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Example research essay topic: Walt Disney Company Eating Habits - 1,632 words

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... characters explaining to the guests what they could do and see in the park. Rather the French saw Euro Disneyland as "American imperialism-plastics at its worst... It showed tremendous arrogance on Disney's part" (Crumley & Fisher, 1994, p. 39). Euro Disneyland made a huge mistake not considering the views of the French when developing their marketing strategies. The Walt Disney Company agrees there may have been marketing mistakes, but it blames the mistakes to lack of data on how Europeans would react to the "Disney Magic" (Euro Disney: The not-so-magic, 1992).

Communication Investors believe they are victims of Euro Disneyland since the Walt Disney Company poorly communicated its difficulties. For example, as of July 1994 the Walt Disney Company executives were communicating to the investors they still planned on building Phase II, a second theme park at Euro Disneyland. That following November the executives reported a $ 905 million loss and Disney itself took a $ 350 million write-off (Gumbel & Turner, 1994). Shortly after that announcement and to the total astonishment of the investors, Eisner casually mentioned in a French magazine interview that Euro Disneyland might close due to its losses. Additionally, communication with the media has been very poor by the Euro Disneyland executives (Crumley & Fisher, 1994). Those managers who dealt with the media would not return phone calls, much less answer questions.

Realizing they made a huge error, it has become Euro Disneyland executives' goal to improve their reputation with the media. Convention Business According to Turner & Coleman (1994), one of the few pieces of good news about Euro Disneyland is that its convention business exceeded expectations from the beginning. In fact, convention space at Euro Disneyland's themed New York Hotel, located adjacent to the park, was overbooked and more capacity was needed. Euro Disneyland did not anticipate the success of its convention facilities. Had it done so, it could have increased its conference groups and revenue. Euro Disneyland is now frantically trying to increase its convention facilities.

THE RESOLUTIONS Much has happened with Euro Disneyland since its opening. Although there have been successes at Euro Disneyland the high debt incurred along the way has caused the financial problems to become the number one priority. In order for the park to remain operational the debt must be lowered. Disney's Rescue Package On March 14, 1994, Walt Disney Company proposed a restructuring "rescue" plan which would decrease the amount of Euro Disneyland's debt.

The centerpiece of the plan is a 6 billion francs rights issue where 51 % would be underwritten by 61 banks and the rest taken up by Walt Disney, which has a 49 % stake in Euro Disneyland (Euro Disney's wish, 1994; Euro Disney creditors, 1994). A rights issue is an offering which allows rights to purchase shares, usually at below market prices, to existing shareholders in the same proportion as their present ownership. Thus, the banks would spend about $ 500 million and make other concessions for their 51 % shares, where as, the Walt Disney Company agreed to spend about $ 508 million to bail out its 49 % shares as well as buy certain Euro Disneyland park assets for 1. 4 billion francs (about $ 240 million) and lease them back at terms favorable to Euro Disneyland (Coleman & King, 1994). In return, the Walt Disney Company agreed to waive royalty and management fees for five years, saving Euro Disneyland about 450 million francs a year.

Following the five years, the original royalty fee will be cut in half (Euro Disney's wish, 1994). The plan would lower Euro Disneyland's debt to about 10 billion francs (about $ 1. 69 billion), from the current 20 billion francs. In addition, the bank agreed to forgive 18 months of interest payments on the debt and would defer payments for three years saving Euro Disneyland about 1. 9 billion francs. This plan increases Walt Disney Company's tie to the theme park since its initial investment in Euro Disneyland was just $ 160 million (Coleman & King, 1994). It should be noted that at the time the "rescue" plan was instituted, the Walt Disney Company continued to own 49 % of the shares.

At that same time the Walt Disney Company was discussing with Prince Al-Walid bin Total bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the option of investing about $ 500 million in Euro Disneyland and buying as much as 24 % of Euro Disneyland shares of stock (Rossant, Harbrecht, & Grover, 1994). In January 1995, Brian Coleman wrote that the Walt Disney Company now owned 40 % of Euro Disneyland shares, indicating that the parties had completed the deal (Coleman, 1995, January). As of January 25, 1995, Coleman (1995, January) reported Euro Disneyland's "rescue" plan had sharply narrowed its losses for the fiscal first quarter due to financial restructuring and higher revenues which gave a large boost the theme park. During that same time period, the theme park had a 3 % rise in its revenue from 828 million francs to 854 million francs. For the fiscal year ended in 1994, Euro Disneyland reported a net loss of 1. 8 billion francs (Coleman, 1995, January). Furthermore, on July 26, 1995, Coleman (1995, July) reported that Euro Disney posted its first profit.

