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Personnel Strategy for Multinational Firms:

Abstract
This paper investigated the nature of personnel strategy of multinational firms, focusing on
the Walt Disney Company in China. The experiences of executives with extensive experience
working for Disney in China served as the data for this qualitative case study. The method
involved semi-structured interviews and qualitative data analysis in order to study the
challenges faced by multinational corporations when developing their personnel strategies,
and the policies they implemented to overcome these obstacles. The result of this
investigation shows how multinational firms can design their personnel strategies to succeed
in a range of different environments. Executives can use the results of this paper when
developing personnel strategies for their multinational firms. The findings contain
suggestions for how multinational firms can formulate successful recruiting, on-boarding,
training, and retention policies to develop successful personnel strategies.
Keywords: Strategy, Personnel, Multinational, Disney, China

Introduction
Multinational firms are principal actors in the modern global economy, and must develop
effective business strategies that ensure profitability across a wide range of markets. A key
aspect of an effective international business strategy is personnel strategy, or the management
of the firm’s employees.
For companies that operate in a wide variety of countries and cultures, it is necessary to
develop effective personnel strategies that are able to competently recruit, on-board, train,
retain, and promote successful employees.
When multinational firms attempt to develop effective personnel strategies, they are
confronted with a wide range of challenges, particularly if they are doing business across
cultures and in emerging markets and developing countries.
In order to give context to these common challenges, this paper will utilize a real-world case
study of the Walt Disney Company, focusing on its business operations and personnel
strategy in China. As a world-famous multinational firm with decades of experience bringing
its US-style products and corporate culture to countries around the world, Disney is an
excellent organization to study in order to understand how a multinational firm can localize
its personnel strategy to the contexts of a given market.
Finally, this study will investigate what policies have been effective for overcoming these
challenges to the effective implementation of personnel strategy, and demonstrate how
executives of multinational firms can utilize these lessons when developing their own
international business strategies.
Accordingly, this paper seeks to investigate the challenges that arise for multinational firms
in the development of personnel strategy; the particular challenges faced by the Walt Disney
in implementing their personnel strategy in China; and the solutions that executives of
multinational firms can use to overcome these obstacles to the development and
implementation of effective personnel strategy.

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Research Questions
This research study will answer the following three questions:
1) What common challenges must multinational firms confront when developing personnel
strategy?
2) What specific challenges did the Walt Disney Company confront when implementing their
personnel strategy in China?
3) What solutions can multinational firms utilize to overcome these obstacles to the
successful implementation of their personnel strategies?

Literature Review
General personnel strategy for multinational firms: Contemporary business theorists have
developed the concept of “glocalization”-globalization combined with localization-to
understand how many multinational firms operate in the contemporary global economy
(Kraidy, 2001, 2002; Robertson, 1992, 1994; Neilson, Martin & Powers, 2008).
Robertson (1992) developed the concept of glocalization as a “simultaneity”-that is, the
simultaneous existence of both “universalizing and particularizing tendencies” within a given
time and space. In the case of this study, glocalization can be understood as the manner in
which the Walt Disney Company (a global, universal tendency) integrates its personnel
strategy into the local Chinese consumer market (a local, particular tendency).
Kraidy (2001) conceptualizes glocalization as the process whereby multinational firms must
take local mindsets, customs, and beliefs into account when entering and establishing
themselves in local commercial markets, and must develop glocalized personnel strategy that
both maintain the standards of the global brand while simultaneously understanding the local
market.
The practical aspects of developing a personnel strategy for a multinational firm can be seen
in Neilson, Martin & Powers (2008), who hold that the goal of a successful personnel
strategy is “clarifying decision rights, designing information flows, aligning motivators, and
making changes to structure.”
In essence, the major challenges include recruiting the right employees, integrating them into
the company’s brand, training them to meet the firm’s international standards, and retaining
and promoting top talent.
Specific personnel strategy for the Walt Disney Company in China: The works of
Matusitz (2011), Choi (2012), and Fung & Lee (2009) show how Disney has adapted its
personnel strategy to work effectively in the local Chinese context.
Matusitz’s work showed how Disney was able to overcome its initial personnel strategy
challenges by aligning its labor practices to fit more closely with local customs, regulations,
and procedures, such as through the employment, training, and introduction of bilingual-and
occasionally trilingual, speaking English, Cantonese, and Mandarin-cast members capable of
interacting with both local and foreign guests in their own languages.
Choi demonstrated how Disney faced challenges integrating its locally-hired employees into
its international brand, as a major obstacle to its personnel strategy was adapting Disney’s
trademark customer service standards to the local customs and attitudes of its predominantly
Chinese workforce. Many of these challenges were overcome by intensive internal training
programs, such as the exclusive Disney University customer service courses.
Finally, Fung and Lee noted how many Disney characters and stories are relatively unfamiliar
to many mainland Chinese consumers, and even to some Chinese employees. Accordingly,
Disney has had to build extensive internal and external educational and training resources in
order to ensure that both its customers and employees understand and appreciate its valuable

