Strategic Plan 1
Strategic Plan Part I
Strategic Plan Part I
Disney Smart is a new division of the Disney World organization which aims to fulfill the needs of the customers by developing the educational “Aril Game”. The division has a unique mission, vision, and value proposition statements.
Mission Statement
Disney Smart’s mission is to create educational gaming products for children which can enhance their Arithmetic and Language skills while keeping them entertained and engaged in the activities presented.
Vision Statement
The vision of Disney Smart is to be on the cutting edge of educational media and to be innovative in creating gaming products which help children to grow their learning skills and help facilitate early childhood learning and development.
Value Proposition
The division will increase the income of the company by $20 million within the next three years. To achieve this performance, the division will provide high-quality services to the clients and attract a large market to satisfy them by offering exemplary customer service.
Relationship between the Division’s and Organization’s Mission Statements
The mission, vision and value statements of the Disney Smart division relate to the organizational values in multiple ways. The business’s mission is to be a leading provider of entertainment products (Emerson et al., 2010). Thus, the division’s mission statement aims at making the company a leading provider of gaming products, particularly aimed at an educational market for young learners. There is a relationship between the company and the division’s vision statement. Both have a vision of becoming leading innovators in the technological industry, specifically in this case for gaming and entertainment (Emerson et al., 2010). Likewise, the division has a value proposition that is similar to the organization’s value statement. For instance, the division aims at generating profits worth $20 million within a three-year period. Similarly, the company aims at increasing its profits to $20 million within the next three years. Indeed, the division relies on the mission, vision and value proposition statements to adhere to the company’s business strategy and thus is a seamless addition to the Disney family.
The guiding principles of the new division of Disney World andDisney Smart will be to educate young learners in a socially responsible way while maintaining excellent customer service and constantly innovating to make better products. The focus will remain on the customers at all times.The young learners will have a need to be educated and mentored in their learning, or the parent/guardian that is purchasing the product to help their young learner will help to enrich the children in ways that will improve their lives. Disney Smart, much like Disney World itself will prioritize customer satisfaction as one of its primary guiding principles. Satisfaction with the learning content, as well as the ease of use will be one of the primary focuses of the new “Aril 2016” game to ensure that the young learners are gaining the necessary knowledge without added frustration.
The Division’s Guiding Principles and Values
In reference to culture and diversity, Disney Smart will include different proprietary cartoon characters from different backgrounds and develop new ones when necessary to make children from different cultural groups feel included and relate to the product in order to keep them engaged in the learning process. Celebrating the diversity of the world through learning is a pattern already implemented through Disney television shows and would be further developed through the gaming division of the company.
In terms of social responsibility, the new division will follow suit from Disney World. While a business is run for-profit, Disney World and the new division aim to make the world a better place through entertainment and now through learning. An educated child that has been exposed to additional learning resources to facilitate learning has an advantage in the world of education and in the business world of the future. Disney Smart will also offer three $10,000 scholarships per state in the United States in order to give back to their loyal customers and to help develop and encourage the futures of the young people who have been using their products. Future plans include expanding the scholarship program around the world once the company grows in revenue.Disney Smart’s focus is on the improvement of educational models for young learners and making these products available to a large market so that children across all different socio-economic backgrounds have access to the products and can relate to the products in a real way.
Much like Disney World, the new division will uphold strict ethical standards in the development, marketing, and implementation of the product. The purpose of the “Aril 2016” game is to educate children, but always remembering that people (customers and employees) are the priority. The Disney Smart division will adhere to all Disney World corporate policies regarding ethics.
Strategic Plan Part Two
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
The division will rely on the organization’s strong brand name to attract many consumers that may otherwise not be attracted to this kind of product. Disney World has invested many resources in building its brand, which acts as a strong business strategy for gaining a competitive advantage over any competitors in the market (Bhasin, 2016). For this reason, the Disney Smart division can use the organization’s strong brand to market its products. In addition, the innovative gaming products have a highly integrated content, which improves the quality of the game. The games have high definition graphics compatible with all the most updated operating systems.
