Well, on one side of that argument you’ve got people (and Wall Street) saying Disney has plenty of resources and enough business diversity to weather this for an extended period of time. So, if you subscribe to ‘the company is stable’ theory, then why not? Don’t make any sudden changes, keep people happy and on payroll, ride it out. Be ready to adjust rapidly to changing business opportunity.
If it’s actually really ‘that bad’ and you can’t keep the lights on in the castle next week without laying off half of Imagineering... then maybe you should be out there making that big deal to sell a major asset to raise the cash to keep the core company intact.
Probably the financial reality is somewhere in between crisis mode and comfort, so you knuckle down and get surgical but do so with understanding both of what your customers are looking to you for in a challenging time, and what your employees actually need to deliver on that. Nuance. Magic. Maybe even ask ‘what would Walt do?’ You don’t react to the situation by gutting the institutional knowledge of the company to the point where there’s no one left that understands that those bookcases full of ‘show quality’ binders actually are there for a reason. You don’t let people in the gate at Epcot in the condition that it’s being run today, with no entertainment in a park that has been defined solely by entertainment and lack of vision in the last 20 years. You don’t hide in your office and try to figure out what a CEO actually does when every other major CEO from an international company has been vigorously entering the dialogue of 2020
In 2 or 3 years when we’re over this, is the solution to getting the magic back up and running going to be ‘well, we’ll just have a career day over at the Rosen Hospitality College and I’m sure those new recruits can figure it out, and they’re a lot cheaper anyway!’
* edit - but I’m sorry, obviously I don’t understand any of this....
people are not worried about the company AS A WHOLE because they have the resources and breathing room to make changes and still have stuff left - not that confidence means ‘do nothing and ride it out... no problem’
they know Disney has actual hard value that transcends the current outlook, is a market leader in spaces that have a future, and has the fiscal resources to weather the crunch.
none of that means “everything is fine... just keep doing what you did before...”
even by your statement if it takes 2-3 years to recover ... you think they should bloat their business for YEARS and operate what they know doesn’t fit the market?
when they thought they might just be facing a speed bump... and had to plan what the new world order would be.... furlough and paying benefits made sense from a corporate responsibility towards their employees.
but that time is past... they are looking at forecasts that are radically different than they were 9months ago.
last year’s plans no longer apply. The responsible thing to do is to right size your business to what the new plan is.
while people are bothered by large changes happening - you can’t ignore that there are large changes happening in the market.
people upset about wdi- they’ve been elastic for decades. Entertainment... same. Odv cashiers? Sorry, those roles are easily replaced.
other major areas may simply not have a purpose going forward.
you should be worried about people who are paralyzed in the face of adversity- not those willing to adapt.
imagine if Walt insisted on keeping his crew working on shorts as before... hoping that somehow the seas of change were just gonna reverse themselves if he just waited long enough.
knowing something is replaceable gives you a lot of power. They don’t need to float things indefinitely when it can be recreated. And gain fiscal advantages on both ends.
