Essay - Disney 1. What Do You Think that Motivated Disney to...

Disney

1. What do you think that motivated Disney to set up parks abroad, and what might be the pros and cons from the stand point of the Walt Disney Company?

Confronting possible market saturation in its domestic market, one of ***** largest sources of park and resort opportunities for ***** was to optimize operations on a world-wide scale.

***** major thrust of Disney's global strategy is to use its global brand ***** target customers throughout the world. However, even with instant name recogniti*****, the company faced enormous challenges in apply*****g its domestic business model to work in many foreign markets where it has limited experience and faced threats of cultural clashes that impeded market acceptance in Europe.

To be successful, Disney is going to have to learn to act like a global company, ***** that adjusts products, prices and services to local markets. Nothing underscores the need ***** adopt a domestic business model to local market needs than the initial Euro Disney operations (later renamed Disneyl***** Resort Paris) which are *****ten referred to as a "culture Chernobyl" for m*****ny reasons (Disneyland ***** Paris). There's ample evidence ***** standardized restaurant menus were not working well in France ***** there is a preference for red wine. Disney thought it was doing the right thing by offering French food in ***** *****s, but discove***** the French were actually expecting ***** experience American cuisine at this type of ***** resort. And, ***** has clung to charging entrance fees similar ***** those in the Un*****ed States even though ***** *****ans/***** appear to ***** more price sensitive.

There were operational errors made regarding the overall operation of Euro ***** as well (Burgoyne). Based on American *****umer habits, Disney *****t Monday would be the light day for guests and Fri***** a heavy one, and allocated staff accordingly. In reality ***** reverse situation occurred in Paris. There were also unanticipated differences in employee ***** of employment practices. In Orlando, *****s accept being sent home if they are not needed. However, in Paris, employees had a very d*****ficult time *****ccept*****g the inflexible scheduling. Euro Disneyland executives had estimated labor cost ***** be thirteen percent ***** their revenues. But, in 1992 the true figure was twenty-four ***** and in 1993 it increased ***** forty percent.

Global brand *****on is a mixed blessing for D*****ney. While there ***** ***** who immediately recognize the name and may be drawn to a Disney p*****rk for this very reason, there are also those who associate it with anti-American feelings or dislike for large global corporations. Many French thought a Disney p*****rk in France would harm French culture ***** its American influence (Disneyland Resort Paris). Certainly, many of these cultural problems are beyond Disney's control, all it can really do is to be aware ***** ***** ***** sensitivities and consider them in***** ***** marketing and operational efforts.

To reduce risks, Disney can always form joint ventures. Relying on experienced partners abroad should help the ***** identify successful locations, sift through local tax and legal