Disney culture and organizational practices

Disneyland Expansion

Recent history has seen significant strides in globalization. Whereas the other side of the world seemed like the other side of the universe at one time, it is now only a click of the mouse away. As the world continues its globalization efforts the business world has begun to expand as well. Many manufacturing plants are leaving the constraints of America and taking their operations overseas where there are less expensive options.

The entertainment industry is also on the move. Films and television shows are being-based throughout the world whereas they used to only come from California or New York. Singing artists travel globally now to share their music. In light of the changes that the globalization movement has caused many large scale businesses have recently begun to cash in on the worldwide interest in their products. Disney, which has had a stronghold on the United States theme park industry for many decades has begun to build parks around the globe.

While Disney is a universally American idea, it has not always been as well received in other parts of the world. Some experts believe it is because Disney refuses to adapt its parks and ideas to the cultures in the areas that it moves to.

The Disney culture is so dominated by American values and interests that to adapt to other cultures would be a significant task but one that could be undertaken. As long as Disney refuses to adapt itself to local cultures it should not expand its parks to foreign nations.

HISTORY

Before one can understand why it is a mistake to expand parks to foreign nations one must understand the history and culture of Disney itself.

The Disney Corporation began in the 1930's with the first recorded song on screen being sung by Mickey Mouse in 1934.

In 1937 RCA entered into a broad-based contract with Disney. Under this agreement, RCA released the English Gramophone soundtrack records in the United States, as well as "El Raton Volador," a Spanish-language version of Disney's "The Flying Mouse," on the RCA Bluebird label. Finally, RCA signed on as the exclusive producer of Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony records, a license they held for a dozen years (Disney history (http://disney.go.com/disneyrecords/history/)."

Disneyland was a later vision. Walt Disney decided he wanted to create a place where children and parents could have a fun time tighter. This was long before the term "quality time" came into existence with regards to family life. Disney envisioned a magical park with lights, rides, fun food and shows. His vision was about more than a park, it was about creating a separate culture (Disneyland (http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html).

The original plans for the park were on 8 acres next to the Burbank studios where his employees and families could go to relax. Although, World War II put those plans on hold. During the war, Walt had time to come up with new ideas, and creations for his magical park. It was soon clear that 8 acres wouldn't be enough (Disneyland (http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html)."

In 1953 a survey was commissioned for a 100 acre site just outside of Los Angeles, California and the site was approved. His dream was to build castles, moon rockets, gigantic teacups that people would ride in and other things that the imagination could see but thus far had never become reality.

He chose the land that it was built on because of its accessibility to the freeways of Los Angeles, its cost factors and the number of acres available that would allow expansion and dreams to come true in the future as well.

Anaheim California was to become the home of the first Disney theme park and it would set the stage for the birth of a separate and new culture. He decided to name it Disneyland and construction began.

The final purchase included 160 acres of land. Walt had to go to television producers and directors for the capital because the banks did not believe that his idea for a fun filled family theme park was going to be profitable (Disneyland (http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html).

With nothing but his cartoon and song success as collateral he approached the producers and found his financial backing.

Walt once said "I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral (Disneyland (http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html)."

When the real designing came around, Walt was met with inevitable questions. How do you make believable wild animals, that aren't real? How do you make a Mississippi paddle ship? How do you go about building a huge castle in the middle of Anaheim, California? So, Walt Disney looked to his movie studio staff for the answers. The design of Disneyland was something never done before. There would be five uniquely different lands (Disneyland (http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html)."

The park included Main Street, Frontier land, Fantasyland and other areas that would take the mind to places of happiness and magical times.

Tomorrowland was created as a look at the "marvels of the future." Walt said:

Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come...The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future (Disneyland (http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html)."

For opening day Disneyland sent out more than 6,000 invitations. Imagine their surprise when by mid-day there were more than 28,000 park goers using counterfeit tickets. While it was disappointing to discover people's willingness to use counterfeit tickets it was encouraging to know that Walt Disney's vision had been real, he had built a park that would appeal to the masses.

Within the first 10 years of its existing more than 50 million visitors came through its gates and enjoyed the magical wonderland called Disney.

