Cross-Cultural Management Failure at Euro Disneyland

This assignment analyzes the failure of Euro Disneyland, attributing it to a lack of understanding and consideration for French culture. It highlights the importance of cross-cultural management in global business expansion, using Euro Disneyland as a case study. The analysis emphasizes the need for companies to adapt their products, services, and strategies to the specific cultural context of their target markets.

Running head: CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Cross Cultural Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Executive Summary
This report intends to shed light on the process of cross-cultural management. The company
selected for the process of the study of cross cultural management is Euro Disneyland. The
report also sheds light on the various cultural models like Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
theory and Trompenaar’s research for the analysis of the differences between the American
and French culture. The research also takes into account the mistakes committed by the
company Euro Disneyland which lead to its lack of success in the land of France. Lastly, the
report provides some lessons or recommendations which the company should take into
consideration to make its business more profitable in France.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Hofstede's cultural model and the main cultural differences between USA and France...........4
Cultural differences between France and USA on the basis of Trompenaar’s research............7
Individualism and universalism.............................................................................................8
Neutralism and emotions........................................................................................................8
Diffuse and specific culture...................................................................................................8
Time orientation.....................................................................................................................9
3 Mistakes committed by Euro Disneyland...............................................................................9
Strategic errors.......................................................................................................................9
Cultural ignorance................................................................................................................10
Inadequate staff....................................................................................................................10
3 Lessons about diversity.........................................................................................................11
European culture..................................................................................................................11
Adequate staff......................................................................................................................11
Realistic goals......................................................................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Cross cultural management can be defined as the process of managing various teams
as well as organizational groups in a way, which takes into consideration the diverse cultural
needs of the employees and the customers (Thomas and Peterson 2017). A global trend seen
among the various companies is to take into consideration the various aspects of the cultural
needs of the customers to compete with the regional companies of that region (Ferraro and
Briody 2017). This report intends to study the process of cross cultural management through
the company Euro Disneyland. Euro Disneyland, originally called by the name of Festival
Village, is a collaboration of the American company, Disneyland and was inaugurated in the
year 1992 (Disneyland Resort 2018). It is a dining, shopping and entertainment complex,
located in France (Disneylandparis.com 2018). The original philosophy behind the creation
of the amusement, in the words of Dick Hollinger, the industrial engineer of the park, was
“Disneyland is the world’s biggest stage, and the audience is right here on the stage”
(Disneyland Resort 2018). It is to be noted that the first Disney theme park was inaugurated
in California and it was the brain child of Walt Disney himself (Forbes.com 2018). The
amusement park is the largest theme park of the world and is was visited by more than 132.5
million visitors from diverse parts of the globe (Forbes.com 2018). The following figure
provides the financial statistics of the company-

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Figure 1: Financial Statistics of Disneyland
Source: Factset, Bloomberg, S&P Cap IQ; Forbes.
The company, Disneyland, in the recent times, has lost some of its popularity and is
utilizing the concept of globalization to increase its annual revenue (Disneyland Resort
2018). The company in the recent times has opened various theme parks in various countries
like Tokyo, France and other parts of the world (Disneyland Resort 2018). One example of
such process of expansion and globalization is the Euro Disneyland of France
(Disneylandparis.com 2018).
Hofstede's cultural model and the main cultural differences between USA and France
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory can be seen as a structural framework for the
purposes of cross cultural communications (Minkov and Hofstede 2012). The theory
originally took into consideration four aspects-individualism, masculinity-femininity, power
distance and uncertainty avoidance (Minkov and Hofstede 2012). The theory was originally
developed by Geert Hofstede and relates the cultural aspects of a society to the behavior of
the individuals (Minkov and Hofstede 2012).

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The cultural characteristics of the country, United States, as per the Hofstede’s
cultural model is provided by the below given figure-
Figure 2: Cultural Characteristics of USA as per Hofstede’s model
Source: (Hofstede Insights 2018)
The above provided figure clearly indicates the power distance, individualism,
masculinity as well as uncertainty avoidance scores of the country USA. The high score for
individualism indicates that the people of USA are very individualistic and do not like to
work in groups or indulge in group activities during the office hours (Hofstede Insights
2018). The high score for masculinity indicates that the society of America is driven by
competition and the criteria for success is being the best in the field (Hofstede Insights 2018).
The low score for power distance indicates that the ability of the people to influence other’s
ideas as well as ideology is low in America (Hofstede Insights 2018). The low score for
uncertainty avoidance indicates that the people of America will be more tolerant to new ideas
as well as innovations which is likely to affect their future (Hofstede Insights 2018).
The cultural characteristics of France, as per the Hofstede’s cultural model is provided
by the below given figure-

