Walt Disney Company is known worldwide. It was established in 1923. It deals with entertainment and media businesses. It is mainly based in the United States and has it is branches in Latin and North America, Europe and Asia. The company has established five brands which are available in several countries. Its brands include; networks of the media, parks, hotels and resorts, entertainment studios, consumer products and other smaller businesses which are majorly interactive. The media industry has both local and international channels which air own programs or get people to air their programs on their networks (Walt Disney Company, 2013). Despite the fame the company has, it experiences its own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) throughout its businesses. This paper will discuss in details the SWOT analysis of the Walt Disney Company.
S-strengths
Walt Disney Company has many strengths. First, the company enjoys a very important and effective reach through it is cable networks, it has established a very strong brand known by many people. Furthermore, the company has diversified into many entertainment businesses which a consumer has the opportunity to choose what interests them. It also boasts of adequate and experienced manpower that are able to run the businesses smoothly (Walt Disney Company, 2013). In addition, the company produces quality content; what the consumer needs and also enjoys the surplus revenue that it collects from the various businesses established (Harrington, 2015).
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Surplus Revenue
Walt Disney Company generates more than enough cash to run its businesses and also venture in to other new businesses. It makes enough profit which has made the company grow tremendously over the years. It is able to shift smoothly based on the preferences of the customers without any strains or backsliding. For the last 10myears, the company has been able to purchase four film industries which cost between 4 and 8 billion US dollars. These industries include Pixar and Marvel. The company runs these industries effectively and has full authority over them, that is, fully licensed enjoys other marketing rights. All this has been made possible because of the attractive profits the company realizes (Harrington, 2015).
Quality content
Disney offers high quality content to it is customers. The films and programs it airs are of good quality and it has received awards and public demand over the years because of the content it offers to the consumers. Quality is a priority of the company and it has not disappointed over the years (Harrington, 2015).
Diversified Businesses
The company has several television and radio networks, consumer product companies and other interactive businesses. It also owns several parks and resorts situated in different countries. Its networks play animated films, audio films and other live plays. In addition, it produces and distributes its own movies, especially the Indian movies which are aired and watched all-over America. With this diversification, Walt Disney as a company comfortably meets the needs of the many customers. On the other hand, one business helps in improving the other hence creating room for more profits (Walt Disney Company, 2013).
Popular Brands
Disney is known all-over America because the brands have been in the market for a long time. The company owns the most famous film industries including Pixar and Marvel. These brands have made the company grow into a big enterprise over the years. The popularity has contributed to the great profits that the company collects (Walt Disney Company, 2013).
Effective reach through it is networks
The networks that the company has reach over 150 countries and have it messages translated in to over 10 languages. The networks also have over 90 million subscribers. This high number of subscribers indicates the effective of the networks that the company owns.
Experienced manpower
Disney enjoys the skills and manpower it possesses. It has the experienced personnel who execute their duties effectively. The company has over 100 thousand workers and the profits it gets and the growth it has shown indicates that the employees are doing exactly what they are supposed to do (Walt Disney Company, 2013).
W-weaknesses
The weaknesses of Walt Disney Company include; concentrating their business in two regions, that is, the United States and Canada, the broadcasting trends of the company and the high cost of business.
Concentration of business in two regions
The Walt Disney Company has concentrated it is businesses in Canada and the United States. Despite having diversified businesses, the company had not considered venturing or establishing more branches all over the world. The company has exposed it is businesses to risks especially when these two countries experience political and economic instability. Its competitors have branches in most of the countries and hence Disney risks being thrown out market by other corporations like News Corporation (Walt Disney Company, 2013).
Broadcasting trends of the company
The media industry has migrated to the digital system and each film industry has to be up to speed with the trends. The programs are easily available online but to maintain the trend, the company needs high tech equipment, more skilled manpower and progressive growth to ensure it does not drop in the growth pattern it has established over the years (Harrington, 2015)
High cost of the business
The sports live coverage Disney airs requires a lot of resources to pull out the best coverage. Many of the customers tune in to watch the sports and hence the company has the responsibility to ensure that the people are enjoying what they are getting. To ensure this, the company spends a lot of money in production and attaining licenses to air the programs. In addition, the company has partnered with several associations like the National basketball Association (NBA) and hence renews these contracts with a lot of money. The company generally spends a lot of money to run and maintain it is businesses (Harrington, 2015).
O-opportunities
Walt Disney Company has many opportunities in the current economy and is in a great position within its industry to venture in to other countries and expand it is gaming industry.
Venture to other countries
Disney Company is looking into expanding it businesses to India and China. These businesses include the park and resort business. They have a partnership with some of the resorts in China and hence present an opportunity for the company to grow even further. It has also partnered with film industries in India to ensure it produces and airs more Indian movies (Walt Disney Company, 2013).
Expand the gaming industry
There is tremendous growth in the sports industry. With the technological advances that the company has made, it has created an opportunity to focus more on quality and effective broadcasting of sports and games. People are also able to play several entertaining games wherever they are and easily. This venture will make the company much popular (Walt Disney Company, 2013).
T-threats
The threats that face Walt Disney Company are competition, the regulations in place and piracy.
Piracy
This is a crime and it involves the duplication of one’s product. Piracy has increased due to the technological advances that have been made. People get easy access to products through the internet and hence end up reproducing the same product as that of the company. This method drags the growth of the film industry and hence that of Disney company (Carillo et al ., 2012).
Competition
There is a lot of competition in the media industry. The company competes for viewers and listeners with other media houses. There is a lot of pressure and to keep up with the pressure, the company needs to improve on the quality of the products and services it offers. This means more production costs are incurred in the whole process (Harrington, 2015
Broadcasting regulations
The cable and television industries have so many regulations that company owners need to abide to. Broadcasting is regulated by the Telecommunications act which has over the years not allowed partnership in some of the media companies. This presents as a threat to the company as it slows down the growth of the company since partnerships are limited (Carillo et al., 2012).
In conclusion, the outlook for Walt Disney Company, based on an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is growing. The company has progressively grown over the years and has put in place measures to curb the threats and weaknesses it experiences. This is a company that has been in existence for many years and is popular. Expanding it is businesses into other countries will open up a new customer base, more subscribers and popularity. A progressive and successful company requires all these factors to grow significantly. Walt Disney Company is one big enterprise and more effort in to expanding it is territories will see it open up and be an internationally recognized and valued company. The benefit that the company has is that it has built a strong foundation over the years and it has a great opportunity to expand. Walt Disney Company had more strength and opportunities that will help it grow further and overcome the threats and weaknesses it faces.
References
Carillo, C., Crumley, J et al ., (2012). The Walt Disney Company: A Corporate Strategy Analysis. Case Study . University of Richmond: Robins School of Business: 1-29
Harrington, R. (2015). SWOT Analysis: Walt Disney Company . Retrieved February 1, 2017 from http://www.valueline.com/Stocks/Highlights/SWOT_Analysis__Walt_Disney_Co_.aspx#.WJIJco5_fIU
The Walt Disney Company. (2013). The Company Profile . Retrieved February 1, 2017 from http://www.citi.columbia.edu/B8210/read26a/disney.pdf
