Walt Disney: The Entrepreneurial Visionary

Background and Early Career

Discuss about the Entrepreneurial Orientation and Firm Performance.

Walt Disney was an entrepreneur, voice actor, animator, film producer of American origin. He was considered to be a pioneer of the animation industry of America and introduced many developments related to the production of cartoon characters. Walt Disney also holds the record for receiving the most number of Academy Awards. He had won 22 Oscar awards from the 59 nominations that were received by him. The other honours that were presented to him included the Golden Globe Special Achievement awards and the Emmy Awards. Disney was born in the year 1901 in Chicago and developed an interest in drawing related activities (“Disneyland® Official Site”, 2018). He used to take art classes in his young age and further got in to a job of commercial illustrator at the age of 18. Disney was further moved to California in the 1920s. The character of Mickey Mouse was developed by Disney in the year 1928 with the help of Ub Iwerks. The voice for the character was provided by Disney himself. Walt Disney started becoming more and more ambitious after this and started using many other new and improved technologies (Reijonen et al., 2015).

The report will be based on the analysis of the various entrepreneurship related initiatives that were taken by Walt Disney in the course of the operations of his organization. The motivation related factors that helped Disney to succeed in the industry will also be discussed and analysed in the report in detail.

The most important motivating factor behind the huge success of Walt Disney in the industry was the spirit to never give up. Disney followed the principle of never giving up even after many failures in the business. Disney had to face many issues and obstacles during the phase of his life and career. However, he was able to rise a step further after each failure that he experienced in his life. Disney always kept his focus on the future than thinking about the past. Disney had a huge impact on the entertainment industry and the popular culture that was followed in the 20^th century. The major innovations that were made by Walt Disney had gained immense fame in the industry within a short span of time. The characters that were introduced by Walt Disney were recognised by people from the different age groups (Hartsfield, Johansen & Knight, 2017). The nostalgic sentimentality and wholesomeness were the major trademarks of the character of Walt Disney. Disney’s childhood was not ideal in nature and he had to face the torture of his brutal father for many years. The major escape from this torture for Disney was drawing. The life of fantasy that was created by Disney provided him with a new reason to breathe and live. Disney started an important journey in the year 1923 by creating a character named Oswald. However, he was not able to get credit for his own creation. The next move by Disney was the creation of the character which later became a huge success named Mickey Mouse. The films related to Mickey Mouse were then made by Disney with the help of his team which was easily able to grip the attention of American citizens. This was just the start of the historical journey of Walt Disney (Covin & Miller, 2014). The major motivating factor that was able to support the journey of Walt Disney were the hardships that were faced by Disney in the early years of his life. This led Disney to create his own fantasy world and help others to get an escape from their personal issues as well.

Factors Contributing to Walt Disney’s Success

The first vision of Walt Disney was related to the creation of animation characters and Mickey Mouse was the first major and successful character that was created by Walt Disney. The films that were made with the help of this character were a huge success in the American market. The operations that were undertaken by Walt Disney were quite time-consuming and risky in nature. However, the short films that were first made by the Disney Studio were able to gain huge revenues for the organizations. The next planning of Walt Disney was related to the formation of full-length movies with the help of animation techniques. This project was far risky as compared to the earlier ventures of the organization (Boling, Pieper & Covin, 2016). The first movie that was released in the market under this planning was “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. The movie was a huge success in the market and was able to gain huge amounts of revenues for Disney. The theatres were crowded with audiences and the critics also provide excellent reviews to the movie. Disney received an Academy Award for the work that was done by him. The first film was followed by a series of many other movies which became classics in the industry and contributed to the growth of the legend. Disney also made many documentary movies like, “Treasure Island” and “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. Disney also embraced the media of television to showcase his creations to a larger group of people (Engelen et al., 2015).

The next big venture that was made by the entrepreneur was the amusement park that was being planned by him for a long time. In the 1950s Disney took another major risk by mortgaging his entire belongings including, his stock holdings, his life insurance, his furniture and his house to purchase a huge land in California for the purpose of building the amusement parks. In the 1955, the park was opened with the name of Disneyland which became a huge success and was set to become one of the most famous tourist destinations in the world. Disneyland further became the real-life version of the various Disney characters that were showcased in the movies. Disney was able to build a huge family entertainment empire by the 1960s (Lechner & Gudmundsson, 2014). However, he was not satisfied with this and decided to expand his operations by purchasing a new land in Orlando. The second world of fantasy was created within a short span of time. The opening of the second theme park of Disney was also a huge success, however, he was not able to experience this success of his company. Disney died at the age of 65 in the year 1966. The growth of the company however continued with the help of the vision and reputation that has been created by Disney in the industry. The Walt Disney World Resort was another major venture of the company which was started in the year 1971. This venture consisted of one theme park and two resorts. The size of the Walt Disney World has been increasing after this venture in terms of its size and number of establishments (Eshima & Anderson, 2017). The organization further provides a variety of options to the guests who visit the Walt Disney World, which include the budget resorts and the deluxe resorts as well. The organization has been completely growing by size and reputation since then and has been able to become a premiere destination for vacations (Wales, Wiklund & McKelvie, 2015).

