Walt Disney and Structural Frame

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This paper gives an organizational design of the Walt Disney Company. After this, it applies Bolman and Deal's Structural Frame to analyze three structural characteristics of Disney. These include Disney's goals and objectives, the company's policies and procedures, and the special technology it uses. After this, the six assumptions are used to evaluate if the structural characteristics are effective or not. I have also stated what should be done differently by Disney and have provided recommendations as to what Disney should do differently.

The organizational design used by the Walt Disney Company is described as a decentralized-cooperative-multidivisional organization. This structure supports different business types and is used in diversified companies. The organization has a symmetrical complexity and this is similar to a matrix organization. This type of organization is suitable for a company that has global operations. The mission of Disney is " to entertain,-inform,-and inspire people around the world through the power of unparalleled storytelling. (a) The vision of Disney is "to be one of the world's leading-producers-and-providers-of entertainment-and information".

The organizational design supports the mission and vision of Disney because it enables the company to have a wide breadth of operations, especially where the operations are carried out globally. The organizational design is suitable for Disney because it helps create a synergy between divisions and supports the market segments that bear on each other to further grow the Disney brand.

According to Bolman and Deal's Structural Frame leaders should approach organizational issues from four points of view or frame. From the contention of Bolman and Deal if the leader uses only one frame of reference he is likely to be ineffective. The frames proposed by Bolman and Deal are structural, human resource, political, and symbolic.
The specific goals and objectives of Disney as pronounced by Disney CEO Bob Chapek in 2022 are innovation, customer focus, and storytelling excellence. This is a movement away from the previous CEO's goals and objectives of making profit-making acquisitions to push Disney into a cross-platform future. Using Boman and Deal's framework the new goals and objectives provide better guidance on how Disney may change (Structural). It means setting measurable goals, giving responsibilities, clarifying tasks, and setting reporting lines. Customer focus and storytelling address the need for human contact and personal growth. Since these goals are focused on the organization, political issues can be addressed easily, and goals such as innovation, and customer focus inspire the employees of Disney. (b)

One of the key policies and procedures of Disney that have been pointed out to readers is that Disney seeks to collect, monitor, and track every customer minutely. This policy helps Disney to collect data to use in future sales campaigns and also helps target customers more accurately. The policy of collecting customer data is done (Structurally) using technology, The employees also get more opportunities because they can use ...