During Euro Disneyland's third quarter its profit was $ 35. 5 million. Disneyland Paris Euro Disneyland unofficially changed its name in September 1994 to Disneyland Paris in order to adapt to .".. European tastes and turn around continued losses and reported slumping attendance" (Crumley, 1994, October, p. 2). Through the emphasis on the name recognition of Paris, Disney executives hoped to capitalize on its proximity to the French capital (Euro Disney mulls renaming park, 1994). It was hoped that this would result in increased attendance and revenues. Downsizing In order for Euro Disneyland to hold down costs and increase revenues it has cut 950 administrative posts, or 8. 6 % of its overall work force (Euro Disney plans to slash, 1993).

In addition, responding to complaints regarding high entrance fees and hotel prices, Euro Disneyland has broken a Walt Disney Company taboo by introducing cut-rate entry and room rates for the off-season (Sasseen, 1993). Another first is that it is offering a lower-priced 'After 5 ' evening entrance ticket (Sasseen, 1993). Marketing Changes The Walt Disney Company is changing its marketing philosophy in order to expand its efforts to countries such as Israel and Africa. Rather than market Euro Disneyland as vacation destination for a period of time, the Walt Disney Company decided to market it as one of many stops on a month-long European itinerary (Euro Disney weathers fickle, 1993). Furthermore, Euro Disneyland executives believe it is pertinent to turn consumer attention away from its balance sheets and back to Disney characters and attractions so they are down playing the financial difficulties and emphasizing what to see and do at the park (Crumley, 1994, March). Labour Disputes To end numerous labour disputes over long-hours and poor pay, Euro Disneyland has ."..

shifted away from imported American working practices and towards a more French approach" (Sasseen, 1993, p. 27). This new approach set a maximum working week and annualized hourly work schedules. In addition, it reclassified jobs using the French method which allowed French citizens the ability to recognize their standard French job classifications. As a result, Euro Disneyland won greater acceptance and willingness to be flexible from its work force (Sasseen, 1993). CONCLUSION The Walt Disney Company's venture of Euro Disneyland is an excellent source of study, training, and learning for human resource professionals involved in possible foreign expansion. Although Euro Disneyland is located in Europe, the lessons learned and experiences gained can apply to any country on the globe.

For example, the Walt Disney Company failed to properly understand the eating habits of the Europeans. The lesson learned is that any meal providing company contemplating expansion into any foreign market should be intensely indoctrinated on all aspects of the eating habits of people in and near that country. On the other hand, not all lessons learned are based on Disney's negative experiences. The human resource professional could profit by studying the methods used by the Walt Disney Company and the French in their integrating different risk management procedures into one, resulting in a far superior program. The astute human resource professional can learn from this process and apply these newly acquired skills in similar situations anywhere in the world. A move by any company to any foreign market should not be made without an extensive, in-depth study based on exhaustive research into every applicable aspect of the economy, laws, culture, climate, interests, customs, life-style habits, geography, work habits, just to name a few.

The list could go on and on with one area leading to another. In order to determine the best way for a business to enter a new foreign market it should review past business experiences which have settled in that particular market. Through these past experiences the business contemplating entering the market would have the ability to increase its chances of success as well as decrease its chances of failure. In the case of Euro Disneyland a new business entering the European market would learn various problems the Walt Disney Company encountered during negotiations, construction, and operation of the theme park. The human resource professional can use this increased knowledge regarding Euro Disneyland's problems in conjunction with the other businesses which entered the European market in order to optimize his / her business chances of succeeding.

Furthermore, the information from Euro Disneyland and other companies will allow the human resource professional the ability to make adjustments and have an edge in his / her negotiations, construction, and operation in order to decrease potential problems and increase financial revenues.


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Research essay sample on Walt Disney Company Eating Habits

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