The Walt Disney Company. Finding,Evaluating and Processing Information.

There are a lot of way to find information about The Walt Disney Company. Search engines like Google direct you to two types of sources: the insiders' peek into the company and the outsiders' view.

First of all, the corporate and official Disney website www.disney.com present a wide range of information about the company, its history, products, ongoing projects etc.

Secondly, a more detailed and business-oriented information is available at www.hoovers.com, where one can find the following: company description, executives, financials, jobs, competition, industry, news releases, significant developments etc. http://www.hoovers.com/disney/--ID__11603--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml

Using these two sources, one can find any possible information about the company which is available to the public.

The Walt Disney Company. Communicating in Teams.

Disney International programs have been widely implemented by the Disney College. One of the prominent ones is Disney Communication Course, which introduces students to the communication within an organization as well as outside it. Not only do the students learn how the companies are run as teams and by teams, but they are also encouraged to work in groups assuming they are the corporate communication team. The course has the following modules:

• Welcome!
• Planning and research functions,
• Media Relations,
• Community Relations,
• Employee Communications,
• Government Relations,
• Customer Relations,
• Management and Surveillance,
• Corporate Communication Technology,
• Crisis Communication,
• Group Presentations.

For a more detailed course description and syllabus, visit:
http://www.disneyinternationalprograms.com/_assets/pdf/CommunicSyll.pdf

The Walt Disney Company.My Business Message.

Disney Animation Studio is seeking experienced animators for upcoming project on developing Marvel characters and adapting them to fit the modern Disney atmosphere.
We are building a team of illustrators and animators, who are innovative and strong individuals, willing to work in teams and bring creativity to a new level.
Productive mind set is valued more then experience.
To apply, please, send a link to your animation portfolio as well as your resume and cover letter to:
marvelanimation@disney.hr.com

The Walt Disney Company. Diversity.

For a long time, Disney Company failed to present its young viewers with realistic cross-section of the society, thus not taking advantage of its persuasive influence.
Since Jasmine came out into picture, Disney has slowly but surely been incorporating more ethnicity into its feature films. Today, it has the following range of ethnic characters:

• Jasmine (Indian),
• Pocahontas (Native American),
• Mulan (Chinese),
• Lilo (Polynesian),
• Maddy (Afro-American).

Now, every child has someone in the Disney Media with whome they can readily identify with, both personality and appearance.

The Walt Disney Company. Visuals and Presentations.

Walt Disney Company fact book provides corporate information, gives detailed overview of the company and describes each business branch it conducts business in.

To see the fact book, follow the link:
http://amedia.disney.go.com/investorrelations/factbook_2008.pdf

In my opinion, the information given in the book is fully integrated with the visuals. They are:

• consistent (font, point size, layout, other elements);
• contract (there is no boring repetitions);
• balanced (the amount of visuals per page is balanced with the text);
• emphasizing (the visuals reflect the ideas discussed on the same page);
• conventional (the pattern of visuals and their choice reflects Disney spirit);
• simple (the information is laid out in a way simple to follow and get the main idea of).
  

The Walt Disney Company. Persuasive Message.

Disney Rewards Visa Card!

Save with 0% APR vacation financing and a $40 statement credit!

The full offer can be viewed at:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/disney-visa-card/wdw/zero-percent/?trackcode=61Y

Disney's persuasive message to apply for the Disney Credit Card engages the following techniques of creating a persuasive message:

• displays good intentions from the side of the company (help you get to the Disney World Parks and resorts and not to worry about financing);
• personal appeal to the readers' emotions and values;
• gives the promise (savings);
• simply written and structured on the web page (we do not get lost in the amount of information presented), the most important information comes in a bigger font;
• structured with the AIDA model (grasps our attention, provokes interest, evokes desire and leads to the action of pressing the link "Register and Card Application").
  

The Walt Disney Company. Financial Overview.

The Walt Disney Company is a component of Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P500 index.
Number of Shares Outstanding - 1,858,560,000
Market Cap (billion) - 48.14 B
Indicated Annual Dividend - 0.35
Beta Coefficient - 1.10
Earnings per Share - 1.69
Yield (%) - 1.35
P/E ratio - 15.89
As for the last 12 months of trading activity, the highest price was hitting almost $35/share in September 2008, while the lowest price was around $15 share in April 2009.
Currently, it is being traded between $25-26/share and the pattern is heading towards growth.

The financial activity shown on the graph is as of September 5th, 2009.

For more information, visit:
http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=DIS
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/statemnt.aspx?symbol=dis

The Walt Disney Company. The Most Recent News.

On Monday, August 31, 2009, Disney agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment Inc. ($4 billion), adding a legion of superheroes and other 5000 characters to the Disney family.
Under the agreement, Marvel holders will receive $30 a share in cash plus about 0.75 Disney share for each Marvel Share.
This deal is Disney's biggest since its 2006 purchase of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. for $7.4 billion in stock.
Disney CFO Tom Staggs, commented: "Marvel is worth more inside Disney that outside Disney", being the only one among the rival executives to pay a hefty premium.

For more information, visit:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125172509349072393.html

The Walt Disney Company. Current Overview.

Nowadays, The Walt Disney Company is one of the world's largest and the most recognized media industries. Together with its affiliated companies, The Walt Disney produces unparalleled entertainment characters and projects.

The company comprises four business segments:

• media networks (The Disney-ABC Television group, The Disney Channels, Radio Disney Network, The Walt Disney Internet Group etc);
• parks and resorts (Disney Land Parks, Disney Cruise Line, Vacation Club resorts, Adventures by Disney etc);
• studio entertainment (Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Disney Theatrical Production, Walt Disney Records etc);
• consumer products (toys, apparel, accessories and footwear, food, health and beauty, home decor, stationary).

For more information, visit:
http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/overview.html

The Walt Disney Company. Brief History.

The Walt Disney Company began its existence as a cartoon studio and made a prominent way to a global corporation. In 1923, brothers Walt and Roy Disney started their partnership under the name of Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. Nowadays, The Walt Disney Company is a global entertainment company, synonymous with quality interactive entertainment for the whole family. These eighty years of the company's existence have been marked with a great number of animators' innovative ideas and managerial decisions of new acquisitions and expansion projects that made The Walt Disney Company a leading diversified entertainment company.

For a more specific timeline and notable business events, visit:
http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/complete_history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_The_Walt_Disney_Company