...The Walt Disney Company is an American institution closely identified with Mickey Mouse and world-famous theme parks. Hong Kong Disneyland was the Walt Disney Company's third international theme park outside America, after Tokyo and Paris. Interesting enough, both the Hong Kong and Paris theme parks had its chief replaced in less than a few months after the park's opening, if these corporate moves were anything but indicative. In September 2006, the Hong Kong theme park announced it had missed its first year attendance target of 5.6 million. Often criticized as the smallest Disneyland in the world, the Hong Kong theme park had been tipped as a "stepping stone" for the American company's entry into mainland China. If it was indeed to serve as a prototype for another Disneyland in China, it would be critical for the management of Hong Kong Disneyland to come up with a recovery plan and realign its strategy to improve its image, boost attendance and deliver its revenue target. This case can be used to explore what could be done to enhance the smooth delivery of the American fantasy in the alien culture of the Middle Kingdom. (Bennett Yim Josephine Lau). Moreover, Hong Kong Disneyland is one of the world largest entrainment businesses of the world. During the 1920s and 1930s Disney just had studio and theme park but at the end of the 20th century it had several TV networks, several theme park a cruise lines, malls, airports, hotel resorts and so many other entrainment units which...
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...Euro Disney had a very hard initial experience in France. Due its lack on accurate informationabout the French and European preference and culture, further on their inability on forecastingexternal problems and inability on controlling both controllable and uncontrollable forces,Disney acquired a huge debt. Instead of analyzing and learning from its potential customersDisney chose to make assumptions, turned out that most of those assumptions were wrong.Disney made wrong assumptions in many areas as well. In the cultural area for example itassumed that customers would be ok not having wine to drink, turned out customers wereastonished but the decision of breakfast was another cultural mistake, but in the opposite way.Disney assumed that French customers would want to eat French breakfast while they wantedAmerican one. Operational errors were also committed for Disney, for example Disney assumedthat Monday would be a light day and Friday a heavy day, so they arrange the staff accordingly,turned out to be the opposite and Disney had a big problem with that. Another assumption suchas optimistic assumption about attendance was also made. If Disney had conducted a primaryresearch and learned from their potential customers, French and Europeans, they would haveforecasted those mistakes and prevented them from happening. Also if Disney had controlledbetter the controllable forces, price and promotion for example, they would have a betterinitial experience. Disney could have followed...
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...Using Case Studies in Real Estate and Finance Courses By Su Han Chan Department of Real Estate The Preliminaries Setting expectations Focus is on decision making Requires judgment No “right” answers Setting ground rules The student contract (4Ps) Knowing your participants Selecting cases and readings Using a mix of short (“breather”) and long cases Assigning a term project Case seminar series_Su H Chan A Short Case Phuket Beach Hotel: Valuing Mutually Exclusive Capital Projects* (4 pages) Synopsis Phuket Beach Hotel has an opportunity to lease its underutilized space to a karaoke pub and earn a rental income. Alternatively, the hotel could develop the unused space and create its own pub. The general manager of the hotel must decide which of the two capital projects to recommend to the hotel owners. This case presents sufficient information to build cash flow forecasts for each project and to rank the mutually exclusive projects using various evaluation criteria. *The case is available from HBSP.com Case seminar series_Su H Chan Using the case Undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels Exposes students to a wide range of capital budgeting issues Questions built into the case Student group presentations (2 teams presenting the same case) Class members evaluate team presentations Instructor debriefs case Lessons learned Evaluator__Please write your name on the back__________________ Group ___________________________ Grading Checklist for...
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...Case Study 3: Hong Kong Disneyland November 26, 2013 1(A). Why was it important for Disney to work with the foreign governments where they want to open theme parks? While it may not always be a good idea for a business to work with foreign governments, it was the appropriate course for Disney to take. Certain aspects of the parks that were opened in Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong best evidence this. Tokyo, by every standard, is considered a success (Young & Liu, 2007). Its success led to the construction of a sister park, DisneySea. Regrettably, Disney opted to not take ownership of the park. By working with the government of Tokyo, Disney did not have to invest any capitol to open a park abroad. However, Disney forfeited exponentially higher profits for its equivalent in risk. Disney’s next venture, Disney Paris, was a collaboration with the French government. Similar to Disney Tokyo, it was important to work with the government for the purposes of immediate financial infusion. Unlike Tokyo’s government direct investment, the French government provided loans with interest rates (Young & Liu, 2007). The decision to work with the French government proved more important as construction costs went over by US$4 billion. This led to the French government restructuring Disney’s loan. It was crucial for Disney to work with the government of Hong Kong for several reasons. Like the previously mentioned Parks, Hong Kong helped financially. However, the scope...
