General info about Euro Disneyland

1
General info about Euro Disneyland

• Robert Fitzpatrick Philippe Bourguignon
• 
  
• 
  29 - French
• 71 -
  Other Europeans
• 
  Solution
• 1.
  squeaky clean image
• 2.
  lift the alcohol ban

2
General info about Euro Disneyland

• Total visitors 10 million
• Expected 11 million
• Problem it was unclear
• how the company planned
• to finance its FFr 810
• billion cost
• Solution the company was
• talking to banks about
• restructuring its debts
• Instant hits are things that go away quickly,
  and things that grow slowly and are part of the
  culture are what we look for,

3
In the Beginning

• 
  Disneys story is the classic
• 
  American rags-to-riches story
• In 1955,
  Disney had the
• 
  brainstorm of sending his movie
• 
  characters out into the real world
• to mix
  with their fans.
• Problem E. Cardon Walker (CEO) Ronald W.
  Miller
• Solution Michael Eisner was appointed CEO and
  Frank
• Wells became president

84.375
48.75
4
Disneyland in Anaheim, California

• The first Disneyland opened in Anaheim,
  California on July 17, 1955.
• Disneyland strives to generate the perfect
  fantasy
• Disneyland is the worlds
• biggest stage, and the
• audience is right here on
• the stage,

5
Disney World in Orlando, Florida

• Two major hotels
• Disneys Grand Floridian Beach Resort 1987
• Disneys Caribbean Beach Resort 1989
• 
  In October 1982, Disney made a
• 
  new addition to the theme parkthe
• 
  Experimental Prototype Community
• 
  of Tomorrow or EPCOT.
• 
  
• 
  This new park consists of two large
• 
  complexes Future World, to show
• 
  the technological advances of the next
  25 years, and World Showcase, a collection of
  foreign villages.

6
Tokyo Disneyland

• It was Tokyos nastiest winter day in four
  years. Arctic winds and eight inches of snow
  lashed the city. Roads were clogged and trains
  slowed down. But the bad weather didnt keep
  13,200 hardy souls from Tokyo Disneyland. Located
  on a fringe of reclaimed shoreline in Urayasu
  City on the outskirts of Tokyo, the park opened
  to the public on April 15, 1983.

7
Tokyo Disneyland

• Oriental Land Co. bought the 204-acre from the
  Walt Disney Co.
• 
  The biggest differences between Japan and
• 
  America have come in slogans and ad copy!
• 
  The 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 the
• 
  trash and be slaughtered and sold at a
• 
  profit.

8
Building Euro Disneyland

• 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.
• Marne-la-Vallee is
• advantageously close to one
• of the worlds tourism capitals,
• while also being situated
• within a days drive or train
• ride of some 30 million people
• in France, Belgium, England,
• and Germany.

Euro Disneyland was expected to bring 600
million in foreign investment into France each
year. The 1.5 to 2 billion first phase
investment would involve an amusement complex
including hotels and restaurants, golf courses,
and an aquatic park. The second phase, scheduled
to start after the gates opened in 1992, called
for the construction of a community around the
park, including a sports complex, Technology
Park, conference center, theater, shopping mall,
university campus, villas, and condominiums.
9
Protests of Cultural Imperialism

• Disney faced French communists and
  intellectuals who protested the building of Euro
  Disneyland.
• In early 1985, one of the three state-owned
  television networks signed a contract to
  broadcast two hours of dubbed Disney programming
  every Saturday evening.

10
Financial structure and layout of Euro Disneyland

• Eisner was so keen on Euro Disneyland that
  Disney kept a 49 percent stake in the project,
  while the remaining 51 percent of stock was
  distributed through the London, Paris, and
  Brussels stock exchanges.
• 
  Designers presented a plan for a Main
• 
  Street USA based on scenes of
• 
  America in the 1920s, because
• 
  research indicated that Europeans
• 
  loved the Prohibition era.
• 
  People walk around Disney World in
• 
  Florida with humidity and temperatures
• 
  in the 90s and they walk into an air
• 
  conditioned ride and say, This is the
• 
  greatest, said Eisner.

11
Food Service and Accommodations at Euro
Disneyland

• Disney expected to serve 15,000 to 17,000
  meals per hour, excluding snacks. Menus and
  service systems were developed so that they
  varied both in style and price.

12
Disneys Strict Appearance Code

• Pronunciation problems - France
• pronunciation Howdy sounds like
• Audi
• Wearing policy-Rules
• Video presentations-what kind
• of employees

13
Opening Day at Euro Disneyland and the problems

• Role of Disney heroes-Mickey is madness.
• Different cultures have different definitions
  of personal space.
• 90,000 cars trying to get in.

14
Questions 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?
• We determine that there have strong
  uncertainty avoidance, high individualism,
  centralized power structures and lower
  masculinity at French culture.