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Figure 3: Cultural Characteristics of France as per Hofstede’s model
Source: (Hofstede Insights 2018)
The above figure clearly indicates that the people of France are very individualistic
and do not prefer to work in group or indulge in group activities. The high score for power
distance indicates that the people of France have more influence over the ideas as well as the
ideologies of other people (Hofstede Insights 2018). The high score of uncertainty avoidance
indicates that the people of France do not welcome the new innovations as well as the ideas
very easily and are skeptical about them (Hofstede Insights 2018). The low score on the
masculinity index indicates that the people of France will be less driven by factors like
competition as well as success (Hofstede Insights 2018).
Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that the company Disneyland,
needed to make some adjustments in order to capture the market of France and to meet the
required expectations of the people of France (Ferraro and Briody 2017). The company will
have to take into account the low power score and the high uncertainty avoidance score of the
people of France in order to make their business a success in that country.

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Cultural differences between France and USA on the basis of Trompenaar’s research
Fons Trompenaar’s research provides valuable insight into the process of cross
cultural communication just like the cross-cultural communication theory of Hofstede
(Ferraro and Briody 2017). The research model of Trompenaar when applied to the different
countries reveals the cultural characteristics of those countries (Ferraro and Briody 2017).
The following figure provides an idea of the basic elements of the Trompenaar’s model-
Figure 4: Trompenaar’s research model

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Source: (Created by the Author)
A comparative study of USA and France on the basis of Trompenaar’s research will
reveal the following facts-
Individualism and universalism
It is noticed that the American people score high on the context of individualism in
comparison to the people of France (Forbes 2017). Therefore, the people of France are more
likely to indulge in group activities in comparison to the people of USA. This becomes
apparent in the review of the park in the French newspaper La Figaro, according to which
Mickey was “stifling individualism and transformed children into customers”
(Disneylandparis.com 2018). It is also to be noted that the American people are very
universalistic are likely to ignore the cultures of the various other countries. The French
people are very particular about their culture and like to take into consideration the cultural
parameters of others (Halls 2014). This is one of the primary reasons for the lack of success
of the Euro Disneyland in France.
Neutralism and emotions
It is to be noted that as per Trompenaar’s research the people of USA and France are
very emotional and they like to take into consideration the various emotional aspects of
others. This characteristic is in direct aversion to the countries which believe in keeping their
emotions in check.
Diffuse and specific culture
Specific culture can be defined as the culture in which people take into consideration
the personal space of others and allow others to enter as well as share that space. It is to be
noted that the American people believe in the specific culture which distinguishes between
the public and the private life (Forbes 2017). They also like to keep a balance between their

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work life and personal life (Forbes 2017). The people of France, on the other hand, believe in
the diffuse culture, in which there are provisions for separate public as well as private spaces.
It is to be noted that the people of France believe in a culture in which the work life as well as
the private life are closely related (Halls 2014).
Time orientation
Time orientation is another factor which distinguishes the cultural models of USA and
France. The people of USA are very particular about their time and they normally prefer to
do one thing at a time (Forbes 2017). Therefore, the appointments made by them are not
subjected to change to time (Forbes 2017). The people of France, on the other hand, like to do
multiple things at a time and also the appointments scheduled by them are subjected to
change at any point of time (Halls 2014). This feature of France is something completely
different from America.
3 Mistakes committed by Euro Disneyland
Euro Disneyland, is a sub-branch of the American company, Disneyland
(Disneylandparis.com 2018). The company Euro Disneyland, operates in France. Therefore,
the American company should have taken into consideration the cultural model as well as the
requirements of the people of France (Kinloch and Metge 2014). The three major mistakes
committed by the company Euro Disneyland are as follows-
Strategic errors
The French company, Euro Disneyland, is owned by the American company
Disneyland, which makes as well as plans most of the strategic decisions of the company
Euro Disneyland (Disneylandparis.com 2018). It is often seen that many of the strategic were
implemented without taking into consideration the cultural model of the country of France,
which had a negative impact on the prospects of the company in France. This was evident in

