Disney in Paris
In 1992 Euro-Disney was opened in Paris. After two years the theme park was a total disaster and made huge losses. In this report I'm going to analyse how this could have happened and how it changed Disney's way of operating. To do so, I will look at the cultural problems Disney had with external audiences and internal audiences. I will also describe the organization culture Disney when entering France. To end this report, I will discuss the changes Disney has made after the Euro-Disney failure and how this influenced Disney's management in subsequent international efforts.
Lets first go over the conflicts with external audiences or stakeholders. The first tensions arose during the negotiations. Whereas Disney had an all-American theme park in mind, the French government demanded that the attractions would get French names. Because Disney negotiated directly with the French government, they left local governments aside. As result, they protested against the government because of the environmental damage the theme park would cause. The exclusion of the local governments started the hostility between Euro Disney and the locals. Also the French and European construction firms collided with Disney. Euro-Disney had to be built according to American construction standards. The problem was that the construction firms could not live up to these standards in the eyes of Disney. As a result, sixteen construction firms sued Disney. Instead of trying to fix the relationship, Disney flew in Americans to do the job, taunting the pride of the French.
Another cultural problem Disney experienced was with the most important external audience, the visitors. Whereas Disney expected guests to stay for four to five days. In reality, most guests stayed for a day or two. As a result, the expensive hotels Disney built were mostly half full. Disney was unable to acknowledge the difference between American and European culture, and even between European cultures. In my opinion, this is
Lets first go over the conflicts with external audiences or stakeholders. The first tensions arose during the negotiations. Whereas Disney had an all-American theme park in mind, the French government demanded that the attractions would get French names. Because Disney negotiated directly with the French government, they left local governments aside. As result, they protested against the government because of the environmental damage the theme park would cause. The exclusion of the local governments started the hostility between Euro Disney and the locals. Also the French and European construction firms collided with Disney. Euro-Disney had to be built according to American construction standards. The problem was that the construction firms could not live up to these standards in the eyes of Disney. As a result, sixteen construction firms sued Disney. Instead of trying to fix the relationship, Disney flew in Americans to do the job, taunting the pride of the French.
Another cultural problem Disney experienced was with the most important external audience, the visitors. Whereas Disney expected guests to stay for four to five days. In reality, most guests stayed for a day or two. As a result, the expensive hotels Disney built were mostly half full. Disney was unable to acknowledge the difference between American and European culture, and even between European cultures. In my opinion, this is