Introduction
Acculturation plays a vital role when making an acquisition for a company in another country. It is the process by which an individual or group acquires cultural traits from another culture. Some social factors that affect acculturation include language, religion, ethics, and cultural norms (Pawan Budhwar & Kamel Mellahi, 2018).
Discussion
The entry of Amazon into the Middle East e-commerce market through the acquisition of Souq is highly influenced by acculturation. From the case study is evident that culture is among the challenges that affected Amazon in its action to operate in the middle east. The essay will focus on analyzing how acculturation participates in the acquisition of the Middle East firm by Amazon. Some of the diverse ways in which acculturation influences global mergers and acquisitions manifest through religious diversity, language barriers, and different cultural values in society.
Amazon is an American-based company hence its movement to the Middle East will be subject to different cultural obstacles. In the first few months of Amazon’s entry into the Middle East, it will be an achievement for the company as it will have expanded its operations (Grigoryev & Berry, 2022). Regarding acculturation, the new entry of Amazon will be accompanied and will be a good platform to share socio-economical values. Amazon will be able to deliver products to people with different cultural values hence expanding its market supply. However, as a result of differences in the cultural values between the Americans and people in the Middle East, Amazon will start facing hostility and conflict in the foreign land.
The sales for the new acquisitions will have to go down with respect to diversified cultural values. The language barrier is the first influence and cause of struggle for the company’s operations (Yagmur & van de Vijver, 2022). Arabs are used to speaking Arabic, which will challenge Amazon, whose products and services are prescribed in English. In this case, the management of the cony has to collaborate with the residents and employ staff from the region to link them to the citizens by translating the language. After a good integration between the two languages, Amazon will be able to communicate with Arabs when trading to increase its sales effectively.
Religion is also one of the acculturation elements that greatly impact the business’s growth. The religion believes of people from the Middle East condemn the use of some products. Therefore, Amazon will be limited to supplying some of the products and services in the region as this may negatively influence their sales (El-Awad et al., 2021). For instance, there are some kinds of food, such as pork which the Arabs cannot tolerate due to their religious tides. Furthermore, the management of Amazon will have to be patient in studying the socio-economic values of the Arabs. The cultural values of the Arabs will influence Amazon to face instability during its first encounter in the Middle East. However, after adopting different cultural norms, this will be the best marketplace for its products.
Conclusion
When diversifying and moving business to a foreign country, it is important to consider the aspect of acculturation as it greatly impacts the business operation. The acquisition of Amazon in the Middle East is subject to acculturation based on different cultural values such as religion, language, and socio-economic values and norms. The business of Amazon is expected to grow after fully adapting to the culture that is in the Arabic countries.
References
El-Awad, U., Fathi, A., Vasileva, M., Petermann, F., & Reinelt, T. (2021). Acculturation orientations and mental health when facing post-migration stress: Differences between unaccompanied and accompanied male Middle Eastern refugee adolescents, first- and second-generation immigrant and native peers in Germany. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 82, 232–246. Web.
Grigoryev, D., & Berry, J. W. (2022). “Causality crisis” in acculturation research a false alarm?: A commentary on Kunst (2021). International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 86, 158–162. Web.
Pawan Budhwar, & Kamel Mellahi. (2018). HRM in the Middle East. Elgaronline.com; Edward Elgar Publishing. Web.
Yagmur, K., & van de Vijver, F. J. R. (2022). Introducing “Acculturation and Language in a Multidisciplinary Perspective.” Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Acculturation in Turkish Immigrants, 1–11. Web.