Page 129 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

110 The Disney Way

everything there. Restaurants, and parking, and film for everybody who comes
there to buy film.’” At that time, Art owned several Kodak film franchises and
asked Walt for the photo concession at Disneyland for the first 10 years.
Linkletter recalled: “Walt said, ‘Good. It’s a deal. Now you see what could
get done without agents.’ The Kodak people once said to me, ‘Mr. Linkletter,
you own the world’s largest automatic film vending machine: Disneyland.’”
Kodak once told Disney that 5 percent of all photos taken in North America
are taken at Disneyland or Walt Disney World. One can only imagine the
millions of dollars that 10-year concession generated for Art’s 90-minute
appearance.
In building Walt Disney World, the company took the same tack, enter-
ing agreements that gave the likes of Exxon, AT&T, and General Motors
pavilion space at EPCOT. EPCOT is, in fact, a testimony to partnerships. And
when Michael Eisner and Frank Wells took over the leadership of The Walt
Disney Company in 1984, 18 years after Walt’s death and 13 years after the
opening of Walt Disney World, these original partnerships were still contrib-
uting thousands of dollars annually to the Disney coffers.
Although the Disney partnerships have certainly helped it fend off disaster
at times, the company has never looked at partnerships simply as stopgap
measures forced on it by market conditions. Quite the opposite, partnerships
are viewed as long-term investments in the company’s future prosperity.
Corporate sponsorships and the income they generate support this. But the
company continues to exemplify, just as Walt did, the principle that alliances
must work for both partners if they are to endure. Company executives must
thus be willing to commit themselves to cooperating fully, trusting implicitly,
and communicating effectively with partners. Even though the relationship
may be a business deal, personal contact will help to cement it.
Personal relationships have helped make The Disney College Program a
desirable opportunity for students to be simultaneously involved in both edu-
cational and real-world work experiences. The College Program’s National
Advisory Board includes some of the most prestigious educational institutions
in the United States and partners with Disney’s College Program Team to
ensure the highest standards of learning, using the 47-square-mile “learning
laboratory” known as Walt Disney World. Students are encouraged to network
with Disney leaders, make professional connections in their specific fields of
study, and discover career opportunities available after graduation. The Walt
Disney Company and its Educational Partners consider their responsibility
for developing young people into future leaders as serious business.