Strategic ManagementThe Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King[1]I. Why has Disney been successful for so long? Disney's long-term success is primarily due to value creation through diversification. Their business strategies (mainly under the leadership of CEO Eisner) include three dimensions: horizontal and geographic expansion, as well as vertical integration. Disney is a great example of how to achieve long-term success through business choices, choosing how many businesses to pursue, choosing how many businesses to be a part of, choosing how to manage a portfolio of businesses, and choosing how to manage a business portfolio. choice of how to create synergies between these companies (3, p.191-221). All of these choices and decisions are made through Disney's business strategies and have allowed them to achieve long-term success. We will discuss Disney's long-term success through a general approach. Eisner's business turnaround and its specific implications/strategies will be examined in detail in Part II. Disney could achieve long-term success primarily through value creation through diversification and managing and promoting creativity, brand image, and synergies between businesses (1, p.11-14). The most important part of Disney's long-term success is due to its key strategic choices and the incorporation of various diversification strategies. Disney created value primarily through the “vertical integration” of its business lines, particularly through the concept of future integration. Disney, for example, has integrated film production and final distribution in cinema or television, especially through its acquisition of ABC in 1995 (1, p.6/7). Thanks to this acquisition, Disney was able to rapidly expand its boundaries and have access to a broader level of diversification aspects, for example through better business planning, better human resource management and achieve further synergies between its various lines of business. Additionally, Disney must also recognize which companies have long-term growth potential and which do not. Therefore, Disney must also divest from businesses that are unprofitable or lack long-term growth potential. Citations:(1) Michel G. Rukstad, David Collis; The Walt Disney Company: the king of entertainment; Harvard Business School; 9-701-035; Rev. January 5, 2009(2) Robert La Franco, “Eisner's Bumpy Ride,” Forbes, July 5, 1999, p.50(3) Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner; Strategic management: creating competitive advantages; 4ed; McGraw-Hill----------------------[1] Information was drawn primarily from the Harvard Business Case Study “The Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King”