Cedar Fair's Corporate Social Responsibility

The company owns 11 amusement parks, three water parks, and five hotels. Properties include Knott's Berry Farm and Knott’s Berry Soak City in Buena Park, California; Michigan's Adventure near Muskegon, Michigan; Cedar Point and Cedar Point Soak City, located in Sandusky, Ohio; Kings Island in Kings Mill, Ohio; Canada’s Wonderland; Carrowinds located in Charlotte, North Carolina; Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania; King’s Domain located in Doswell, Virgina; Valleyfair nestled in Shakopee, Minnesota; Wildwater Kingdom in Aurora, Ohio; and Worlds of Fun Oceans of Fun located in Kansas City, Missouri. Two of the parks, Knott's Berry Farm and Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark Resort, operate year-round while the other parks

are open between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Cedar Fair’s core values and mission were difficult to find but are implied in most of their reports and are close in relation to each other. The core values and the mission for Cedar Fair L.P. are fun for all, long-term success and staff dedicated to guest experience along with a mission of achieving the legacy of award winning and record breaking rides. Not only do they values these attributes, the company also strives for them constantly. For Cedar Fair, that is the structure for almost all of their success.
To achieve results like Cedar Fair L.P., organizations have to figure out what their culture is, decide what it should be, and move everyone toward the desired culture. Company cultures evolve and change over time. A company’s culture can also be effected by many things such as new hire employees joining the company because each new employee brings their own values and practices to the group. Another thing that effects a company’s culture is dependent upon what stage your business is in of its life. As the company matures from a startup to a more established company, the company culture will change. The environment in which the company operates in will also change the company’s culture.
From reviews of previous employees who have worked for Cedar Fair parks have a low to average satisfied rate while working for the company leading to a low company culture. Most employees were happy with their fellow coworkers and supervisors but all had the same complaints of no overtime for seasonal employees, along with low wages, understaffed, which in turn leads to overwhelming amounts of hours to work, and little to no breaks. Many workers also complained of the fact that it is also physically demanding to be walking for miles around the parks all day in the hot sun for hours on end.
Not only is it Cedar Fair’s responsibility to boost the companies culture, they also execute a high degree of social responsibility involving everything from economics, to legal and moral responsibilities especially when operating multiple amusement parks where guest and employee’s life could potentially be on the line.

There are three main responsibilities for a company to cover under social responsibility environmental, social and economical. When social and economical responsibilities overlap it helps create an equitable company. When environmental and economical responsibilities overlap it creates a viable company. When social and environmental overlap it creates a bearable company. But when all three are combined it creates a sustainable company that incorporates all three outcomes of overlapping

responsibilities.
Some focuses of social responsibilities for Cedar Fair L.P.

are the local community, environment, general public, shareholders or investors, employees, customers and government or administrative bodies. Although not much information is not given on the social responsibilities of Cedar Fair L.P. it is acceptable to interpret and understand what their social responsibilities are as a company. It is a social responsibility of Cedar Fair L.P. to voluntarily eliminate hazards. Some examples are making sure rides are secure and safe to ride, that includes when weather is not cooperating, and installing security fences to contain guests for their own safety. Food safety is another social responsibility for eliminating hazards, many people have allergies and it is necessary for each park to label and clearly state what’s included in the recipe, what the food was cooked in and where the ingredients came from. It is also extremely important to follow OSHA’s requirements for proper food handling, storing and cooking methods.
Another social responsibility of Cedar Fair L.P. is community development. Not only does each park benefit from a plethora of guests but so does neighboring businesses such as hotels when guests decide to stay overnight close to the park and restaurants for people who decide to eat outside of the park. Many of Cedar Fair’s parks even offer deals on tickets for two day entry to help boost sales for hotels and restaurants in the

area.
Philanthropy and education and awareness is also a social responsibility for Cedar Fair L.P. Many of Cedar Fair’s parks donate their time and money to charity. They also create educational and awareness programs for many of each parks surrounding areas such as Cedar Point being located right next to Lake Erie and a couple of their parks being located near farm land, Cedar Fair has tried to educate and create aware the damage that pollution and other littering can cause.
One of the final social responsibilities for Cedar Fair L.P. is environmental responsibilities. It is up to the company to create less waste and reduce, reuse and recycle as many products that they carry as possible.

Section 3-Analysis of the External Environmental
The industry segment and market that Cedar Fair L.P. belongs to is classified under amusement parks. In each industry segment are industry products and industry activities that companies focus on. Cedar Fair’s industry products that they offer are admissions, food and beverages, merchandising, sponsorship and licensing. Industry activities that Cedar Fair focuses on for its parks are operating theme parks for seasonal use such as Cedar Point’s Haunt that occurs before and on Halloween weekend. Cedar Fair also focuses on other industry activities for their parks such as operating the amusement park and the water parks that are offered at various locations. Cedar Fair’s market segments are families especially with younger children between the ages of 2 and 12, another markets segment they cater to are teens from the age of 13-20 and young to mid adults ranging from 21-30.
Not only Cedar Fair, but most amusement parks in general is an unattractive marketing segment. The amusement park industry scales economies, has a learning curve effect, requires a large capital and must need brand loyalty. Although there are few alternatives, there are many firms but a high industry growth rate, it is unequal in size and is differentiated, and there are also the threat of many substitutes and few to no complementary products and services.
The major competitors of Cedar Fair L.P. are Six Flags Entertainment Corp who owns 13 amusement parks, 7 outdoor water parks, 1 indoor water park and 4 separate admission water parks. Most of their parks are located farther south, since most of their themes are the focus of flags of the six different nations that have governed Texas which are Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. The original park is split into separate regions, such as the Spain and Mexico section which featured Spanish themed rides, attractions, and buildings.
Another competition of Cedar Fair L.P. is SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. SeaWorld operates eleven theme parks located throughout the United States. Because of external factors, such as the critically acclaimed documentary, Blackfish, outed SeaWorld for their mistreatment to their killer whales, which was one of their major selling points for the park. Because of the film, it created an 84% decrease in SeaWorld’s net income. Even though SeaWorld is not a front runner as a rival for Cedar Fair L.P. they still create a challenge and take attendance away from the competition.
One of the last major competition for Cedar Fair L.P. is Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and is the most visited vacation resort in the world. Walt Disney Park and Resorts houses 27 themed resort hotels, four theme parks, two water parks, five golf courses, two miniature golf courses, a camping resort, and a downtown shopping district. Not only is Disney Park and Resorts one of the greatest competitors for Cedar Fair L.P.
They compete through revenue, growth, earnings, ticket prices, number of employees, attendance and number of locations. Below is the main competitors compared to Cedar Fair L.P although very little information was given on the nature of competitive rivalry or for the competitive life cycle for the competitors of Cedar Fair L.P., it is appropriate to assume the nature of competitive rivalry within amusement parks are quite intense.

The industry structure for amusement parks has changed over time and barriers to entry have become more significant. Many external and internal factors are because of this. One reason for significant barriers to entry are because of product differentiation. Companies have brand identification and customer loyalties and this forces entrants to spend heavily to overcome these loyalties. Another reason barriers to entry are more significant are because of capital requirement. It is the financial resource required for infrastructure, machinery, and advertising. Switching cost is another reason for significant barriers to entry. They are one-time costs the buyer faces when switching an existing supplier’s product to a new competitor some examples are employee retraining, new equipment, and technical support. Access to distribution channels and government policies also create a significant barrier to entry for the amusement park industry. It can be a barrier if logical distribution channels have been locked up by officials and governments can limit or prevent entry to industries with various controls for example, licensing requirements, limits to access to certain materials.