Conflict at Walt Disney Company

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Read Case 11.1, “Conflict at Walt Disney Company: A Distant Memory,” and answer these three questions: (1) When Robert Eiger took over as CEO of Disney, he had to repair several important relationships with Disney’s key partners. Who were these partners and why were their relationships strained? (2) Contrast Bob Eiger’s and Michael Eisner’s approaches to conflict resolution. (3) What significant steps did Bob Eiger take around 2005-2006 to help the company survive a major recession and position the business for continued success.

Remember to answer the questions using the facts of the case and concepts introduced in the textbook and any additional readings.

Type your answers into a Word document. Put your name at the top of the document and number your answers.

TEXT:
Organizational Behavior & Management (W/o Access)

Author: Konopaske & Ivancevich
Publisher: MCG
Edition: 11th
ISBN: 978-1259894534

 

Solution

Q1. Immediately After Eiger took over as CEO at Disney, he reached out to reconcile with a number of partners whose relationship had been compromised during Eisner’s reign. He first reconciled with Roy Disney and Stanley Gold, who agreed to end the “SaveDisney” campaign and exhaustively work with Robert. He also reconciled with Weinstein brothers by paying $100 million as settlement fee. Steve Jobs’ and Pixar’s’ relationship with Disney company was also repaired which enabled Disney to acquire Pixar Animation Studios. These relationships had been strained due to Eisner decision to add capital cities and ESPN to its theme park and film businesses. This among other Eisner’s decisions, style and micromanagement tendency contributed to continued dispute with the public and important players in Disney.

Q2. After Eiger became the CEO at Disney in 2005, he used a direct opposite approach to conflict resolution as opposed to Eisner’s approach. Eisner used dominating approach as he was more concerned with his personal needs and not concerned with the needs of the other key players. Eagers’ approach was compromising. Immediately after taking over as the CEO he repaired all the relationships that were almost destroyed during Eisner’s reign. He even gave up some money to indicate the value of their relationship with other partners.

Q3. Eiger took over as CEO with a motive to change Disney for the best. His first step to reconcile the torn relationships between the company’s key players positioned the company for continued success. The idea of bring in Pixar Animation studios and other significant and early bets on new technology, kept Disney on the right truck for success. He first put “Lost and Desperate Housewives” episodes which were aired on the company’s network in 2005. In 2006 he made the best deal by providing free full-length TV shows online. These steps have helped the company progress successfully.