November 21, 2013 alyssakent3158

“SUSTAINABLE TOURISM”

Jump on board mateys! Disney received an A on Friends of the Earth’s 2013 Cruise Report Card! http://www.foe.org/cruise-report-card

For anyone looking to take your family on a cruise, and especially love contributing to a “greener” planet, Disney Cruise Lines is the way to go! Today, I am going to inform you about Disney’s commitment to environmental stewardship on their cruises. Traveling has a very harmful impact on the environment, especially cruises, and the millions of people that take cruise vacations are unaware of the harmful environment impact. On average, the Environment Protection Agency estimates that passengers generate 170,000 gallons of water waste per day! Disney’s CSR focus is committed to minimizing their environmental impact.

Disney operates under a term called “sustainable tourism” which is tourism development that avoids damage to the environment, economy and cultures of the locations where it takes place. They strive to reduce its impact on the environment while providing a positive experience for their passengers on board. and is a leader in this effort. An environmental officer is on board every ship to monitor ships and teach environmental education classes to both staff and guests. They monitor the ships overall water quality and supply to make your vacation just right. Uniquely, all staff members are involved in the environmental initiatives department, which includes cast and the cruise lines to come up with new ways to improve the environmental footprint of the company as a whole. Energy use and carbon dioxide emissions are a big concern for the Disney cruise ships. Disney created energy management systems and scorecards to help minimize the use of CO₂ emissions. Their CSR efforts consisted of installing more efficient lighting on board, putting in automatic air conditioning control to optimize cooling resources, and increasing efficiency of heat exchangers.

The “green” magic doesn’t stop there though; Disney Cruise Line is consistently improving technology towards conserving water! They recycle water that is generated from the air conditioning system to supply fresh water for their laundry facilities. This can save 280 tons of water a day! One-third of the total water used on the ship is consumed by the laundry facility, and of course Disney installed more efficient washing machines that conserve more than 20% of water than their old ones. The excess heat is also used to power evaporators, which makes 1200 tons of portable water from seawater every day. That is almost double the amount of water passengers waste on board on average! Disney’s innovative thinking helps maximize their environmental stewardship. These improvements on their ships resulted in a 5% energy savings. Definitely take a look at Disney’s cruises and their other parks and resorts, they working their magic to set the bar higher for a greener environment.

Next Thursday, make sure to look for Mickey and his friends in the Macy’s Day Parade!

Macy’s Day Parade 1934–The first Mickey Mouse balloon ever!

November 20, 2013 jonathanaal

Disney Sailors: Like-Minded Shipmates

Is CSR important to you? Do you wish you could incorporate CSR into your work? Check out working for the Disney Cruise Line (http://dcl.disneycareers.com/en/default/)! Besides receiving ample formal training on how to contribute to Disney’s greater CSR programs, crewmembers are able to say they help operate some of the finest and most environmentally conscientious cruise ships in the industry.

Maybe you are interested in some sort of culinary position. What possibly can a culinary specialist do to feel as though he or she is contributing to the greater vision of CSR? Well Disney and its culinary specialists have thought of a great thing to do with the fleet’s combined 12,000 pounds of used cooking oil—use it for biodiesel transportation systems on Disney Cruise Line private island destination, Castaway Cay. Did I mention that Castaway Cay is also operated in an extremely environmentally minded manner? Well it is, but more on this in the weeks to come.

Maybe you don’t see yourself making grand culinary masterpieces but rather are more mechanical in nature? How about working on the vast engine and ship propulsion systems of the Disney Cruise Line? Innovation and CSR minded focus abound in these areas as well. The engine boiler rooms get pretty hot—why not reroute that heat to convert seawater into drinkable water? Or reclaim condensed water from air-conditioning units to wash the decks of the ships? These are great ideas that the Disney Cruise fleet is implementing on it ships with the goal to minimize environmental impact and use AND reuse/recycle EVERTHING that it creates!

While these are just two examples of jobs afloat that connect Disney CSR to its employees there are hundreds of jobs that must necessarily be filled for one of Disney’s cruise ship to embark on a magical journey—all of which no doubt contribute to the greater domain and purpose of CSR!

November 19, 2013 isabelkieszkowski

Ahoy From the Crew!

