Disney Restructuring

[AvidDisReader]

Yesterday Disney announced a major restructuring of its key businesses. I had to re read the different reports several times as something was bothering me and I could not put my finger on it. Yet, it was really obvious and it is the male part of me that could not see it. With all the preaching Disney does about equality, there is not one female that was named as a major department head. Shame on Disney, if it really believes in gender equality it should do better than what was announced yesterday.

 

[rteetz]

Yesterday Disney announced a major restructuring of its key businesses. I had to re read the different reports several times as something was bothering me and I could not put my finger on it. Yet, it was really obvious and it is the male part of me that could not see it. With all the preaching Disney does about equality, there is not one female that was named as a major department head. Shame on Disney, if it really believes in gender equality it should do better than what was announced yesterday.

All of the people except Kareem remained in their current positions. Rebecca Campbell is the head of direct to consumer. She took over that position after Kevin Mayer left.

Kareem Daniel is the only person who changed positions in this.
https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about/

 

[AvidDisReader]

As a father of 3 terrific young women, it bothers me when we get lip service on gender equality. So the question still remains - why so few women in positions of top leadership.

 

[ChrisM]

Kareem Daniel! "That is a name I've not heard in a long, long time."

I worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Kareem right out of undergrad. Interesting that his corporate bio is completely devoid of his stint at Andersen Consulting.

 

[Krandor]

As a father of 3 terrific young women, it bothers me when we get lip service on gender equality. So the question still remains - why so few women in positions of top leadership.

It is not something you can change overnight. People in top leadership positions still need to be qualified for them so it starts by bringing in more women in junior management positions so they can learn and move up and eventually reach those top positions but those are processes that take time. If you mid executive level is 80% men then that is going to impact who you can choose from for the top positions and somebody shouldn't say only hire from the 20% so you can say you are diverse. The key is to getting the mid level position to be more balanced which likely means working more on recruitment at the lower levels to change the numbers at higher levels. It all takes time.

 

[AvidDisReader]

Krandor you miss the point. Why are 80% of the mid level male?? This is not just a recent issue, gender equality (or rather inequality) has been talked about for 50 years. Yet, since it is mostly men doing the hiring and promoting, it has been a good old boy network. The glass ceiling is real. The only reason I bring this up in this forum is Disney tries to portray themselves as an equal opportunity employer. The stats just do not back this up. If you talk the talk, you need to walk the walk.

 

[Sre]

Krandor you miss the point. Why are 80% of the mid level male?? This is not just a recent issue, gender equality (or rather inequality) has been talked about for 50 years. Yet, since it is mostly men doing the hiring and promoting, it has been a good old boy network. The glass ceiling is real. The only reason I bring this up in this forum is Disney tries to portray themselves as an equal opportunity employer. The stats just do not back this up. If you talk the talk, you need to walk the walk.

Could you say that perhaps that 80% of mid level male management was more charismatic? More goal oriented? Career focused? Hungrier? Like Krandor said some of these issues can be systemic and can start from the bottom. Lets not forget that Equal Opportunity does not and should not translate to 50/50 in representation.

 

[AvidDisReader]

Sre- do you really believe what you posted. You are saying that Women are not charismatic, goal oriented, career focused, or hungry??? That is just neanderthal thinking. Listen, one of my daughter's is an electric engineer who is the manager of design and upkeep of all electric substations for the local utility. She was groomed for the position and was even doing the job (as a test I guess) before being promoted. Just before the promotion, a male from another division was brought in and was going to get the position, even tho did not have the qualifications for the job. It took HR stepping in to stop this injustice. This goes on all the time. So please, do not give any tired and inaccurate defense of gender inequality.

 

[woody337]

Could you say that perhaps that 80% of mid level male management was more charismatic? More goal oriented? Career focused? Hungrier? Like Krandor said some of these issues can be systemic and can start from the bottom. Lets not forget that Equal Opportunity does not and should not translate to 50/50 in representation.

