In any given service-driven sector, firms emphasize on increasing their competitiveness based on innovations inclined towards creating value for the existing clients, attracting new clients and strengthening the values of shareholders. Service industries should go beyond selling products and services to clients. Thus, they should think based on how they co-produce solutions that clients can and will always value as meeting their needs. Value is a determinant of the experiences that the goods and services offer unlike what they are. Based on the power of service as fundamental to market exchange, all the manufacturing and service companies are service providers as they co-create value with their clients.
Therefore, the performance of a firm is determined by the capacity to mainstream skill, knowledge and capabilities of a firm with the knowledge, capabilities and skills of its clients to co-create an experience that consumers can effectively co-produce. What the firm co-creates with its customers is what produces value irrespective of it producing physical good or offers an intangible service experience. The performance of either a firm or customer requires an encounter of both to co-produce a service which depends on collaboration to some extent resulting to mainstreaming each one’s capabilities, skills and knowledge for a worthy experience.
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The approach can take any of the many collaborative aspects, varying from intensive give and take suggestive discussions between customers and firms, to indirect collection of data and analysis based on large scale surveys of customer. Besides, it can include intensive information gathering that analyzes client behavior. The achievement of the firms that acknowledge the value of co-creation collaboration is transforming the way others look at what they carry out alongside what to practice to uphold competitiveness in a rapidly transforming market.
Thus, the challenge lies in both expansions of the definition of current customer’s product or service and innovation of new and attractive solutions for the future customer. The concept that all companies should establish strategies to involve their customers effectively to co-produce a service as well as co-create its worth is acquiring recognition. However, the concepts of customers being involved in co-creating innovations alongside new roles of co-production that will be needed are a challenge. This paper analyzes how Walt Disney world affect the surrounding community that it is located in.
Walt Disney World has affected the surrounding community that it is located in towards adopting co-creation of service innovation. It is important for a company to manage its capabilities and resources to attain effective innovation. Also, it is important to establish the role of the customer in successful innovation. However, to develop sustainable innovations successfully there must be value as well as systems of co-creating them along with the customers. Based on an international exemplar service company, Disney there are several ways in which it has affected the surrounding community including integrating their customers into their process of innovative development (Ford, Edvardsson, Dickson and Enquist, 2012).
The service sector has constantly innovated in a variety of consumer goods with involvement in publishing, licensing as well as retail. The concept is focused on maintaining customers they already have while bringing in new ones. Customers are in need of the experiences of the products and not what produced them neither what they are. Thus, based on new ideas and innovations, Walt Disney has created a diverse empire from its start in 1920s, creating a wide variety of lucrative goods in several markets. Disney is the largest mass media across the world and it is renowned for its TV and film productions including theme parks (Ford et al. 2012). Since customers want the experiences of goods and not what made the products or what the products are, the surrounding communities who include customers and guests are now studied based on their needs and behaviors.
There have been a cell performance attributes due to Walt Disney World as firms observe customers alongside their companies, what their clients think of their practices, and activities. The customers in turn will have to like and interpret transformation within the company. Therefore, as a result of cell performance, the company is viewed based on its purpose and it has to provide for its customers with reference to skills and capabilities. Walt Disney World works with its clients to establish what they want from them as well as their experiences through collaboration with the customers (Ford et al. 2012). Thus, the customers’ expectations are increased to an extent by the company based on product and experience they have. The company has also co-created to expand while maintaining the experiences that the consumers had prior though with something new and innovative. Disney has introduced incremental innovation for their consumers to maintain what they possessed while innovating towards VIP category experiences of tour. The firm has also included cell performance that changes with incremental transformation though what the guests experiences is something new. Employees are taught how instruct guests when they bump into anything new that they have never come across.
Walt Disney is a constantly improving firm as result of listening to their customers’ feedback as well as watching their behavior to eliminate or add things that the guests do not like or like. For instance, their ticketing book could not captivate individuals for more rides so they eliminated the book. Also, Walt Disney is usually improving and innovating through the addition of fast pass to enhance guests to skip lines thus making guests feel like very important persons (VIP). Disney World has influenced firms to teach their workers who intern teach their customers to adjust to changes in the firm. In this sense, Disney leads the sector in co-creating with clients to create what they need. For instance, clients needed an airport transfer services and Walt Disney developed the magical express which is a free bus ride to and from both the hotel and airport. Besides, to maintain customers and attract new ones, the surrounding community needs to meet the clients’ needs and further identify what the customers want, what the Walt Disney World refers to as guestology.
