Euro Disney - an HRM & Finance Nightmare?

I forgot to blog about this article in the Independent last week, but revisiting it tonight makes me realise what a good one it is to show the students. As the introduction says, the management of Disney’s two theme parks in Paris have had to contend with quite a wide range of internal and external influences in the last year or so, including strikes, suicides and shareholder losses.

23 December 2009 saw the first ever strike at Euro Disney and things seem to have gone rapidly downhill since then. The article has lots of rich business studies material, including reference to the financial objectives been set by the shareholders, the effect of external shocks such as the recession, and lots of useful information on pricing strategy. The article also explains that, despite almost £1bn of capital spending, revenues at the parks remain flat, making the returns on investment particularly poor. Well worth a read and printing off for a lesson.