The highly competitive situation between Ocean Park and Disneyland was first seen on the Hong Kong 'Time Out' website, where it stated: 'Ocean Park and Disneyland have been in a battle for business for seven years.' (timeout.com.hk). This source then continued to describe the competition between Ocean Park and Disneyland as a continuously increasing (timeout.com.hk). These highly competitive businesses were the subject of many newspaper articles, each ending with an ambiguous conclusion as to which is operating more successfully. In order to evaluate the effect of a globally renowned business penetrating a new market where competition arises, many theories and models were used. Models such as competitive analysis and SWOT analysis were used to measure the change in Ocean Park's operating style after the arrival of Disneyland. Through applying secondary data from a range of sources to these models, Ocean Park's competitive responses to the arrival of Disneyland can be seen, and its effectiveness can be evaluated. .
In this investigation, secondary data, as opposed to primary data, was predominantly used. In relation to validity of secondary data, there is no sample therefore extent of randomization and bias is significantly less of an issue than it would be if primary data were being collected. In terms of reliability since the data has already been processed, it ensures it is true and accurate. The range of secondary sources includes: Newspaper Articles, Internet Research and Textbooks. The benefits of newspaper articles are that they tend to be quite focused, and the date stamps are on, therefore time of release wouldn't be an issue. A limitation is that it may at times have journalism bias, which may affect the final conclusion. One of the main advantages of Internet research is that it is extremely broad; therefore there is an abundance of information available. However, the strength can also be seen as a weakness, as specifying the abundance of information can be a lengthy process.
