Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

[Genie of the Lamp]

Man, this is depressing. It's making me appreciate UNI more and more. When is Iger leaving again? I do wish him luck in using his BO philosophy in his political campaign,though...

Iger is scheduled to step down as CEO on March 31, 2015 as he becomes Executive chair on the BOD's until June 30, 2016. Here's a link:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevesc...retire-ceo-iger-to-wear-both-hats-until-2015/

 

[articos]

Interesting stuff.

So what would be the unique DNA of P&R? Meeting costumed characters? Character dining?

How successful can this plan be for WDW if it supposedly has created a "sustainable competitive advantage" and yet numbers (room occupency, per guest spending) keep dipping?

Frankly, this sounds like a short-term cash grab that is designed to line the pockets of execs who won't be around when the chickens come home to roost.

I don't think WDW will mean the same thing for younger generations as it did for us when we were younger. The nostalgia factor won't be as strong, and yet that's what WDW markets the heck out of.

Is that the unique DNA of P&R: nostalgia? If so, what a business model...

One of the inherent failures of Blue Ocean is it is a short term model. It ends up ruining the company.

 

[HMF]

Who knows? ... But it sure looks like Disney is acting it doesn't have to compete in FL.

Their arrogance is quite palpable. They seem to think it is carved in stone that they will remain on the top of the food chain and that they don't have to do anything to stay on the cutting edge.

 

[gwhb75]

In times of financial distress, I'm absolutely fine with the numbers guys fixing the problems. And there are, rarely, some executives who can excel in both. But that's exceedingly rare. In normal operating conditions, the CFO and the CEO should balance each other out, and provide complementary skillsets. But on the whole, for a creative company, you want a creative to be the ideological leader. The Walt, so to speak. I have the highest respect for accountants, btw, so I'm not dissing your profession. I just know from experience that it's difficult for the numbers guys to truly get into the headspace of the creative teams, and vice versa.

Completly agree. That's the point I was making in my original post. What I was saying was that you can't say that the CFO should never be CEO of a creative company. Rather, I think the statement should be that, under normal operating conditions, a CFO should not be CEO of a creative company.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

One of the inherent failures of Blue Ocean is it is a short term model. It ends up ruining the company.

There's that and they also cite Cirque Du Soleil as an example of this. HOWEVER, it's not like they consciously thought of BOS when they put their first show up in the 1980's. The authors of this theory cannot cite an instance where a company has suceded with their philosophy.

 

[misterID]

Iger is scheduled to step down as CEO on March 31, 2015 as he becomes Executive chair on the BOD's until June 30, 2016. Here's a link:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevesc...retire-ceo-iger-to-wear-both-hats-until-2015/

2015, ugh...Thanks.

Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll sell the WDW resort to the OLC. Or someone who cares.

 

[Lee]

I feel Tony*s pain. I would have left years ago.
I have to wonder what made him stay.....his sheer dedication, or hope things would change for the better?

A little of both.
It isn't easy to walk away from 45+ years with a company you love.

 

[John]

A tad over dramatic, but to some extent true. No one person is that able to create what was created, it takes a group of people supplying input to create that. Even Walt has his nine old men plus Roy. If you will pardon the reference, he might have been the spark and guiding hand of inspiration but it took many to create the creation.

" A tad over dramatic"....it was meant to be. I dont think the way Baxter was basically dismissed should be looked upon as anything but dramatic. Its dispicable.

Ofcourse it takes many to execute a vision. But Baxter was the leader and the subject at hand was him leaveing the company. Same as Bill Parcels making the HOF.....he never played one down of football...yet he makes the the HOF. Ofcourse it was players like Lawerence Taylor and Phil Simms that made it possible.

What upsets me is the current philosophy that allows the way this thing went down. Its shameful. He deserved and earned better. "A tad dramatic" I cant imagine how he must feel today. He gave a huge protion of his life to soemthing he cared deeply about. I am sure in some way he is relieved....but he leaves a part of him behind.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Completly agree. That's the point I was making in my original post. What I was saying was that you can't say that the CFO should never be CEO of a creative company. Rather, I think the statement should be that, under normal operating conditions, a CFO should not be CEO of a creative company.

What is to say that the CFO is not a creative person? He or she could be and it should be simply judged person to person.