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...October 1, 2014 MKT 608 Case Study 2-1 The Not-So-Wonderful World of EuroDisney Things Are Better Now at Disneyland Resort Paris 1. What factors contributed to EuroDisney’s poor performance during its first year of operation? What factors contributed to Hong Kong Disney’s poor performance during its first year? There were two major factors that contributed to EuroDisney’s poor performance during its first year of operation. The two factors include: market research and cultural competency. Within those two factors there were specific details that demonstrate where and why they failed poorly. There are listed below: * Instead of using French cartoon characters, American characters were used. * Europeans are known to enjoy drinking wine, but the park banned alcohol completely. * A misunderstanding regarding breakfast availability cause issues with the guest. * Disney was informed Europeans did not eat breakfast, which was not correct. * Pricing was an issue * Many Europeans believed the prices were too high and would not pay. * Other big events were occurring at the same time the parked open, which cause lots of issues as well At Hong Kong Disney, they had experienced the opposite of what EuroDisney experienced. Hong Kong tried to hard to make it fit. They conducted research and tried to make it work, but guest were disappointed. The park did not differ from other amusement parks in China and therefore consumers...
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...Disney’s global expansion – An Asia Perspective Executive Summary Disney theme parks had a long history of aggressive market expansion, started first with their first Disneyland opened in Anaheim in July 1955, Disney World Florida 1971, Disney theme park in Tokyo in 1992, and Disneyland Paris in France (Tsai & Liu 2011). Since introduction of its first theme park, Disney has been attaining global profit through expanding their existing parks while entering the new territories. Their ventures into the new Asia market, HongKong, met great hurdles and challenges as there were gaps between Hong Kong Disneyland offer and the local customs that need to undergo urgent local adjustments in order to become accepted among the Chinese and Hong Kongers. Although major changes have addressed incompatibility issues which in turn provided Disney with high profits and competitive advantages, the park faced serious problems including the frequent overcrowded flow of customers, the lacks of creativity and innovation, or the overloaded staff. As HongKong Disneyland has proved fairly successful with increased park occupation and revenues from growth especially from mainland China sector (Matusitz 2011, Tsai & Liu 2011, Zhang 2007), an unexplored market segment in China or in particular the chosen Shanghai catched Disney’s full attention along with many favored factors such as supported environment with lower cost of labor and materials (PR 2011, Schmidt et al. 2007). The decision to expand the...
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...Case Study: HONG KONG DISNEYLAND George Koduah UMUC Case Study: HONG KONG DISNEYLAND George Kofi Koduah, UMUC AMBA 660, May 2013 The Hong Kong Disneyland case study is an example of the global necessity for profitability and brand recognition across international boundaries. The case sheds light on the important roles of culture, legal, economic and practical management strategic decision-making in the success of Multi National Companies. Disney’s strategic mode of entry into the Hong Kong market and the marketing mix and strategies employed for operations are analyzed against the cultural, economic and competitive conditions prevailing on the Hong Kong leisure landscape. Alternative strategies have been suggested taking into consideration the nature of the brand, competition and the society in which it has to operating. Analysis The two major issues and management problems Strategy/mode of entry: Disney’s major challenges for entering the Hong Kong market centers on its strategic mode of entry into the Hong Kong leisure market and failure to device appropriate marketing systems that will make it acceptable and profitable. According to Daniels, Radebaugh, & Sullivan (2013) strategy is “management’s idea on how to best attract customers, operate efficiently, compete effectively, and create value that builds and sustains a company’s position within its industry (p. 809). Globalization and the need to broaden product and market coverage for increased profit and...
