Studios. Pixar president Ed Catmull says, "We won't let anything get ahead of the quality of the story." Refer to WWYD Walt Disney. If Disney were to sell off a Web search engine service to Microsoft and a fast-food restaurant chain that it had acquired in the past, it would be following a(n) __________ strategy.

A) overgrowth
B) stability
C) retrenchment/recovery
D) grand
E) positioning