Disney's Corporate Citizenship

On Walt Disney’s corporate website, there is an entire tab and webpage dedicated to what they call “Corporate Citizenship.”  The first thing that they explain is why they participate in corporate citizenship, saying that being a good corporate citizen is not only the right thing to do, but it also “benefits our guests, our employees and our businesses.”  This relates to one of the best practices in our text, which emphasizes the importance of connecting corporate responsibility to business strategy.  Disney’s website explains that corporate citizenship makes the company a desirable place to work, “reinforces the attractiveness of our brands and products and strengthens our bonds with consumers and neighbors in communities around the world. 

In order to communicate their corporate citizenship plan effectively, Disney lists the three principles that guide their actions.  These are to 1.) Act in an ethical manner, always considering the consequences of their decisions 2.) Promote the happiness and well-being of kids, parents and families in their activities and 3.) 

Inspire kids, parents, employees and communities to make a change in the world.

Disney is very effective in identifying their key audiences, which they state are kids and families.  

In March 2011, Disney published its second Corporate Citizenship Report, which is available for download on their website.  The report includes a letter from Disney’s CEO Robert A. Iger addressed to Disney stakeholders in which he explains that the company has been striving to associate their brands and characters with healthy foods while setting environmental goals to reduce the company’s impact as well as encouraging kids and  families to do more to help the planet.

There is also a letter to stakeholders from CFO Jay Rasulo.  And a section on stakeholder engagement in which Disney says, “We engage with stakeholders of all types and interests, striking balance between their needs and the needs of our business and society. We actively listen to and learn from stakeholders and provide them with information to better understand our actions and our intentions.”  But as we discussed, with corporate responsibility communication, it is important not only to tell people what you do but to show them.  The report lists a number of instances in which Disney directly engaged with its stakeholders through meetings, 

conference calls, groups, workshops and conferences.

The rest of the report is broken up into 8 categories, which Disney especially focuses on in their corporate responsibility plan.  Each of these are further broken down into categories such as “Our Approach,” 

International Labor Standards,” and “Product Footprint.”

Disney is also effective at being transparent and laying all of their information out on their website including their code of conduct for manufacturers, which has been translated into more than 50 different languages. 

Perhaps the most transparent aspect of the website is the “Looking Ahead” portion of the corporate citizenship report, which shows Disney’s targets and goals and their actual performance and progress.  This is important for communications because stakeholders can see that Disney is not trying to hide their 

imperfections and are not being complacent. 

Disney's Handling of a Crisis

According to a 1985 Time magazine article, almost 100 lawsuits are filed against Disney every year for various incidents.  Unfortunately, with millions of guests visiting the park every year, people are bound to die. And in most instances, the Disney park rides are not found to be the cause of death.  However, in some instances Disney’s responses in these crises do not seem to be sufficient.
  

For example, in December of 2007, 44-year-old Jeffery Reeb died of a heart attack after riding Animal Kingdom’s Expedition Everest. While the causes were natural, (Reeb had a previously existing condition involving an enlarged heart) the crisis for Disney’s reputation involved a slow response in getting a defibrillator on site.

Of the 500 defibrillator’s on Walt Disney’s property, only three were at Animal Kingdom.  Critics argued that having a defibrillator closer to the ride could have helped save Reeb’s life.
  

In some ways, Disney’s response was adequate. Immediately following the death, Expedition Everest was closed and inspected, before reopening.  Disney exhibited forward thinking, explaining what they would be doing to avoid future accidents like this from occurring.  A year after the incident, Walt Disney World announced that it would install defibrillators at some of the park’s most intense rides like Expedition Everest, Mission: Space and the Tower of Terror. 

Altogether, Disney said it would install 30 more AED devices – bringing the total number at Disney World to
about 730. About 24 are at individual rides while the rest remain in employee areas.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, spokeswoman Andrew Finger also said that the resort “plans to train 500 more employees in CPR even as it adds the 200 defibrillators to the 500 already on resort property.”

While Disney clearly took steps to make their parks a safer place after Reeb’s death, Disney’s response didn’t seem to be apologetic or compassionate.  One of the messages communicated by Disney after the incident was that the signs in front of the rides, warning visitors with medical conditions to ride with caution, are there for a reason. They also explained that even had an AED been brought to Reeb earlier, he may not have been saved.
  

What seemed odd was the Disney did not have any official communication on their website in regards to the death of Mr. Reeb, including a statement saying that they are sympathetic to his friends and family.

One thing that is on the Disney website however, is a section on safety and security at the park.  This seems to be their way of showing that they care, since accidents and deaths at the park happen more often than not.

