Demographics of the Company
The Walt Disney Company is the most famous entertainment company in the world. The Walt Disney Company’s performance is realized in five segments. These sections include Media Network, Consumer Products, Interactive Media, Parks & Resorts, and Studio Entertainment (Company Overview of the Walt Disney Company, 2015). Walt Disney founded it in 1923 and established the new are of the entertainment industry.
The current CEO of the company is Robert Iger (Walt Disney, n.d.). The Chairman, corporate, and business units present the c-suite breakdown. The corporate team comprises of nine representatives. There are three females on the corporate side. Their positions include Chief Financial Officer, Chief Communications Officer, and Chief Human Resources Officer.
Six authorized members represent the business unit of the Walt Disney Company. Leslie Ferraro is the only female in this sector. She holds the positions of Co-Chair at Disney Consumers Products and Interactive Media and the President at Disney Consumer Products.
In 2014, the total number of employees comprised 180 000 worldwide. The employee growth is 2.90 % per one year. The male to female ratio of the company is 31:69. The age of all employees is above 35 years (Walt Disney Co Ltd, n.d.). The largest part of employees are located in North America.
The level of income of workers depends on two factors — the type of position and years of experience. For instance, the salary of 3D artists varies from $49 240 to $118 239. A bus driver receives from $20 000 to $48 000, and the Information Technology Director — from $88 000 to $249 000. Most employees have experience of more than ten years.
Their average salary is about $90 000. Those who have 5-9 years of experience receive $75 000. The income of less than $50 000 is typical for individuals with one year of experience. More than $100 000 receive those who work for more than 20 years (Average Salary for the Walt Disney Company Employees, n.d.). Skills and education in people management are regarded as the most valuable among Walt Disney Company’s employees.
Organization Communication Style
According to the Ethical Standards described in the Standards of Business Conduct, “the Company and its management are committed to treating all Cast Members and employees with fairness, dignity, and respect. We strive to provide our Cast Members and employees with a challenging, exciting, and fulfilling environment” (Ethical Standards, n.d., para. 6).
Besides, the Walt Disney Company assures that it aims at providing the best safe opportunities for the professional development of individuals. The company adheres to the principle of multiculturalism and diversity. It also accepts no discriminative treatment of employees because of their age, religion, marital, status, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, pregnancy, or national origin (Ethical Standards, n.d.).
Walt Disney established the communication style at the Walt Disney Company. Disney’s approach to communication is believed to be one of the most vivid examples of building a successful rapport with employees. The most significant thing about Disney’s communication style was that he saw the company as the place where all people would be happy. He realized that not only money predetermine success. Once, Walt Disney said, “Laughter is American’s most important export” (Haussler, 2013, para. 4).
Thus, Disney was devoted to his idea, and that commitment was spread among his employees. Disney shared his ideas and inspired other members of the team. He was a collaborator who used the assertive communication style to engage others.
According to Hanke (2009), collaborators aim at building good relationships and always try to reach consensus with others. A leader who employs a collaborative communication style takes risks as far as it can be difficult to control people in such a way. However, Walt Disney communication style was a visionary to some extent. He realized risks but moved on.
With the help of communication, Walt Disney achieved success with Snow White. The cartoon Snow White was the first long animated cartoon. Walt Disney created the cartoon after the Depression. Besides, most parents believed that it would be impossible to make children sit for more than hour to watch cartoons.
Walt Disney displayed his best communicative and leadership skills during the shooting of the film. He showed how to act every part of the movie, bought dinners for workers, and inspired them to keep moving (Disney’s Leadership Excellence Model, n.d.).
The other vivid example of Walt Disney’s communication style appeared in 1943. Thus, the handbook for employees The Ropes at Disney was published.
According to Whittenberger (2013), “It was an internal communication piece meant to eliminate employee confusion and improve organization while representing Disney as an “informal, reverent, fun employer” that wanted to maintain a friendly relationship between the company and its employees” (para. 4). In such a way, Disney attempted to create the feeling of trust. Maxwell (2014) finds that confidence is essential for the efficient performance according to the law of solid ground.
Nowadays, the communication style of the organization is mostly realized via the system of rewards. Such a system of motivation is one constituent of essential conditions for the successful team performance (Thompson, 2013). Walt Disney established all these features of teamwork through the effective communication style. After his death in 1966, all other CEOs tried to manage the company in the way Walt Disney would appreciate.
References
Average Salary for the Walt Disney Company Employees. Web.
Company Overview of the Walt Disney Company. (2015). Web.
Disney’s Leadership Excellence Model. Web.
Ethical Standards. Web.
Hanke, S. (2009). Communication Styles. Professional Safety, 54(5), 22-25.
Haussler, P. (2013). Five C-Suite Leadership Lessons from Walt Disney. Web.
Maxwell, J. (2014). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
Thompson, L. (2013). Making the Team. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Walt Disney. Web.
Walt Disney Co Ltd. Web.
Whittenberger, R. (2013). Vintage Internal Communication: Disney Style. Web.