CSR activities of Disney

                   The CSR motive of every company makes the company stand class apart than its rivals. Corporate Social Responsibility is the basis of value creation, morality, business ethics, corporate governance, company’s reflection on its vision and mission. The companies are liable towards its all the stakeholders especially the biotic and abiotic factors present in the environment. CSR focuses on society as a whole highlighting the social cause behind any initiative that a company undertakes.           

Concept of sustainability-

                Walt Disney & Co. has it H.Q is at Belmont, California. It was founded by Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney in the year 1923. The CEO of Walt Disney and Co is Bob Chapek. Walt Disney and Co has an amazing approach on aspects like bringing up strike, vibe and its presence through the art of story-telling, they help in supporting in a world balance through environmental sustainability with the efforts to save the planet. They inspire the world by making the donations around US 290$ million in cash for supporting a noble cause like food donations, providing grants to hospitals and children etc. Another reason to select this company is that being an entertainment industry it invests in people by paying their human resources to foster health, wellbeing and support for their family members. They are fully committed to the responsibility that they have undertaken to preserve the supply chain, product research and development.

Walt Disney and Co does a lot for its stakeholders. Their stakeholder engagement programme includes customers, Employees, Government, Industry and Business Partners, NGOs and other social impacts, shareholders. The net Income of Walt Disney and Co as on 2021 was US$1.995 billion.

             'The initiatives'- The ethical foundation of Walt Disney and Co is based on its foundational pillars. The two main pillars I believe are investing in people and responsibly operating. The initiative undertaken by Walt Disney & Co is precisely embedded into their business with respect to the offerings, operations and Philanthropy. The Purpose of the initiative is aligned to their goals. They believe that by 2030 they would achieve the Environmental goals by reducing the emissions, recycle and reduce, reuse, building sustainability, designing innovative processes and products, inspiring life, preserving endangered species, and helping community to become better and grow together. Investing in people initiative talks about the Human Capital Management. Operating responsibility focuses on governance, over sighting and compliance.

 A. Initiative – Health and Safety-The initiative undertaken and practiced by Walt Disney & Co during COVID 19 were the donation of the medical supplies and other needed aid to the charities in case of critical support for those who were in need. Walt Disney also hosted COVID 19 vaccine sites at their facilities. The ESPN campus and helped circulating the right messages with the help of their platforms. As per their A/Y 21 they supplied 320 tons of food to support COVID affected locals.

B. Initiative- Green practices towards sustainability-Walt Disney & Co has been investing and practising the Zero GHG emissions, for past 15 years by making an investment of $24 mn in energy efficient projects and have reduced an aggregate of 1.1 mn Megawatt hours of energy use. Yet another important highlight of this is the fuel utilization and less of carbon fuels have helped them to reach their ZERO ZERO goal. Disney has partnered with MAERSK for low-carbon shipping calling it as a clean cargo initiative.

C. Initiative- Generosity towards the Black Community- Disney continues to strengthen their partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) by building a robust, long-term leadership pipeline of the Black talent. In the year 2021 it has launched ‘Disney on the Yard’ in collaboration with HBCU Engagement Task Force, a multifaceted initiative that would deepen the relationship with HBCU’s support to the students by providing them with internships, mentoring opportunities and job engagements.

                    Apart from that United Negro College Fund corporate scholar’s programme, Disney has given a commitment of$1mn. In addition to’ Disney on the Yard’, in 2021 they announced , stating that Disney will support 50 scholars over the course of three years, by providing summer internships, scholarships, housing assistance and relocation assistance. As on 2021,out of total interns at HBCUs,12% of Disney’s belonged to population over the 5 years.

           The Impact/outcomes of the initiative/s- Jennifer Cohen, the Executive vice president, CSR at Walt Disney, believes that the initiatives have an unique impact on the world as Disney creates amazing stories and experiences which help inspire people and brings them together to them. They bring out the most encouraging experiences that inspire adults and children to see the positive light in the world which in turn leads to one vision of making the world a better place to live. The other important aspect about the impact being created by this initiative was the positive impact that was providing meals during the pandemic.                                                 

Is the impact measured?

1.     50% of the staff are self-identified women working for Walt Disney across the globe

2.     40% of the staff are self identified as the people of color in United States

3.     The New Solar facilities of 75MW in Florida are identified as their sustainable goals 2030 which will help reduce carbon emission and preserve nature.

4. Plastic-free packaging across the globe at all the Disney parks.

5.     61% of 80,000+ tons of the company operational waste is diverted from the landfills

6.     They have invested $120Mn in community conservation since 1995

Is the impact reported clearly?

1.     To have transparency and accountability in the task force and human capital management, they have extended the scope of diversity through their Diversity Dashboard

2.     The entire reporting is done in the NYSE’s DIS report for the financial year 2021

3.     The reporting is done as per United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) and are aligned with Sustainability Accounting Board (SABs) indicators.

Conclusion-

                  Walt Disney has carried the baton and will pass the baton with its legacy to next generation with its sustainability approach. It also does a lot in association to NGOs, marketing, and other awareness campaigns. It also assists, volunteers, and provides consultation on important issues relating to climate change, human rights and diversity issues.