Culture: an unnoticed barrier to Canadian retail performance in the USA

Abstract

For many Canadian retail firms, culture has been an unnoticed barrier to operating successfully in the USA. Evidence from retail case studies suggests that Canadian executives found significant cultural differences between Canadians and Americans, which manifested themselves in the values and behaviors of competitors, consumers, suppliers, employees, and managers. Empirical evidence from a survey of 271 CEOs from the top retail companies in Canada and the USA confirms the presence of cultural differences between the two countries. The paper concludes that although cultural differences are important, it is the lack of recognition of such differences prior to entry that leads to failure. The implications of the results for further research and practice are discussed.