Beyond Tokyo: Disney's Expansion in Asia

International Management
Beyond Tokyo: Disney's Expansion in Asia
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International Management 1
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Cultural challenges are posed by Disney expansion into Asia........................................................3
Culture different from Europe.....................................................................................................4
Cultural variable influence the location choice of the theme parks.................................................4
Disney's Shanghai theme park is controversial...............................................................................5
Recommendation related to the location for the next theme park in Asia.......................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference.......................................................................................................................................10

International Management 2
Introduction
International management needs skills and knowledge beyond the normal business expertise
which comprises of the business regulations of the nations in which the company operates,
understanding the customers and laws of the local market and the capability of the organization
to perform the transaction in multiple countries (Deresky, 2017). The report is based on the case
study of "Beyond Tokyo: Disney's Expansion in Asia". This case study is based on the
international management of the business operations by the Tokyo Disneyland.

International Management 3
Cultural challenges are posed by Disney expansion into Asia
The Tokyo Disneyland in the 1980s began to realize that there are vast opportunities in the Asian
market. Considering the potential opportunities the company opened Disneyland in Hong Kong
in the year 2005 and predicted to open operations in three different Asian cities (Gillespie &
Riddle, 2015). The company found different cultural challenges in the market of Asia. Some of
them are discussed below: -
Language: - One of the crucial challenges that the company faces at the time of expansion plans
in Asia is language. There are many Asian nations where people make use of their regional
language as their first language instead of English (Matusitz, 2011). In order to make the park
cultural sensitive in Asia, the president of Walt Disney Parks and Resort, Jay Rasulo announced
that the Hong Kong Disneyland would be trilingual which include English, Mandarin, and
Cantonese.
Integration of the countries festival and theme: - The culture into the theme park arises as one
of the emerging challenges for the company. In Asian countries, people have different cultural
interest according to various places. This culture is incorporated into the theme park as it
represents their religion. Therefore, the company requires understanding towards their culture,
national festivals which people celebrate and the significance of culture and festival for people.
This imitates the lifestyle of people living in the Asian countries. This is the fact that Disney
soon realized that their attempts towards the cultural sensitivity had not gone far enough
(Luthans & Doh, 2012). For instance, the decision to serve shark fin shop, a local favorite,
greatly angered environmentalists. This challenge has made the company to remove the dish
from their menu.