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...Modes of Entry Subtitle: The Case of Disney By, Carlos Gonzalez Hernandez This thesis was written as a part of the master program at NHH. Neither the institution, the supervisor, nor the censors are -through the approval of this thesis- responsible for neither the theories and methods used, nor results and conclusions drawn in this work. International Modes of Entry: The Case of Disney 1 Abstract The case of Disney’s theme parks represents an opportunity to test major internationalisation theories in a setting of large investments with little chance for reversal of commitments. The purpose of the research is to study the benefit of different entry modes dependent on Disney’s Theme Parks value-generating resources and capabilities while conditioned to certain local industrial and institutional conditions in foreign markets. Five major theories and frameworks were used to analyze all four Disney’s ventures abroad. This resulted in 20 individual hypotheses analyzed. Results indicate that Disney followed a predictable internationalisation process in the cases of Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai, but that it went off-path in the Paris one. In successful cases Disney followed a cautious approach, involving local partners to transfer and adapt the “Disney Experience”. In the case of Paris the company decided to enter the market alone, which neglected the unique needs of the local market. Page | 2 International Modes of Entry: The Case of Disney Table of Contents 1 2 3 4...
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...corrections to my work prior to submission”. NB: I also understand that under no circumstances should any part of this assignment be published, including on the Internet, or publicity displayed without receiving written permission from the school. Signature: Giuseppe Napoli Date: 16.11.2015 Executive Summary The Walt Disney is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment company, founded in Burbank, California in 1923 by two brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney. The companies success can be attributed to the ability exceed customer’s expectation and deliver magical moments to the audience. The main core value of the company can be identified in the cast members, who are considered the main bridge to deliver the company’s core values. As well to support cast members the company equipped the park with new technologies, the process not only reduce waiting time but also increase customer’s satisfaction. However the company initially face some globalization issues due to the lack of communication between corporate and regional offices. Walt Disney today in order to avoid culture clash has enabled local office globally distributes to compare and contrast the local customs and demands. The company in order to financial grow and reaming the leader in this...
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...Fantasy World to the Chinese Case prepared by Professors Susan H. C. TAI and Lorett B. Y. LAU1 Introduction The 80-year-old Disneyland in the United States now appeals only to families, as Mickey Mouse is no longer an attraction for young Americans (October 20, 2005, Kyodo News International, Tokyo). The Walt Disney Company has also opened parks in Paris and Tokyo on the assumption that family values are relevant to any part of the world. Disney, however, has a mixed record of walking the cultural tightrope. It was criticized for ignoring French culture when it built Euro Disney in Paris, but Tokyo Disneyland has been well received by the Japanese (June 16, 2005, The Wall Street Journal). Since 1983, people in Japan and around the world have enjoyed the dreams and magic of Tokyo Disneyland, the first Disney theme park to be built outside the United States. Tokyo Disneyland did not try to adapt to the culture in which it was built. It worked because of the Japanese attachment to Disney characters and the ultimate US entertainment experience (Amine, 2005). Euro Disney, opened in 1992, lost almost $1 billion in its first 18 months of operation and quickly developed into one of the most costly mistakes in the company‟s history. The French perceived Euro Disney as a symbol of American influence (Spencer, 1995) and many Europeans would not visit the theme park because they believed the real Disney experience was in the US (Marsh, 1996). Euro Disney mistakenly ignored environmental...
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...Case Study Analysis The success of marketing a product or service in other countries is affected by the product itself and consumer demand. According to Weber (2002), when marketers are looking to export their products or services to other countries they need to understand the consumer’s demands, expectations, and tastes in the region. Not all consumers feel and think the same way. For example, consumers in Hong Kong have different historical and cultural views than Mainland China, although they may have similar cultural values (Weber, 2002). Consumers within these two regions may have different preferences and environmental standards. The same could be said for Japan. Therefore, when marketers are trying to enter other regions they must understand the region’s culture and behavior toward a product or service. Marketers must also understand demand factors of that region, such as economic and social. Case one: Japan to Apple’s iPhone: “No Thanks!” Although technology is used all over the world, different countries can provide many challenges when trying to introduce new technologies to them. Apple found this out when trying to introduce the iPhone in Japan. According to Frommer (2010), reasons the iPhone was not successful in Japan was because Apple failed to understand what the Japanese consumer expected of an iPhone and the competitive marketplace. Although the iPhone is successful in the United States, many consumers in Japan believe the phone’s technology is old and...
