Introduction
The Walt Disney Entertainment Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world that owns theme parks, studios, television networks and producer of entertainment products. The essay is about the businesses, the products, the sales territory and the target market of Walt Disney. The major competitors of Walt Disney, the markets as well as financial performance will be analyzed. In addition, there is a discussion on the management of the company as well as the influence of management on financial performance of the company.
Summary of the Company. The Walt Disney Company began as a cartoon studio in the year 1920 and grew to be the largest media in the world. The company had begun offering the Alice in wonderland cartoons when the Mickey Mouse animations branded it the best producer of family entertainment products.
Since then the company has produced different types of family entertainment products that have recorded increased sales and made it generate huge amount of revenue. The corporate objectives of the company are to provide entertainment products that will improve the family welfare and encourage children to be responsible members of the society (Koenig 30).
The products The Company has several types of products and services, which are demanded by customers due to high quality. The first segment of the company products are the television networks where the company is the owner of the American Broadcasting Corporation.
The company has also purchased shares in the ESPN, and owns of Hyphenation books. Other than the media networks which earn the company advertizing revenues, the company is a producer of family entertainment audiovisual products especially animations such as the Mickey mouse.
The company has expanded with products such as computer games for children, which is a popular segment of the operations. In addition, the company is a provider of animation software where it sells the software to individuals and other studios at a discount. The animation software is sold in colleges as well as universities for training students about animation and video production (Tim 17).
The company has theme parks and resorts for children and family entertainment that attract many customers from different regions. They serve as a major source of revenue to the company where events for family entertainment are held. The parks are located in different parts of the world such as the Disneyland in Paris, Hong Kong, and Hollywood.
The company owns film studio that produce films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean Sea as well as other movies. The company has consumer products sold in the stores worldwide where it sells foods, beverages, electronics, and other entertainment products. The Disney Consumer products segment of the business manages this part of the merchandise. The main supplier of the electronics is currently Apple Company.
The Sales Territory. The company begun as specialist in family entertainment animations and can accommodate other segments of the media. Its major sales territory remains as the family entertainment where the company provides different products according to tastes and preferences of the customers.
It offers products demanded by all members of the family at an affordable price. The resorts and the theme parks are for family entertainment where parents can visit together with the children. This is a major segment of the company operations. The target market is usually the parents who buy products for the children. They however must produce the entertainment products attractive to the children so that they purchase according to their preference (The Walt Disney Company 2001).
Competition. Due to segments in which the company operates, it has different kinds of competitors according to the particular industry.
In the broadcasting network where they compete for advertising revenues the major competitor is the CBS Corporation. The CBS is another conglomerate that owns production studios, television networks, and is the best television networks in the United States of America.
The other competition comes from the consumer products where stores such as JC Penny stores compete with the company. However, in the area of theme parks and family entertainment, the company is still dominating and the newly formed studios cannot match the financial position of Walt Disney entertainment.
The Financials. The company recorded Revenues amounting to forty one billion shillings in the year 2011 to indicate that the company was performing well. The earnings per share in the previous financial year were $2.79 giving the shareholders good return on their investment as well as motivating them to invest.
This was an increase of thirteen percent compared to the previous financial postings in the year 2010. During the quarterly financial analysis of the company for the year 2012, the company had an increase in share value by $0.58 that was higher than the expected results. The company gross margin was of 19.76%. The price sales ratio was 1.96.
The price-earnings ratio was 15.6. The debt to equity ratio for year 2011 was 0.2 meaning that debt financed assets are twenty per cent while equity financing is eighty percent. The company is good for financial investments because there is increase in share value after a certain period (The Walt Disney Company 2011).
Challenges. In the year 2001, the company`s products were not consumed after religious companies accused it because of including sexual information in the products that were meant for children. This led to reduced sales, which decreased the profit margin of the company. Although the boycott stopped, it was a warning to the company about the consequences of changing the product (Koenig 34).
Robert Iger who is the chairperson of the board of directors is the leader of the team responsible for growth. Prior to serving as the chairman of the board Mr. Iger served as the president and Chief executive officer of the company from the year 2005. He joined the company in the year 1996 from the ABC Corporation and has since that time served in the management of the corporation’s entertainment and broadcasting segments of the company.
During his reign, Mr. Iger has spearheaded the acquisition of innovative companies such as Pixar to become part of the Disneyworld technological innovations of the company with the assistance of other directors. He is in the Fortune 100 among the twenty-five powerful business executives in the whole world. The other important person in the management of Disney is Andy Bird the chairperson of the company expansion programs. He made the company to be established in India and Hungary (The Walt Disney Company 6).
Personal Views. The Walt Disney is the most promising company due to the industry in which it operates and the fact that the market for its product is always available. However, for the company to be of relevance it must continue producing high quality entertainment products that foster its core values. Disney has changed the entertainment by providing characters and stores that are entertaining and remembered all the time. Its contribution to the entertainment will be appreciated for centuries.
Conclusion
The management team focus on the market will make the company the world’s largest media company if it continues with globalization program. However, threats such as piracy and copyright violation of its products by merchandisers in china continue to affect the revenue.
Works Cited
Koenig, David. Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland. New York: McMillan, 2005. Print.
Tim, Hollis. Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records. New York: Sage, 2006. Print
The Walt Disney Company. Disney Annual Report 2011. 2011. Web. <https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/investor-relations/#reports>.