Incorporate each individual's work to conduct a final summary. Finalize an answer to the Group Discussion Summary. The three questions we were tasked to answer were:

1. Identify genetic strategies specific business strategies of your case company

2. Evaluate if the case company is taking diversification strategies. If so, identify what types of diversification the company take.

3. Apply BCG and Industry Attractiveness and Business Strength Matrix evaluating business portfolio of your case company (Instruction on BCG and Industry Attractiveness and Business Strength Matrix are accessible at Module 3 on CANVAS, as well as Instructor's video).

TODE'S RESPONSE:

1. Identify genetic strategies specific business strategies of your case company

Disney has a rich history of accomplishments, and its corporate strategies have greatly contributed to its capacity to establish and uphold a dominant position in the entertainment sector. The emphasis on excellence, innovation, and customer experience; Disney's diversification towards newer markets and industries; and its dedication to upholding a strong brand are just a few of the crucial initiatives that have aided in its success.

Ever since its inception as a corporation, Disney has placed a strong emphasis on excellence. Since his passing, the corporation has continued to uphold the high standards of excellence that Walt Disney, a perfectionist, demanded of his staff. Notably, Disney's success has also been largely due to innovation. The organization has consistently been willing to experiment and take chances. Disney too has embraced new technology like computer-generated animation promptly, which has helped it maintain its position as a leader in the animation sector. Disney also specializes in excellent customer service. Disney staff are renowned for their hospitality and willingness to help, and the firm goes to lengths to make sure that all consumers are delighted. The corporation has been focused on giving its customers a terrific experience.

2. Evaluate if the case company is taking diversification strategies. If so, identify what types of diversification the company take.

Disney is a business that is well renowned because of its strategies of diversification. The corporation engages in a broad range of businesses, that have enabled it to grow andbecame one of the most prosperous corporations in the globe. Disney has a broad range of products, including merchandise, television, films, and theme parks. And due to its diversification, the business has been brave enough to face economic recessions while maintaining its profitability.

Disney's theme parks are among the most prominent illustrations of its diversification. The corporation operates theme parks all around the world, that aids in generating income from a wide range of markets. Disney also has managed to advertise its other companies, including its movies and goods, through its theme parks. Also, the movie industry is another illustration of Disney's diversification. The corporation has a long history in the film industry and has contributed to some of the greatest box office hits ever.

3. Apply BCG and Industry Attractiveness and Business Strength Matrix evaluating business portfolio of your case company (Instruction on BCG and Industry Attractiveness and Business Strength Matrix are accessible at Module 3 on CANVAS, as well as Instructor's video).

Disney's business portfolio may be analyzed using the BCG matrix, the market attractiveness and business strengths matrix, and the results show that the corporation has a number of "star" businesses. These comprise the Disney Consumer Items, the Walt Disney Studios, and the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. The Walt Disney Studios would be a star considering it has a large market share in a rapidly growing market. The Walt Disney Parks & Resorts is alsoa star but it does have a large market share in a rapidly growing market. Disney Consumer Products is anotherstar since it commandsa substantial market share in a sector that is seeing rapid expansion.

Additionally, the corporation runs a variety of "cash cow" enterprises. These include ESPN and the ABC Television Network. Due to its large market share in a sector that is experiencing little development, the ABC Television Network falls in thecash cow category. withESPN also beinga cash cow since it has a large market share in what seems like a low-growth industry. There are several "question mark" enterprises owned by the corporation. These include Disney XD and the Disney Channel. Due to its low market share in a sector that is seeing rapid growth, the Disney Channel falls in this category. With the Disney XD alsoa question mark since it has a small market share in a fast-growing market.

Several of the company's operations are categorized as "dogs." Which encompass the Disney Stores and the A&E Television Networks. Due to its low market share in a sector with slow development, the A&E Television Networks is a flop. The Disney Stores is also a dog as it has a small market share in a slow-growing industry. When this industry attractiveness and business strengths matrix is applied to Disney's corporate strategy, we can see that the company has a number of enterprises that operate in desirable markets. Which include the ABC Television Network, ESPN, Disney Consumer Products, Walt Disney Studios, and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.

The corporation does have a lot of ventures that serve in undesirable industries. A&E Television Networks, the Disney Stores, the Disney Channel, and Disney XD are a few examples. however, m any of the company's operations are categorized as "strong businesses". These include the ABC Television Network, its Disney Consumer Products line, the Walt Disney Studios, and the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Additionally, a vast numberof the company's operations are categorized as "weak enterprises". WithA&E Television Networks, the Disney Stores, the Disney Channel, and Disney XD are a few examples.

