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Do the fans always seem to know what's best?
- Thread starter mharrington
- Start date
TotallyBiased
Well-Known Member
No, fans don't always know best. But by the same token, neither do bean counters or CEO's.
skypilot2922
Well-Known Member
Precisely - what happens when the materials for the last "thneed" no longer exist. Disney has for nearly all of the theme park's existence been a public company. that made money for stockholders on a consistent basis. It's only the latest group of so called leaders that want to transform it into a 'growth company' and gamble on Wall St with the companies future as the chips.
skypilot2922
Well-Known Member
One way preserves the asset for long term profitability, The current method destroys the asset by bleeding it for short term profit.
threvester
Well-Known Member
If constantly taking things away and reducing the experience is whats best...then i guess fans dont have a clue
So apparently, I heard of a petition at Change.org that shows how some people are so upset at the way the company is now that they are demanding that Bob Chapek be fired. It has gained over 300,000 signatures as of late, maybe more, though frankly, I have a feeling it won't really gain much traction.
Now, I'm no fan of Chapek, and like I said, I doubt this petition will gain much traction, but I have to wonder, again, if those who want Chapek outed feel they're the ones who should be in charge of the company. Or if not running the company themselves, then at least have the final word on who the replacement should be, that they will be calling all the shots, even if it comes at the expense of the shareholders' needs.
Now, I'm no fan of Chapek, and like I said, I doubt this petition will gain much traction, but I have to wonder, again, if those who want Chapek outed feel they're the ones who should be in charge of the company. Or if not running the company themselves, then at least have the final word on who the replacement should be, that they will be calling all the shots, even if it comes at the expense of the shareholders' needs.
Heppenheimer
Well-Known Member
If people want their voice to be heard... buy Disney stock so that you can vote for the board of directors.
Or stop buying Disney's products and services.
John park hopper
Well-Known Member
There must be an algorithm that can show for every person that signs a petition there are X number of people who don't sign but agree with the petition
Apparently Chapek boasts of increased spending of guests buying Disney merchandise. I would rather go to the Orlando outlet stores for better deals.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The needs of the shareholders? There isn’t one singular and true way to run a business nor a singular truth about the “needs” of shareholders.
jloucks
Well-Known Member
That is a complex question, but ultimately, if the fans/customers are not buying "it", then it is not worth anything.
Everyone has an opinion, and any one opinion has a high degree of error. Thousands of similar opinions together is quite another thing.
What is best varies from perspective and mission. Fans want to have a good quality experience. Admin want to make $$$ and everything else falls in somewhere below that on the priority list.
You could argue that admin and fans missions are not compatible as the goals are not the same. Therefore it is impossible for fans to know what is best as "best" cannot be the same.
jloucks
Well-Known Member
You are getting into concepts that far exceed just Disney. A huge part of our culture is based on greed and exploitation. Walt Disney was one of the last great visionaries that put ideals, people, and philosophies above (or at least equal to) money.
Semi-random fun fact. I worked for Wal Mart in the 80's. I met Sam Walton (if waving to him from 3 feet away and making eye-contact counts) and back in those days, with him in charge, it was not a bad place to work. Healthcare was affordable and excellent. Work hours were family friendly, and management genuinely cared about people. Sam drove an ancient truck and money was not the only driving factor for him.
Then he died.
What happened next was disgusting. I called it the "revenge of the management" phase of working for Wal Mart. All sorts of kind and generous perks for the associates vanished. Time and-a-half on Sundays, gone. Affordable healthcare, gone. Normal business hours, gone. And most insidious, a philosophical change in the way the company viewed their associates. We went from feeling like partners, to being exploitable wage-slaves, and it happed fast.
But, hey, as soon as Sam died and the revenge phase began, Wal Mart became wildly profitable and forever changed the mom-and-pop business landscape in this county.
Now to bring it back home, you could easily argue as soon as Walt died, that same thing happened at Disney.
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KaliSplash
Well-Known Member
Of course it is true.
That's why we're fans. (which, of course, is short for fanatics.
Greg in TN
Active Member
It depends on what you mean by "best."
If you mean whatever makes the most money for Disney over the short-term, then fans probably don't know what's best. Probably very few (if any) ordinary fans have in depth knowledge of the cost structure, or the return on investment, etc. of the overall Disney company that goes into making money.
If, on the other hand, by "best" you mean what makes an enjoyable day in the parks and makes fans want to come back, perhaps fans do know what's best.
Then you'd have to decide which of those two, or which combination of those two (or others), actually is "best" for Disney, long-term.
If you mean whatever makes the most money for Disney over the short-term, then fans probably don't know what's best. Probably very few (if any) ordinary fans have in depth knowledge of the cost structure, or the return on investment, etc. of the overall Disney company that goes into making money.
If, on the other hand, by "best" you mean what makes an enjoyable day in the parks and makes fans want to come back, perhaps fans do know what's best.
Then you'd have to decide which of those two, or which combination of those two (or others), actually is "best" for Disney, long-term.
Grim Grinning Grayson
Member
I don't think so. Fans have one view and that is what they feel will be enjoyable. It is not the big picture though. Fans have to realize that not everything works together in harmony all the time. For example there are some people who love the thrill rides and others who do not want anything to do with them. There are fans that hate the motion type rides and others who love them. This is why there has to be people who are hired to make these sort of decisions to put together the best possible mix they can for all people. If it were up to me , I would have a park full of rides like Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller Coaster, Ratatouille, Runaway Train, Test Track, Space Mountain, Everest, Pandora flight, Soarin, and stuff like that. Even though my favorite ride is still The Haunted Mansion.
scheat
Active Member
My unrealistic fan view would be that they make Disney a not for profit and every penny made is put back into the parks with the best of imagineers making all the decisions. Basically, if Walt was immortal.
Realistically, even taking revenue out of the picture, most general public fans might be able to make decisions that would benefit themselves, but not the public as a whole.
Now throw money in and fans probably drive the company under. Walt almost took the company down financially and he was a true visionary.
Realistically, even taking revenue out of the picture, most general public fans might be able to make decisions that would benefit themselves, but not the public as a whole.
Now throw money in and fans probably drive the company under. Walt almost took the company down financially and he was a true visionary.
Ya think?
So was Iger's successful mergers and acquisitions to grow the company an optical illusion?