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... the operational errors made by Euro Disneyland involved the computer stations at the hotels. Euro Disneyland executives assumed guests would stay at the park for several days (Treichler, 1991). This in fact did not happen. Many guests arrived early in the morning, spent the day at the park, checked into the hotel late that night, and then checked out early the next morning before heading back to the park.
Since there were so many guests checking-in and checking-out, additional computer stations had to be installed at the hotels in order to decrease the amount of time the guests stood in line. Labour Costs Before the opening of Euro Disneyland executives had estimated labour cost would be 13 % of their revenues (Meltdown at the cultural, 1994). This was another area where the executives were wrong in their assumptions. In 1992 the true figure was 24 % and in 1993 it increased to a whopping 40 %. These labour cost percentages increased Euro Disneyland's debt. Staffing and Training Before Euro Disneyland opened the Walt Disney Company built offices in Marne-la-Valle in order to recruit their Cast Members.
In just 12 months 12, 000 Cast Members had to be recruited, hired, trained, and housed (Bakos, 1991). This is a challenge for any company, .".. but it is more complex for Disney, whose employees (Cast Members) become more like members of a theater troupe" (Bakos, 1991, p. 102). Euro Disneyland recruited through job fairs, a popular European recruiting technique. In two days, 1, 000 applied. However, since the Walt Disney Company's requirements for employment are so high, for every 10 candidates interviewed only one was hired (Bakos, 1991).
To complicate the hiring process, there were language requirements since the official languages of Euro Disneyland are French and English. Preferences were given to trilingual applicants because it was hoped that the park would draw guests from all over Europe. Once the candidates were hired Euro Disneyland's challenge was to train the Europeans, half of them French, to be Disney Cast Members (Toy, Maremont, & Grover, 1990). "Every employee goes through human resource training, then additional training in requirements of specific jobs" (Bakos, 1991, p. 102). The success to Disney parks' repeat guest visits is the employee-customer rapport.
Thus, the largest challenge Euro Disneyland encountered was implanting a "have a nice day" mentality and teaching 12, 000 European employees to smile the "Disney smile" all day (Anything but a 'Mickey Mouse', 1989). Throughout training and employment ALL Cast Members learn they must adhere to the company's strict 13 page manual of dress codes, known to Cast Members as the "Disney Look. " The Europeans did not understand this "Disney Look" (Toy, Grover, & Maremont, 1992; Phillips, 1993). The "Disney Look" is a rigid code of Cast Member appearance that imposes a well-scrubbed, all-American look. It details the size of earrings to the size of finger nails to the no tolerance rule regarding facial hair and dyed hair.
It is difficult for the Europeans to adhere to an "American look" since they are not American and they believe this requirement has stripped them of their "individualism" (Leerhsen & Gleizes, 1992, p. 67). Furthermore, the French .".. were hardly specialists in service" (Solomon, 1994, p. 36). In December 1994 Euro Disneyland was taken to French court contesting the Walt Disney Company's strict dress code. The Europeans believed the dress code violated French labor law (Du Bois, 1994). As a result Euro Disneyland restructured their French dress code.
However, the French believed that the Walt Disney Company just instituted a new policy not as a result of being taken to court but in an attempt to patch up the rocky labor relations at the theme park. Cultural Issues Although European public acceptance of the theme park itself has not been a problem for Euro Disneyland there has been a different type of cultural clash. Most Europeans believe there is cultural imperialism (Turner, 1993, November). Europeans have not taken to the .".. brash, frequently insensitive and often overbearing style of Mickey's American corporate parent" (Gumbel & Turner, 1994, p. A 1).
Disney executives' contentious attitudes exacerbated the difficulties it encountered by alienating people with whom it needed to work. "Its answer to doubts or suggestions invariably was: Do as we say, because we know best" (Gumbel & Turner, 1994, p. A 1). Cultural Operational Errors There were various errors made in the operations of Euro Disneyland which affected the French culture. An example if this is the Walt Disney Company's policy of serving no alcohol in its parks in California, Florida, and Tokyo which it extended to France. This caused astonishment and rebellion in France where a glass of wine for lunch is a given.