STEVEN'S RESPONSE:

1. Identify genetic strategies specific business strategies of your case company.

With our group choosing Disney as our case company, I concluded that the business strategies that were used are:

• Lowest Leadership strategy
• Market Focus Strategy.

I chose the Lowest leadership Strategy because of technology and innovation. Think about those topics for a second, they are very similar. With the covid-19 pandemic still being at hand and shut-downs being present. Disney decided to innovate their technology with coming out with Disney plus. Which has become so popular over the last 3 plus years.

Then I chose competitors and customers which to me is a obvious one. I say this because look all these other streaming apps that include Netflix, Hulu, ESPN plus, and YouTube tv to name a few. Disney saw this happening years ago then came out with their own. The one unique difference is any Disney movie in theaters you can watch on their app, which is where they have gained new customers and some of their competitor's customers.

1. Evaluate if the case company is taking diversification strategies. If so, identify what types of diversification the company take.

With Disney having their name out their worldwide they have multiple diversification strategies depending what area you want to go down. The ones I feel have the most importance is:

• Market Development
• Innovation

When you think about market development you are thinking about the name of the company or product. To execute this, you have to have a good name for yourself and Disney does according to my knowledge which is why Disney plus has sky rocketed the way it has.

Then we have innovation, this is how to improve your company. Once covid-19 hit Disney came up with a plan to come out with their own streaming app since everyone was at home. This has made them over $230 million in just over three years which is successful innovation at its finest.

1. Apply BCG and Industry Attractiveness and Business Strength Matrix evaluating business portfolio of your case company (Instruction on BCG and Industry Attractiveness and Business Strength Matrix are accessible at Module 3 on CANVAS, as well as Instructor's video).

Disney's portfolio can be dissected by using the BCG matrix, the market attractiveness and business innovation/strengths matrix, and show that the company has a number of "star" businesses these Disney apparel Items and the Walt Disney Studios which is in Florida. The Walt Disney Studios would be a star considering its location.

Disney runs a different "cash cow" enterprises. These are ESPN and the kid channels that include the Disney channel Disney xd. These are on the downfall since the arise of Disney plus and the fact that less families are going with cable companies.

The dogs of the company would be more merchandise items than anything. This more entails to younger kids more in the ages of 3 months to 5 years old. When we apply the matrix, we see that the enterprises include Disney apparel, espn, and Walt Disney studios in Florida.

The company of Disney has a lot of underperforming industries. the Disney Stores, the Disney Channel, and Disney XD are the only ones left. The company's operations are very invested in their television which include, its Disney apparel, the Walt Disney Studios, and ESPN. As well there are few that are on their way out which are the cable channels which may include the Disney channel and Disney XD.

ROBERT'S RESPONSE:

1. One generic strategy that Walt Disney incorporates is the differentiation strategy. Disney focuses on consumer goods, studio entertainment, theme parks, resorts, etc. Disney has been successful with diversifying its products and services. This has enabled Disney to grow exponentially. Walt Disney is planning to differentiate its operations by opening theme parks and resorts in Russia and China. Disney also uses the focus strategy by concentrating on particular market niches that have less competition. For the most part, Disney targets young children and their families. Disney does this by creating emotional connections between its theme parks and customers. With this approach, Disney has been able to charge premium prices at theme parks due to its uniqueness.

1. Walt Disney has been making many efforts in the past years to diversify. As of recent, Disney created Disney Cruises. Disney is offering cruise trips for young children, families, and friends. The cruise offers broad-way style musicals, fireworks over the sea, watching new Disney movies, as well as live shows and entertainment daily. In 2021 Disney donated 150 million dollars to programs directly serving underrepresented communities. Disney uses the horizontal strategy by continuously introducing new products and services to expand market share. Disney also uses the horizontal strategy to merge with or buy out other companies. Furthermore, Disney has pursued vertical integration as well. Disney has vertically integrated by operating more than three hundred retail stores that sell Disney merchandise based on the characters and movies. This allows Disney to receive profits that would otherwise be enjoyed by another store.

1. Disney uses the BCG strategy by having cash cows. Consumer products and Studio Entertainment of Walt Disney fall in this category. These are cash cows because of the increase in its sales every year and no such additions to the features, operations, and offerings to the consumer. Disney also incorporates stars into its business portfolio. Stars have high market share as well as high market growth. Theme parks and media networks would be considered as the star items for Walt Disney. The internet and direct marketing are the question mark for the company because they have both failed in performing up to Disney's financial goals. Digital games would be the dog for Disney and they need to work on these games to make them a question mark or a cash cow. Industry attractiveness for Walt Disney would be the theme parks, media networks, studio entertainment, and consumer products. These are the sources Walt Disney should continue to invest in. Interactive media is the least attractive form of entertainment for Walt Disney and should be avoided when thinking about investments. The generic strategy that Disney utilizes is a strength for the company as well as high brand value. This helps make Disney's products more attractive.