The section states that, “The safety and security of our guests and our cast members is of paramount importance to us and is evident in programs throughout Disney.” These programs include park security, park safety policies and workplace safety.  

Disney Around the World

As a worldwide corporation, the Walt Disney Company has many different publics that it needs to reach. According to their website, John Nicoletti and Paul Roeder are both Vice Presidents of Global Communications for the Walt Disney Company, proving that they realize the importance of this aspect of public relations. 

Walt Disney does a great job of thinking globally and acting locally.  With theme parks in the United States, China, Japan and Paris, it would be easy for Disney to pay little attention to the individual communities in which they are operating.  However, in their 2010 Community Reports, Disney proves that they are committed to being active community leaders.

For example, the Walt Disney World Resort contributed almost 28 million dollars in donations to charitable organizations.  In Paris, 15 percent of Disneyland Paris’ electricity comes from renewable sources- it’s enough to power the Eiffel Tower for almost four years.  In China, Hong Kong Disneyland’s 5,000 Cast Members donated around 4,000 volunteer hours.
  

After the tsunami in Japan, Disney committed 2.5 million dollars in humanitarian aid to victims, as well as saying they will match employee donations to the Red Cross and Save the Children up to one million dollars. Actions like this help to build trust and reputation in the local community. Corporate responsibility and other philanthropic programs that address genuine local needs are important investments to enhance global reputation. 

Disney is also good at making sure that information pertaining to all of the different countries that it operates in is disseminated via their corporate website.  Their most recent press release is “Disney and Partners Break 

Ground on Shanghai Disney Resort.”

At the end of the press releases are contacts, which shows that there a number of more local communicators who can get to know the country and area they are in.  For example, at the end of “Disney and Partners Break Ground on Shanghai Disney Resort,” it lists the United States contact, Asia Pacific contact and Hong Kong contact.

It appears that Disney’s global communication strategy is effective because with 15,405,000 visitors to the resort's Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in the fiscal year of 2009, it is France's and Europe's most visited tourist site.

However, one problem with Disney’s global communication strategy may be that it is not aimed specifically enough at individual communities and countries.  When the idea of a Disney park in France first surfaced, it was criticized by many in France as “cultural imperialism.”

Euro Disney’s chairman at the time, Robert Fitzpatrick said, "We didn’t come in and say O.K., we’re going to put a beret and a baguette on Mickey Mouse. We are who we are.”

However, it seems that Disney may have learned from this.  At the recent groundbreaking for Hong Kong Disney, there was traditional Chinese drum music, a singer singing in Mandarin, and Mickey Mouse dressed in a traditional Chinese costume. 

By looking at the different Disney theme park websites, you can see that Disney does change it’s appearance based on the different countries it operates in.  For example, the drawings of Disney characters on the Japanese websites seem to be drawn in a different style, which kind of resembles the “anime” style popular in that country.  There is also a graphic of Mickey Mouse in traditional Japanese dress. And on the Hong Kong Disney website, most of the pictures are of Asian citizens.  

Investor Relations at Disney

The Walt Disney World Company’s corporate website has an entire section dedicated specifically to Investor Relations, in order to reach out to investors in the company as well as potential investors. 

One of the most important aspects of successful and legal investor relations is to ensure that all available pertinent information is delivered simultaneously and efficiently to investors and potential investors.  To help accomplish this goal, many companies, including Walt Disney, use third party wire services like PR Newswire and BusinessWire.  In addition, press releases which concern investors can be found posted on Disney’s Investor Relations webpage. 

Also found on this webpage is an overview of the Corporate Governance of the Walt Disney World Company, including the Board of Directors which shareholders elect to represent their interests.  Also available are the codes of conduct and upcoming conferences and presentations regarding financial aspects of the corporation.

Investors can also download newsletters throughout the year which highlight the latest investor-related news as well as the annual fact book.

Disney does a great job of implementing digital financial media in the form of its website by providing all the information an investor would need to know.  Users can easily find the Annual Reports, Quarterly Earnings Reports and Company Filings.  This is also really useful for anyone looking to invest in the company. There’s also extensive information on the stock.

Another great aspect of the website is the “My Shareholder Account” section which allows investors to do things like view their account online, see a list of frequently asked questions, download shareholder forms, get instructions on how to transfer stocks and to sign up for the electronic delivery of financial information. 

Lastly, the Investor Relations at the Walt Disney World Company does a great job of also incorporating Community Relations into their strategy.  Two of the main pages on their website are about Corporate Citizenship and Socially Responsible Indices. 

One of the best practices for Investor Relations, according to Doorley and Garcia is to, “Make it easy for investors to access information that has been disclosed, including via the company’s Web site.”  And as shown by the plethora of information Disney has readily available on their website, they are excelling.