The Success and Downfall of Disneyland Paris and Fordlandia

As the demand for the Model T kept growing it rapidly became a dominant instrument in the swift changes occurring in the lives of the citizens of America. After added experimentation by Ford and his aids he moved the business to Highland Park, Michigan. As the manufacturing system evolved by 1913, a new and modified plant was built which was able to deliver parts, subassemblies and assemblies, both with precise timing to a constantly moving main assembly line. Although this new design of the assembly line saved time and money, and increased production, the one flaw was the work of the employees was still tedious and tiresome. The workers were involved, but also executed the same task again and again, psychologically wearing them down as the days pasted. Pushing his employees with strict offenses, Ford accomplished what the others in the industry could not, finding a way to build a reliable automobile quickly and inexpensively. However, he theoretically turned people into machine parts to complete the task.

It is very much clear from the case that the chief reason for Euro Disney’s failure was a lack of understanding of European culture.

In addition, the politicians’ negative publicity and the cultural leaders’ unfriendliness toward the Euro Disney theme park caused the company to close down one resort hotel and laid off 5000 employees. Taking this into account the Euro Disney marketers should have anticipated peoples’ resistance toward the Theme Park and should have changed their positioning in

     Along with his serious Down to earth side Disney also lived part of his life in the realms of fantasy and imagination. His great love of fantasy and the great lack of family entertainment in America inspired Walt to build a theme park of his own. All of America thought that this time Disney had really gone crazy. As Disney once said about the reactions to his ideas for a park "Almost everyone warned us that Disneyland would be a Hollywood spectacular - a spectacular failure. But they were thinking about an amusement park, and we believe in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have

By imposing the Walt Disney appearance code, the Americans insulted French family traditions. “Many of the highly individualistic French refused to work at Euro Disneyland, including a 28-year-old Parisian trumpet player who insisted on keeping his pony tail hairstyle rather than join the closely cropped Disney

Ford Motor Company has tough competition with European and Japanese manufacturers, therefore the company did not respond well and suffered

Ford did not approach the question of redesigning the gas tank to make the car safer versus waiting another year allowing the foreign market to dominate subcompact vehicles. Their goal was only to maximize profits. They did not into account the interests of their share holders and when they did come into consideration, they were analyzed against profits. One has nothing to do with the other. Their goal should not have been a race to make the most affordable subcompact car. Their focus should have been to make a subcompact car that was not only most affordable but also the safest subcompact. They were aware of the dangers associated with the rush production. It would have made a difference if the $11 savings had been passed on to the customers because they would've kept their reputation and integrity in tact and possibly gain customers who were not considering the vehicle. Any rational customer would not have chosen to save $11 to drive a car at the risk of dying. It is never appropriate to knowingly jeopardize people's lives. That is a criminal act. Their actions were socially irresponsible, ethically and morally wrong. They did not consider their own reputation nor did they consider that they represented America in the industry.

Euro Disney could not modify the main theme of other Disney parks to create something unique for Europeans. Restaurants were not prepared according to the European eating habits and one of the biggest mistakes was not selling alcoholic beverages in the park which has very close connection with French culture. Customers had to leave the park to buy those from outside.

3. Lack of theme parks and the large population that lived in and around Paris had to be targeted and offered a unique, fun filled and mystical theme park. A Disney park in Paris was poised to be a sure shot winner.

Founded in 1903, Henry Ford managed to get investor support to open the first manufacturing automobile company in Detroit, Michigan. Ford Motor Company has been known for its mass production of vehicles using a perfected assembly line method and its innovations in the automobile industry. Ford’s famous Model-T was developed as an innovative automobile that could be produced quickly, while keeping the cost to a minimum. This allowed people with a lower income the opportunity to afford an automobile. One of the biggest changes in the automobile industry occurred in 1913 with the introduction of a perfected assembly line method. This assembly line method was the one of the main reasons Ford Motor Company was able to keep the cost of vehicles and the production time to a minimum. Ford also took the first step to increase wages of their employees above the industry standard. Although it was still a very low value, Ford offered $5 per day which was a huge improvement from the $2.34 per day that most companies offered.

Culturally, Disney cannot force itself on another people, which in this case was the whole of the European continent. Disney promoted its product, the theme park, similar to that of Tokyo Disneyland believing Europe wanted their piece of “Americana”.

As a conclusion, all of these factors are foreseeable by Disney. Lack of knowledge of the local culture and the American ethnocentric tendency make the foreseeable things covered with the mist. Global recession, wrong pre-assumption, and Unknowledgeable of local culture are controllable things that can be managed well. For example, during the global recession, Disney can introduce affordable packages which may attract people on visiting Euro Disney. The wrong pre-assumption that affect the construction design can be overcome by building a fast and temporary facilities while waiting for the permanent building is being built. Hiring local French advisor is one of the solutions to the lack of local culture knowledge. Yet, The intense competition that came from the Olympics, world fair, and landmark’s event are foreseeable but it’s hard to be controlled as such Olympics is just happening once in 4years and other events might happens once a year. People are more interested to visit those events rather than Euro Disney that can be visited anytime.

The main problem of the Euro Disney was that all calculations made by Walt Disney Company were based on parks in the USA and Japan considering Europe as a mass of people rather than many countries with different languages and cultures. Americans see theme parks as a destination where you can stay between 4 and 6 days. In Europe, Euro Disney was seen as a part of the experience when traveling to Paris. The cost was also a problem for the park. A night in a hotel inside the park costs as much as a high quality hotel in the French capital. So, given that the park was located 40 minutes by car from Paris, visitors preferred to spend a night in the romantic city of Paris.

Environmentalists and Economists alike have been arguing for and against the case of Disney, each proposing

Hong Kong Disneyland was opened in September 2005 through a joint venture between the Walt Disney International and Hong Kong government. Disney has been on an international expansion since it first opened its park in 1980 in Japan and China being the most lucrative market, Disney decided to open the park in Hong Kong after selecting the city in the bidding process. The park was the first American park in Chinese territory.