The small neighborhood school is going the way of the one-room school house. Schools have grown into large organizations, mass people-handlers. Among the greater challenges facing teacher education today is the challenge of preparing professionals for mass people-handling while teaching and demonstrating concern for the individual.
Walt Disney World Co. was identified by Peters and Waterman (1982) as one of the best examples of improving service to people through their people management program. N.W Pope (1979), Vice President-Marketing, Sun Banks, Inc., observed "how Disney views its employees, both internally and externally, handles them, communicates with them, rewards them, is ... the basic foundation upon which its five decades of success stands; it is what Disney does best."
What do education and Disney outdoor entertainment have in common? Both deal with masses of people with individual needs and interests. Both build on the promise of technology and optimism for the future. Both rely heavily on motivation to achieve a common end product, that of enjoyment and learning. The classic Disney formula for quality entertainment dictates that all entertainment be timeless, provoke feelings, stimulate thinking, encourage creativity, and promote learning.
The Disney Corporate Culture
The corporate image, "The Finest in Family Entertainment," is projected and maintained through an ongoing commitment to training and people management. Creating happiness and serving individuals ("Every Guest a VIP") is the cornerstone of the corporate policy, as well as the essence of the product at Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida. For the Disney organization the two terms, training and people management, are almost synonymous. Attitudes, quality, and commitment to the Disney philosophy must be encouraged and supported by management on a daily basis if training
is to produce the desired result.
Corporate terminology reflects the builtin commitment to service. People who pay to visit the parks, stay in Disney hotels, eat at Disney restaurants, or make purchases in Disney shops are not, as Peters and Waterman (1982) noted, customers with a lower case c, but Guests with a capital "G." The employee sweeping Main Street, U.S.A., is not a janitor, but a host or hostess to the thousands of Guests he or she will see that day. Disney employees are not employees, but cast members who have a very specific role in the show. All work from similar scripts and speak a common language (e.g., casting, guest).
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