Really, figuring that there already an overabundance of coronavirus reporting, I have tried to avoid the subject. There are, however, lessons to be learned from Disney’s response to the situation it finds itself in. Having just completed a costly purchase of the Fox movie studio and the launch of Disney+, the company finds itself experiencing the shock of the loss of two major revenue generators: theme parks and theater presentations. Other revenue losses include the closed cruise line business, Adventures by Disney and Disney’s stand-alone hotels.

One of Disney’s primary goals has always been keeping the empire Walt Disney built alone, separate and special. If the company is not careful, it could find themselves back in the greenmail situation it faced in the 1980s. To simplify, when the stock price and revenue went down, the land Disney perks were built on, and the company’s intellectual property, became worth more than the company itself. Imagine the revenue a buyout firm could generate by selling land right in front of the Magic Kingdom, or the sale of the Star Wars franchise, or the sale of Mickey Mouse himself.

In the current environment, the company must husband it’s resources to come out of the crisis whole. It must retain both its exceptional employees and its financial wherewithal. Disney leaders are doing that. The leadership took pay cuts (with Bob Iger giving back his entire annual salary) and have paid their employees up to the date where the expanded government unemployment benefits become available while still maintaining the health care benefits for those furloughed employees. I suspect the next financial savings will come through the delay or cancellation of announced, but not started projects. For example, given the current crisis in the cruise ship industry, will Disney still build three new ships?

And even when the parks do reopen, will past practices of allowing as many people as possible into a park remain? Will it really be safe for thousands of people to sit shoulder to shoulder on the curb for an hour or more waiting for a parade to pass by?

What can management to do? Likely what Disney is doing (or planning to do); pay it’s people and their benefits as long as possible so you can bring them back when you reopen, and, at parks reopening, scale back offerings as much as possible while still presenting a magical guest experience.

It’s a tough balancing act. Many of you reading may be experiencing something similar. The only hope I can offer is that this is but a hiccup in the grand arc of history. It too shall pass. The key is to focus beyond the crisis and be ready to respond aggressively to the changed environment that follows it.

Meanwhile, let’s all stay safe and love each other.

Update - Here's an interview with Bob Iger from Forbes. What he says dovetails with the article above.