1.Diversification is one of the most successful and efficient strategies, implemented by the most influential and well-developed companies. The Walt Disney Company initially was a small private business and has gradually grown into a large global company and eventually diversified in a number of different industries. The Disney Brothers Cartoon studio produced the animated cartoons, expanded into the live-action movie industry and by 1960s became a unique mass media conglomerate. The company diversified in such spheres as tourism (parks, resorts, theme parks, cruises), studio entertainment (festivals, parades, anniversary celebrations), retail industry (toys, clothes, collectors’ items) and publishing sphere (books, magazines, records) (Collis & Rukstad 6). These major industries are now equally important for the company.
2.Such a type of diversification as internal development and greenfield investment have been the main directions of company’s further growth and this strategy of using the already existing sources and facilities was already pursued by Walt Disney himself. His follower Eisner also aimed to maximize the company’s profitability, conduct a successful marketing program and therefore opted for such a means of diversification as licensing and signed such agreements with other global leaders, such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. Licensing has increased the company’s overall profit and popularity.
3.Such an expansion and diversification of the company were definitely a good idea, because these strategies helped it to survive the most critical moments in the Walt Disney Corporation’s history. All the leaders of the company realized that cartoons or even full movies would not sustain the studio forever and diversification became a necessary backup for their future. Disney took risk, invested millions of dollars into the parks and they eventually paid his expectations off. In my opinion, only such a policy of the wide engagement and taking as much as possible, can bring the company to the level of Walt Disney.
Works cited
Collis, David; Rukstad, Michael. The Walt Disney: The Entertainment King. Cambridge:
Harvard Business School Press, 2009. Print.
