EURO DISNEYLAND

EURO DISNEYLAND

The role of Culture

GROUP - 2Disneys story is the classic American rags-to-riches storyIn 1955, Walt Disney had the brainstorm of sending his movie characters out into the real world to mix with their fans.Management Change

In the BeginningE. Cardon Walker (CEO) & Ronald W. Miller toMichael Eisner (CEO) and Frank Wells became president

2Disneyland in Anaheim, California

Disney envisioned a place where people from all over the world would be able to go for clean and safe fun.The first Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California on July 17, 1955.Disneyland strives to generate the perfect fantasy

3Disney embarked on an ambitious $1 bn. hotel expansion plan.

Disney World in Orlando, Florida

This new park consists of two large complexes:Future World, to show the technological advances of the next 25 years,World Showcase, a collection of foreign villages.4In 5 years half of Japans population had visited it.Disney had no equity in this project.

Cultural differences:100 public telephone booths and snacks countertops were placed too high for Japanese.Lines for attractions had to be redesigned.Slogans and ads written in Japanese EnglishThey were uneasy about a rustic-looking Westernland, Tokyos version of Frontierland

Tokyo DisneylandThe problem: how to dispose of some 250 tons of trash that would be generated weekly by Tokyo Disneyland visitors?Solution: trash compactors. The Japanese proposal: pigs to eat thetrash and be slaughtered and sold at a profit.

5 On March 24, 1987, Michael Eisner and Jacques Chirac, the French prime minister, signed a contract for the building of a Disney theme park at Marne-la-Vallee.

Location is advantageously close to one of the worlds tourism capitals.

Within a days drive or train ride of some 30 million people in France, Belgium, England, and Germany. Euro Disneyland 6Protests of Cultural Imperialism Disney faced French communists and intellectuals who protested the building of Euro Disneyland.

Disney launched an aggressive community relations programInvited 400 local children to a Bday party for Mickey Mouse to area hospitalsHosted free trips to Disney World for local7Disney kept a 49 percent stake in the project.Remaining 51 percent of stock was distributed through the London, Paris, and Brussels stock exchanges.Disney invested $160 million to fund this project.This investment soared to $2.4 billion after the stock offering in Europe.

Financial structure and layout of Euro Disneyland

8Restaurants were a showcase for American foods with exception Fantasyland which re-creates European fables.Recipes were adapted for European tastes.Food Service and Accommodations at Euro Disneyland

9Disneys Strict Appearance Code Pronunciation problems - France pronunciation Howdy sounds like Audi

Wearing policy-RulesVideo presentationsProvided detailed guide handbook

Japanese didnt like it

10Half a million visitors were expected with 90000 cars but just 25000 vehicle came filling just half of the parking capacity.

Thousands of dollars spent on pre-opening ceremony. They were expecting impressive long traffic jams on the auto route but failed to see.

Opening Day at Euro Disneyland and the problems

11Ques 1: Using Hofstedes four cultural dimensions as a point of reference, what are some of the main cultural differences between the United States and France?Power distance Measures the extent to which lower class of the society accept the ruling by the leaders of the society. i.e. unequal distribution of powers. In US, the power distance index is fairly low compare to France (much greater equality between society levels.)Most of the supervisors were American who were not good in speaking French.Uncertainty Avoidance Extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations.The UA is much lower in America; whereas in France it is very high.Euro Disneyland is determinedly American in its theme. The percentage of people who visited the euro Disney shows that French people are highly ambiguous. French visitors were only 29% of total while the expectations were 50%.12Individualism vs. Collectivism Indicate the tendency of the people to mainly look after themselves and their immediate family.In both the countries individualism is very high.By imposing the Strict Appearance code like example mens short hair and banned beards or mustaches, French people feel insulted about their traditions.

Masculinity vs. Feminity Society with the high masculinity places more values on success and money.US has very high masculinity; on the other hand France has pretty low.French culture was never a priority for the Disney at When the Euro Disney started.13Ques 2: In what way has Trompenaarss research helped explain cultural differences between the United States and France?Universalism vs. Particularism Universalistic countries place more emphasis on formal rules than the relationships.It is the belief ideas and practices can be applied everywhere without modification.United States is highly universalistic, they often ignore culture of different countries.Whereas, particularistic countries place more emphasis on relationships.It is the belief that situations dictate how ideas and practices should be applied.

Neutral vs. Emotional A neutral culture is one in which emotions are held in check.People dont show their feelings and maintain their composure.An emotional culture, feelings are expressed openly and freely.Both US and France are the emotional countries.

14Specific vs. Diffuse A specific culture is one in which individuals have a large public space and they allow other people to enter and share the space.America show a strong separation between work and private life.A diffuse culture possesses similar sized public and private spaces.France has a diffuse culture where work and private life are closely linked but carefully protected.

Time Orientation Cultural differences may arises due to the way in which people do their work in respect of time. In sequential cultures like the US, people tend to do one activity at a time. Appointments are strictly kept, with a strong preference for following plans. In synchronous cultures like France, people usually do more than one activity at a time. Appointments are approximate, subject to change at any moment.15Lack of Management

Walt Disney company owned high stake in Euro Disneyland which resulted in most of the decisions taken by the American executives who did not have knowledge of French culture.

23 US employees held most of the top jobs which resulted in failure of understanding European way of doing work.

Ques 3: In managing its Euro Disneyland operations, what are three mistakes that the company made? Explain.16Cultural Errors Firstly, the policy of not serving alcohol has caused astonishment and rebellion in France where a glass of wine for lunch is given. More, it failed to provide proper customer service which were Euro culture. Most of the restaurants were of American theme which were not prepared as per habits and times of European culture.Disney guests faced problems of people getting too close or pressing around.Appropriate Staff Disneys demanding requirements regarding dress and appearanceand other bans caused poor union relations.Legalistic approach taken by the Disney also bogged down talks with govt.

17Ques 4: Based on its experience, what are three lessons the company should have learned about how to deal with diversity? Describe each.Better understandings of Euro culture

The Euro Disneyland management should be aware of the cultural environment of the France like the life style, habits and eating preferences.The company should act globally to expand the business but think locally.

18Managing workforce The Euro Disney should handle their personnel department in a better way. Some management positions should be given to local employees in order to get better results.

Develop Realistic planning Having no experience in European market in operating theme parks, the management should have anticipated some problems and set backs. And based on that the expectations regarding growth should have been more cautious. Until the problems facing the first phase were corrected the planning for advancing the second phase should not have been allowed. Otherwise, company risks would be duplicating and compounding the problems encountered with its first phase.

19Thank you!