Walt Disney in Paris

7/30/2019 Walt Disney in Paris

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Prepared By:-

Md. Gyasuddin (40)Mohit Makker (41)

Mohit Verma (42)

Nidhi Bhatia (43)


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It was founded on 16th October, 1923 by Walt and Roy Disney.

It is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the

world.

In 1955, Walts dream of an amusement park came true and

Disney Land emerged in California.

Soon, Disney World opened in Florida, and Tokyo Disney

became the companys first excursion across the Atlantic.

After Disneylands prior success, its new theme park named

Euro Disney in Paris in 1992.


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Euro Disney in Paris, France.

Strategy: Transplant an American-style park in

Europe.

Disney believed that the American way

would work everywhere.

Faced problems from Day 1


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1. Name: Euro Disney

Concept: Euro

Pan-European branding

As Americans, the word Euro is believed to mean glamorous orexciting BUT

For Europeans, it turned out to be a term they associated with

business, currency and commerce.

Solution: Name changed to Disneyland Paris in 1994.

Concept: Paris

Makes the theme park more French

To make it feel their own Disneyland


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2. Transplant an American-style park to Europe

i. CulturalImperialism

ii. The park did not fit into the local culture.

iii. Self Reference Criterion: unconscious reference to onesown cultural values, experiences, and knowledge as a

basis for decisions.

iv. Ethnocentricism:

the notion that ones own culture or company knows best howto do things.

Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values

and standards of one's own culture.


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3. Ethnocentric Recruiting Practice: Most Euro

Disneys positions were filled by Americans having

strong ties with France.

They did not realize the fact that having strong ties with

France did not mean that they thought like the French.

Because of this, they went on running Euro Disney without

giving much importance to the local culture.


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4. Miscalculation and misunderstanding eating and

drinking habits:

i. No alcohol policy: But French meals were incomplete

without wine.ii. Provided only snacks and thus downsized their

restaurants.

iii. Downsizing of the breakfast

iv. Restaurants lacked enough seating capacity: Europeanslike eating their meals sitting down unlike the Americans

who like to eat fast food on the move.


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5. Didnt comply to French traditions: Celebrated

Halloween instead of French festivals.

6. Rigid Disney Dress code: American executives at Euro

Disney imposed a strict dress code that requiredextremely short hair and banned beards and

moustaches. Disney's dress code was based on Walt

Disney's highly individualized, clean American family

values. As a result, many of the highly individualistic

French refused to work at Euro Disney.


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7. Miscalculation of transportation preferences:

Europeans are used to walking whilst Americans

drive everywhere. Hence, visitors did not use the

expensive tramway system on which the Americanshad invested millions of dollars.

Most of the Europeans came by buses and bicycles so the

parking space for the buses and the rest came out be

inadequate and as a result the company was forced toreduce the space for parking lots and provide more space

for the buses and the bicycles.


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8. Misunderstanding of vacation habits: Americans take

several short vacations throughout the year whilst

Europeans take fewer but longer vacations. Disney had

based its planning on the U.S. vacation model.

9. Miscalculation of per-capita spending

Euro Disneys admission price was 30% higher than

Orlandos park

The European visitors wanted to spend more time onthe rides rather than shopping for food and souvenirs

which resulted in lower expected revenue.


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Hofstedes Dimensions

1. Power Distance: Incorrect staffing policies showed that

there was High Power Distance in the US culture.

2. Individualism: The strict dress code implemented is

viewed as a breach of privacy and individualism by the

French. French guests were also very uncomfortable

when pushed against each other without privatespace. Generally, Americans are more individualistic

than French.


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3. Uncertainty Avoidance Index: For French, it is very

high compared to the Americans.

4. Feminity: France has a more feminine culture, i.e.,

they are caring, friendly, etc. unlike the Americans.

Hence, Americans masculinity could not match up

to French feminine culture.

Hofstedes Dimensions


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Trompenaars Dimensions

1. Universalism vs Particularism: US has a

universalistic culture as they believed that the rules

and regulations are universal and can be applied

anywhere but Disney did not realize that France hada Particularistic culture.

2. Neutral vs Emotional: French people were very

much emotional about their culture and they didnt

like the American style theme park.


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Corrections & improvements

Incorporated more aspects of the European

culture and less of the American culture.

Signs became multilingual. Food was changed to reflect the tastes of

Europeans.

Cast members were trained to be more cordialwith the French culture.

Disneyland Paris was Europeanized.


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Walt Disney in Paris

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