Introduction
Although the hype around Disney characters has already diminished, and all the old characters have become really old, The Walt Disney Studios continues to occupy a leading position in the film market. Nowadays, the studio is winning over competitors through successful marketing strategies that incorporate a range of innovations. Disney’s organizational leadership philosophy on innovation is to track social trends, create activities in tune with them, and attract new viewers.
Organizational Leadership Philosophy on Innovation
Based on target orientation, there are two categories of leadership styles in the innovation field: task-oriented and employee-oriented. Disney focuses on its employees because creating animated films is a creative process. The set goals of innovation activities at Disney are not limited to strict adherence to planning, organization, and control procedures for the performance of all elements of managerial functions. Employee-oriented management considers the expansion of workers’ initiative as an immediate task for management (Hisrich & Kearney, 2013). Due to this, with a sharp change in trends, Disney manages to track the shift and stay relevant in time by changing its innovative direction.
Disney executives give a chance to innovate ideas that don’t fit into the administrative framework. Employee-oriented management creates favorable conditions for creative work and uses delegation. Due to the close contacts and relationships, and the joint efforts of the staff in developing and implementing innovative projects and programs, the mask meets the criteria for novelty (Hisrich & Kearney, 2013). In this situation, the manager makes every effort to organize and maintain intra-company relationships between workers, in groups, and between departments (Hisrich & Kearney, 2013). The Disney leadership philosophy on innovation is that human relations in a team regulate the vector of innovative tasks.
Activities for Sustaining Competitive Advantage
In addition to movies, TV series, and cartoons, the legendary Disney entertainment brand is famous for its resorts and theme parks. The great ability to bring fantasies to life is closely related to the Metaverse, which focuses on mixing the real with the virtual. Multilateral business development through both offline and online activities and their combination and interconnection provides more space for innovation (Hisrich & Kearney, 2013). Disney actively engages in activities to sustain its competitive advantage within its industry, such as the development of virtual technologies related to its characters.
First of all, Disney uses next-generation storytelling. An exciting narrative is at the heart of everything that has made Disney great, and it is precisely this that underpins the company’s strategy for the Metaverse. Disney has received a patent for technology that simulates a virtual world in reality. Thus, the organization had the opportunity to develop in several areas and to create more space for innovative activities (Hisrich & Kearney, 2013).
Personal 3D effects will be projected onto park walls and objects. The technology will be able to track visitors’ smartphones and create personalized 3D effects for them. Therefore, regular improvement of the visitor experience will help Disney to remain competitive, using not only online animation activities, but also improving the offline experience of Disney adherents.
R&D Initiatives
As a corporation with roots in film and television, The Walt Disney Company is actively developing visual technologies. Therefore, the R&D initiatives the organization is involved in to achieve long-term competitive advantage are carried out in close cooperation with scientists and engineers from technological universities. Most of the developments are focused on creating low-budget blockbusters and epoch-making cartoons.
However, in order to reach a large audience, a real expansion is necessary (Hisrich & Kearney, 2013). Therefore, the Disney laboratory has developed an algorithm useful for amateur cinematographers that helps assemble a film that is quite pleasant to watch from disparate clips of one event. The project is an editor program that automatically processes videos from various encoders provided to participants at the event. Such R&D enables Disney to be introduced into everyday use through high-tech developments.
Another project that Disney is working on allows any screen not only to demonstrate visual images, but also to make them tactile when touched from its surface. This establishes the relationship between the company’s offline and online activities, offering innovative solutions (Hisrich & Kearney, 2013). Relief maps linked to all objects on the screen serve as the basis for tactile sensations.
The maps are two-dimensional gradients, whose data cause the screen substrate to generate weak currents. These currents are perceived by the fingertips as vibration, and merging, the effects of vibration create a feeling of realistic relief. This technology may become very popular in the future, making it a promising area of R&D for Disney.
Conclusion
Thus, the development of distinctive features and functionality for Disney’s offline technologies is the company’s main source of innovation and R&D. This includes new products and services, significant improvements, and the creation of additional value through various augmented reality technologies. At the same time, the initiative comes not only from the outside – from subscribers and management – but also from employees who know technology more deeply. This provides even more possible innovative combinations that ensure Disney’s modernity.
Reference
Hisrich, R. D., & Kearney, C. (2013). Managing innovation and entrepreneurship (1st ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.