Ahoy, readers! This is Isabel back with some more insight on one of the Walt Disney Company’s biggest business sectors, the Disney Cruise Line. As Carly beautifully summarized, the Cruise Line is complete with three ships that strive for environmental friendliness. However, what really sets Disney Cruise ships apart from other cruises in terms of fostering corporate citizenship is the Disney community on board each Disney Cruise Ship.

Disney Cruises emphasize creating a memorable experience for their guests, adults and children. But what really strikes me as the best way the cruise gives back to the community is what the Disney Cruise Line Ports of Call program engages in. While each ship is docked at a location and cruise guests engage in excursions, the Disney cast visits local schools, hospitals and care facilities to bring smiles to the faces of children least expecting it! The areas the cast frequently visits are cruise destination within Central Florida, The Bahamas, Caribbean and Mexican Riviera. While visiting these children, the Disney Cast usually organizes an activity, such as reading hour, to spark an educational enthusiasm of children in need. The program stands out to me because of how simple it is, yet a sick child in a hospital who is being visited by Goofy and Donald Duck could gain all the uplifting they need to becoming healthy. It is refreshing to hear that the Cruise Industry at Disney engages in the community it visits, making direct contact with children who need a little bit of happiness.

Additionally, each year the cast and crew members of Disney Cruise Ships engage in a 5K walk on Disney’s Island Castaway Cay to raise money for conservation programs supported by the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. This event is an extra activity that the cast and crew choose to take part in, usually during their time-off from working. The fact that the island is being used for philanthropy rather than for the sole purpose being for cruise guests makes the creation of the island well worth it.

In terms of how the cruise ships maintain environmental friendliness, when the Island was created, island engineers and the cast and crew of the ships received over 500,000 hours of training to learn how to maintain the health and stability of the ecosystem. That way, the area around the island is not negatively affected or disturbed. The island engages in fuel conservation by converting trans fat-free cooking oil from the kitchens into biodiesel fuel for small vehicles on the island. Even this seemingly small gesture has conserved Disney approximately 8,000 gallons of fuel in 2008! This has also helped maintain a stable ecosystem in the ocean because of how harmful fuel emissions can be to ocean wildlife.

All in all, Disney Cruise Lines are a strong category in the corporate citizenship of the Walt Disney Company. The focus that the cast has on helping children they visit and support with the run really changes the entire focus of Disney Cruises. The Cruises are not solely for the purpose of vacation for its guests, but this business sector makes an effort to give back to the community and to the environment.

November 18, 2013 carlisolomon

All Aboard!

Hello readers, its Carli again, here to kick off this week with an introduction on Disney’s Cruise Lines! Today just happens to be Mickey Mouse’s 85th birthday! To celebrate, Disney Channel will showing this year’s Mickey Mouse cartoons every half-hour. In addition, they will be airing a never before seen extended episode of “Potatoland”. Even though Mickey has been putting smiles on our face for decades, Disney’s Cruise Line has only been around for about 15 years. In 1998, The Disney Wonder set sail for the first time and then in 1999 they launched its sister ship, the Disney Magic. Aboard the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder you will find pools, nightclubs, dining, youth clubs and plenty of entertainment!

I myself went on a Disney Cruise a couple years ago, and I specifically remember how awkward the youth clubs were at first. But it wasn’t long before I was having a great time with all the new friends I met! The ship traveled to multiple islands in the Bahamas as well as Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay. This is where I experienced my first time on a jet ski! But I mostly remember the fun I had playing on the jungle gym that was built in the ocean off of the coast. It truly is a kid’s paradise.

Now that I am much older, I am able to appreciate all of the innovation and design that went into Disney Cruise Lines that made my experience aboard so memorable. Did I mention one pool was shaped like Mickey Mouse’s head? In fact, construction of the Disney Wonder took place in Fincantieri shipyards in Italy, known for excellent engineering, craftsmanship and ingenuity. As the Wonder’s sister ship, Disney Magic was built with the same innovative design, power, speed and beauty. Given both the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder, Disney Cruise Line will transport approximately 10,000 suitcases per operating day.

The third ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet, the Disney Dream was specially designed with families in mind. The new ocean liner features the same attention to detail Disney is known for, as well as the very first water coaster at sea, the splash-tacular AquaDuck.