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intellectual property, and grasp the unique brand aspects and ways of working of the Walt
Disney Company in China.
From this literature review, it is apparent that the major common challenges of personnel
strategy for multinational firms is recruiting proper employees for specific roles, on-boarding
new hires into the firm’s culture and brand, training employees to meet the firm’s
international standards, and identifying and retaining high-performing talent for future
promotion.
In addition, the major particular challenges for the Walt Disney Company’s personnel
strategy in China include building Disney’s brand as a respected employer, training its
employees in the unique aspects of the company’s brand and business practices, and ensuring
that its leadership team is composed of executives who both understand the international
brand and the local market.

Methodology
This paper will use the case study research methodology; employ the semi-structured
interview paradigm for data collection; and utilize qualitative data analysis methods to
produce a case study of the Walt Disney Company in China.
Case study research methodology: The case study research methodology will follow the
methodological definitions and procedures laid out in the work of Yin (2013); the semi-
structured interview paradigm will be formulated using the works of Neuman (2011) and
Seidman (2012); and the qualitative data analysis methods utilized in this thesis will be
derived from the work of Neuman (2011).
This research thesis will utilize the case study research methodology developed by Robert K.
Yin in his work, Case Study Research: Design and Methods (2013).
In this discussion of the case study research methodology, Yin provides a twofold definition
of a case study that focuses on the scope of the case and the features of the case.
The first part of the definition is as follows: “A case study is an empirical inquiry that
investigates a contemporary phenomenon (the “case”) in depth and within its real-world
context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context may not be clearly
evident” (16).
The second part of the case study research methodology definition developed by Yin focuses
on the features of the case study, and is defined as follows: “A case study inquiry copes with
the technically distinctive situation in which there will be many more variables of interest
than data points, and as one result relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to
converge in a triangulating fashion, and as another result benefits from the prior development
of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis” (17).
Putting these two components of Yin’s definition of the case study methodology together, we
develop the specific definition of the case study methodology used in this thesis.
Data collection methodologies: Based on the typological schema presented by Neuman
(2011), this study will utilize elements of the typical field interview methodology in its
interviews with the research subjects of this interview, specifically individuals who have
worked with the Walt Disney Company during the course of its business operations in China,
as employees of the company or third-party partners with extensive experience working with
the firm.
In order to effectively utilize the Semi-Structured Interview methodologies presented above,
we will utilize a technique for interview presentation style developed by Seidman, in his
work Interviewing as Qualitative Research (2012).
In developing a technique for the presentation style of a research interview, Seidman focuses
on how to develop effective questions that flow from “an interviewer’s concentrated
listening, engaged interest in what is being said, and purpose in moving forward” (95). The

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interview methodology of Neuman and presentation style of Seidman discussed here will
constitute the Semi-Structured Interview methodology to be utilized in this paper.
Data analysis methodologies: In order to analyze the data collected in the research
interviews to be conducted for this thesis, we will utilize a series of relevant data analysis
paradigm methodologies, as developed by Neuman in Social Research Methods: Qualitative
and Quantitative Approaches (2011).
Derived and adapted from the examples and definitions given by Neuman, the analytic
techniques of qualitative data interpretation utilized in this study will include elements of the
following relevant methodological paradigms: 1) illustrative method analysis; 2) domain
analysis; 3) analytic comparison analysis; 4) narrative analysis; 5) network analysis; and 6)
time allocation analysis.
1) Illustrative method analysis “applies theory to a concrete historical situation or social
setting and organizes data based on theory” (519); 2) domain analysis relates to a “method of
qualitative data analysis that describes and reveals the structure of a cultural domain,” (520);
3) analytic comparison analysis may be defined as a “qualitative data analysis technique that
uses the method of agreement and the method of difference to discover causal factors that
affect an outcome among a set of cases” (522); 4) narrative analysis may be defined as “both
a type of historical writing that tells a story and a type of qualitative data analysis that
presents a chronologically linked chain of events in which individual or collective social
actors have an important role” (526); 5) network analysis is defined as a technique that can
““map” the connections among a set of people, organizations, events, or places” (531); and 6)
time allocation analysis is defined as a method to “examine the way people or organizations
spend or invest time to reveal implicit rules of conduct or priorities,” and thereby “document
the duration or amount of time devoted to various activities” (531).

