Political Frame at Walt Disney Company

Walt Disney Company Assignment
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Walt Disney Company Assignment
Bolman and Deal's Political Frame is one of four frames that help to analyze organizational behavior (Forbes & Watson, 2010). The political frame examines organizational behavior through the lenses of power, conflict, and coalitions. Using this framework to examine the political behaviors surrounding his departure, we can identify the following key political forces that contributed to Disney CEO Michael Esteiner's collapse.
The key political forces that led to his downfall include power struggles, shareholder activism, organizational culture clashes, and ineffective succession planning. Firstly, power struggles are one of the key political forces that led to Eisner's downfall, a power struggle among the board members (Forbes & Watson, 2010). Eisner had been the CEO of Disney for over 20 years, and there was a growing sentiment among some board members that he had become too powerful and needed more input from other board members.
Secondly, Shareholder Activism is the other political force that played a significant role in Eisner's downfall (Forbes & Watson, 2010). In 2003, a group of institutional investors led by Roy Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney, mounted a campaign to oust Eisner, citing his poor performance and lack of strategic vision. This group successfully garnered significant support from other shareholders, ultimately leading to a vote of no confidence in Eisner at the 2004 annual meeting.
Thirdly, we have organizational culture as the other political force, which states that the culture of the Walt Disney Company was also a key factor in Eisner's downfall. Eisner was known for his autocratic leadership style, which clashed with the company's collaborative and creative culture (Forbes & Watson, 2010). As the company grew and diversified, Eisner needed help adjusting to the organization's dynamic requirements, which increased tensions between him and the other key stakeholders.
Finally, another political force is Succession Planning which states that a lack of effective succession planning also contributed to Eisner's downfall. Eisner had been grooming his friend and longtime business partner, Michael Ovitz, to be his successor. Still, Ovitz's tenure as company president was short-lived and ended in a contentious and expensive legal battle (Forbes & Watson, 2010). The lack of a clear succession plan left the company without a clear path forward and contributed to the instability that ultimately led to Eisner's departure.
Significantly, the "Jungle" metaphor is an analogy used in Bolman and Deal's Political Frame to describe organizations as a place of power, conflict, and competition. It implies that the workplace is like a jungle where individuals and groups fight for power, resources, and survival. In the context of the departure of Disney CEO Michael Eisner, the "jungle" metaphor applies in several ways, including in power struggles (Forbes & Watson, 2010). The metaphor of the "jungle" applies in this case because it suggests that the board members were competing with each other for control and influence over the or...