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...JÖNKÖPING INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SCHOOL JÖ NKÖ PING UNIVERSITY Market ing Str ategic C hange in Expansion of D isneyland : Cases Study of Disneyland’s Overseas Expansion in Shanghai Master Thesis in Business Administration Author: Li Zhu & Dan Xu Tutor: Tomas Mü llern Jö ping nkö August 2010 Master Thesis Acknowledgements First of all, we would like to take the opportunity to thank our tutor Mr. Tomas Mü llern. Thanks to his guidance and valuable suggestions, we correct our mistake on time and finish our thesis in the end. From the first meeting to the last one, you are always concern us and the process of our writing. Every time, we handed in chapters, you always provided useful opinion to let us revise the thesis better and better. We thank you for patient guiding and providing us a good opportunity in our study to learn more and more. Secondly, we would like to thank Mr. Zhang and Edward. Thank you for taking time to find interviewees of our interview. You are busy with your own job, but you still use your private time to help us. You also share your experience about contacting skills with us. Last but not the lease, we are thankful to our families and friends who were helping and supporting us during this writing period. Li Zhu & Dan Xu Jö ping University nkö 2010 i|Page Master Thesis Master’s Thesis in Business Administration Title: Marketing Strategic Change in Expansion of Disneyland Authors: Li Zhu & Dan...
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...performance was the lack of market research and cultural awareness. EuroDisney was built just like American Disney parks, without giving though to cultural differences. American characters were used, instead of French cartoon characters. Disney banned alcohol in a culture that enjoys drinking wine. Everyone showed up for breakfast in the mornings, when Disney had cut down their serving because they were erroneously informed that Europeans do not eat breakfast. Pricing strategy was not accomplished correctly. Many Europeans would not pay the prices that EuroDisney was charging. In addition, Europeans do not vacation as long as Americans do. Other factors were the transatlantic airfare war and currency movement. This made it cheaper to go to Disneyland Orlando than EuroDisney. In addition, the park opened during the Olympics in Barcelona, and the World’s Fair in Seville. Hong Kong Disney had the exact opposite problems. Disney did its research and tried to make the park fit in with its surroundings, and guests were disappointed. The park was very small, and visitors thought it was just like all the other amusement parks in China. The park was undifferentiated. People did not know the traditional Disney characters, and did not appeal to them. 2. Many factors could have been foreseen and controlled by the mere study of history and culture of Europe. This study would have found that Europe has their own famous cartoon characters, and how long they usually tend to vacation...
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...Disney: losing magic in the Middle Kingdom First of all, I strongly believed the major error committed by the park was the lack of previous researching about Hong Kong cultural life, before opening the park. At the begging, managers insisted on maintaining Disney World’s traditions. Soon after its first opening, Hong Kong Disneyland had to struggle with complaints about: factors such as the park’s small size, inconvenient location, lack of unique features, insufficient appeal to adults and missing Chinese elements. It was important to know beforehand some aspect of Chinese normal life. Such as the enormous attention parents focused on their children education and that school kids were busy almost year round. This is the reason why shifting the focus from entertainment to “edutaiment” resulted a huge asset to the competing Ocean Park. Another important aspect to consider was the fact that Hong Kong’s people were infamous for their impatience, they often look for entertainment options that were convenient, comfortable, fast and inexpensive. Because of this they were reluctant to lining up for everything, complaining it was too crowded. Secondly, the population was not familiar with the Disney culture. As they had a strong cultural identity of its own, the general population was receptive to foreign and new things. An also there were not many attractions to late teenagers and adults. Despite of the feng shui master consultation in order to achieve a harmonious environment,...
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...Pace University DigitalCommons@Pace Case Studies Lubin School of Business 3-1-2002 Disney in Asia, Again Raymond H. Lopez Pace University Recommended Citation Lopez, Raymond H., "Disney in Asia, Again" (2002). Case Studies. Paper 3. http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/business_cases/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Lubin School of Business at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Case Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact rracelis@pace.edu. CASE STUDIES No. 26 March 2002 Disney in Asia, Again? by Raymond H. Lopez, Ph.D. Professor of Economics and Finance Lubin School of Business Pace University DISNEY IN ASIA, AGAIN? by Raymond H. Lopez, Ph.D. Raymond H. Lopez is Professor of Finance at the Lubin School of Business of Pace University. Introduction INTRODUCTION “We could be getting close to the time for a major Disney attraction in the world’s most populous nation.” 1 “I am completely confident that Chinese people love Mickey no less than they love a Big Mac.” 2 Early in 1999, Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, voiced his opinions concerning potential markets for his firm’s entertainment products and services. A major thrust for the new millenium would be development in Asia. The firm had now achieved a certain level of experience with owning and/or managing assets and operations outside the United States...
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