Eisner's letter to Cast

[hopemax]

Roy apparently is not the only one sending out letters today. A Laughing Place poster has posted a letter Eisner put on Disney's Cast Portal today.

Like another poster on LP, the tone and choice of words makes me curious who the letter is really meant for. I'm not sure how much the cast appreciates being told, "And we will not be distracted from what has been and must remain our sole focus — delivering growth and shareholder value."


http://www.laughingplace.com/default.asp?WCI=MsgBoard&WCE=T-43707-P-1&Refresh=1204125531

 

[WDSearcher]

Personally, I think it's a good letter. I'm sure Michael had a passel of advisors making sure things were worded in exactly the right way, but it comes across as "business as usual," which is exactly what he should be doing. He's reassuring the cast that while all this is going on, he's continuing to do his job. He's not letting himself be pulled into the fight. At least not publicly. Yet.

Michael knows he's not going to win a war of words with Roy and Stan -- they're too iconic. So he's not even trying to fire anything back. A few phrases here and there that could be taken to refer to the current unrest, but nothing specific, nothing defensive, nothing attacking. It's a good strategy.

Whether it works for him in the long run or not remains to be seen.

 

[raidermatt]

I agree. As was pointed out over on Laughingplace, most of the letter was probably written a week or two ago. A few things might have been tweaked, but not much.

At this point, at lease publically, I'm sure Eisner's strategy is to pretend all is well, and see if it goes away. I'm also sure he's doing other things behind the scenes to defend himself should the whole situation not go away.

 

[Cricket2]

shareholder value?

Isn't the word "value" more attune to a purchase rather than an investment?

Seems like an odd way to say that.

I'm no linguist so what the heck do I know???

JC

 

[HB2K]

Eisner forgot his MAIN constituancy...the customers....

Growth is attained by making your customers the FOCAL point of your mission statement. Long term profits generally are NOT sustained by forgetting about your customers....as Michael apparently has by deriding that the company's main focus is growth and shareholder value....

 

[Luv2Roam]

This thread reminds me of something I read earlier today --

On the other hand, don’t for a moment think, as the news stories contend, that Roy’s and Stanley’s pledges to continue opposing Eisner are a mere distraction for him. Otherwise, why would Eisner be on the phone at 8 a.m. New York time with Harvey Weinstein “ripping him a new one” — in the words of one insider — because the Miramax chief had dared to criticize the boss in a New York Times article about the Roy and Stanley resignations. And why would Eisner be furiously phoning Wall Street when Disney’s stock price fell 2.6% Tuesday from the fallout of the high-profile board furor.

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/02/deadline-finke.php
I linked from miceage.com to read this article in case anyone is interested.

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by HB2K
Eisner forgot his MAIN constituancy...the customers....

Growth is attained by making your customers the FOCAL point of your mission statement. Long term profits generally are NOT sustained by forgetting about your customers....as Michael apparently has by deriding that the company's main focus is growth and shareholder value....

Right ... but remember that this is a letter to cast members. And CMs are the ones who care about growth (will they keep their jobs or get promotions) and shareholder value (because Disney stock is a significant chunk of the 401k). If this were a shareholder letter or a public letter, I'm betting it would be written differently.

There's a difference between constituancy and audience.

 

[Bob O]

I agree with HB2K!!!
Without happy customers their is no growth in stock value or one's 401K!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And in discussing the great job the disney movies have done this year wsny no mention of Kill Bill or Bad Santa, two other movies made by Disney owned companies???
Of course if these movies were in oscar contention eisner would be raving about them!!!!!!!!!

 

[manning]

He's reassuring the cast that while all this is going on, he's continuing to do his job.

Ya, cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HB2K]

I don't know about you but if I were in charge of writing such a letter I don't know how you can just ignore what should be the core of your mission statement...which is to provide for your customers.

Growth & Shareholder values are BYPRODUCTS of a successfully implemented mission....not targets of said mission.

 

[Peter Pirate]

The letter wasn't for public consumption, was it? Why mention the 'core 'statement when that isn't the intended message. besides you and I both know eisner doesn't subscribe to the principals of 'guest first' so it seems silly to discuss his omission of it during a time of damage control, don't you think?

 

[raidermatt]

Of course it 'should' be there, as it's the employees that are supposed to carry out a mission statement. In many cases, the only place you find a mission statement is on the wall of a boardroom, and that's hardly enough.

