Business Case Studies & Business Publications

Shanghai Disneyland: Authentically Disne...

Weiss, Elliott N.,...

Case

Shanghai Disneyland: Authentically Disney and Distinctly Chinese

Weiss, Elliott N.; Yemen, Gerry; Maiden, Stephen E.

OM-1568 | Published October 11, 2017 | 8 pages Case

Collection: Darden School of Business

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Excellent service operations understand the unique challenges of managing services and experiences. The Walt Disney Company's value proposition, or purpose, is to create a magical experience for customers. To deliver on that, service and employee systems must be designed in a manner that work together. After years of planning, construction, employee training, and marketing outreach to its largely Chinese guests, Shanghai Disneyland (SDL) finally opened its doors on June 16, 2016. Certain classic Disney elements had been customized for China, and others reflected the traditional Disney brand. The Walt Disney Company had done its homework?but the "unknowns" needed to be identified and remedied. Had the Walt Disney Company tailored its service offerings appropriately to the target market, and what adjustments, if any, were needed? This material lends itself well to exploring a storied service company on numerous dimensions?operational performance and strategy, service trade-offs, attribute maps, and many general management issues across functions, especially whether the company has been able to understand Chinese cultural differences in such a way that profitability will occur faster than in its other non-U.S. locations. Instructors may choose to use the case as a capstone to "The Walt Disney Company: Mickey Mouse Visits Shanghai" (UVA-OM-1545), which is set on the verge of SDL's opening.

Examine challenges of maintaining service excellence (making services universally applicable) while customizing the experience to local tastes (making the experience unique to the location). Explore the transferability of service experience and operational concepts. Develop awareness of an organization's value proposition and the operations necessary to successfully deliver on it. Understand that the management of service operations requires choices about what an organization is good at providing and what it should not focus on.