CULTURAL EXPANSION

For several decades Disneyland and Disneyworld have dominated the nations theme park industry. Billions of dollars have been generated by manufacturing products inspired by Disneyland including stuffed animals, toys, games and clothing.

Following several decades of success Disneyland's executives realized that many visitors to the park were coming from overseas and bringing their families. It gave them the idea that a theme park might work in another country for those who could not afford the time or money for an overseas extended trip but would take the time and money to take the family to a local Disneyland (Travel Weekly; 10/24/1994; Godwin, Nadine (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.02/disney.html).

When it opened its first overseas park near Paris they named it Euro Paris. After several years of disappointing revenues they changed the name to Disneyland Paris so that potential visitors would realize just how close to Paris the park was located and be more inclined to make the trip.

The name change dovetailed with a new emphasis on marketing the entertainment facility more aggressively in the U.S. And other points outside Europe."

The name change did not change the disappointment in revenues and marketing executives began to look for the cause of the declining sales at the Paris park. Research was conducted, advertising changed, and discounts given but it still did not succeed in lifting the popularity of the park. Eventually the executives began to look at attitudes of visitors both in Europe and in America and decided the problem was with the cultural perception of Disney goers and Disney itself (Travel Weekly; 10/24/1994; Godwin, Nadine (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.02/disney.html).

Widely publicized Euro Disney losses led to speculation that the operation might even shut down; then came a white knight in the spring, a Saudi prince who provided cash and some breathing room to let Disney get its house in order (Travel Weekly; 10/24/1994; Godwin, Nadine (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.02/disney.html)."

In the effort to change the face of Disneyland Paris several marketing ploys were included. One was that the pricing structure was completely redone and there were no more single year round rates. Instead the park began to offer a seasonal rate not only for its park but also for the hotels that were owned by the park.

30% discounted rate during the off season was offered in the hopes of increasing interest.

Another move that was made that only served to illustrate the refusal to adapt to local culture was the decision to bring in more United States-based tour operators. Instead of locating and training locals who would understand the ins and outs of the local culture and be able to dovetail the tour accordingly, the park hired Americans and brought them overseas. This was a mistake because all it did was further alienate those who were not particularly fond of American culture and were already leery when it came to spending time at Disneyland Paris because of its American ties (Travel Weekly; 10/24/1994; Godwin, Nadine (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.02/disney.html).

However, those firms are much more focused on America's Disney sites, Murro said, while "I have to make a special effort to get new partners in the U.S. To focus on Europe's Disney (Travel Weekly; 10/24/1994; Godwin, Nadine (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.02/disney.html)."

The Disney organization worked hard to export the American culture to the European destination with little study about how that would be perceived by the local residents of the area.

There was little effort to adapt to local culture other than to require the employees to speak English and French (Travel Weekly; 10/24/1994; Godwin, Nadine (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.02/disney.html).

When the park was built outside of Paris the same areas that are in the United States parks are in the Paris parks. There is a Main Street, Discovery area, Frontierland, Adventureland and other familiar areas. The problem became the fact that the areas are specific to the United States with little to no thought to the importance of the local culture and areas.

In addition to the areas being given the same themes and names, the shows remained the same. The shows included the "Buffalo Bill Wild West Show." Twice a night the show put cowboy atmosphere on stage and on the plates.

While this was and still is a very popular genre and theme in the United States it had very little to do with Paris history and the visitors who were from Europe were not impressed.

News coverage consistently told the public that the visitors were underwhelmed and that the local culture was being ignored and the sales continued to drop.

To add insult to injury all of the actors in the Paris Disneyland shows are Americans while the understudies are allowed to be French.

Some believed that the theme consistency was important so that children who traveled from America to France would have the consistency of the Disneyland that they were familiar with back home. This attitude outraged the locals who asked why children from thousands of miles away would be more important than the local children who might like a bit of local cultural flavor, or the adults who might like a Paris park to reflect Paris tastes (Travel Weekly; 10/24/1994; Godwin, Nadine (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.02/disney.html).

Some examples of the company insistence on staying with American themes at the Paris park include:

In the Cheyenne Hotel, employees wear the denims of the American West, and outside the Santa Fe, even the janitorial staff were wearing Western garb.

At the Newport Bay Club, male staffers wear blazers and ties, and the women's clothing used red, white and blue to achieve the yacht-club look.