AquaDuck

The latest addition to the Disney Cruise Line fleet, the Disney Fantasy is approximately 40% larger than the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder. The design of this ship is very elegant and sophisticated with sparkling fixtures and furnishings. The Disney Dream really brought all of Disney’s stories to life with themed venues and character inspired aspects. The lobby features a bronze statue of Mademoiselle Minnie Mouse.

Clearly the Disney Cruise Line is known for creating the experience of a lifetime, but they are starting to shine in the world of Corporate Social Responsibility. Disney was the first to use an innovative, non-toxic hull coating that increases fuel efficiency by reducing surface resistance in open water. This action shows that Disney cares about the impact their ships have on the oceans environment. Not to mention, Disney Cruise Line eliminates more than 900 tons of metals, glass, plastic and paper from traditional waste streams each year through recycling, totaling more than 5,000 tons to date. It is important to mitigate any externalities of a business in order to preserve the environment. Disney has shown that they are focused on making the world a better place in more areas than one, because what is good for families is good for Disney too.

November 14, 2013 alyssakent3158

Giving Back the Magic

Hello all, my name is Alyssa and today I will be informing you on the wonderful way Disney incorporates CSR in all of their subsidiaries. I am currently a junior here at CU Boulder and am majoring in Finance. Ever since I was a kid, I have always been in love with Disney, from watching movies on the Disney Channel to screaming my head off on Space Mountain. Not only do they create magical experiences and provide entertainment for their customers, but also they focus on giving back to society. I am all about giving back to those around me and did not realize how Disney is well known for the corporate social responsibility until recently.

For those of you who don’t know, The Walt Disney Company has five different business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. These segments combined make Disney a leading diversified international family entertainment company. They strive to create and market responsible, high-quality products and entertainment experiences. Within their media network segments, Disney pushes the importance of a healthy diet. They take a leadership role on this and have strict standards on food advertising on their Disney-owned television channels and radio stations.

Not only are they concerned about our well being, but Disney takes pride in their environmental goals. Disney’s environmental stewardship and nature conservations began at an early stage due to Walt Disney’s love for nature. Today they make eco-friendly television commercials to help redefine CSR within their company. Their parks and resorts contribute so much to the environment, and that is why it is my favorite subsidiary of Disney. One-third of Disney resort property is dedicated to wildlife conservation!

Disney’s parks and resorts also keep a constant sustainability focus in terms of water usage, air, land, animals, forests, minerals, fossil fuels, and other natural resources. Their goals are to reduce their impact on those listed and encourage environmental stewardship companies. Their waste management program reduces solid waste sent to landfill and continues to build recycling programs at every park. They also continue increase the recycled content used in their products, from PhotoPass plastic cards to merchandise bags in their stores.

Consumer products consist of organic t-shirts and post-consumer recycled accessories and stationary. Interactive media and studio entertainment both contribute to the well being of children by creating content that is educational, entertaining, and inspirational. They also take in safety measures and create a safe environment for all ages online and in the studios.

What if all companies followed in Disney’s footsteps and cared about the environment as much as them! Could you imagine what the environment would be like today?!

Tune in next week to see how Disney’s Cruise Line Industry innovates a sustainable environment on and off the ship. Did you know that each ship has an environmental officer onboard to monitor ships and teach environmental education lessons? Learn more in next week’s blog posts!

November 13, 2013 isabelkieszkowski

Work Happy!

Hello readers, I am Isabel and todays topic will be labor benefits in Disney’s workplace! I am a junior at CU Boulder currently studying marketing and I have so far had five jobs in my life, and I can say that none have been with such a lovable company like the Walt Disney Company. The company is all about creativity and innovation and creating strong leaders amongst their employees so they can grow throughout their careers at Disney. I believe that a strong work environment leads to the success of a company, and the time and effort Disney puts into making their employees happy sets a solid foundation for the company and its vision. Disney is synonymous with the word happiness, so why not spread it around to those who are responsible for all that Disney has to offer?

The Walt Disney Company has three major focuses when it comes to their employee benefits: health and wellness, family friendly benefits, and retirement and savings. Health and wellness includes the obvious medical benefits that full-time employees receive while working with Disney. An additional benefit employees receive is through the program Disney calls “Disney Health Pursuits.” This is an incentive program in which employees partake in a Personal Health Assessment to qualify for receiving financial rewards in return for making healthy choices. This program not only benefits the employee in the long run by inspiring them to live healthfully, but also affects how the family of the employee eats and manages their lifestyles. To me, this program is a great example of corporate social responsibility for Disney’s employees because the incentives inspire employees to treat their bodies well and be healthier, which will benefit them and their families in the long run beyond any financial rewards.