ZACHARY'S RESPONSE:

1. Identify genetic strategies specific business strategies of your case company

Disney has millions of loyal customers from their movies, shows and amusement parks around the globe. Disney continues meeting and exceeding customer needs and demands with every new content release, and new theme park attractions. Not only does Disney have the competitive advantage by establishing a high value to customers, but does so sustainably through means of long-term capabilities that cannot be easily replicated or even overcome. Disney applies specific business practices, such as broad differentiation strategy. The broad differentiation strategy allows Disney to provide products and services that differ from their competitors and appeal to a global audience. Disney has stayed ahead of the curve by being proactive with major business decisions, such as their many acquisitions of competitors, by doing so, Disney expands their content offerings and theme park attractions.

1. Evaluate if the case company is taking diversification strategies. If so, identify what types of diversification the company take.

Disney originally was created with the intention of creating stories through the means of cartoons, which has blossomed into television shows, movies, merchandise, and theme parks across the globe. Disney has a track record of continued diversification sense its inception. In Disney's early days, it went on a period of making multiple acquisitions of networks, production companies, and other competitors to expand their product/service offerings and continue to grow on their acquired companies' content. For example, through one of Disney's acquisitions, they bought the rights to the entire Star Wars franchise, and sense then, Disney has continued to make new blockbuster Star Wars movies and attractions to their theme parks.

More recently, Disney make a pivotal movement toward streaming platforms to offer consumers the ability to stream Disney's content by paying a monthly subscription cost. Disney has two streaming platforms, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus. Disney make the decision to create streaming platforms after customer wants and habits shifting away from standard cable and DVD viewing options, to online streaming websites and platforms. Aside from Disney investing in their own streaming platforms, they also hold a large shareholder position in a competitor of theirs, Hulu.

Disney has made acquisitions and investments in businesses that offer similar products, services and technologies that complement Disney's current, and future business. Through these diversifying efforts to grow the business and the brand, they have increase their sales, profit, and assets year-over-year.

BSG Disney Analysis

• Star (High Cash Generation & High Cash Use/Growth Rate)
  • Theme park admissions
  • Park & Experiences merchandise, food & beverage
  • Resorts & vacations
  • Theatrical distribution
  • TV/SVOD Distribution & other
• Cash Cow ((High Cash Generation & Low Cash Use/Growth Rate)
  • Merchandise licensing and retail
  • Affiliate fees
  • Advertising
• Problem Child (Low Cash Generation & High Cash Use/Growth Rate)
  • Studio entertainment
• Dog (Low Cash Generation & Low Cash Use)
  • Direct-to-consumer & international

Industry Attractiveness & Business Strength Matrix

• Strong Business Strength (High Industry Attractiveness)
  • Media Networks
  • Parks & Experiences
• Average Business Strength (Medium Industry Attractiveness)
  • Studio Entertainment
• Weak Business Strength (_Low Industry Attractiveness)
  • Direct-to-consumer & International

JUAN'S RESPONSE:

1. Disney has done a great job with generic strategy by using product differentiation for competitive advantage. Disney began their organization with Mickey Mouse and capitalized on their successes because their first target audience was young children. By beginning with such a popular character and beginning with children this opened a gateway to American's homes. Disney followed their first iconic character with Minnie mouse to target to a more female audience. Capitalizing on this entry Disney was able to follow up by advertising their new amusement park, which again targeted towards young children but also providing an experience for all types of crowds. The amusement park gives everyone an unforgettable experience by entering in your heart through nostalgia and taking you back to your childhood days. By removing all the stresses of being an adult, one is able to live in Disney's world and experience something one can only see on TV. This hit their stride catapulting their overall business because the first amusement park cost $17 million to make and in the first year made $10 million in revenue. By the second year, Disney had already made their money back solidifying the large investment. Now in today's world $10 million does not sound like a lot of money but based on inflation calculators, $10 million dollars in 1955 is worth about $110 million dollars in 2022. Proving the instant success of the amusement park. Disney had an idea to build an amusement park and with the planning of the park, they created an entire show called Disneyland to advertise the amusement park. This not only advertised the park but this used their own products to advertise future products. The perfect example of marketing and Disney continues to do this even today. Now in 2022, Disney uses all of their future and recent movies to advertise their streaming service. At the end of every trailer, commercial or ad Disney Plus is connected to the advertising continuing to pair products together to increase the likelihood of their success.
2. Disney has done an excellent job not only diversifying their different types of products but also diversifying with the times as well. Disney began with Mickey, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Dumbo to name a few but then began with their Disney princess line targeting women in a completely different aspect. Rather than having only female based characters of their male characters like Mickey, the Disney princesses gave women as a whole the chance to be a princess. In 2022, women continue to embrace the characters they grew up with because of the connection they established at a young or even mature age. Based off everyday online marketing, Disney has made over $14 billion dollars off the Frozen franchise alone. This property released in 2013, and was highly praised for its visuals, screenplay, themes, music and its voice acting. Disney has also broken into another market, with Marvel Studios and Lucasfilms. These two franchises have become highly appreciated properties because consumers are able to enjoy their favorite characters they have read comic books of for years, to now receive content on the big screen in theaters or on their streaming platform. Fans have also been able to receive content on a more consistent basis. Marvel Studios releases at least 3 movies a year grossing an average of $700 million solely on box office, not counting action figure sales, dvd/ blu ray, or revenue from streams online. Disney has also been able to strategically break into the cryptocurrency market regardless of the mainstream media support. Disney has diversified its products from characters all the way to digital photos that cannot be replicated by keeping up with the times and finding effective ways to incorporate its catalog of characters.
3. The BCG matrix breaks up the company's positions/ products into different aspects to distinguish the different tiers of revenue and potential. The dog portion of matrix is products with low market share that can be removed or not fully backed. The NFT project falls under this category because this does not require much attention besides the initial programing because once the digital image is programed, it can be replicated into the end amount of the total to sell. The question mark of the matrix consumes a lot of cash and have low market share. Their streaming platform falls into this category because there has to be a constant investment of the server their platform uses and as their user count continues to grow so must the server to support the audience using the service. With new streaming services growing every day, as it seems every random channel now has a streaming service it is diluting the market space and limiting Disney's success. The stars category is a product or service that requires a lot of income in order to generate large amounts of money. Their amusement parks are prime examples of this money as this took the largest it during Covid dropping Disney's stock value and declining in 73% overall revenue. The cash cow for Disney's brand has to be the entire catalog of characters. Once created, each character can be placed on a water bottle and sold for 30 times the value mainly because of the character. The cash cows are the products that do not require much inflow to sustain the inflow of cash. Disney's industry attractiveness comes from a variety of different aspects such as the expansion of properties and finding innovative ways to keep up with technology. Throughout the years, Disney has acquired major companies including competitors to set up future products. Ever since the early 2000's, Disney purchased Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilms to expand their catalog. Disney also purchase one of their main competitors, 20^th Century Fox in preparation of their streaming service platform. Disney has also effectively kept up with the times by immediately finding creative ways to launch their streaming services and by creating NFTs. Many companies have adapted or converted to a streaming platform but no one can compete with the catalog of characters. Many are skeptical of NFT and do not believe in the product but Disney has been one of the pioneers to capitalize on the revenue. On December 22, 2021 Disney entered this market with 40,000 costing about $60 per digital photo. One of the most recent NFT collections Disney has released is 'Pixar Pals' and the entire collection consisting of 54,995 which sold out immediately. Disney has become a media juggernaut through their creative products such as their amusement parks, cruise lines, characters, streaming platform, toys, ad digital photo collection. The business strength matrix is a 9-grid cell that measures the actual unit strength I comparison to the industry attractiveness. Disney's cells can be broken down to different brands such as Marvel and Star Wars which are two of the largest entertainment brands in all of pop culture. Along with Disney's Princesses line which every couple of years releases a new entry that targets to different audiences but still inclusive to all women. Not to exclude Disney's original Mickey Mouse team and the amusement parks that continue to generate enormous amounts of revenue. There are many companies that can compete with Disney but there is not one company that can directly compete with their business expansion or brand. Netflix can only compete through the streaming category, just as universal studios can compete with amusements parks but only have 3 in comparisons to Disney's 12. Overall, Disney has established itself as a household name that continues to expand and grow its catalog of characters and products.

