Disney, a Global Culture

Résumé du document

In this case study, we will look at the way Walt Disney has developed its business worldwide, the subsequent local reactions, its success and failures and ultimately the relevant modifications essential for the company.
We will analyze the Walt Disney business model, and its three international establishments and experiences in Tokyo, Paris, and Hong Kong. Evaluating the reasons for the successes and failures of the cultural contextualization is important in international business, we will assess the specific issues of each case and the learning experience of the Disney Company, highlighting the cultural challenges supported by academic researches in this area.
In this analysis, we will provide recommendations for the Disney Company in order to improve its performance in Hong Kong.

This report is designed in three main parts:
An overall personal reflexion about the globalization of culture and business models along with the Americanization/ Westernization trend.
Then an analysis of the CS issues and cultural/business explanations of the successes and failures when looking at Disney's international learning experiences in Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong.
And last, suggestions of specific recommendations for Disney to deal with Hong Kong project's aftermaths, based on relevant scholar frameworks.

I decided not to include a distinct literature review, but rather included various academic findings throughout the report .

A global business and a cultural model?

Walt Disney is the decisive model of the American culture, and to a broader extent, of the Western culture. In addition to the purely cultural emphasis of the Occidental world's symbols, it is the perfect business illustration of the capitalism model put forward in developed countries. Moreover, the fact that it was born in the US, then extended worldwide, makes it a model of the globalization trends respected by the western values, i.e. the imperialism behavior (American continent exploration, Catholicism crusade/ holy wars, European colonies, MNC's increasing supranational power). However, by moving out of America, these cultural and business models face both successes and failures. The reasons underlying such outcomes could have been initiated from the cultural gap between the conquistadors and the colonized, which refers to the acculturation process.
When analyzing this case, I could not segregate the business and cultural models, and also the conflicts over the different models worldwide. Hence, the question of a global culture versus cultural diversity seems obvious. Furthermore, the intention of expanding a model (business and/or cultural) and the reactions to it (appeal or resistance) are of great relevance when studying this case. Therefore, the observations of the more or less successful attempts of developing a global culture (and a global business model), here to "Americanize" the world through establishments of Disney leisure parks, highlights the cultural differences across the world, suggesting that a single model can not be easily standardized worldwide. And then, the local response is required to successfully internationalize a model (business and/or cultural), for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Extraits

[...] Unfortunately, they performed poorly, basically due to the lack of local responsiveness and cultural awareness. Indeed, they were overconfident, then adopted an ethnocentrism stand leading to a Universalist (Pan European) approach towards the local culture. However, France is an exception itself. The French are very proud of their identity and claim for the uniqueness and richness of their culture and its creativity, putting forward French cultural exception' (Regourd, 2004) concept to protect it from Americanisation. At the time Disney set up the park, it suffered from a very bad press exposition, hostile to this Americanisation. [...]

[...] shall we develop a global or a multinational strategy? And looking forward is there room for an emerging ‘transnational strategy'? (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989). As I am from France, I analyzed this case through my own cultural point of view. It might be particularly relevant when looking at Euro Disney, on the outskirts of Paris. Having travelled, studied, and worked abroad, I would say that I might be slightly more open-minded in getting better insights of other cultures. As far as I am concerned, I consider myself first as a world citizen, then as an European, then as French, then as a Parisian, and then last as a unique individual with my own morals, values, beliefs and ethics. [...]

[...] The specific points we will deal with are about Relationships and rules, universalist culture versus particularism culture and the need for cultural responsiveness especially within the Chinese and the North American culture. Recommendations Disney's failures are because of lack of cultural awareness and evident low local responsiveness. To attend to it, the Disney Company has to develop its Goleman's so-called ‘social radar', i.e. its sensitivity to differences. Goleman (1998), came out with a five points guideline to develop such an ability, being of high relevance for Disney to enhance its international expansion strategy by emphasising national differences to balance its global strategy. [...]

[...] The challenge of internationalisation is essentially the changing of an original model into a new context, and then becoming global or multinational. Tokyo and paris, up and down: the learning experience The first experience outside the US was in Tokyo There was no local adaptation to the Japanese context, although Disney's role was only about license and design, leaving the management to its Japanese counterparts. This franchised expansion has been a successful model since it minimized the risk to be lost in cultural change by licensing a standardised asset, and by locally adjusting the management practices. [...]

[...] With such an approach, it is possible to manage risks and grab opportunities from the diversity and the volatility of the global environment. Thereby, the transnational company can gain global efficiency through scale economies, multinational diversity and flexibility through the exploitation of multinational differences, and learning and leveraging knowledge worldwide through an integrative learning process to obtain economies of scope from synergies. Appendix 1 Hofstede Countries, culture profiles comparaisons: US model versus Japan / France / China / Hong Kong. Bibliography Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (1989), Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution, Harvard Business School Press: Boston, MA Barsoux, J.L. [...]