In the lobby of the Disneyland Hotel, with a staircase inspired by "Gone With the Wind," the help were dressed as if to look after Scarlett.

Characters frequent the hotels as well as the park. They come to breakfast in the Disneyland Hotel, and at the Newport Bay, we saw "Captain Hook" assisting with checkout (Travel Weekly; 10/24/1994; Godwin, Nadine (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.02/disney.html)."

The themes also extend to the hotels. A New Yorker may feel right at home in the New Yorker Hotel at Paris Disneyland.

While this was being supported by the executives the locals were not pleased. With many more locals being nearby and possible participants in the Disneyland experience why would the company insist in catering to Americans thousands of miles away that may never get the opportunity to travel to Europe and if they did why would they want to see exactly what they could see at home?

People don't come to Europe to see America. They come to Europe to see the culture and traditions of Europe and all that it entails. It makes sense that they would prefer their Paris Disney spin-off to be vaguely familiar but with a French twist.

In spite of the issues that are being experienced in Europe with Disneyland the corporation has decided to further expand into other areas of the world (Weber, 2004).

For many countries, especially in the developing world, the ever-growing presence of the U.S. culture industry is a mixed blessing (Weber, 2004). On the one hand, the pervasiveness of Americana can be seen as a sign of progress (Weber, 2004). U.S. brands are symbols of wealth and modernity and freedom. Drinking coffee at Starbucks or taking the family to Disneyland signals the rise of a worldly middle class (Weber, 2004). On a more concrete level, Western companies often bring a measure of quality and service that are both a boon for local consumers and a prod for domestic firms to raise their standards (Weber, 2004)."

While many advantages are realized with American culture coming to other parts of the world there is also a downside. The growing popularity of United States products overseas does create a serious threat to the sense of identity for those who live locally in the areas.

For several decades now experts in Europe have turned angry arguments in the direction of Americanized cultures in Europe.

Euro Disney, now known as Disneyland Paris, was once famously denounced by the French theater director Ariane Mnouchkine as a "cultural Chernobyl." In the developing world, cultural imperialism has long been seen as the handmaiden of political domination, another way for strong countries to take advantage of the weak (Weber, 2004)."

The supporters of globalization do not believe that Disneyland's refusal to ignore local culture will help the world in the end. They have voiced their concerns that it will in fact hurt the local cultures and create anti-American sentiment.

No company conveys more powerfully the image of a conquering cultural army than Walt Disney. Its founder was a true-blue patriot who saw himself as a proselytizer for the values of the American heartland. The company's products and services - unlike, say, fast-food hamburgers or sugary soft drinks - are not merely symbolic of the American way of life, but contain as part of their essence a set of beliefs about good and evil and human aspiration. Disney, moreover, has throughout its history been extremely shrewd about building mutually reinforcing products across many different kinds of media, with theme parks and TV shows, movies and merchandise, all working together in service of the Disney way (Weber, 2004). "

In the first year of operation Disneyland Hong Kong fell extremely short in its anticipated number of visitors and revenues according to many reports.

Even though many American products are popular in other nations the actual culture of America is often not welcomed. This makes it extremely difficult to sell American business in many areas of the world.

Disney and other big global brands are driven not by grand plans to promote American values, but rather by incremental, pragmatic, financially oriented, market research-based business decisions - and even then, the companies struggle mightily to make their initiatives work. Success depends on some rather mundane factors: Have you selected good local partners? Do your executives understand local traditions and speak the language? Have you developed an organization that allows for strategic coordination across far-flung locations? Have you earned the goodwill of citizens groups and government officials (Weber, 2004)? "

The above elements are important and they are elements that Disney has been accused of ignoring. While it often pays lip service to the needs of the local residents and need to maintain their cultural identity it does not do so in actuality when it urges government to shut down any nearby parks or competitors that they believe are imposter look alikes trying to cash in on Disney popularity.

Japan seemed to be a logical choice of places to open a Disneyland to the Disney executives. Japan is the most wealthy nation of all the Asian areas and the Asian nations are ripe for American business revenue.

With its massive population and emerging economies, Asia is the promised land for American culture merchants. And Japan, by far the richest country in Asia, is the logical first stop (Weber, 2004)."