Weaknesses:
Disney World incurs high operational costs for promoting new entertainment products (Bhasin, 2016). Thus, the effect might and likely will spread to the newly created division making it difficult to market the gaming products at reasonable price points. Also, the company has poor online marketing strategies, which could limit its access to a vast number of consumers. The company has not significantly established itself on social media sites or developed interactive platforms where users can learn about the newly developed products, give compliments, complaints, and general comments. Hence, the division would have to wait long before accessing online customers, which could create an effect that could result in lower sales making it impossible to achieve the set targets.
Opportunities:
The division can offer the product and services to international consumers as well as the more obvious domestic markets (Bhasin, 2016). Most of the products from Disney World target the American consumers and are limited in international markets. Many people globally likegames and are familiar enough with the brand and its characters that the company can rely on them as potential consumers, especially given the limited number of gaming products for children in those age ranges. Thus, the division will market the products in international markets and try to target third world countries where the children of the nation lack adequate learning tools on mathematics and languages for early childhood learning.
Threats
Stiff competition is the major threat to the division’s new products (Bhasin, 2016). Disney experiences competition from Netflix, which has also invested in the third world countries. Changes in culture and the influence of movies is another threat. Many young children now like games which involve adventure and violence, for example running, shooting or attacking the monster. In contrast, the innovated games are for educational purposes and will likely feature little “adventure” and little to no violence. Thus, it would be difficult for the product to penetrate into the market already concentrated with other gaming products that cater to “fun” instead of education.
External Forces and Trends Considerations
Factor / Strength / Weakness / Opportunity / ThreatsLegal and Regulatory / Disney has registered the business and adheres to all the regulatory standards proposed by the Federal Communication Commission / Disney has protected the copyrights of most of its characters & products, but many of them are close to expiration with no extensions available. / The new game product can target the market segment where there is minimal regulation / The new laws that protect children from spending much time on TV in both US and foreign nations
Global economy / Many people prefer spending their income on entertainment products, mainly from Disney World / The low exchange rate in the international markets. / Consumers in the middle east and African countries / Financial crisis which lowers the ability of consumers to purchase the gaming products while operational costs for the company increase.
Technological innovation / Disney has latest technologies which make it easy to innovate attractive media content. / The company takes long before adopting the new product because of the lengthy internal processes. / The company can rely on blue ray technologies to improve the design of the game. / New technologies used by the rivaling firms such as Netflix.
Social / Many people like using entertainment products from Disney because of their high quality / The company has not fully identified the changes in consumer tastes and preferences / The company can offer gaming products because the current games do not target children. / Changing social perceptions of the digital media and related health effects.
Environmental / Disney has proper strategies for protecting the environment by recycling waste products, which gives it a high competitive advantage over the rivals. / The government has not identified the best stewardship programs for implementing the environment protection strategies. / The organization can work together with other environment protection agencies in the third world country to safeguard the environment while promoting their brand and gaming product. / The changing environmental laws aiming to protect global warming could restrict the development of the new product.
Competitive Analysis / The company has qualified technological experts who will develop a high-quality game. / Poor online marketing strategies / Providing the new products and services to the international consumers. / Stiff competition from Netflix.
Internal Forces and Trends Considerations
Factor / Strength / Weakness / Opportunities / ThreatsStrategy / Focus on customer satisfaction / High number of entertainment products / Developing gaming products for young learners. / Effective business strategies from competitors
Structure / Adequate facilities for entertainment products / Inadequate gaming facilities / New gaming for children in an educational venue / Stiff competition
Processes and Systems / Efficientteamwork / Few departments / Establishment of technology and innovation division / Poor employee programs
Resources / Adequate capital / Poorly developed software / New technologies / High costs of both hardware and software
Goals / Plans to expand into global market / Poor project management techniques / Online marketing / High prices from suppliers
Culture / Diversified culture / Low employee- centeredness / Development of employee performance programs / Strict laws
Technologies and Innovation / Unique gaming products / Inadequate software / New technologies / High costs for procuring new technologies
Intellectual Property / Patented products / Inefficient production of new products / New software / Extended procedures for protecting copyrights
Leadership / A strong management team / Slow adaptation to new changes / Use modern techniques to improve the operations / Internal politics
Supply and Value Chain Analysis
Value Analysis
Primary Activities
Marketing and Sales
The division will conduct commercialization of the product by identifying the content to include in the advertisements, which will depend on the nature of the games. Thus, the company will have special events and occasions where it will introduce the new gaming products to the consumers such as conventions or special release dates with perks at parks and resorts domestically. Internationally, they will have to introduce new gaming products and create special perks such as discounts to launch the products successfully. Additionally, the department will involve the sales department to increase the awareness of the product and improve the sales.
