Bus 475

Disney’s Value of Alignment

Aaron Aguster, Kelly Fisher, Jeremy Jones, Joey O’Quinn, Teresa Bagley and Silvia Bagley

Learning Team C

BUS/475

August 12, 2013

Nels Holmgren

Disney Values

The Walt Disney Company attracts millions of visitors each year to its theme parks and entertainment outlets. So, what has made this company so successful? Disney places high values on people and their experiences. This is evident in Disney’s simple but powerful vision statement “To make people happy” (Barbara Farfan, 2013). With this statement the organization has built a foundation on which to achieve goals and be sustainable for future generations through strategic planning, a strong mission statement, dedicated employees, and investors’ security & returns.

An important key to the success of the organization falls on its ability to foster and train employees to share the same values. This paper will examine the challenges of evolving such a work force. After all, if the vision of the organization is to make people happy, it should begin with the employees who are the cast members of the Disney entertainment empire. Align the values of the business with the values of the employees and you have a recipe for endless possibilities.

Evolution of Personal and Workplace Values

Values are traits or qualities that are considered worthwhile; they represent an individual’s highest priorities and deeply held driving forces. Examples of values are competency, ambition, individualism, work ethic, independence, and dependability. People’s personal values are usually the result of life-long experiences including education, interactions with other individuals, and a personal sense of responsibility. In the case of the author, the personal values are grounded on the idea that we should do onto others what we want others to do onto us. In other words, the author believes that people should try to conduct themselves in an ethical,...