Evaluation Of Disney Paris: Supply Chain Strategy And Operations Report

Write a report on supply chain strategy and operations.

Overview of Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort which was founded as Euro Disney Resort (Ku?inskien?, 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 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

Strategic Planning and Expansion

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.

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 (Y?ld?z, 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 is a weakness that has come because of the business strategies adopted by the company. Its approach is more reactive rather than aggressive to technological development. A lot of attention is directed on the uniqueness and quality of the product yet having very little focus and emphasis on technological innovation. In the international market technological innovation marks a big difference and gives competitive advantage hence there is every need for Disneyland Paris to address this important factor. The company should also revisits its core management approaches and strategies in order to give room for more diversification in its segments and departments (Liou,  Huang,  and Chen, 2012).

Challenges Faced by Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris should also be careful to see the range of opportunities that they have to grow their business. These are the strategic factors that lead to increase in revenue collections  in the daily operations of a company. The management team of the company should carefully explore and take advantage of the unique opportunities that are found in the growth of various industries, technological advancement and innovation as well as growth of the small developing markets. In the modern world technology has a lot of influence in the business environment (Reddy,  2013.).  Disney Company can take advantage of technology to grow and advance its global business. For example implementation of digital technology can improve the quality of output in resorts and amusement parks. The company has an opportunity to develop corporations with the various industries through diversification and other approaches of management. The developing markets create opportunities to expand the operations of the company by penetrating and reaching more people through various methods such as the mass media industry. Disney can take advantage of these opportunities and increase its revenues through expansion, diversification and innovation (Harrison, 2013).

It is fact that Disney is an established company but it requires a lot of resources to be pulled together to manage different risks in its supply chain.  It is a popular destination for thousands  of both adults and children from various parts of the world every year. The management team of Disneyland Paris needs to develop a large skilled network to different kinds of risks within the park. More qualified personnel in all the department such as logistics, engineering, quality assurance, medical professionals, fire safety and security should be hired to serve the increasing number of people every year (Choi, 2012).

Disney Company is exposed to many risky factors in its daily operations .These factors if not carefully address can lead to poor performance of the business.  In the case of Disney these risks come  as a results of various factors such as the changing business environment internationally, trends related to  entertainment industry etc . among other many risks, Disney company must address the high competition from rival companies, technological innovation, poor management  and quality of product and services as they seek to improve their supply chain.  Competition is one of the most significant risks that every company must deal with. Aggressive competition is found in every economic sector globally with new companies and corporations coming up daily. If the company remains competitive or not is largely determined by the strategies the management develop to manage their supply chain. In order to ensure that Disneyland Paris remains relevant in the market, the management team must be updated on the current trends as well as offer quality products that satisfies the customers and adequately solves their problems (Higgins, and Huque, 2015).

With the fast growing technology in every industry, it is big risk for any company not to adopt the new technology into its daily operations. Technological disruptions can reduce the profits of a company. For example any changes in the mass media, entertainment and online product delivery continue to affect the profits companies that provide online market and networks positively. It is also a big risk to adopt technological techniques without carefully considering the negatives results that are likely to accompany them. For example piracy of digital content may largely reduce the company’s possible revenue. Although the managers of Disney have to increase their competition through the modern technology, they are obligated to protect the business against technological piracy and disruption. The staff should be well equipped to handle the technology matters effectively without threatening the stability of the company. Hiring skilled and experienced staff can help Disney company to develop proper technological systems in order to ensure  quality services are accessed by the customer (Collis, Schmid, and Tobias,  2014).

Recommendations for Improvement

It is quite important for Disney company to consider working more closely with the other stakeholders and partners in other fields and countries in order to increase their network and  market. This is a significant action in making sure more people know about their products and the kind of services they offer. Such cooperation are not only crucial in European level but also to the rest of the world. Although some people view this as a threat to an organization, if well utilized this cooperation can have considerable results. For example , with the increasing number of terrorists attacks in different parts of the  world  security is a big concern for everyone. In November 2015 Paris was attacked leading to deaths a a good number of people. Security is a very broad issue that cannot be adequately handled by single group or organization. The crisis management team in Disney Paris must work closely with the police and other security agencies to ensure the people visiting them daily are assured their security (RENAUT, 2016). In case of an event requiring quick response the team lead should communicate to the officers in charge to ensure safe management of the team.  Enough security officers and units as well as effective communication tools should be in place to help those concerned to respond fast incase of security emergency.

References

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