Why not add a COO back?

[jmuboy]

Many say that Michael Eisner (as a TV / Media creative type with a strong interest in the parks business) was at his best in the years he was paired with Frank Wells as the numbers guy. And Walt had his brother Roy. So as the company embarks on a new succession plan for Igers 2nd exit why not go back to a CEO/COO model. Have one of the roles filled by a finance person and the other by a creative type from the parks or media side of the business. This way the 2 balance each other out. Also – running this company is a massive job and you probably really need 2 people to do it effectively these days. And a COO builds in a natural succession plan as well. Just seems so painfully obvious a plan.

 

[Jahona]

Have one of the roles filled by a finance person and the other by a creative type from the parks or media side of the business.

Operations isn't finance. There's already a CFO for that. Operations is a lot more heavily day-to-day focused on running the business.

In a rough explanation.
CEO = Big Picture
COO = Figure out how to make big picture work.

While this does does require some finance knowledge it's not the core of it.

I think part of the reason there hasn't been a COO since Tom Staggs is Disney is siloed out into it's different divisions with an executive that kind of perform the COO tasks. It also feels like the COO position at Disney is used more to test potential CEO candidates as they have done with Iger, and Staggs.

 

[Disney Irish]

Many say that Michael Eisner (as a TV / Media creative type with a strong interest in the parks business) was at his best in the years he was paired with Frank Wells as the numbers guy. And Walt had his brother Roy. So as the company embarks on a new succession plan for Igers 2nd exit why not go back to a CEO/COO model. Have one of the roles filled by a finance person and the other by a creative type from the parks or media side of the business. This way the 2 balance each other out. Also – running this company is a massive job and you probably really need 2 people to do it effectively these days. And a COO builds in a natural succession plan as well. Just seems so painfully obvious a plan.

There have only ever been 7 CEOs at TWDC, and they have been primarily business people first and foremost rather than creative people. For example, Walt was never CEO, Roy was. I think Eisner is the only CEO that would come close to being called creative, and that is a real stretch. Sure some like Card Walker and Donn Tatum, and even Ron Miller, had some background in entertainment, but I wouldn't claim they were creative by any true definition of the word, some may disagree.

But I do agree that they need to add a secondary executive position to split up the creative decisions. I've said the same on different parts of this forum many times. What they need is to add a CCO, a Chief Creative Officer, who will oversee all creative decisions while the CEO handles the day-to-day business decisions with both reporting into the Chairperson of the Board.

 

[Comped]

I think Eisner is the only CEO that would come close to being called creative, and that is a real stretch. Sure some like Card Walker and Donn Tatum, and even Ron Miller, had some background in entertainment, but I wouldn't claim they were creative by any true definition of the word, some may disagree.

Eisner was quite creative in his work as CEO (according to those who worked with him), and certainly loved ideas and to come up with them - certainly he pushed a lot of rather wacky ones in the 80's and 90's that didn't stick. Not much of a stretch at all - Eisner took great joy in synergy and synergizing the company, and he was often deep in the weeds on projects that you'd never expect - like the Millennium Celebration and arguably MGM, among many others.

 

[Disney Irish]

Eisner was quite creative in his work as CEO (according to those who worked with him), and certainly loved ideas and to come up with them - certainly he pushed a lot of rather wacky ones in the 80's and 90's that didn't stick. Not much of a stretch at all - Eisner took great joy in synergy and synergizing the company, and he was often deep in the weeds on projects that you'd never expect - like the Millennium Celebration and arguably MGM, among many others.

I can agree that he liked to think himself as "creative" and liked to be hands on, but that doesn't mean he actually was.

Anyways, even if you mark him under the creative column TWDC has primarily put predominately business minded people in as CEO rather than a predominately creative minded person.