International Expansion Of Hudsons Bay Case Study

International Expansion Of Hudsons Bay - Case Study Example Appreciating and respecting these differences in the markets can take a company a long way in its bid to take advantage of new business opportunities as well as the general expansion. For instance, a product design that comes forth as appealing to customers in the U.S. may not necessary charm customers in Africa owing to the differences in culture between the two markets. Failure to assess and understand the differences between markers can be disastrous. This was the case for Wal-Mart after it had to close down over 100 stores in Germany following grand losses brought about by the failure to understand the difference between the shopping habits in Germany and the U.S., its location. It is against this backdrop that it emerges as a matter of indispensability to analyze the decision of Hudsons Bay, based in Toronto, Canada, to acquire Galeria Kaufhof, based in Cologne, Germany, as a move to penetrate the Germany and Belgium market (Mahadevan, 2015). In this discussion, the factors that Bay ought to take into consideration in developing a future strategy for the newly acquired division will be delineated as well as a discourse of whether expanding to the Canadian and the U.S. markets is heady and the differences between the Canadian, German, and the Belgian markets. Hudson’s Bay needs to consider a set of factors in developing future strategies for the novel division Kaufhof. To begin with, the cultural differences between Canada and Germany and Belgium are very critical. Bay relished a degree of success back home in Canada as well as the U.S. owing to the fact that these two nations share quite a great deal in terms of culture. However, the culture of Germany and Belgium varies widely with that of Canada and the U.S. Culture influences the buying behaviors of consumers and, therefore, Bay ought to respect the local culture of Germany and Belgium.