15
Uncertainty Avoidance

• Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) is a
  cultural dimension that scores the degree to
  which people feel threatened by ambiguity. The
  uncertainty avoidance is much lower in America
  than in French.
• In 1992, Euro Disneyland was designed to copy
  the American Disney theme parks back in
  California and Florida with very few concessions
  to French culture.
• French people found this highly ambiguous,
  and only 29 of visitors to Euro Disneyland in
  its first year were from France. If the French
  want a U.S.-style Disneyland experience, they
  will go to Disney parks in America.

16
Individualism

• Individualism is the cultural dimension that
  measures to what extent people to look after
  themselves and their immediate family members
  only.
• In both countries individualism is higher.
  American executives at Disney imposed a strict
  dress code at Euro Disneyland that required
  extremely short hair and banned beards and
  moustaches. Disneys dress code was based on Walt
  Disneys highly individualized, squeaky clean
  American family values. By imposing the Walt
  Disney appearance code, the Americans insulted
  French family traditions. Many of the highly
  individualistic French refused to work at Euro
  Disneyland

17
Power Distance

• Hofstedes Power Distance Index (PDI)
  measures the extent to which less powerful
  members of organizations and institutions accept
  unequal distribution of power. The US has lower
  power distance.
• But France has higher power distance. The
  French were confused when Disney appointed mostly
  American-born managers into the front-line
  supervisory positions at Euro Disneyland - many
  of whom were not fluent in the French language.

18
Masculinity

• A high masculine society places greater value
  on success, money and material possessions.
  Americans have higher masculinity. A country with
  a lower masculinity score places more emphasis on
  caring for others and quality of life. France has
  a relative low masculinity.
• Clearly, French culture was not a priority
  for Disney during the first year of Euro Disney.
• Like the other cultural dimensions in this
  analysis, Disney executives should have adapted
  to Frances need for low masculinity values like
  cooperation, friendly atmosphere, group decision
  making, more employee freedoms and environmental
  conservation.

19
Questions 2

• In what way has Trompenaarss research helped
  explain cultural differences between the United
  States and France?
• Internal vs. External
• In an internalistic culture like the United
  States, people believe that what happens to them
  is their own doing.
• Externalistic culture dont believe they are
  in full control of their destinies, often
  externalistic people adapt to external
  circumstances. Almost, French culture is also
  externalistic.

20

• Neutral vs. Emotional
• In neutral cultures, emotions are held in
  check. People dont show their feelings. We cant
  say that American or French culture is neutral.
• In an emotional culture, feelings are
  expressed naturally and openly. America and
  France arent so high-emotion countries.
• Specific vs. Diffuse
• Specific cultures like the United States show
  a strong separation between work and private
  life. Invitations to public spaces are common.
• A diffuse culture features similarly sized
  public and private spaces. France can be an
  example of diffuse cultures where work and
  private life are closely linked but intensely
  protected.

21

• Time Orientation
• In sequential cultures like the United
  States, 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.
• Universalism vs. Particularism
• Universalistic countries focus more on formal
  rules than relationships. America is highly
  universalistic, which explains why U.S.
  multinationals repeatedly ignore relationships in
  a foreign culture.
• Particularistic countries place more emphasis
  on relationships than rules. Ideas and practices
  cannot be applied the same everywhere.

22
Questions 3

• In managing its Euro Disneyland operations,
  what are three mistakes that the company made?
  Explain.
• 1. The reasons for the poor results of the
  Euro Disneyland are mainly based in a wrong
  self-assessment, leading to wrong decisions in
  the management. The Walt Disney Co. does
  virtually the same management and operating
  mistakes that Euro Disneyland Paris does, when it
  was opened in 1992.
• 2. Disneylands objectives were very
  demanding. But after the first year there was a
  loss.

23

• 3. There were numerous errors made regarding
  the overall operation of Euro Disneyland. For
  example, from its American experience the Walt
  Disney Company thought Monday would be the light
  day for guests and Friday a heavy one and
  allocated staff accordingly. Furthermore, to add
  to the operation problem is the difference in
  employee acceptance of conditions of employment.
• 4 (extra). Before the opening of Euro
  Disneyland executives had estimated labour cost
  would be 13 of their revenues. This was another
  area where the executives were wrong in their
  assumptions. In 1992 the true figure was 24 and
  in 1993 it increased to a whopping 40. These
  labour cost percentages increased Euro
  Disneyland's debt.

24
Questions 4

• Based on its experience, what are three
  lessons the company should have learned about how
  to deal with diversity? Describe each.
• Studying the Walt Disney Company's venture
  into France will allow other companies to learn
  from the Walt Disney Company's experiences.
  Recognizing, understanding and avoiding their
  mistakes will allow a company entering a new
  country increased opportunity to succeed.
  Reviewing the Euro Disneyland venture from the
  site research investigation to the present day
  operation will be beneficial to a company
  considering expansion abroad.

25

• Choosing of location
• Risk Management
• Marketing Changes

26

• Thanks for your attention!!!
• Authors
• Ramil Badalov
• Ehtiram Musayev
• Elvin Qasimov
• Elxan Mamedov
• Jamil Rzayev