Case Study -Euro Disney
Case Analysis 1: Harvard Business School Case #9693013 Euro Disney: The First 100 Days
Euro Disney’s first few months in operation has already shown signs of mediocre profits and not living up to the success of its parks counterparts in the U.S. and Tokyo. There are a number of items Disney must attend to in order to make Euro Disney a success. For one, Disney must deal with the conflicting cultural aspects of its park attractions and service. Another is getting local residents as repeat guests, and how to attract attendance during the cold winter months. Lastly, is whether Disney should invest in their planned Phase II of the park.
The first recommended course of action for Disney is a revamping of its training and customer service standards. Currently, Euro Disney is having issues with high employment turnover due in part to the strictly enforced rules and requirements set by Disney, and the chaotic working conditions. Disney parks pride themselves on being an extremely friendly, clean, family oriented and magical place to visit. While the Japanese understood this for Tokyo Disney, mostly in part because it is an extension of their philosophy, the French are harder and could not grasp this concept. The French are individualists; they are more laid back and interested in being their own person, and not being a “carbon copy.” Plus they are not known for being friendly and open an integral value of a Disney employee. Disney needs to compromise on some of its values for the sake of its workers. They need to be more accommodating to the cultural demographic of the French. Additionally, I believe that if the French or European workers felt that the park was respectful towards their culture, they would be more inclined to work under less than what they consider to be ideal conditions. A way for Disney to show their respect would be to lessen the American aspect of the park, and make it more European. To not dilute the shows or attractions by just
Euro Disney’s first few months in operation has already shown signs of mediocre profits and not living up to the success of its parks counterparts in the U.S. and Tokyo. There are a number of items Disney must attend to in order to make Euro Disney a success. For one, Disney must deal with the conflicting cultural aspects of its park attractions and service. Another is getting local residents as repeat guests, and how to attract attendance during the cold winter months. Lastly, is whether Disney should invest in their planned Phase II of the park.
The first recommended course of action for Disney is a revamping of its training and customer service standards. Currently, Euro Disney is having issues with high employment turnover due in part to the strictly enforced rules and requirements set by Disney, and the chaotic working conditions. Disney parks pride themselves on being an extremely friendly, clean, family oriented and magical place to visit. While the Japanese understood this for Tokyo Disney, mostly in part because it is an extension of their philosophy, the French are harder and could not grasp this concept. The French are individualists; they are more laid back and interested in being their own person, and not being a “carbon copy.” Plus they are not known for being friendly and open an integral value of a Disney employee. Disney needs to compromise on some of its values for the sake of its workers. They need to be more accommodating to the cultural demographic of the French. Additionally, I believe that if the French or European workers felt that the park was respectful towards their culture, they would be more inclined to work under less than what they consider to be ideal conditions. A way for Disney to show their respect would be to lessen the American aspect of the park, and make it more European. To not dilute the shows or attractions by just