Ocean Park the Case Involving the Hometown Essay

Ocean Park

The case involving the hometown favorite, Ocean Park in Hong Kong, going up against a new competitor, Disneyland, represents a trend that has revolutionized the business world in the last few decades. Many locations around the world have had their existing businesses in all industries be challenge by newly introduced multinational corporations. The trend is nearly universal a crossed all industries. McDonalds will enter an international market and challenge the local restaurants; Wal-Mart may open a new superstore and go up against local retail establishments. The Ritz Carlton may open a new luxury hotel that competes with establishments that over a century old. All these represent some of the challenges that are found in the modern business environment.

While the local company may have a long track record of operating success as well as decades of experience with the local culture, multinational companies have access to quantities of scale as well as the advantage of standardization of business practices developed from the best practices generated from global operations. While in many cases the introduction of competition elevates the levels of innovation by both firms and the customer is the beneficiary in the end. Furthermore, in other cases one competitor will end up destroying the other.But neither competitor's fate is sealed. Wal-Mart serves as a classic example of both cases. Wal-Mart has had great success in China but failed miserably in Germany. This case will examine Ocean Park's new threat as Disneyland enters the local market.

Ocean Park's Local Monopoly

Ocean Park was officially opened for business in January of 1977 by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Murray MacLehose. The operation was originally funded from the profits earned from the Hong Kong Jockey Club on land that was donated to the entrepreneur from the local government. Although the park didn't have any competition, it still operated in a manner that allowed it to win several awards, including The World's Seventh Most Popular Amusement Park and 33rd Most Visited Tourist Attractions in the World by Forbes. The organizations mission was to be a leader in the industry through their dedication to their guests' experiences. In 1987, Ocean Park's ownership was transferred from the Jockey Club to a non-profit operation. It is somewhat ironic that that 2005 represented on of Ocean Park's best years since it is also the year that Disneyland as officially opened….....