After you have reviewed the contents of the Walt Disney Company website, completed the above readings and those provided at the Background page of Module 3, and performed additional research from the library and the internet, write a 6- to 7-page paper in which you do the following:
Using the following five assumptions of the Political Frame, complete an in-depth assessment of the Walt Disney Company:
1. Organizations are coalitions of diverse individuals and interest groups.
2. There are enduring differences among coalition members in values, beliefs, information, interests, and perceptions of reality.
3. Most important decisions involve allocating scarce resources—who gets what.
4. Scarce resources and enduring differences make conflict central to organizational dynamics and underline power as the most important asset.
5. Goals and decisions emerge from bargaining, negotiation, and jockeying for position among competing stakeholders.
The key aspects of this assignment that are to be covered in your 6- to 7-page paper include the following:
• Using Bolman and Deal’s Political Frame, analyze the political behaviors surrounding the departure of Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Specifically, address the following:
o Briefly identify and discuss the key political forces that led to Eisner’s downfall.
o How does the “Jungle” metaphor apply to the Eisner case?
o Describe the coalitions that formed at Disney. Then, identify those salient interests that caused the division between coalitions, and how these differences were ultimately resolved.
o Discuss the Eisner case study in the context of two or three of Bolman and Deal’s Political Frame assumptions included above. How do the assumptions you’ve chosen inform what happened in the Michael Eisner case?
o Briefly comment on the significance of the “Toxic Triangle” (see Figure 1 of Forbes & Watson’s case study about Eisner’s departure), and discuss how this model informs the Eisner case study.
o The background readings will not give you all the answers to the Case. Therefore, you are required to perform some research in the library, and use a minimum of 3-4 scholarly sources from the library to support and justify your understanding of the case.
o Your paper must demonstrate evidence of critical thinking (if you need tips on critical thinking, http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/college-and-university-students/799 is an excellent resource). Don’t simply restate facts – instead, be sure to interpret the facts you have accumulated from your research.
o Remember that the Module 4 Case will also serve as Chapter 4 of your session-long thesis-style paper.