The Walt Disney Co. has announced a broad restructuring of its parks and resorts operation -- a move that sets the stage for more job cuts in the coming weeks.
The large-scale reorganization, which encompasses Disneyland, Disney World, cruise ships and resorts that it runs in places like Hilton Head, S.C., comes on the heels of last month's buyout package offers to 600 parks executives.
"These changes are essential to maintaining our leadership position in family tourism and reflect today's economic realities," Jay Rasulo, Parks chairman, said a statement.
Under the new structure, facets of Disneyland and Walt Disney World will be consolidated into a single domestic operation, to be headed by Worldwide Operations President Al Weiss.
Rasulo said the company would streamline its operating structure to simplify the operations -- and in the process, reduce overhead. He said the reorganization was a further step in an operational review begun in 2005 at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, although he acknowledged that the bleak economy has accelerated the pace of the changes.
Disneyland Resort President Ed Grier and Walt Disney World Resort President Meg Crofton will continue to oversee the ride operations and other facets of customer attendance. However, Weiss' group will take over functions that cut across parks, such as procurement, menu planning and ordering stuffed animals.
The operations of Walt Disney Imagineering group will also be simplified. Chief Creative Executive Bruce Vaughn and Chief Design and Project Delivery Executive Craig Russell will continue to oversee the development of attractions for all Disney parks and resorts. But the group will no longer have separate groups devoted to development for resorts, entertainment and attractions.
A new global business development team will combine real estate development and business development under Executive Vice President Nick Franklin.
The changes are intended to streamline the organization and create one group that identifies possible acquisitions and park expansions, another that implements it and a third that is in charge of operations, company officials said.
The restructuring probably will result in job cuts, on top of the buyouts offered in January. It's unclear how many positions will be lost.
"Organization changes require difficult decisions, including the elimination of some roles," Rasulo said. "These decisions were not made lightly and we know this will be a challenging transition. The people affected are our friends and colleagues"
--Dawn C. Chmielewski
Photo credit: Timothy O'Rourke / Bloomberg News
Confession time: I like instant coffee (and now, so does Starbucks)
I have a confession to make.
I like instant coffee.
Now, I've made that admission before, and heard sharp intakes of breaths.
It's as if admitted to kicking small animals. And liking it. (Let's be clear, I do neither of those things.)
But I'll say it again: I like instant coffee. Sure, a freshly made latte or a great cup of drip or French press joe are my first choices. And I have a huge selection of organic teas in my kitchen.
But when I'm pressed for time, I drink instant coffee.
And mmmm, it's good.
Go ahead, take a moment to mentally berate me. Sniff or tsk-tsk if you must. Many have.
I know in the eyes of many coffee drinkers, I am committing a sin. Instant coffee has always been the poor relation of the caffeinated-beverage family -- the outsider, the pretender, the eye-roll-inducing loser.
And in our coffee-obsessed culture, we've been educated to know the proper temperature of coffee, to know and care what country it comes from, to obsess about how it's prepared and what kind of milk goes in it.
I know all this, and I'll never fully give up my latte habit. But whatever instant coffee is, I'm not going to quit that any time soon either. I think of it as a "hot coffee-flavored beverage that tastes very good with half and half." And that's good enough for me.
Call me a cretin, banish me from your foodie parties, talk about my instant-coffee habit behind my back, but what-ever. I like the cheap and cheerful taste, the speed of preparation (it liberates you from cleaning out coffeepots and coffeemakers, yay) and the fact that instant coffee is quite economical (that's no small consideration these days).
And I like the fact that enjoying seems to irritate some people. That actually adds to the appeal, for me anyway. It seems so anti-Starbucks.
But not any more. I was glad to read my colleague Monica Eng's positive review of Starbuck's new instant coffee, and can't wait to get my hands on the stuff. If it's any good, which Monica and our panel of food experts said it was, I'll be buying the stuff by the boxful. (Even if, being Starbucks, they deign to avoid the i-word -- instant -- and instead opted to call their new concoction "Via Ready Brew.")
I'm sure some coffee snobs will shudder. That's cool. When you're shuddering, don't knock over my instant coffee, OK?
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