walt disney HR practices
The Walt Disney Company was founded in 1922 by 21 year-old Walt Disney and his older brother Roy. Walt Disney was the creative producer, Roy the 'business brain ' behind the company (Ellwood, 1998). The partnership ended only with Walt Disney 's death in 1966. By the end of the 1990s, the Walt Disney Company had developed into a $23 billion media conglomerate, arguably the most influential force in the globalisation of Western culture (Ellwood, 1998).
Gomery (1994) argues that the Walt Disney Company was not always "a paradigm of corporate success". Initially specialising in animated films, it struggled to find a niche in the market until 1928 when it produced the first cartoon to use sound (Gomery, 1994). The company built on this success by negotiating distribution agreements with powerful corporate sponsors. It supplemented revenues by merchandising characters, initially Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937, was the first feature-length animated colour film and proved hugely successful. Innovative use of sound and Technicolor continued. Walt Disney also pioneered the use of 'audio-animatronics ': life-like replicas of people and animals.
Early animation production was highly labour-intensive. Rigid division of tasks was further delineated on gender lines. By the time Fantasia was completed in 1941, the Walt Disney Company employed eleven hundred people. Ellwood (1998) describes Walt Disney as "a notorious workaholic, a perfectionist who ran his company like a personal fiefdom". Both "paternalistic and domineering" he rewarded loyalty and excluded dissenters. There were no women or black people promoted to senior positions during this period. The company was the only Hollywood studio without union representation and as such was targeted by the American Federation of Labor. Walt Disney became militantly opposed to communism after animators took industrial action over conditions and lack of recognition in 1941 (Gomery,
Gomery (1994) argues that the Walt Disney Company was not always "a paradigm of corporate success". Initially specialising in animated films, it struggled to find a niche in the market until 1928 when it produced the first cartoon to use sound (Gomery, 1994). The company built on this success by negotiating distribution agreements with powerful corporate sponsors. It supplemented revenues by merchandising characters, initially Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937, was the first feature-length animated colour film and proved hugely successful. Innovative use of sound and Technicolor continued. Walt Disney also pioneered the use of 'audio-animatronics ': life-like replicas of people and animals.
Early animation production was highly labour-intensive. Rigid division of tasks was further delineated on gender lines. By the time Fantasia was completed in 1941, the Walt Disney Company employed eleven hundred people. Ellwood (1998) describes Walt Disney as "a notorious workaholic, a perfectionist who ran his company like a personal fiefdom". Both "paternalistic and domineering" he rewarded loyalty and excluded dissenters. There were no women or black people promoted to senior positions during this period. The company was the only Hollywood studio without union representation and as such was targeted by the American Federation of Labor. Walt Disney became militantly opposed to communism after animators took industrial action over conditions and lack of recognition in 1941 (Gomery,
References: Anthony, R., Lovemann, G., and Schlesinger, L. (1992) Euro Disney: The First 100 Days Harvard Business School case 9-693-013. Ellwood, W. (1998) 'Inside the Disney Dream Machine ', New Internationalist, No 308, December. Gomery, D. (1994) 'Disney 's Business History: A Reinterpretation ' in Smoodin. E. (ed) Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom, Routledge. Hannigan, J. (1998) 'Fantasy Cities ', New Internationalist, No 308, December. Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee (1999) ' Working Conditions in Chinese Factories Making Disney Products ', Global Exchange. MacAdam, M. (1998) 'Working for the Rat ', New Internationalist, No 308, December 1998. Maio, K. (1998) 'Disney 's dolls ', New Internationalist, No 308, December. Wilson, A. (1994) 'The Betrayal of the Future: Walt Disney 's EPCOT Center ' in Smoodin. E. (ed) Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom, Routledge. Yoshimoto, M. (1994) 'Images of Empire: Tokyo Disneyland and Japanese Cultural Imperialism ' in Smoodin. E. (ed) Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom, Routledge.