Service
The division will provide customer-oriented products, which will increase the level of satisfaction. During the initial testing phases, the customers will give compliments and complaints so that the possible mechanisms of improving the games and platform may be implemented before a full launch is done. The company will have software for the product which will be made available to the consumer, and the customers will have to download it instead of relying on external storage devices.
Support Activities
Administration and management will find the required monetary resources as well as planning for the implementation of the game designing process. Then, the human resource department will help in recruiting qualified personnel to handle major operations of the division. Technology development department will assist in providing the new imaging technologies during the product development phase. In addition, the finance division will organize for procurement of all the necessary materials needed for the development of the game from the suppliers.
Supply Chain Analysis
The supply chain consists of facilities, inventories, transportation, information, sprucing and pricing. The factors that constitute to the development of a robust supply chain are effective leadership, strong planning, and collaboration among the stakeholders, efficient communication channels, and aligned metrics.
Leadership
The company has poor leadership strategy, which fails to involve suppliers and employees in most of the processes.
Research Question – Will effective leadership improve the strength of supply chain?
Hypothesis – Transformational leadership can improve the supply chain and promote the success of the project.
Communication Channels
Research Question - Can an improvement in increase communication satisfaction of suppliers, consumers, and employees?
Hypothesis- Developing effective communication will improve thesatisfaction of customers, employees, and suppliers.
Collaboration
Research Question – Will collaboration contribute to the success of the project?
Hypothesis – Increased collaboration among all stakeholders will enhance the efficiency of the project, thereby resulting in high success.
Strategic Plan Part 3
Assumptions
The development of the project will rely on three specific assumptions. First, the stakeholders will accept the project proposal. Second, the company will provide all the needed resources for developing the product. Lastly, the project will encounter minimum risk, which will not affect the desired outcome.
Strategic Objectives Summary
The Disney Smart division aims at developing a high-quality game, which will attract many consumers (Emerson et al., 2010). Through this product, the organization will address the needs of many customers, in particular, parents who want their children to learn through video games. Besides, the product will fill the gap that has existed in the gaming industry for long. The success of this project will make Disney World the first company to improve the learning skills of children from both the developed and third world nations.
Strategic Objectives
Shareholder value perspective
- The revenue generated should be adequate to be shared equally among all stakeholders
- The profit obtained should be more than the operational costs
- To increase the competitive position of the business
Customer Value Perspective
- To increase the satisfaction of customers
- To retain the current and new customers
- To improve the customer value
Internal Operations Perspective
- To improve productivity within six months
- To introduce new management systems within the organization
- To develop new measures of performance, for instance using performance appraisal and individual employee productivity
Learning and Growth (Employee) perspective
- To increase employee satisfaction
- To increased employee turnover
- To use technologies, which employees can use in their work and employ a diversified culture to improve their satisfaction
Risk Management Plan
Risk identification
Risk manager will work with a team of experts to identify possible events that can affect the development process for the new gaming product (Kerzner, 2013). The team will determine the risks at the beginning and during the lifecycle process. The risks identified should have a significant impact on the organization’s performance.
Risk Analysis
The risks management team will assess the impact of all the identified risks. Qualitative risk analysis will focus on the probability of risk occurrence and the associated impact, which is divided into high, medium and low (Rosenau & Githens, 2011). Then, quantitative risk analysis will involve assigning a numerical value to each risk depending on the level of the impact.
Risk Response Planning
Each member of the risk management team will be allocateda particular risk to manage to ensure it does not affect the progress of the project (Rosenau & Githens, 2011). The four approaches the team will use to respond to the risk are avoiding, mitigation, accepting and transferring.
Risk Monitoring, Controlling, and Reporting
The risk management team will have to monitor the level of risks, report to the manager, who will, in turn, take appropriate control measures. Then, the risk manager will maintain the risk log.
Risk and Mitigation Plans
Objective: To increase revenue collected
Metric: The percentage increase in revenue
Target: Increase revenues by 5% for the next 1 year
Objective: Increase the competitive position