However, Pete's right, Disney's short version of their mission statement is focused on shareholder value first and foremost, and that's what's in the letter. Not a surprise.

 

[PKS44]

A good CEO with vision- a CEO with a clue as to how shareholder value is actually enhanced would have made a statement to the effect that " Of course we are going to grow and build shareholder value and we are going to do it the best way possible- by being the premiere family entertainment source anywhere. That Eisner does not even know how to talk the talk of a thoughtful businessman who understands what H2bk was saying is testimony to how blind and foolish his approach to running the company is...chasing profits for profits sake is the surest sign of a company without much chance for long term success...profits are and always have been a byproduct of delivering a product people want not a goal one can pursue directly. Pathetic.

 

[HB2K]

Folks-

I don't care if you're talking to a pack of trained monkies...as soon as you forget (or choose to ignore) how you make money you stop making it.

As a CEO you can NEVER let your employees loose sight of that.

 

[Tekneek]

Who here thinks Eisner wrote that letter? I am almost positive that some assistant wrote it and sent it out. Eisner *may* have skimmed over it before it was sent out, but even that is unlikely. People like Eisner are in too high of a station to soil their fingers typing out a message to their lowly employees. If he writes anything, it stays within the highest levels of the company these days. Shareholder value would be enhanced by the company going back to its core competencies and doing those better than anybody else in the world. Instead, they do a whole lot of different things and often come out as average or only slightly better than their counterparts.

Sometimes it seems that the worst thing that ever happened to the Disney company was going public.

 

[DouglasF]

I liken this letter as a "state of the union" address to his employees. He's summarizing all of the latest successes that the company has experienced. He's trying to shore up some support among the troops. If I were a CM, I would see it as being a bit trite and rah-rah for my taste and doesn't address concerns that Cast Members may have at this point. It just sounded like your typical corporate b.s. that CEO's, Board Presidents, and the like always put out.

 

[mickey1010]

I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of CMs do see right through the letter for what it is...although it is ironically unfortunate that there is truth to some of the positives that are being "mentioned" .

I remember seeing letters like this on a monthly basis from a former employer who was, let's say, "struggling". It did make it easier to read exactly what the intent of the letters were, however, when you watched the CFO get taken away in handcuffs and the company file chapter 11.

Although, there was always the token employee that, after reading the rah-rah email, believes it was divine intervention and it's his job to hold the company together.

 

[Tekneek]

Originally posted by mickey1010
Although, there was always the token employee that, after reading the rah-rah email, believes it was divine intervention and it's his job to hold the company together.

There is always a certain percentage of employees who buy all the nonsense that upper management is trying to sell to them. It's like they turn off their brain and become a lemming when reading those kinds of things. It works the same way for the government.

 

[exDS vet]

Nice attempt at damage control, Michael. This guy must just be plain ignorant. I'm sorry, he did some good things during the first half of his reign at Disney (or was it Wells?). But now you have a man who is clearly in denial and on a major power trip.

Eisner's letter was nothing more than rebuff of Roy and Stanley's resignations. You have to love how the letter only addressed the good and not the bad. That's because Disney doesn't employ many realists. A lot of Disney CM's live in a perpetual Fantasyland. When I was a Disney Store manager, I was amazed at how ignorant many of my CM's were to what goes on in the real world.

It's about the "Pixie Dust". I think they put it in the air. Disney is also very good with the fear factor. I read post after post on these boards, and only submit threads or replies when I get on a roll. I never see much from current or former CM's complaining about the job. It's ok to be critical. It was so funny to see Disney's upper management people who didn't know anything about Disney, but still required you to "surrender to the greater Disney" whatever that means.

Did anyone ever see Michael Eisner on "The View" when Barbera Walters asked him to name all of the Seven Dwarfs, and he refused to do it? I'm surprised he didn't have her fired afterwards.

Mission Statements are generally a joke. Especially at Disney. I only know of one company that truly embraces and delivers on its mission statement.

I'd love to see more people telling the truth about what really goes on at the mouse, and less people constantly defending the company. Disney was a great company. It is not one today. It can be great again. Big changes have to come.

Eisner to all of us...

 

[manning]

I'd love to see more people telling the truth about what really goes on at the mouse, and less people constantly defending the company. Disney was a great company.

exDS vet- Keep talking we are (groan) ALL EARS !!