According to the City Joins Meet Me at The Park National Campaign (2017), Walt Disney organization has as a whole included itself to the community, both near the parks and the offices and across the world. The firm and its affiliates have shown both its presence in the community it is located and across the country including Philadelphia. Disney chose Philadelphia so that it would get $20,000 to assist in renovating the parks around the city. Also, according to NRPA Director, Lori Robertson, the company supports as well as strengthens health and vitality to communities around. Thus, Disney plays a major role in improving and fixing communities in need. Countrywide, more than $600,000 has been provided to the communities as part of the Meet at the Park Campaign.
The Walt Disney firm is focused towards keeping their kids and patients safe while in the parks and outside the parks, the practice which the company achieved through creation of many kid friendly online destinations of entertainment communities. The company was awarded twice by the Wire Kids which is the largest online safety group across the world. Further, the firm received the safety gaming award since it is a safe and non-violent online game. The company’s online creation and safety content, the Wired Kids, was as well recognized. Walt Disney World is the number one entertainment destination for kids on the web.
According to Walt Disney, it generates annual revenue of 18.2 billion which is an annual ripple effect in Florida. Thus, Disney is way beyond the theme park, and it is focused on ensuring that the community is the best it can while considering environmental health. The company has generated well at least 18.2 billion in a year, which has contributed in the state revenue as well as creating many job opportunities. Walt Disney bought 2.3 billion of products in 2011. A portion of 900 million is derived from Florida. It is projected that individuals vacationing Walt Disney World had spent 1.7 billion at business located off-site. However, economic impact has grown to 18.2 billion and has created jobs of up to 161,000. But, since 1998, Disney has not developed a new theme park even though it has up to 26,000 hotel rooms alongside 215 rooms for families. According to Weiss, he anticipates projects of creating more rooms for families in the subsequent years since employees have devoted their voluntary work to 228,000 hours. In 2011, Disney donated grants of up to $290,000 in education. Further, the company has provided grants to a tune of 1.2 million. In Florida alone, Walt Disney donated $28 million in cash alongside goods to both Disney and Florida.
Nevertheless, as a company, Walt Disney cares about what they consume and the environment at large. Thus, they practice stewardship on environment where they are located. The company has 40 square miles of land. A third of the land is utilized for wildlife conservation. In its 8,500 acres of land, Disney has partnered with Osceola county government and the non-profits organization to restore land, where they have donated 45 million to a living laboratory. In 2013, the company was awarded for its sustainable best practices. The company has developed temperature guidelines which is useful in saving energy in both cast and guest member areas. Moreover, the firm resorts maintain the state green lodging destination for all its 24 resort hotels. In 2013 alone, Walt Disney had recycled 125,000 tons of wastes. Each year, Walt Disney resorts consume at least 2 billion gallons of recycled water from washing to irrigation. The firm is instrumental in consuming 100 percent of post-consumer resources. In addition, in 2013, the company’s program on food has provided at least 1,000 local children with weekly feed and donated at least 624,000 pounds of food. In the same year, the animal fraternity provided at least 4,200 tons of manure, composed at the facility. The company’s DWCF-Disney global conservation fund donated 4 million to not-for-profits environmental groups. Projects in Florida have received at least 5.5 million in grants. The grants to the University of Florida are more than 950, 000. So far, the DWCF has donated 24 million to 330 organizations of non-profit. The company has planted up to 3 million trees, conserved at least 40,000 acres of coral reefs, conserved 65,000 acres of savanna and almost 130,000 chimpanzees.
During the opening of Walt Disney World, tickets costs were as low as a dollar. Today, tickets are as costly as 125 dollars for a theme park for only a day. Hotels too can cost as high as $3,000 dollars. When Disney World was opened in 1971, the tickets to the magic kingdom were priced at $3.5. But, since then, Disney has raised the costs of the magic kingdom 41 folds. In 2014, Disney Company had a record of 19 million visitors. The prices of Disney have steadily increased and a variety of price choices have emerged. For instance, one can dine for $115 steak or $53 dessert and even spent a night observing the seven seas lagoon that starts at $2,100 per night. At peak, pricing can be as high at $125. For persons who are ten years and above, the cost of a day pass to Disney World today is $105, however, residents of Florida pay $97. Individuals of 3 to 9 years cost $99 to get admitted. Also in consideration is the sales tax. But, a family with persons between 3 and 9 years pay $434.54, tax included for only a day. The price is intended for admission and excludes lodging, shopping or food, and transportation. Disney World offers an interactive Disney budget estimator for a vacation and is helpful in calculating costs. Though one can save money when making their trip to Disney World only for a day, but depending on where one lives, the cost might be unrealistic.
