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  • Essay / Important considerations before engaging in international business

    Can an international marketer predict and prepare for the problems faced by businesses expanding in a foreign country? Some issues Disney has faced include cultural differences, foreign currencies, language barriers, and bad assumptions. These problems exist because growing a business in a foreign country and being successful comes with extensive preparation/research and risks. These issues can affect a business entirely. The existence of these problems is linked to trade barriers. As in this case study, many of them are expected and some of them slip out of the hands of marketers. The industry responsible for many of these problems would be marketers. Unfortunately, a successful marketer must be foresighted and aware of the obstacles before entering a particular market/country. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay Disney Land has expanded to Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong. The three sites had different results because they were approached with divergent strategies. First, as mentioned in the study, many Europeans have not understood the American method of free market financing. Some key issues Disney Land-Paris faced had to do with huge cultural differences and poor assumptions. One problem I noticed while reading the study was the Paris location. Even though the country and city were specifically selected from 200 other locations, the park was close to other theme parks that were not part of Disney. In my opinion, a marketer should choose a location where the product, in this case the experience, is one of a kind. This means there should be no other options to try. Additionally, the French are known to prefer their own parks, products and even their language over others. Therefore, the selection of France as a country is, in my opinion, risky and extremely difficult to market. Another cultural difference that was ignored when planning this growth plan was the purchase of streetcars. European lifestyle and cities are known for sightseeing because it is worth walking and are designed to do so as a means of transportation. An international marketer should have predicted that Europeans are used to walking and even prefer to do so. In this case, it led to a huge financial problem. On the other hand, some key issues that Disney has faced are almost impossible to predict. As mentioned in the case study, Disney missed the Gulf War and the European recession. War brings recession, and recession brings high interest rates, currency devaluation, and heavy holiday breaks. Therefore, sometimes even a marketer cannot predict the problems that a company or a country might face. After all, they can't see the future. Other factors that affected Disney included 9/11, the terrorist attacks in France, the downturn in tourism and the summer heatwave. Disney also faced a problem at Disneyland Paris with the alcohol ban. In a country like France, this goes against local culture. However, Disney managed to announce that pets were allowed in the park. Disney finally took the French citizens' view on pets and implemented it. Another one.