Research Findings
In this study, I interviewed 10 research subjects who have extensive experience working with
the Walt Disney Company in the development and implementation of the firm’s personnel
strategy in China. The research findings of these interviews have been analyzed according to
the six data analysis methodologies mentioned in the previous section, and the final part of
this section will answer the three research questions laid out in the Introduction of this paper.
Illustrative method analysis: Using the illustrative method of glocalization, we see that the
subject of Interview #3-a finance executive at Hong Kong Disneyland-discussed how Disney
created a shared language (such as “cast” for employees and “good show” for high
performance) that allowed all employees-both local and foreign-to understand the goals of the
firm’s brand. By translating these terms into Chinese, Disney created a glocalized personnel
strategy in China.
Domain analysis: The subject of Interview #2-an operations executive at Hong Kong
Disneyland-stated that a proper hiring process should not only bring in the best quality
candidates, but should also focus on attracting individuals who understand and have an
affinity for the company’s brand (the “cultural domain” of the company), as they will be the
best fit for the company in the long term.
Analytic comparison analysis: The subject of Interview #10-an international representative
of Disney in Asia-discussed how the company had to adapt its personnel strategy based on
the location of its Chinese operations. While Hong Kong Disneyland employees are often
multilingual and have experience dealing with foreign tourists, many Shanghai Disneyland
employees speak only Mandarin and have relatively less experience dealing with non-
Chinese people. Disney has accordingly had to increase its service training offerings for its
Shanghai employees.

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Narrative analysis: The subject of Interview #4-a vice president in the Walt Disney
Company-recounted a narrative of how Disney initially placed too many American
executives in leadership positions in its China operations, and how this resulted in a situation
where the resort was not able to effectively react to the unique characteristics of the local
Chinese market. This issue was overcome by increasing the ratio of local executives on the
leadership team.
Network analysis: The ten interviews conducted for this study include eight employees of
the Walt Disney Company, and two external partners. Four of the employees held executive
positions in the company, making them responsible for the development of business strategy.
The other four employees held specialist or managerial roles, making them responsible for
the execution of that strategy. The two external partners included an international
representative of the company and an international management consultant, who advised
Disney on their business operations and personnel strategy decisions in China.
Time allocation analysis: The subject of Interview #5-an architectural designer at Hong
Kong Disneyland-discussed how Disney initially had to spend a large amount of time and
resourcing educating its third-party vendors on how to achieve high-quality Disney standards
for property design and construction, so that the company’s external partners, such as
construction contractors, were trained in and knowledgeable of the firm’s unique brand image
and ways of working.
Answering the research questions
Based on the literature review and original research findings of this paper, we can answer the
questions laid out in the Introduction:
1) The common challenges faced by multinational firms when developing personnel strategy
include [a] recruiting appropriate talent for specific positions; [b] integrating new employees
into the firm’s brand and ways of working; [c] training employees to meet the firm’s
international service standards; and [d] identifying and retaining high-performing talent for
future promotion and leadership roles.
2) The specific challenges faced by Disney’s personnel strategy in China include [a] building
their brand as a respected employer; [b] developing a balanced leadership team of foreign and
local executives; and [c] educating both employees and customers in the unique brand
characteristics and business practices of the Walt Disney Company.
3) In order to overcome obstacles to successful personnel strategy, multinational firms can [a]
create a unique corporate culture that builds the firm’s brand as a respected employer; [b] hire
local executives with knowledge of the local market; [c] educate local executives, employees,
and customers in the company’s unique brand and ways of working; and [d] ensure that
talented employees are recognized and promoted in order to ensure retention.

References
Choi, K. 2012. “Disneyfication and Localisation: The Cultural Globalisation Process of Hong
Kong Disneyland.” Urban Studies 49 (2): 383-397.
Fung, A. & Lee, M. 2009. “Localizing a global amusement park: Hong Kong Disneyland.”
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Kraidy, M. 2001. “From imperialism to glocalization: A theoretical framework for the
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electronic frontier. Connecticut: Praeger, pp. 27-42.
Kraidy, M. 2002. “Hybridity in cultural globalization.” Communication Theory 12 (3): 316-
339.
Matusitz, J. 2011. “Disney’s successful adaptation in Hong Kong: A glocalization
perspective.” Asia Pacific Journal of Management 28: 667-681.

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Neilson, G., Martin, K. & Powers, E. 2008. “The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution.”
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