Disney also rewards their employees with family friendly benefits, allowing employees to participate with the company’s end-result products. Families of employees receive park passes and tickets to screening of new Disney films. What fun! If my parents worked for Disney and I would have the chance to go to these fun events, I would have to say that Disney is the coolest company ever! It is fantastic that the Walt Disney Company wants its employees to share fun and happy experiences with the company, solidifying a strong foundation not only with the company and its employees but also within the families of its employees.

Disney also strives to inspire prosperity with is its retirement and savings program. This program provides aid to employees so they may plan for a strong financial future. Employees are offered to participate in a pension program once eligible, are offered to participate in 401K plans, and can even purchase stock through the Employee Stock Purchase Program. This may seem like an ordinary plan that an employer provides, but the success with the program is summarized with the 11,500 employees that participate in this program in the United States.

The Walt Disney Company is shown to strive for company well-being and . That is why this year the company has instigated its first Global Survey Program. A bi-yearly survey is administrated to all of Disney’s employees all around the world to make the voices of each and every individual involved in Disney’s endeavors to voice their opinion on the company and its operations. 82,000 individuals from 40 countries participated in 2013! The survey results spoke of the strengths Disney employees believe the company holds such as the employee pride, feelings of creativity and enjoyment during work while still being challenged, feeling respected and having strong company culture. The survey results more importantly allowed for executives to pinpoint some opportunities for improvement in the work place. This survey proved to be vastly successful with its two-thirds participation score. The Walt Disney Company is clearly a company that focuses on its employees and their well-being, realizing that they would not be the dominant company they are without each and every individual working with the Disney family all around the globe.

November 12, 2013 carlisolomon

The Magic of Disney’s Corporate Social Responsibility

Hello everyone! I am Carli and I hope to inform you about the magic happening within Disney’s business model. What really sets Disney apart from any other company is the unique way they align their mission statement with corporate social responsibility and business profitability. In order to ensure that the company’s working conditions for employees are safe and up to their standards, The Walt Disney Company’s Jay Rasulo traveled to China earlier this year to inspect these conditions and met with factory managers. A trip like that would not be unusual for an executive in charge of a company’s corporate citizenship program, as Mr. Rasulo is for Disney. What was out of the ordinary is that Mr. Rasulo is also Disney’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and senior executive vice president. This is a rare circumstance with in the world of business, but I think it is a smart decision that is partly responsible for Disney’s success.

I am a currently a junior studying at Colorado University at Boulder, and I just recently declared Finance as my major. I am currently learning a lot about the importance of social responsibility in business, and from what I can tell it seems much easier said than done. It seems that it would be challenging to remain a profitable company while spending increasingly more money in order to accomplish CSR goals. But somehow (or magically), Disney has been achieving ambitious CSR goals while remaining at the top of the entertainment business for many years now.

Mr. Rasulo stated that his two titles required qualities belonging to two very different Disney characters: Toy Story’s Woody, a friendly guy who is all about doing the right thing and the classic Scrooge McDuck, a guy known to be greedy and make every dollar count. Mr. Rasulo believes that the company would be successful if it integrates its work in citizenship with its financial strengths. However, Rasulo acknowledges the challenge to make corporate decisions on environmental and social initiatives that involve trade-offs between short-term costs and long-term business benefit.

Scrooge McDuck

Woody

Rasulo is responsible for a worldwide finance organization that tracks and manages about $40 billion in annual revenue, and Disney gave him the power to also make decisions for their corporate citizenship program. Of course, that required him to educate himself on social responsibility and what needs to be addressed in that area of business. In order to build on creating fair labor standards, Disney faces challenges to implement its Code of Conduct for manufacturers as well as maintaining its labor standards that help ensure proper working conditions for its employees. Because Mr. Rasulo is familiar with financial tradeoffs within business, he can make better decisions on how costs should be allocated that are aligned with Disney’s CSR goals. Well whatever Mr. Rasulo is doing is clearly working, and others are starting to follow by example. It seems as if sustainability is becoming an important aspect to the operations of any business especially to earn respect. As a finance major, I think it is important to be aware of what is going on in the world in order to align corporate social responsibility with financial decision making. The negative impact businesses have on society is becoming clearer and I think it is a business’s responsibility to be informed on this subject. They should make efforts to reduce their carbon footprint and eliminate any externalities. In order to really be sustainable, a business should create positive wealth for society that lasts beyond the life of the company.

