disney

Disney and his brother Roy started Disney Brothers Studio in Hollywood in 1923 Artistically the 1930s were D best years Walt Disney embraced new ad vances in color and sound, and pusned his team of entiusiastic young artists to pursue the most sophisticated techniques of the day Disney risked cx erything on his first feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937 Audiences loved it His focus on the positive and the life-affirming themes he incorporated into all his work provided much-needed smiles and laughter for audiences during the depths of the G Depres

Roy Disney became chairman after Walt died of lung cance’ in 1966 In 1971 Roy cued r his son, Roy F Disney became the company’s orincipal individual share holder In 1984 new CEO Mic Eisner and president Frank Wells ushered in an era of innovation and prosperity. They instituted marathon meetings for generating creative ideas, forcing everyone to work grueling hours The approach worked and for the first 10 years of his tenure, Eisner was considered a gemus He revived Dis ney’s historic animation uni invested m the theme parks, led the expansion into Europe, and breathed new life into the company by partnenng with cutting-edge companies like Pixar and Miramax. Eisner built Disney into a formidable media powerhouse, boosting its profits sixfold and sending its share price soaring almost 6,000 percent.

But more recent years ha cc been challenging for Eisner and the Disney company F snei s initial magical effect has lost its shine and his more recent actions and deci sions have had less-than-desirable effects on the company Roy Visney the last of the founding fan’ ly to work at the company, quit the board in 2003 and cegan a cam paign to try and oust Eisner In his letter of resignation Disney asserted that Eisner has become an ineffectu e leader claiming that Eisner consistently nucro-manages’ everyone -esulung in loss o morale He saw Eisner’s cost-conscience decisions to shut down an Orlando animation studio and cut costs at theme parks as resulting in ‘creative brain drain arid creating the perception that the company is looking for quick buck solu rathtr tnan long-teim value Disney also cited Eisner s in ability to mamtaa-r successful relationships with creatix e partners like P xar and Mi- ran-tax (both Contracts with these studios were not renewed) and his lack of a succession plan as dangerous to the future of the company

Disney has found a lot of support in his plan to ‘SAVE DISNEY In the spring or 2004 stockholders supported Disney by voting against Eisner s re-election as president Eisner str maintains his position as CEO and has expressed his mten tion to holci on tu that position until his contract expires in 2006

1 Considei Walt Disney s effectiveness in terms of the three domains of leadership— the wader, the toilowers, and the situation For each domain name factors that con tributed to Disney’s success.

2. Now think about Michael Eisner’s leadership effectiveness. Name factors within the three domains of leadership that might be responsible for contro versy now surrounding Disney.