Based on a personal budget, one may or may not be frightened by the cost of visiting Disney World. However, the costly visitor passes have compelled some section of people to accuse Disney of disregarding the middle class. Later in the opening days of 1971 when adult prices were $3.50 or $20.48 after adjustments for inflation in 2015, today the prices outpace the inflation. Also, it is a time when the wages of Americans have not kept up with the inflation. In 2000, a single adult admission was priced at $46. Since then, the price increases have been drastic and frequent, though discounts for multi-day passers exist. For instance, 5-day pass is priced at $315 which translates to $63 a day. The cost is cheaper when compared to the rate per day of $105 (Katz, 2015). Though, buying a multi-day pass, staying longer and spending more on transport, food, shopping and lodging there is a possibility of not gaining in terms of savings. There is as well the risk of paying for admissions one might not use in case they are bored at the park. According to the professor of hospitality at the University of South Carolina, Scott Smith, prices have outpaced the middle class. But Wahler Jacquee adds that they constantly add extra experiences including multi-day tickets as well as yearly passes as highlighted by Disney. Walt Disney movies and toys cost $184 dollars.
There are many strategies that Walt Disney uses to reduce their environmental effect. For example, Disney refers to it as waste diversion through creation of recycling program to get rid of landfills from recyclables (Wills, 2017). The company is in the forefront of funding conservation efforts through DCF Disney conservation fund. The funds are meant to protect several species. The left over foods and its scraps are as well used to feed livestock. The living expenses of central Florida are increasing with the minimum wage of Disney being at $10.10 per hour, so do job growth and job security within Disney. Employees are also in unions. In every annual economic activity based locally, Walt Disney World creates 18.2 billion. Thus, Walt Disney has both directly and indirectly created 160,000 jobs and $6 billion in the community. The company pays $400 million yearly in taxes.
Walt Disney World is proud of engaging itself with the community through charitable work and volunteer programs where Disney members contribute their time for the community. Volunteers serve in food pantries, construct play grounds, build community gardens and volunteer in hospitals for children (Simpson, 2016). The parks of Disney employ at least 1,200 personnel of security who are in uniform and are under cover throughout. The security use finger prints alongside their magic bands to identify individuals and lost kids. The bands can track persons in the park. In every year, Disney World pays $400 million to finance law, parks, schools and programs of public health in taxes. So far, the company has spent $80 million on parking garage and new roads around Disney springs. Also, another $350 million has been spent on a 2-mile extension of western way and a high bridge for individuals to walk to hotels in Disney magic kingdom. The company uses several modes of transport to move more than 300,000 individuals using their 270 buses and 12 monorails. Also, the company uses water crafts to move from location to location by water (Mannheim, 2016). The effect has led to stream of police force from 13.7 million per year, doubling the number to 27.4 million.
The concerns today in Walt Disney World are whether it will continue to inflate prices by putting Disney vacation out of reach for more Americans. The issue is only a matter of time. However, if the attendance at the facility’s park is up, the company can inflate prices before undergoing a backlash in the rates of visitors. It appears that the admission prices to Disney World are likely to increase in the subsequent years, when there will be a big Disney expansion. The expansions will include Pandora which is the World of Avatar coupled with Disney Springs alongside other changes. In 2018, Walt Disney World is likely to open a new park, which will be the fifth in Florida. The park will incorporate retro attractions and will be named Days of Disney’s Past.
Taking a family to Disney World is like attending a professional event of a sport which is now something to be economized and saved for in a majority of households in America. For the financially fortunate, in the magic kingdom, there exist more amenities on offer. The amenities include luxury hotels such as the Four Seasons Resort Orlando, the Waldorf Astoria Orlando and the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, and restaurants like Jams Beard Award-winning chefs.
References
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Disney online awarded best of the web and safe gaming honors at fifth annual Wired Kids summit.(2005, May 25). Business Wire, pp. 1. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.niagara.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.niagara.edu/docview/445424791?accountid=28213
Wills, J. (2017). Disney Culture . Rutgers University Press.
Simpson, D. (2016). The Villages, Florida: Small ‐ town Metropolitanism and the ‘Middle of Nowhere’. Architectural Design , 86 (4), 86-91.
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Katz, P. (2015). New Urbanism and the Economics of Place. The Routledge Companion for Architecture Design and Practice: Established and Emerging Trends , 379.
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City Joins Meet Me At The Park National Campaign. (2017 Mar 30). US Fed News Service, Including US State News, Retrieved from http://ezproxy.niagara.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.niagara.edu/docview/1882071755?accountid=28213
Disney says it generates 18.2 billion annual ripple effect in Florida. April 12, 2011. Orlando.sentinel. Retrieved from http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-04-13/the-daily-disney/os-disney-economic-impact-20110413_1_disney-cruise-line-world-president-meg-crofton-disney-vacation-club