 

[articos]

Completly agree. That's the point I was making in my original post. What I was saying was that you can't say that the CFO should never be CEO of a creative company. Rather, I think the statement should be that, under normal operating conditions, a CFO should not be CEO of a creative company.

Completely agree with you, and I probably should have qualified my initial post. I think it can be counted on that at least every 10 or so years, the creative will effectively bankrupt the company, and the CFO will need to step in to save it if they haven't been doing so behind the scenes every few years already. It's the eb and flow of entertainment.

 

[articos]

What is to say that the CFO is not a creative person? He or she could be and it should be simply judged person to person.

I'd agree with this as well. I was making a generalized statement in the initial post.

 

[articos]

There's that and they also cite Cirque Du Soleil as an example of this. HOWEVER, it's not like they consciously thought of BOS when they put their first show up in the 1980's. The authors of this theory cannot cite an instance where a company has suceded with their philosophy.

Cirque is a prime example of this, and they've been struggling since they completely oversaturated. And no, they certainly did not. Guy was just trying to put on a good circus at that point without animals.

 

[Rasvar]

Completely agree with you, and I probably should have qualified my initial post. I think it can be counted on that at least every 10 or so years, the creative will effectively bankrupt the company, and the CFO will need to step in to save it if they haven't been doing so behind the scenes every few years already. It's the eb and flow of entertainment.

I do think the team concept of a creative CEO with a financially oriented President (assuming you get the right match) has been shown to work well over the long term. However, these days it is hard to find enough people at that level who have egos that can work as a team. It is rare to find the creative CEO with a great financial discipline these days. I'd rather have my CFO more of a guy who says what is and isn't financially viable but that model seems to be dying off. Seems like CFO's are a lot more active these days.

 

[gwhb75]

What is to say that the CFO is not a creative person? He or she could be and it should be simply judged person to person.

Not saying that they can't be creative, and I agree that you can't make a generalization about a person based on a position they hold/held.

 

[WDW1974]

It's a fair point to generalize.

Very, very, very, very, very few financial guys/gals grasp creativity beyond a spread sheet or what they paid for their Super Bowl tix (I've been to my share and never paid a penny!)

 

[Goofyernmost]

What is to say that the CFO is not a creative person? He or she could be and it should be simply judged person to person.

Although it is possible that a CFO might be just jam packed creative, but, the odds are that they are not. Just the accounting system prevents that way of thinking. Accounting is an exact science and there is no room for thinking out of the box. There is a good chance that anyone that would be able to tolerate the tedium of all that would not be a likely candidate to create things out of thin air. Embezzlers, now that's a different set of circumstances, but not one that would be desired in this case.

All you accountants out there, please don't take offense, I was one myself for a number of years. It's just the nature of the beast. My apologies to those that I have just offended.

 

[Rasvar]

It's a fair point to generalize.

Very, very, very, very, very few financial guys/gals grasp creativity beyond a spread sheet or what they paid for their Super Bowl tix (I've been to my share and never paid a penny!)

There have only been a few that have been worth face value. But that was when the face value was sane. I've had Super Bowl tickets but I purchased them at face value and sold them for four times face. Super Bowl is a game best watched on TV. However, sneaking into some of the parties during Super Bowl week in a Super Bowl city is where the fun is. It is amazing what you can get away with if you act like you belong there.

 

[WDW1974]

Cirque is a prime example of this, and they've been struggling since they completely oversaturated. And no, they certainly did not. Guy was just trying to put on a good circus at that point without animals.

But now they have gotten greedy (just like our pal Mickey) and some of their shows have been dreadful. How they could have screwed up a show about Elvis in Las Vegas is just astounding, but they did (I actually fell asleep during it!)

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

It's a fair point to generalize.

Very, very, very, very, very few financial guys/gals grasp creativity beyond a spread sheet or what they paid for their Super Bowl tix (I've been to my share and never paid a penny!)

Who are some of the very, very, very , very, very few financial guys/gals out their who grasp creativity beyond a spreadsheet Mr.Spirit? Interested in knowing which ones are if you can think of any.

 

[HMF]

As much as it pains me to say this but I now firmly believe that The Walt Disney Company as we knew it as a creative entity is probably just about dead,