SEAN'S RESPONSE:

1. The main generic business strategy that The Walt Disney Company utilizes is differentiation, specifically broad differentiation. Disney seeks to develop and create differences in their products among their competition to make their products and services appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers. Disney faces competition from other theme parks and entertainment companies that have similar lines of products and services as they have but while some of the same prospective buyers would go to both of these different companies for products, Disney is able to use their broad differentiation to build a more unique and committed following to their products and services that will also decrease the competition that they have among these other companies. Disney is seen as the experienced brand with the ability to reduce the pressure from other brands by using differentiation in their products to develop a strong brand image in consumers minds and become more unique and desirable to a majority of consumers which decreases competition. Disney doesn't use low cost strategies typically, and in fact they take the opposite route by pricing their products and services higher as they feel and can differentiate this enough and offer more quality through their unique approach and differentiation than the field of competitors and even though this pricing is higher for a broad range of competitors, even broad, and a focused range of competitors through focused differentiation can be used to attract consumers because they know if they are paying more they are receiving more quality and overall better service from the top recognized and distinguished brand in the industry.

2. The diversification strategy that The Walt Disney Company uses and has mastered is the ability to diversify into related businesses and in Disney's case the ability to acquire them and invest in them to develop them into the Disney brand and create diversity in the products and services they offer to bring in new lines of diversified consumers and create more diversification in the areas of the entertainment and experience industries so that they can appear more desirable and unique to a wider range of consumers. Disney finds businesses that have value chains that possess competitively valuable resources that strategically fit within their own value chains and diversify through them when they acquire or invest into these competitors or brands in the same industry so they can broaden their resources and speciality in the industry and become more desirable by consumers. Disney does this globally through the acquisition and investment to gain services and products from other companies and diversify them into the Disney brand very often, they reached partnerships and invested in and acquired portions of other big brands in the entertainment industry such as Lucas Films, Marvel, and Pixar and they integrated their brands into products, services, and experiences into their streaming services, theme parks, and merchandise. Doing so brought in existing consumers that were already attached to these brands that Disney acquired and integrated into their company diversifying their range of products and services and now customers who would become interested in what Disney now offered overall because they now had ownership and investment into products like films and other entertainment that Disney would now build off of through new entertainment experiences and merchandise that consumers could now follow and increase the companies diversification of products, experiences, and now consumers with this wider range of the audience they acquired through these related businesses in the same industry of film and entertainment experiences as Disney is.

3.To evaluate the business portfolio of The Walt Disney company applying BCG, industry attractiveness, and business strength matrix we must layout the cash cow, stars, question marks, and dogs to fully understand and analyze Disney's business portfolio through these strategies. BCG focuses on the cash cows and stars of the company in this portfolio and for Disney those are products they create like merchandise and products sold at their parks and experiences and the film and media they create and put into the market including what is put onto their streaming service and that consumers are attracted to and is mainly what consumers invest in because these products and Disney's parks and experiences are mainly where they generate their revenue and it brings in the most money for them as a company. The parks and experiences are recovering more from the pandemic than the merchandise and streaming service really needed to because that was where consumers could still reach the company and invest in the brand while the parks were closed and now that they are open and the parks and experiences around the world are developing more and more revenue for the company they are rebuilding the structure from these cash cows and stars they have and taking their place as which services and products generate the most revenue in the companies portfolio. Using industry attractiveness and business strength matrix in this evaluation the question marks and dogs are the focus in the company portfolio. The question marks for the company are their entities like Disney's Cruise Line and other experiences they offer globally and how much Disney has to invest to run these aspects of their company and how they need to diversify products and services offered in their other forms of entertainment like parks and experiences to get consumers to want to invest and pay to go on these experiences and cruise ships because if a majority of consumers only want to go to the parks and not the other experiences then they are losing money offering these services and especially during the pandemic they couldn't really offer this service due to travel restrictions and even though the parks were closed as well and couldn't generate revenue, they could have phased reopening follow state regulations but for the cruise line the global ramifications of the pandemic and the regulations made it harder for the cruise line to generate revenue and be able to make it worth running so Disney wasn't losing money. The dogs for Disney are the entities that they don't have to invest too much in to run them and typically that is their streaming services and some of their media entertainment like movies and shows that they developed in the past and they cemented their popularity among consumers and now they don't have to invest too much in updating or implementing too much new products into these classics because they know they have developed such a respective following and that consumers want these original Disney films and entertainment and that is why this is a crucial aspect of Disney's business portfolio because now that consumers know and want these products they are able to benefit through their streaming service and media entertainment that they partner with other companies to share with consumers is something they don't have to put too much into because they are going to get the revenue from that always and no matter what and while their merchandise is also like this they typically develop that more and have to invest more into offering a variety of products and differentiate what they offer to keep having consumers interested in that aspect while they know the film and media entertainment will always draw consumers in and it can be their fallback even through the pandemic when that is all consumers could invest in through Disney and get their services from Disney and they will always have revenue coming in from that aspect and they know their consumers know and want to invest in their developed brand because of these original products and services that Disney and consumers can rely on.