Too Much Culturally Aware? When Intercultural Reconciliation Fails in Business : The Case of IKEA in Saudi Arabia

The role of culture as a strategic risk for companies doesn't need more advocates, there is an abundance of examples featuring spectacular failures when home's values and norms meet local cultural reality. Indeed, in order to position themselves into the foreign market, companies need to adapt to the local culture and to deeply understand the local society. But what happens when a company's strategy of local adaptation contradicts the firm's displayed global values? This article reviews the case of IKEA from Sweden, a leading furniture distributor, in its failed strategy to reconcile Saudi Arabia's strict cultural requirements with the company's global values and brand philosophy, causing a media reaction in the Western markets