November 11, 2013 jonathanaal

The WIN-WIN of CSR–Disney Style

Hello! I am Jonathan and I will be kicking this week’s blog session off with an introduction to how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be a win-win for businesses and society—exemplified by The Walt Disney Company! I am a junior at the University of Colorado Boulder studying Finance and Accounting. It took seven years of life experiences after high school to convince me that college was right for me, but now that I am here I couldn’t more pleased with my decision.

At the University of Colorado students are taught the social and business ‘profits’ of a great CSR program. Our business-writing group feels there are few companies that know these social and business rewards better than The Walt Disney Company.

Firstly, for those unfamiliar with the idea and vast nature of CSR it basically extends the social golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” to business. Many businesses, like people, do a better job at exemplifying this than others—one such company, you guessed it, is The Walt Disney Company. For those familiar with CSR or the golden rule you know that practicing either is an investment—involving time and more often than not economic resources. For these aforementioned reasons businesses often hesitate during their decision to implement a formal CSR program.

Fear not! Many businesses have questioned the same thing, have pushed forward, and found a healthy CSR program to be one of the most rewarding business decisions ever! So if you have previously thought that a business spending money to promote environmental conservation only hurts its bottom-line prepare to be happily astounded! During the course of this blog our business-writing group intends to use The Walt Disney Company as an example of just how a strong CSR program can be a social-business win-win!

Charles McPeak of Pepperdine University likewise needed convincing of CSR benefit, so he set out to do a study on, “Does Sustainability Pay Rewards in the Financial Marketplace.” His study revealed that between the years of 2002-2007 DJSI stock price and Return on Equity (ROE) rose by 114% and 129% respectively. And you might ask just who is DJSI? Well DJSI is the stock ticker symbol for none other than The Walt Disney Company.

Alone these numbers don’t mean much other than that The Walt Disney Company did very well during those five years; however, Mr. McPeak was not just tracking financial performance, he was tracking how companies’ CSR decisions impacted business financials. What he found was that the implementation of The Walt Disney Company’s CSR (and sustainability) efforts reaped financial and social rewards for its investors, employees, customers, and all those impacted by its social programs.

Lastly, given the day, we would like to honor all those who have served in our Armed Forces and their families who have stood by them in there absence this Veteran’s Day. Please stay tuned for more exciting Disney CSR stories!

November 8, 2013 carlisolomon

Welcome, Welcome!

The Walt Disney Company, one of the most famous entertainment and retail companies in the world, is also known as a Sustainability Leader in the world of Corporate Social Responsibility. Across its business segments, Disney strives to create and market responsible, high-quality product and entertainment experiences. It is Disney’s mission to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. And the authors of this blog, Isabel, Alyssa, Jonathan and myself, Carli, will discuss the various philanthropic and environmental contributions that the Walt Disney Company has been involved in. So welcome to our blog! This is only the first of many posts to come.

Today Disney is a leading diversified international family entertainment company with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. But Disney is doing much more than providing entertainment these days, it is focused on giving back to society. In 2008, Disney won the CR Reporting Award, for best in corporate non-financial reporting. By integrating citizenship into the day-to-day decision making of leadership, Disney has continued to conduct business efficiently and ethically.

Disney is widely known for its ambitious long term-goal to reduce its environmental footprint. To do this, Disney has taken steps to minimize water use and waste, and reduce indirect greenhouse gas emissions from electricity consumption in order to achieve a net positive impact on the ecosystem. Disney hopes to inspire others to take actions to help the planet—leading by example.

Disney seeks to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world. It is important to meet the expectations of children and families, because what is good for them is good for Disney’s financial future. Disney makes an effort to focus on the intangibles that make the brand unique, distinct and socially responsible. And so far, they have made astounding accomplishments.

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Disney's Corporate Citizenship

A DISCUSSION ON THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY EFFORTS OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Month: November 2013