Corp

Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management Corp. Soc. Responsib. Environ. Mgmt. 13, 47–54 (2006) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/csr.107

Dilemmas or Debacles? A Case Study of Disney in Hong Kong

Jonathan Hills1,* and Richard Welford2,* 1 CSR Asia 2 Corporate Environmental Governance Programme, University of Hong Kong

Introduction to the Case

is intended to be used for both research and teaching purposes. The main events in this case study have been divided into two parts, with questions following each part, in order to facilitate debate and discussion. The authors make no judgement whatsoever about the conduct of any of the parties involved in this case study. The Walt Disney Company (most commonly known as Disney) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. Headquartered in Burbank, CA, Disney’s main operating units are studio entertainment, theme parks and resorts, media networks and consumer products. Disney had revenues of US$30.8 billion in 2004.

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LL THE MATERIAL IN THIS CASE STUDY IS BASED ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION. THE CASE

Disney and CSR

Disney’s approach to CSR is comprised of six main components. They are the following. (1) Business standards and ethics. This includes workplace policies, hiring, training, equal opportunities, the prevention of harassment and discrimination, business conduct guidelines and ethical and legal standards. (2) Corporate governance. This includes guidelines on the composition of the board of directors, codes of business conduct and ethics for directors, standards of business conduct, bylaws and processes for shareholders and other parties to communicate with the board. (3) Community. This includes public service initiatives, community outreach initiatives, philanthropic donations and employee volunteer programmes within local communities. (4) The environment. This includes the concept of environmentality,...