Evaluation of Disneyland Paris: Supply Chain Strategy and Operations

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Supply chain strategy and operations
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Evaluation of Disney Paris
Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort which was founded as Euro Disney Resort
(Kučinskienė, 2012). It is situated approximately thirty two kilometers east of Paris. It
encompasses a golf course, a dining, shopping and entertainment complex, a number of resort
hotel as well as two theme parks. The original theme park Disney Park, opened in 1992 April 12
(Matusitz, 2010). The other theme park is Wait Disney Studios Park which was started in 2002.
By 1972 Wait Disney in Florida and Disneyland in California had succeeded so much that plans
to have a similar park in Europe was underway (Rabbiosi, 2015)Total Quality Management
theory was very applicable in the organization has they sought to meet the demand of their
services. The management was actively involved in setting goals, staffing as well as funding the
opening of other parks and resorts in different nations. In 1983 the management opened Tokyo
Disneyland in Japan which did so well that it served as a international expansion catalyst (Hall,
2014). The heads of Disney’s theme Park had developed a strategic plan for expansion in 1984.
An average of 1200 potential locations for the park in Europe had been presented by the
managers. Countries among which they were considering are Spain, Italy, Britain and France.
However, due to lack of suitable expanse of flat land both Italy and Britain were dropped from
the list. By 1985 march the potential locations for expansion had been lowered to four; with two
in Spain and two in France. This gave the two countries a chance to explore the potential
economic benefits that would accompany Disney theme park. The two sites in Spain were
situated close to the Mediterranean and offered a subtropical climate which is the same to Disney
Parks in Florida and in California.
Over many years the dynamic management in Disney has helped the company to develop a good
strategic plan to keep the company moving for several decades (Denzin, 2015.). Disney signed
different agreement with a number of governments. For example in December 1985 , the
company went into agreement with the French government over the twenty-square kilometers
piece of land. In March 1987, the management team of Walt Disney company and the
government of France signed the final contract.
The company’s objective to provide the best services to its client has seen the company improve
every year. The deciding and constructions were done by Disney and a council of architects in
1988. The management team aimed at having 5200 hotel rooms within the complex in order to
offer lodging services to all its patrons. They agreed on a entirely American theme such that a
region in united states would be depicted in each hotel (Newell, 2013). By April 1992 seven
hotel had been constructed. Around thirty percent of the seats within the park were designed to
satisfy the need of Europeans who preferred to eat in good weather outdoors.
Since it establishment the company has faced different challenges in its endeavor to achieve the
objective. By 1992 many people in the working force had resigned complaining of poor working
conditions. The state of the park at that time also led very low attendance. During this period
France was undergoing very difficult times of increased unemployment therefore some people
tend to link the disappointing attendance with the situation. In order to effectively and adequately
deal with the situation the management took several steps to improve the working condition and
made some very difficult decisions including reducing the prices at the hotels. Despite the efforts
by the management team the attendance remained so low that the company announced a
projected a loss approximated to be three hundred million French francs in 1992. At some point

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the hotel realized very low number that the management decided to close down some of the
hotels such as Newport Bay Club. These difficult times were so harsh that they pushed the
company so much into financial debts
Despite all the challenges of Disneyland company, the management has been persistently
committed and dedicated to make things to work where they go wrong. From 2000 the company
has been very flexible to tackle employment issues depending on the season as well as offer the
best services to its customers.
Recommendations
Disneyland Paris has positioned itself in a top company in amusement park industry,
entertainment as well as hospitality. The management as achieved this position by carefully
considering the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the business in the
competitive market. The company has succeeded in addressing both the internal and external
factors affecting g the company but there is a lot to improve on. The company deals with factors
such as family entrainment, the changing technology, need for better and up to date hospitality
services etc. the company faces so many threats and has many weakness but it must be in a
position to withstand the hostile conditions that may affect it negatively (Reyers, and Matusitz,
2012).
In order to continue performing better than the rival companies Disneyland Paris must capitalize
on their strengths. This will help in supporting the management in formulating better strategies to
grow the business and outdo the competitive rivals. Disneyland Paris can put more effort
improving some of their unique strengths which are building better and strong cooperative
growth among its branches. Developing a portfolio of its products and creating a strong and
popular brand. Through taking such initiatives the company can continually present itself as the
most suitable and decent place for a family and all customers. The company can address the
expectations of the customers hence creating a wonderful reputation in the market. Growing a
company’s portfolio for its product helps it to increase its popularity, improve its revenue
collection and satisfy the needs of their customers. The organizational structure in Disneyland
Paris should facilitate and promote mutual benefit and cooperation among various departments.
This is a wonderful strength that ensures competitive advantage over other rival companies
hence supporting long-term growth amidst aggressive competition (Yıldız, and Akbulut, 2013).
Disneyland Paris has many internal factors that limit its development and growth. Some of the
weakness in a company may be has a results of its organizational culture, long term strategic
plans, management and financial difficulties. Some of the weaknesses that Disneyland Paris has
to address fast are limited diversification, limited innovation and finally limited expansion of
amusement parks. Although the company innovates by improving its products and services, rapid
technological innovation is much limited within the company (Ameyaw, and Chan, 2015). This