Critically review the relevant theory, then compare and contrast what the organisation does, or what you perceive it to do, with the academic theory

The globalization, seen as the extension of the market economy and the capitalism at the world level increased these last years (Usunier & Lee, 2009, p.12). That’s why companies which decide to become international are more and more. This globalization advocates relations between cultures which have a fundamental function on the customer behaviour. With the economic globalization, we could trust that there is now a global culture like Levitt (1989) said but a lot of writers like Nkosinathi (2002) argue that there is always maintenance of cultural differences because the world doesn’t share the same standards, practices and social values. Armstrong & Kotler (2006) interpret culture as “The set of basic values, perceptions, wants, and behaviours learned by a member of society from family and other important institutions”. Culture is a main factor that a company has to take care in its marketing mix. When a company already implanted in a region wants to insert its product or service in a new region, it must take the choice between the standardization and the diversification of its product. The standardization strategy can be defined as “An international marketing strategy for using basically the same product, advertising, distribution channels, and other elements of the marketing mix in all the company’s international markets” (Armstrong & Kotler, 2006, p.577). On the other hand, the diversification strategy has been defined as “An International marketing strategy for adjusting the marketing-mix elements to each international target market, bearing more costs but hoping for a larger market share and return” (Armstrong & Kotler, 2006, p.577). In this essay, we will discuss about the cultural understanding difficulties by firms which want to introduce themselves in new markets. We will use the example of Disney to