Globalization of ! Jessica Saluti International Business December 5, 2017 Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..…3 Disney Overview……………………………………………………..……………….…..4 Disney SWOT Analysis……………………………………………………….……….….6 Media Networks…………………………………………………………………………...9 Parks and Resorts………………………………………………………………………...10 Studio Entertainment…………………………………………………………………….14 Consumer Products and Interactive Media………………………………………………16 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….16 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………...19 !2 Introduction As a large company or organization, globalization can create enormous success if done correctly. Many international companies, or companies that want to become international, use different tactics to create and maintain a large global market presence. One very important aspect of globalization that many companies may tend to forget about is fitting their international presence to the company that they are entering. This involves knowing the customs and traditions of the area, the government and politics and the economic situation of the company. A company or organization will likely only do well in foreign places if they make their product or service beneficial for their target market in that country. This process of adapting products to the local culture in which a business is trying to enter economically is called glocalization (Wang, 2015). When companies practice this, they will adapt their international products to the local culture in order to make the consumers there be more likely to purchase. This integrates these local markets into the global economy and world markets. Glocalization can create immense success for international companies because consumers are more likely to buy something that they are familiar with (Wang, 2015). According to Matusitz, glocalization is “transplanting a theme, product, or service elsewhere has a higher probability to succeed when it is catered to the local region in which it is introduced” (Matusitz, 2010). This is especially true because Western society can be very different than the societies in other parts of the world. Although many areas !3 of the world are “westernizing” such as in Asia, areas will still be more comfortable with what they are accustomed to. This means that companies must cater to that local area’s culture and traditions in order to create success. This also can create a bridge for companies to sell different products in those foreign economies. If a company begins by selling products that are familiar to the consumers, they can then slowly begin to add in products that are popular in other parts of the world. In addition to this creating more success for these international companies on the global scale, it can also help develop and immerse local communities and economies into the global economy. In addition to this, becoming successful in one local area can help if the company then wishes to venture to other local areas that are similar to the one they are already successful. For example, once Disney found success through glocalization in Paris, which would facilitate their globalization, if they wish, in similar parts of Europe. This can cause an almost wildfire effect, if the company does so well, in globalizing to similar areas. When companies do not take glocalization seriously in their process of globalizing into the global market, they may not have the success they want. For example, when Disney first created Euro Disney in France, it did not have the success they had hoped for because they did not initially take the time to make it accustomed to the local market. Disney Overview The Walt Disney Company is an American Diversified Multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It is the world’s second largest media conglomerate, in !4 terms of revenue, behind Comcast. The Walt Disney Company’s mission “is to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services, and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world” (Disney, About The Disney Company, 2017). The Disney brand recently was valued at $36.5 billion (Robbins, 2014). The success of Disney has been accumulating since it was founded on October 16, 1923 (Robbins, 2014). However, this success did not come easily for the Disney Company. The company learned over time, through different business conquests and mistakes along the way, how to become such a large and successful presence within the global market. The journey through which Disney has gone for this success has been called Disneyization. This has been defined as “the process by which the principles of the Disney theme parks dominate more and more sectors of society” (Robbins, 2014). With this process in mind, Disney has worked to become the number one in theme parks and attractions in the world. The company wants to dominate more sectors of society with the theme parks in order to create more success in the global market. Today, Disney has five theme parks in the world. Because of the importance of glocalization in their globalization with theme parks, Disney has taken their time in creating these parks as to create maximum success. In addition to theme parks, Disney also has their foot in many other markets. Disney owns and operates many companies that focus on different markets in order to widen the success of the company. Disney has five main business segments, which include media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer !5 products and interactive media (Robbins, 2014). Disney operates Walt Disney Studios, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, and more (Johnson, 2017). There are five main business segments in which Disney operates. These five segments are Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products, and Interactive Media. (Robbins, 2014) With these five segments, Disney has made its brand one of the most well known in different markets around the world. Disney SWOT Analysis The Disney Company, over time, has become very successful. Because of this, the company has much strength. However, as with any company this large in scale, The Disney Company has some weaknesses that it works to improve. With globalization, there are many opportunities for expansion. However, with the cultures and traditions of different societies, this expansion can be difficult and the areas and other local companies may pose threats to Disney. The main strength of the Disney Company is its brand awareness and recognition. Because of how long the brand has been around and because of all of the different markets that Disney has become involved in, the brand name has grown substantially since it was founded. With this brand recognition, the Disney Company has created a very good reputation for itself. Especially with the Parks and Resorts segment of Disney, the company has become a powerhouse in theme parks around the world. Because of the brand reputation and strengths of the business, Disney Parks saturate the top theme parks around the world !6 by attendance (Dillinger, 2017). With this saturation of top theme parks, Disney has created brand awareness as their parks being at the top and superior compared to other theme parks. With vacationing, many people will travel great distances for theme parks. This is especially true with Disney. Because of this, brand recognition and reputation are extremely important. If consumers are going to travel long distances to go to a theme park, they want this theme park to be one that they know is reliable and lives up to its brand reputation. Disney’s saturation of the top theme parks creates a trust for these consumers that helps assure them that the brand reputation of Disney is one that they can trust. !7 ! As seen in this chart, Disney has eleven of the top twenty-five theme parks by attendance in the world (Dillinger, 2017). However, one possible weakness in the Disney Company is its reliance on the United States with Parks and Resorts for their income. Seven of those eleven theme parks in the top twenty-five come from the United States !8 between Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida. Although this shows success within the country, it could also become problematic if there were to be any problems or changes in the United States. Between economy and politics, there are a multitude of problems that could occur that could make income in the United States decrease. If this were to happen, Disney could take a negative hit in income. There are many opportunities that the Disney Company has. With Parks and Resorts, there are different parts of the world that the company has not yet reached and, through globalization and glocalization could do so. Another opportunity for the Disney Company is to produce movies based in other countries. This could be facilitated with Disney’s new streaming service, especially when it goes global outside of the United States. Lastly, an opportunity for Disney is to strengthen its position in the entertainment industry, especially in television. The Disney Company has already acquired a variety of networks within the television industry. If the company continues to acquire networks, they can continuously increase their share in the market. Any international company, especially ones as large as the Disney Company, faces different threats to their business. One major threat of the Disney Company is competition. With theme parks, especially in the United States, one threat is Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure (Dillinger, 2017). Because a large portion of their theme parks income comes from the United States, this threat is one to take seriously. Another threat that the company faces is piracy. As piracy has become very popular, especially in recent years, any company that is in the entertainment and movie industry is threatened. Lastly, the Disney Company faces the possible decreasing of popularity in !9 online streaming.