Nobody should hired based on gender or race

 

[cranbiz]

Having been a front line cast member for many years, I can say with certainty that Disney hires people of all races and sexes. All are encouraged to move up within the company. I know first hand of several CM's who were encouraged by management to apply for higher level positions after the required time in their position. One woman bus drive I knew personally from DTD has moved up in the transportation ranks several levels and currently is now an Sr Area manager (which is a mid to upper management position) after starting as a driver. The opportunities are there and Disney strongly encourages qualified CM's to apply for them. I know I was asked if I was interested in moving up but as it wasn't my primary career, I declined the offer. OK, I'm a white male but it was transportation management who was looking for qualified candidates to apply when I was assigned to MK. The person who ultimately got that position was a very qualified black woman and honestly, way better qualified than me IMHO. On paper, we were probably the same but she wasn't going to apply until she was asked if she may be interested in it by our manager. We had talked to each other during our breaks and I told her to go for it. I lost touch with her when I left the company (she was not the same person I wrote about earlier) but in the last year I was there, she was doing very well in her new position.

 

[Sre]

Sre- do you really believe what you posted. You are saying that Women are not charismatic, goal oriented, career focused, or hungry??? That is just neanderthal thinking. Listen, one of my daughter's is an electric engineer who is the manager of design and upkeep of all electric substations for the local utility. She was groomed for the position and was even doing the job (as a test I guess) before being promoted. Just before the promotion, a male from another division was brought in and was going to get the position, even tho did not have the qualifications for the job. It took HR stepping in to stop this injustice. This goes on all the time. So please, do not give any tired and inaccurate defense of gender inequality.

Well that's just disingenuous, because that is not what was said. Assuming you have two prospective candidates, all things are equal but one happens to be more charismatic than the other...would you not pick that one? Would you knowing the genders actually change your mind? Would you intentionally pick someone who is less qualified just so you could pat yourself on the back? Your daughters situation sounds like someone either had something against your daughter, or wanted this male from another division brought in because they had connections. Regardless of gender either of those situations would have been wrong and an injustice if your daughter was the best choice. Gender Equality should be supported by programs that build up candidates with professional development and training to improve a persons chance of promotion based on merit and skills, not what gender you identify as.

 

[AvidDisReader]

Well that's just disingenuous, because that is not what was said. Assuming you have two prospective candidates, all things are equal but one happens to be more charismatic than the other...would you not pick that one? Would you knowing the genders actually change your mind? Would you intentionally pick someone who is less qualified just so you could pat yourself on the back? Your daughters situation sounds like someone either had something against your daughter, or wanted this male from another division brought in because they had connections. Regardless of gender either of those situations would have been wrong and an injustice if your daughter was the best choice. Gender Equality should be supported by programs that build up candidates with professional development and training to improve a persons chance of promotion based on merit and skills, not what gender you identify as.

Now this I agree with. I gave the Cliff notes on my daughter situation, it was actually worse than what I wrote, but would take a novel. My position is that there are many fully qualified women who get passed over by male superiors just because they are women.

 

[Moliphino]

Nobody should hired based on gender or race

That's true. Unfortunately it's been going on since for ages with while males being the ones given preference. The current trend towards giving diversity preference is just a move to try to correct the imbalance.

 

[Krandor]

Now this I agree with. I gave the Cliff notes on my daughter situation, it was actually worse than what I wrote, but would take a novel. My position is that there are many fully qualified women who get passed over by male superiors just because they are women.

There are also a lot of male canddidates who get passed over because bob down the hall is golfing buddies with the CEO. There is a lot in how hiring and promotions are done that is not fair. Race, sex, age, etc. are all definitely part of it but also many times other eelements come in as well like who knows who and yes that is definitely as area that can also hurt women and other minorities since they are less likely to be invited to go golfing with the guys. A lot of things in business are unfair.

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

Could you say that perhaps that 80% of mid level male management was more charismatic? More goal oriented? Career focused? Hungrier? Like Krandor said some of these issues can be systemic and can start from the bottom. Lets not forget that Equal Opportunity does not and should not translate to 50/50 in representation.

I'll add: attaining executive positions in major companies involve CUT THROAT competition. Long hours, tireless work, company over self, company over family, company over EVERYTHING. That's why I have no interest in it.