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the implementation of the dress code policy of the company. The French people protested
against this policy by saying that the park did not provide a “unique opportunity to marry
work and magic” (Disneylandparis.com 2018).
Cultural ignorance
The American company clearly failed to take into account the cultural characteristics
of the people of France. The original idea behind the creation of the amuse park was to
provide a space to the people where they can come and enjoy themselves without having to
face the sordidness of other places where people normally destroyed the tranquility of the
space by the use of alcohol and other unethical things (Disneylandparis.com 2018).
Therefore, alcohol was a prohibited commodity at all the parks of the company. However, if
the culture of France is taken into consideration, then it will be seen that wine is an important
ingredient of their lives (Halls 2014). The park did not serve wine which was strongly
protested by the French. Another major drawback of the park was that all the restaurants in
the park served American food and had American theme which was not much liked by the
French (Halls 2014). Some Frenchmen even went to the extent of calling it “cultural
imperialism” (Disneylandparis.com 2018).
Inadequate staff
The company failed to assess the targeted customer base of the country properly and
therefore proper measures were not taken. The number of staffs recruited by the company for
the purpose of cleaning and other activities was inadequate. The thing which attracted many
Americans to the Disneyland of California was its cleanliness (Forbes 2017). However, in the
case of Euro Disneyland, this was not to be the case. It was often seen that the amusement
park was not properly cleaned and even the visitors were not properly attended because of
inadequate amount of staff (Disneylandparis.com 2018).

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3 Lessons about diversity
Diversity is an important aspect which every company planning to follow the path of
globalization should take into consideration (France, del Carmen Rodríguez and Hett 2012).
The company Disneyland, ignored the cultural landscape of France and the result was that its
collaboration Euro Disneyland was not much of a success in France, whereas the original
American company Disneyland enjoyed huge success in America (Kinloch and Metge 2014).
The lessons that the company should have learned about how to deal with diversity are as
follows-
European culture
The Euro Disneyland should take into consideration the culture of France and the
lifestyle of the France to make their business more profitable as well as successful in France.
Culture is one thing, which unites people and therefore to capture the market of France, the
company needs to take into consideration the culture followed by the people of France (Halls
2014).
Adequate staff
The company, Euro Disneyland should increase the number of staffs and emphasis
more on the effective customer satisfaction index to attract more amount of people to their
amusement parks. Cleanliness and effective customer service will help the company to
increase its business in the country under consideration.
Realistic goals
It is true that the company Disneyland had a considerable in the country of America
but the European continent is a completely new landscape for the company (Disneyland
Resort 2018). Therefore, it is very essential for the company to set realistic goals which it can

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achieve over a certain period of time. The setting of goals as per the American success
standard will lead to dissatisfaction, which the company needs to avoid.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that cross cultural management
is an important aspect of management which all the companies need to take into
consideration before going on the path of globalization. The various companies should also
take into consideration the cultural landscape of the countries in order to make the products
as well as services provided to the people of those countries more profitable. The company
under consideration here, Euro Disneyland, failed to take into consideration the cultural
landscape of France and therefore, it was not rewarded with the kind of success which it had
in the American continent.

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References
Disneyland Resort. (2018). Disneyland® Official Site. [online] Available at:
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
Disneylandparis.com. (2018). Disneyland Paris. [online] Available at:
http://www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
Ferraro, G.P. and Briody, E.K., 2017. The cultural dimension of global business. Taylor &
Francis.
Forbes, B.D., 2017. Religion and popular culture in America. Univ of California Press.
Forbes.com. 2018. Forbes Welcome. [online] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2014/07/14/the-secrets-behind-disneys-2-2-billion-theme-
park-profits/#961964e584fb [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
France, M.H., del Carmen Rodríguez, M. and Hett, G.G. eds., 2012. Diversity, Culture and
Counselling: A Canadian Perspective, 2e. Brush Education.

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Halls, W.D., 2014. Education, Culture and Politics in Modern France: Society, School, and
Progress Series. Elsevier.
Hofstede Insights. 2018. Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/the-usa/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
Hofstede Insights. 2018. Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at:
https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/france/ [Accessed 28 Jan. 2018].
Kinloch, P. and Metge, J., 2014. Talking past each other: problems of cross cultural
communication. Victoria University Press.
Minkov, M. and Hofstede, G., 2012. Hofstede’s fifth dimension: New evidence from the
World Values Survey. Journal of cross-cultural psychology, 43(1), pp.3-14.
Thomas, D.C. and Peterson, M.F., 2017. Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts.
Sage Publications.