Informational Role of Walt Disney

Management informational roles include dealing with information through three functions of monitoring, being a spokesperson and lastly a disseminator. Walt Disney could be said to inhabit these roles by the force of his leadership, his humility and the unique vision he had.

Walt understood that in order to 'give the customer what he wants', Disney relied to a considerable degree on product testing and research, both formal and informal, by observing the reactions of his film audience and Disneyland guests.

According to the article, Disney insisted on delivering value to the customers and one of the ways he did this was to observe the reactions of his guests. He did this for his film and for Disneyland. For the latter especially, he had his staff go through the whole experience by "waiting in lines with them (customers), going on rides with them, eating with them". This was crucial to their understanding of "what was going on in their minds" as visitors roamed the park, of how these consumers felt and what they demanded. Through his methods of gaining first hand experience of his theme park, he gathered feedback which he could then use to improve and make it truly "the happiest place on earth" for visitors to Disneyland.

As the leader of Walt Disney, a major role he played was that of spokesperson for his organization. He did not neglect communicating his ideas to the outside world and also "negotiated with business partners, industry leaders, and governments to clear the path to achieving his goals". Presumably, he had to negotiate with business partners in order to finance his projects, and industry leaders and the government perhaps to open up new ground for his enterprises, looser rules, and pave the way for innovation which was very much his lifeline. As the visionary leader of the organization, he can be said to be in the best position for this role.

Finally as a disseminator, Disney valued not only his own employees but also anyone who gave him inspiration for his projects. He talked to everyone "from bankers to restaurant waiting staff" in order to solicit ideas. This shows his humility as well as respect for everyone regardless of their backgrounds as he knew that "there is no corner on brains". It is reasonable to say that his foresight and vision enabled him to obtain a broader perspective for his projects, which helped toward generating creative ideas.

Thus, Walt Disney performed the informational roles in his company by facilitating the two-way flow of information through consulting potential consumers of Disneyland and Disney films and communicating his ideas to important stakeholders. His efforts to develop a close-knitted 'family' culture in Disney, with many who have worked in his company for over three decades, no doubt helped to facilitate the communication that his informational roles needed.

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