I'm sure there are plenty of women who want to jump into those shark-infested waters, but I'll bet there there are, and will remain, TWICE the number of men that are willing to do it.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

The hard truth: For the class of 2017–2018, women earned more than half of bachelor’s degrees (57.3%), master’s degrees (60.1%), and doctorate degrees (53.5%). Women represent just over 50% of the work force in America, and also fill just over 50% of the management positions, but they only represent 26% of Board positions. I think that this will eventually even out, too, but it will take more time.

Here is an interesting article about it: Women in the Workforce

 

[BrianL]

I'll add: attaining executive positions in major companies involve CUT THROAT competition. Long hours, tireless work, company over self, company over family, company over EVERYTHING. That's why I have no interest in it.

I'm sure there are plenty of women who want to jump into those shark-infested waters, but I'll bet there there are, and will remain, TWICE the number of men that are willing to do it.

There is definitely truth in what you are saying, but the representation is still way lower than it ought to be. Didn't Disney recently have a few high-ranking femal executives leave of their own accord though. I thought I saw a couple of articles like that.

 

[Figvention]

I'll add: attaining executive positions in major companies involve CUT THROAT competition. Long hours, tireless work, company over self, company over family, company over EVERYTHING. That's why I have no interest in it.

I'm sure there are plenty of women who want to jump into those shark-infested waters, but I'll bet there there are, and will remain, TWICE the number of men that are willing to do it.

THIS TIMES 5,000!!! My wife and I both hold an MBA and CMA, and each of us have worked 25 years in high level corporate finance. Once you cross a certain level of salary, it really does become Game of Thrones level politics. I spent the last 10 years getting cursed at, back stabbed, and general walked on for 60 to 65 hours a week. In no way is it right, but it is simply the cost of admission to Corp Fantasy Land.

About 5 years ago my wife took a step back because of the ridiculous malarkey coming out of Executive row. I recently also took a career downgrade, because I was close to slapping fools. The way people are treated in executive level roles is worse than being a fry cook at Wendy’s (yes, I have done that too). At some point the money isn’t worth it anymore.

Ps. If you think horrible executive behavior is limited to men, you’re a special kind of stupid. Greed and self serving egos exist no matter which bathroom you use. The only way this gets fixed it to say cut out the BS; start treating humans like humans. More greedy, egotistical, power hungry “leaders” at the top, even if it’s a “she” doesn’t help. You don’t automatically become a better manager based on your gender. I’ve seen ladies be just as abusive as men, because that’s how the game works. Once a lady gets into that role, if she is not a good human... bad things happen.

 

[Dutch Inn '76]

THIS TIMES 5,000!!! My wife and I both hold an MBA and CMA, and each of us have worked 25 years in high level corporate finance. Once you cross a certain level of salary, it really does become Game of Thrones level politics. I spent the last 10 years getting cursed at, back stabbed, and general walked on for 60 to 65 hours a week. In no way is it right, but it is simply the cost of admission to Corp Fantasy Land.

About 5 years ago my wife took a step back because of the ridiculous malarkey coming out of Executive row. I recently also took a career downgrade, because I was close to slapping fools. The way people are treated in executive level roles is worse than being a fry cook at Wendy’s (yes, I have done that too). At some point the money isn’t worth it anymore.

Ps. If you think horrible executive behavior is limited to men, you’re a special kind of stupid. Greed and self serving egos exist no matter which bathroom you use. The only way this gets fixed it to say cut out the BS; start treating humans like humans. More greedy, egotistical, power hungry “leaders” at the top, even if it’s a “she” doesn’t help. You don’t automatically become a better manager based on your gender. I’ve seen ladies be just as abusive as men, because that’s how the game works. Once a lady gets into that role, if she is not a good human... bad things happen.

Yep. One of my best buddies works at one of the national banks that everyone knows, and he's done pretty well for himself. He was climbing that ladder until he realized it just wasn't worth it....and he's the most competitive ba$tard I know.

 

[Farro]

I feel like I need a cigar, a bourbon and a leather chair.