Disney Europe suffered in its first year because they lacked diversity. They took the cultural practices of the Americans and Japanese and expected them to work well in Europe (The Marketplace of Life). The World has diverse cultures, and every person is mostly interested in their cultures. The management of Disney Europe had a poor understanding of the European market, the cultural differences, and issues between two countries and two different approaches to life and business. The primary factor was ethnocentrism of leaders from the United States counter balanced by the insecurity of European nationals. The management failed to comprehend how diverse the European culture is. Disney did not understand that the European Nationals have a deep commitment to taking care of their liberty and identity.
Disney in Hong Kong failed because the management
...of Disney in China did not match the park with the Chinese culture (The Marketplace of Life). The management would have introduced characters familiar to Chinese people. Disney under sized the park in relation to the size of the population living in China. Disney Europe and Disney Hong Kong performed badly because they were unable to adapt to the new markets (Craig, & Douglas, 2005). More than just tolerance of the culture of the residents of the new markets was necessary to make it possible for the Disney to succeed in their businesses. Affirmative tolerance helps an organization and its staff to adapt to the new markets. Adaptation is of several types, but Disney was affected by two. The first was cultural electives and the second was Cultural Imperative. Cultural imperative refers to business expectation and customs that had to be fulfilled
and avoided or conformed to, for the customer relationship with Disney to be successful. Cultural Electives is about customs and behaviors that cultural aliens desire to participate in or conform to (Craig, & Douglas, 2005). Disney ought to have managed its adaptation in a better way for it to be successful.
Disney Europe was supposed to have studied the effects culture would have on its business (Disney Case Study). This was foreseeable, but the management ignored it. Choosing France as their location was inevitable since Paris was the better place for multinational visitors. Disney Hong Kong also was supposed to build a large park that would accommodate more customers and incorporate Chinese cultures to fit in the market.
Ethnocentricity made the Disney manager not realize that they had the resources that would have enabled them to get the opinion from European sources (O’Keefe, 2015). The advice would have saved them the losses they suffered. Eisner also contributed to failure because he forced things to work the way he wanted not according to the market demands. Consultation is the only thing that would have saved Disney Europe from the hard times it experienced. Learning the culture and tastes of the target market would not have cost much, but they were too ethnocentric that they did not bother to do any market study. Imposing American culture and values on the French never required an expert to tell them that it was wrong.
Disney did not take its responsibility of conducting market research (Burgoyne). Disney sold the American psyche and not of the French. It was erroneous to assume that there was a common bond between the European culture and the
American culture. In marketing, believing that the French society behaved as the Americans was wrong.
References
- The Marketplace of Life, retrieved from http://themarketplaceoflife.blogspot.co.ke/2011/03/eurodisney-case-study.html
- Disney Case Study, retrieved from http://blablawriting.com/disney-case-study-essay
- O’Keefe, M. (2015). 26 Reasons to Regret the Existence of Disneyland in Paris, retrieved from http://www.themeparktourist.com/features/20150821/30494/how-euro-disneyland-derailed-disney-decade
- Burgoyne, L. Walt Disney Company’s Euro Disneyland Venture, retrieved from http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/Paris/English/LynEuroDisney.html
- Craig, C. S., & Douglas, S. P. (2005). International marketing research. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
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