The Walt Disney Company Corporate Social Responsibility Plan

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Political Sphere

Disney does not publicly disclose much in regard to the political sphere; however, there are examples of Disney making political campaign donations to causes that would increase its earning potential. One example of this was written about in 2012 by S.Lux, T.R.Crook and T.Leap, who discussed the company’s $6.3 million donation in support of the Sony Bono Copyright Extension Plan in the 1990s when it learned that its copyrights on Mickey Mouse was reaching its expiration. The Extension Act was important in that the new law would extend Disney's copyright on the Mickey character for an additional 20 years (Lux, Crook & Leap, 2012). Projected 20 year revenues from Mickey were in excess of the $6.3 million donation.

Regulatory Structure and Government Regulations

As Disneyworld was being built in the 1960s, Walt Disney initiated a vast lobbying campaign to win exemption from state, county, and local regulatory authority. O.Beitsch (2013) reports that because of this, the company was able to secure a $360 million tax exempt bond in order to finance projects such building roads and sewers (O.Beitsch, 2013). As a result of this agreement, the only state regulations that the company has to follow are in regards to property taxes and elevator inspections (Foglesong, 2001). J. Garcia (2013) writes of the impact the lobby effort in the 1960s has created an opportunity for one of Disney’s entities, Reedy Creek Improvement District to sell hundreds of millions of dollars of tax exempt bonds to upgrade areas around the Downtown Disney retail complex.

Relations to Government Entities

The relationship between Florida and The Walt Disney Company has been positive since the company’s arrival during the 1960s. The relationship between Anaheim and Disneyland however, has not been as positive over time. Typically the city and the company are in agreement with each other, but in 2007 Disney threatened to sue the city of Anaheim due to a housing project that the city approved within Disney’s leased ground space. The city council ultimately voted to deny the permit to the invading company, SunCal, and according to D. McKibben (2008), the space was ultimately awarded to a Texas hotel developer to build three high end hotels and restaurants and shops in the space instead. McKibben further explained that Disney supported the decision to build hotels and retail shops because of the appeal to tourists and thus, projected increased economic benefit for the area.

Areas of Improvement

Although J.Wasko wrote in 2013 that there are over a dozen unions representing a thousands of employees at Disney Land and Disney World, the Walt Disney Company is still fighting the image that the company is “anti-union” (J.Wasko, 2013). Wasko reports that the reputation stems from a strike that took place in the 1940s that resulted in Walt Disney accusing union members of being Communists and bad seeds. The strike lasted over a month and involved both verbal and physical assaults. It is recommended that moving forward, Disney promotes its relationships with unions more publicly and continue to raise the bar for workers’ rights through benefits and financial compensation.

Civil Societies

Disney advertises its work in the civil sphere in order to encourage customers to patronize the brand, thereby creating more economic benefits for communities throughout the world. C.Culler writes that when consumers are purchasing Disney products, “They buy entertainment, happiness, magic, and dreams. As a result, it is vitally important that Disney is seen as a good corporate citizen that gives back to the community/world, more than most companies.” (C.Culler, 2010, p. 363) In part because of the high standards to which Disney holds itself and its employees, the corporation is recognized as one of the companies with the highest corporate social responsibility (CSR) ranking in the world per the Reputation Institute.

Non-Government Organizations

To further support this, the Walt Disney Philanthropy (2016) lists that the company has focused on communities since1992 through its “voluntEARS” initiative. In 2014, the voluntEARS program accounted for over 100,000 man hours through volunteer work at 170 charitable events, donated over 23.1 million books to schools and children, and provided $315.7 million to nonprofit organizations. Several examples of stakeholder involvement as described in the 2014 citizenship report follow. The areas in which Disney especially involves its stakeholders include the areas of environment, health and nutrition, and labor standards (Disney, 2014). For example, since 2009, Disney has collaborated with the National Science Teachers Association. The two organizations combined to create the Disney Planet Challenge in which, “Students between grades 3-8 are encouraged to plan and implement ventures to benefit the environment and their local communities” (District Administration, 2011).

Local Communities

Since the construction of Disney World in swampland back in the 1960s, along with contributing new jobs to the community, Disney has been committed to improving the communities wherever its business is located.

Florida recognized the value of Disney and enjoys the benefits that the tourism brings, however not all communities have been as receptive to Disney breaking ground. In Europe, residents of local communities, fearing what Euro Disneyland would bring to the region, protested that the resort would cause environmental harm to the farming region. (Newell, 2013) At first, Disney staffers believed that people would come around and accept Euro Disneyland as a great destination worthy of spending time and money for; however, after the bankruptcy of 1994, they realized that they needed to connect more with the population in order to be successful. C.Bourret details that the feelings towards the Disney Corporation eventually began to change, when Disney and the state agreed to a contract, which stated that by 2030, Disney would continue to revitalize the town of Marne-la-Vallée from a location with a perceived urban feel to become an area known for higher education. The plan includes either public or private schools and different degrees such as BTS degrees, Bachelors, Masters and PhDs. The plan to be mutual beneficial is that students will be able to attain degrees in majors such as Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management. (Bourret, 2014). With agreements like this and decisions to purchase directly from local businesses,