The Creative and Risky Ventures of Walt Disney

Walt Disney was an entrepreneur who was able to influence the lives of many other people in different ways. The company named The Walt Disney Company that was opened by Walt Disney along with his brother Roy Disney is presently a successful and profitable enterprise with revenues of 36 billion dollars. Walt Disney was a unique individual who was capable of combining his creative skills with his business mind. This further helped in winning many important awards in his lifetime. The start of the business by Walt Disney was not quite successful and this had led to bankruptcy as he was not able to pay the high salaries that were demanded by the employees (Shirokova et al., 2016). Walt Disney had to face many issues in the tome when he was aiming at building his business operations in California. However, he was able to prove his entrepreneurship skills once again in the year 1934 by producing a feature which was able to create history in the world of animation. Disney then started planning the training that was required for the employees in the organization. The staff in the company were now full of talent and were capable of increasing the revenues of Disney to the highest levels. Walt Disney was a person who was never scared of taking huge amounts of risks (Morgan et al., 2015). This was further proved by the opening of the theme park of Disney in the year 1955. This idea of the entrepreneur also proved to be profitable for the growth of the company in the industry. The pure vision and the spirit that was developed by Walt Disney was alive even after his death.

The huge Walt Disney company started with the idea of this single man named Walt Disney. The entrepreneur is still a huge source of inspiration for many other new business owners or entrepreneurs. Walt Disney was a perfect salesman who a strong belief in his dreams and his future plans. Disney was determined in achieving his objective even after many issues that his business had to face in its course of operations. Disney never feared the risks that could be taken to expand his business operations. Disney was full of creative ideas which further led to the success of the organization in the market (Fernández-Mesa & Alegre, 2015). The media campaigns that were designed by Disney before the opening of the amusement parks were considered to be some of the most successful advertisement campaigns in the world. Disney also believed in the constant improvement of the operations of his business so that revenues can be increased and the business is able to flourish. Disney did not believe in stopping himself after achieving something. He was further curious about taking the next step and increasing his achievements further. Disney was always ready to expand the current operations of his business and try to further in the market. Disney always had high tolerance levels for risks that are an integral part of any business operations (Dai et al., 2014). This quality had been helpful for him to take quick decisions and expand his business in the new avenues. The attitude that was depicted by Walt Disney at the time of failure was one of the major reasons behind his success in the market. The entrepreneurial characteristics and orientation that has been depicted by Walt Disney has helped in the creation of the Disney World (Brettel, Chomik & Flatten, 2015).

The Legacy of Walt Disney’s Entrepreneurship

The leadership qualities of Walt Disney were the major reasons behind his success in the industry. The enterprise can never be successful without great leaders. The leadership abilities of the entrepreneurs play a major role in the success of the organization of which they are a part. The leaders need to be such who are willing to sacrifice their time for gaining success in their ventures (Lomberg et al., 2017). The ideas that were created by Walt Disney were a part of his vision that was based on the successful operations of his enterprise. The leader was further successful in creating a successful team which was able to produce the best results for the benefit of the organization. Disney had clear vision which was related to the fulfilment of his dreams related to the creation of his own fantasy world. The vision of Disney was executed by gathering the resources that are required for the fulfilment of his dreams. Disney was able to learn a lot from his failures and further use these as the major factor of his success. Disney was able to prove his levels of resilience and creativity and was able to become a successful leader and entrepreneur (Criado-Gomis, Iniesta-Bonillo & Cervera-Taulet, 2018).

Disney was able to communicate his vision among the members of team or the employees of his organization. The optimism, perseverance, risk-taking and innovation related capabilities of Disney led to the huge success of the Disney organization. Disney as a leader was successful in motivating his team and making them believe in his dreams so that they are together able to create a successful organization. Walt was sure that he would be able to fulfil his dreams alone and this was the major reason behind the creation of an effective team to share his dreams. He always aimed at inspiring and motivating his team so that they are able to achieve the goals that are related to the vision of the organization. Disney was a master in communicating his innovative ideas to the different employees or the members of his team (Revilla, Pérez-Luño & Nieto, 2016). The leadership style that has been followed by Walt Disney is considered to be the most beneficial and useful for the various organizations in the modern business world as well. The leadership style of Disney was mainly focussed on the commitment of the workers and the influence of the CEO. Walt Disney was considered to be a transformational leader and was easily able to influence his followers so that they are able to follow his vision. Disney was a go getter and believed in his dreams. The beliefs and dreams that were a part of Disney’s life were also important to the members of his team (Garcés-Galdeano et al., 2016). This has been helpful for Walt Disney to create an effective team so that the organization can be successful in its field of operations. The positive energy that was built in the organization under the leadership of Disney was further able to provide the desired results.

Leadership Qualities of Walt Disney

The major characteristics that were able to make Walt Disney successful were related to his creative nature. Disney was able to create and innovate his ideas even after experiencing a bad childhood. The passion that had helped him escape the fear of his father was the major factor that had ultimately led to the creation of the Walt Disney park. The innovative character of Disney further led to the various improvements that were made by him in the inventions that he had made at the start of his company. Disney was never ready to stop after achieving his certain goals. He was constantly aiming towards improving the offerings of the company. The growth and expansion related plans of Disney were also quite successful in providing the company the brand which it deserved (Chen, Chang & Chang, 2015).

Walt Disney has many accomplishments which include the various awards and recognitions that were received by him for his contribution to the industry. Disney was able to create an entire new era of movies that were offered to the American citizens (Shan, Song & Ju, 2016).

Conclusion

The report can be concluded by stating that Walt Disney was a successful entrepreneur who was able to change the entire scenario in the animation industry. Disney was successful in creating an entire business group with the help of fearless ideas and innovative capabilities. This made the Walt Disney World an attractive tourist destination in the world and it is still able to maintain its position in the industry with the help of the various different business operations. Walt Disney was the major reason behind the huge success of the organization.

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