Disney

Essay by PorciaUniversity, Bachelor'sA, November 2014

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Porcia Dixon

Phyllis Katz

Case Study 2-1

29 October 2014

The Not So Wonderful World of Euro-Disney

What factors contributed to euro Disney's poor performance during its first year of operation? What factors contributed to Hong Kong Disney's poor performance during is first year? The biggest factors that contributed to the poor performance during the first year of Euro Disney's operations were: a poor understanding of the marketplace, the issues and the cultural differences between two nations and two differing approaches to business and life.

To what degree do you consider that these factors were (a) foreseeable and (b) controllable by Euro-Disney, Hong Kong Disney, or the parent company, Disney? An understanding of the characters of Europe and the European market place would have enabled the Disney executives to anticipate many of the problems. Some problems were controllable and others were inevitable. Those that were inevitable, however, needed an approach that would soften the reaction rather than exacerbate it.

It was inevitable that the choice of France as the location would ruffle the French.

What role does ethnocentrism play in the story of Euro-Disney's launch? It is directly related to the start of Disneyland in Europe. The Disney belief was that what it sells in the U.S and Japan would sell just as well in Europe. So when Disney opened Euro-Disney in Paris the park was a symbol of American culture.

How do you assess the cross-cultural marketing skills of Disney? I think that they are better now, but they were unequal at the time. They simply did not do their homework. The belief that the society functioned like the American society was just wrong because the French are highly unionized, and quite highly socialized in a political sense. Liberty and independence are even more ingrained among...