After much consideration, in May 1993, the Walt Disney Company changed its policy and allowed wine and beer in the Euro Disneyland theme park (Wentz & Crumley, 1993). Another example is the Walt Disney Company's belief that it understood European breakfast norms (Gumbel & Turner, 1994). Disney was told Europeans did not eat sit-down breakfasts. This resulted in Disney downsizing their restaurants before Euro Disneyland opened. Once it opened the restaurants were bombarded with breakfast eaters. In fact, they were ."..
trying to serve 2, 500 breakfasts in a 350 -seat restaurant at some of the hotels" (Gumbel & Turner, 1994, p. A 12). Further, guests wanted bacon and eggs rather than just coffee and croissants. Disney reacted quickly with prepackaged breakfasts delivered to rooms and satellite locations (Gumbel & Turner, 1994). In much the same vein, the Walt Disney Company had difficulty realizing that the Europeans were accustomed to eat at a set time every day (Solomon, 1994).
Where Americans are content to wander around the parks with lunch in their hands, a large majority of the European guests would converge on the restaurants at 12: 30 p. m. expecting to be seated for a leisurely lunch. This caused the lines to be very long. To complicate matters further, once the Europeans reached the front of the line they were told they could not have wine or beer with their lunch (Solomon, 1994). Thus, the Europeans did not have a positive "Disney experience" while eating their meals.
In addition, it was difficult for Euro Disneyland's managers to staff for these one or two hour "rush hours. " A final example of a cultural error is the Europeans approach to vacation time. The Europeans are reluctant to take their children from school for a vacation in mid-session whereas Americans do it frequently. Also, the Europeans prefer a few longer holidays rather than several short breaks. The Walt Disney Company was convinced that it would be able to "Americanize" the European habits. Unfortunately for the Walt Disney Company, this was not the case. Per-capita Spending There also were miscalculations made by the executives regarding the per-capita spending of the guests at Euro Disneyland.
The Walt Disney Company had assumed that guests visiting Euro Disneyland would spend large amounts of money as they did in the United States and Tokyo (Turner, 1993, December). More specifically, the Walt Disney Company calculated that each guest would buy $ 33 worth of food and souvenirs per day. This did not happen. In fact, spending is about 12 % less then predicted (Toy, Oster, & Grover, 1992). Further, Europeans' per-capita income is lower than the Japanese, and they are likely to spread their money over long vacations, not four-day spending sprees (Solomon, 1994).
European guests came to the theme park paying the steep entry fees ($ 43 for adults and $ 30 for children), but spent less per-capita on food and merchandise than Americans (Wentz & Crumley, 1993). This may be due in part to the fact that many guests spend as much time on the rides as possible because of the high admission price (30 % more than Disney World in Florida) and less time shopping for souvenirs (Euro Disney: The not-so-magic, 1992). American and Japanese consumers do not leave the theme parks empty handed, whereas Europeans do. This resulted in lower-than-expected revenue by Euro Disneyland (Coleman & King, 1994). Interest Rates The total construction cost of Euro Disneyland was $ 4 billion.
Disney put in just $ 170 million in equity capital, while public shareholders, who own 51 % of the shares put in $ 1 billion in equity capital. Thus, the remaining $ 2. 9 billion was borrowed, at high rates running as much as 11 % (Gubernick, 1994). "Thus, from the start, the project was highly leveraged" (Gubernick, 1994, p. 42). To further complicate the matter, due in part to Michael Eisner's budget-breakers (as discussed above), there was an additional necessity to borrow more money. This second set of loans increased the amount of money owed which is what ultimately .".. handcuffed Euro Disney" (Gumbel & Turner, 1994, p.
A 12). With high interest rates, large loans, and lower than expected revenue Euro Disneyland was in financial trouble. Marketing Euro Disneyland was marketed with the assumption that it was .".. a complete vacation destination that offers enough to keep a family happily occupied for a week" (Simon, 1991, p. 18). This marketing strategy was obsessed with depicting the park as large and completely eliminating the emotional aspect of the park (Wentz & Crumley, 1993). As discussed above, French guests only stayed at the resort for a night or two and did not stay a week.
Instead of marketing the park in the American-style appeal of .".. bigness and extravagance" (Wentz & Crumley, 1993, p. I 23), Euro Disneyland should have concentrated on the emotional aspect, marketing that guests would have a unique, extraordinary family experience they would never forget. The American-style bigness approach insulted Europeans (Crumley & Fisher, 1994). Furthermore, the marketing was flawed in emphasizing glitz and size over attractions (Crumley & Fisher, 1994).
There was little showcase of the exciting adventures and...
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Research essay sample on Walt Disney Company Cast Members
