Brawl in Mickey's Backyard

In this discussion case, the primary market stakeholders would be the employees of Disneyland and the tourists that visit the park. In 2005, Disneyland employed approximately 20,000 people and supported over 65,000 jobs in southern California (Disney. 2005). It is estimated that 15 million people visit Disneyland each year (Deioma, 2011).

Nonmarket stakeholders are people or groups who, although they do not engage in direct economic exchange with the firm, are nonetheless affected by or can affect its actions (Lawrence, Weber. 2010). The nonmarket stakeholders in this discussion case would be the city council, the people of Anaheim, and SunCal. The city council has voting power on the zoning issue. The people of Anaheim can influence the city council and also benefit from the $225 million in taxes that Disneyland generates in southern California (Disney, 2005). SunCal is a developer that wants to build condos for a hefty profit but is willing to designate 15 percent, 225 units, to below-market-rate rental apartments.

If you count the exclusivity of the region, and take away it's positioning as a specialist tourist destination. Along with Disney, the chamber of commerce was also more interested in the commercial and business impact due to the project, as they had invested millions of dollars to make the tourist destination and was concerned of not harming it's prospects in any way. Given that the housing in Anaheim was extremely expensive, a lot of Disney employees had to travel long distances to be able to work.The issue at the core of this conflict is SunCal wanting to build condos on land that has been zoned specifically for tourism related industries or Disneyland expansion. SunCal offered to allocate 225 units of their proposed 1,500 to below-market-rate rental apartments. This offer by SunCal could be viewed as simply a way to garner support for their zoning exemption. Their offer also brings an emotional response from the public and distracts from the financial facts that future park expansion or tourism would provide. The financial impact of expansion would exceed that of building condos. Affordable housing is obviously needed in this area but may not be the best use of this land. Once a house is built, it doesn't generate additional jobs. If Disneyland was to expand, that would lead to increased tourism and jobs for the local economy.

There are other possible solutions to the emotional issue of affordable rent. The 225 proposed apartment...