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The Case of "Conflict at Walt Disney Company: a Distant Memory?"

In: Business and Management

Submitted By ygarcia76
Words 620
Pages 3
Yvonne Garcia
The case of "Conflict at Walt Disney Company: A Distant Memory?" has impacted the evolution of the digital world throughout the years. The success of this organization is due to involvement of external partners and the collaboration of senior management. However, Disney’s continued success was not always free of any corporate turmoil. Michael Eisner left the company with heavy criticism and many dysfunctional conflicts among various members of his own Board of Directors and with subsidiary companies that Disney owned.
Michael Eisner had multi-fronted conflicts with the Weinstein brothers of Miramax, Steve Jobs of Pixar and with two of Disney’s board members, Roy Disney and Stanley Gold. These conflicts were dysfunctional. The definition of a dysfunctional conflict plainly explained by Ivancevich, Konopaske & Matteson (2011) is “any confrontation or interaction between groups that harms the organization or hinders the achievement of organizational goals” (p. 311). Eisner was accused by the two board members of micromanaging and making one-sided decisions. The root of their accusation was really Eisner’s growth of power as the CEO and the Chairman of the Board, as well as his success at maximizing his shareholder value in Disney. Eisner’s also fought with Harvey and Bob Weinstein founders of Miramax on the financial details related to Disney's purchase of Miramax Films. The Miramax executives’ growing frustration with Eisner was based on the fact that Eisner was micromanaging their budgets, thus limiting their creative independence. Eisner’s dysfunctional and sometimes Machiavellian approach to conflict resolution led to the split of Disney from the Weinsteins who had become remarkable creative assets for Disney.
Another creative and profitable partnership with Pixar’s Steve Jobs was eventually damaged because of Eisner’s “abrasive style and

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