Analyzing Walt Disney Conflict

Walt Disney Conflict Sources of Conflict and Politics that have Plagued Walt Disney in the Past Walt Disney has had quite a number of highs and lows over the past two decades. One of the biggest problems that they faced during that period was excessive authority by the company's executives. This made several members of the upper management to feel disenfranchised by the executive. This problem started by the appointment of Michael Eisner as the company's CEO.

Upon his appointment to the position, Michael Eisner brought with him a new style of management; he required that every important decision that was to be made by the corporation had to pass through him. This centralized decision making process and slowed down the company's decision making process. This, in turn, slowed down some aspects of its operations and also the speed with which it developed new strategies.

Thus, within a few years of Michael's leadership, the company started experiencing lower performance, and other lower returns on its investments during the period between 2000 and 2006. Slow decision making not only slowed its operations, but also its rate of adopting new strategies and techniques to keep up with the highly competitive entertainment industry. The centralized decision-making process meant that the company's operations had become too bureaucratic.

How Iger Used Conflict Resolution and Political Strategies to Address the Problem When Iger took over as CEO of Disney, he immediately realized that he had to do something to save the situation. So as to resolve the conflict, he decided to apply organizational power. Organizational power is described as the ability/power to surmount the resistance by other parties so as to settle a dispute and attain the desired goals. Iger decided to change Disney's organizational structure.

He wanted to get rid of the approach of the "dictatorial approach" that had been used by his predecessor. This, he was able to achieve by dismantling the company's "central strategic planning office." Thus, he was able to reclaim the power of allocating resources, which was previously held by the office and using this power he was able to redirect the company's resources to generating innovative products.

He also used his positional power as Disney's CEO to redeploy the company's staff so as to make the most use of each talent. Unlike his predecessor, he appointed individuals strictly on merit and not on any personal considerations (Stapleton, 2014). Iger knew that he had to use his positional power or else the company's fortunes would continue to dwindle. He knew that his predecessor was overbearing and that that had been part of the problem.

So, he decided to change the company's structures, sit back and let the spotlight fall on his lieutenants. He runs Disney through agreement and not fiat. And rather than dismissing or demoting Eisner's allies, he has decided to largely retain the management team (Grover, 2007). Sources and Effects of Power on Organizational Structure There are different sources of organizational power. Some powers come from personal qualities while others are derived from a firm's structure. All these sources of power have different impacts on the subjects that they control.

The six main types of organizational power are: Legitimate Power This is also referred to as positional power and it comes from one's position or station in an organization's structure. Legitimate power often emanates from official authority given unto the holder of a certain office by its shareholders or by the organization's constitution. Referent Power Referent power is derived from an individual's ability to be friendly, build partnerships, lead others and make them loyal to his or her cause.

This kind of power comes from the personal qualities of the powerful individual. For instance, there are many people within organizations who are liked for their oratory skills or their charisma and likability and these qualities enable them to have power over their followers. Expert Power This is a power that comes from an individual's academic knowledge or experience. This kind of power is particularly potent in situations where the skill possessed by the individual is rare or is in high need.

Reward Power This power draws from a person's ability to provide positive incentives or to offer others tangible rewards. The potency of this power is based on the ability of the power holder to provide motivation through conferring material benefits. In organizational context, rewards may include: paid time-off, pay increases, promotions or increased holidays. Coercive Power This power emanates from the ability of the power holder to punish the targets of the power through sanctions, restriction of certain benefits or withholding or rewards or resources.

This power uses fear to get compliance. Informational Power Informational power draws from one's access to useful knowledge or facts. This access can be from the power holder's ties to other power holders; ties which will definitely convey status and create a perception of power. Informational power can help in building loyalty and credibility. This power may also serve to propel the power holder to a high position through the use of the information held by him or her.

All these sources of power could be combined to attain a single goal. Many CEOs are also known to possess more than one of these powers. In fact, the more powers that an CEO has, the more overall influence and ability that he or she will have to achieve his goals (Boundless, 2015). How to Evaluate Organizational Design/Strategy in a Global Operations Environment At the start of the 21st century, globalization was already becoming a trend.

Many firms were already looking to start selling their products to many other locations around the world. Basically, globalization refers to the growth of international trade and the integration of world markets. Strategy development involves two phases: strategy formulation and implementation. When coming up with a strategy, firms need to identify not only local, but also international objectives and draft a strategy that will help them achieve those objectives. During the formulation phase, managers propose, edit, draft and redraft their plans before coming up with a final strategy.

After this, the strategies and then implemented in the manner that.