From "Foundations for the Disney Business" - a vintage WDP manifesto that still resonates beautifully today. This is what Walt Disney's business was all about.

"Disney entertainment speaks an international language that spans oceans, boundaries and cultural barriers. To people of all ages, everywhere around the world, the Disney name immediately communicates three things: Quality, Uniqueness and Value. And the Disney organization communicates a vivid understanding and relationship with its family audience, friendliness, and a dynamic inter-related diversity. Walt Disney's legacy for the future is far greater than the physical assets of our company. It involves a sacred public trust...an intangible that can't be bought at any price...an integrity that must be protected at any cost." More...

If you've missed this article online in the past, you really must read the whole thing (especially if you are an MBA) at:

http://imagineerebirth.blogspot.com/2007/01/foundations-for-disney-business.html

Really snaps you back to "how it used to be" when you read those things.

And perhaps how it still should be.

I'll tell another that really slapped me in the face and made me realize how much the Disney Company has changed over the years...and that was Bob Thomas' biography of Walt's brother, Roy O. Disney. I think it was titled, "Building A Company." What a great book. And really something to see how much understanding and respect those guys had for the product, public, and their employees back then.

Made me want to cry to think that some MBA's don't think any of that is important in today's world. When for Disney...it couldn't be more important.

>>Made me want to cry to think that some MBA's don't think any of that is important in today's world. When for Disney...it couldn't be more important.<<

For Disney, it IS the product. It's not brand, it's not marketing, it's not cost-effectiveness, it's meaningful product.

Yup, just like it still is for Disney. The rise of the MBAs has threatened all of American business, but some companies (like Disney) have eroded far less than others.