(Report – 2700 words and Proposal – 800 words)

Choose an international company and compare its home and foreign market based on culture, social norms, and ethics, then present your findings in a proposal + detailed report (3500 words).

Overview of the Assignment

Focus on 3 topics:

National Culture

Social Norms

Business Ethics

Submit Proposal (800 words): Company + reason for choosing the selected country + market overview Topics + why you selected them

Submit Final Report (2700 words): Introduction Literature Review (theories/models) Case Study (comparison + analysis) Conclusion

Proposal

Introduction

Nature of the business and products

Primark is a leading international retailer, mainly known for offering fashionable and high-quality clothing, footwear, accessories, and home products at affordable prices. Operating primarily within the fast fashion sector, Primark consciously targets cost-conscious consumers by maintaining a low-cost business model, emphasising volume sales and minimising expenditure on advertising (Marketingweek.com, 2024). The product portfolio primarily comprises men’s, women’s, and children’s apparel, as well as beauty and lifestyle items, appealing to a broader demographic segment.

History of the business

Penneys was founded in 1969 by Arthur Ryan in Dublin, Ireland, under the name Penneys. Due to trademark restrictions, the organisation adopted the name Primark for their expansion in the UK market in 1973 (Primark.com, 2025). Over the decades, Primark has experienced rapid growth, expanding its presence in the Middle East. The organisation operates under the parent organisation Associated British Foods (ABF), and it has also built a reputation for offering ” value for money” products.

Current market position and status

Primark is ranked among the top global fashion retailers across the world in 2025. The organisation operates their business through more than 451 stores set out across 16 countries (Statista.com, 2025). The UK is considered to be the largest market for Primark, which successfully contributes to its revenue growth and progress. The organisation further faces stiff competition from its nearest rivals, such as H&M, Uniqlo and Zara. Primark is focused towards providing affordability and fresh stock of inventories, allowing it to maintain a strong position in the global competitive landscape (Bstrategyhub.com, 2024).

Mission statement

The mission statement for Primark comprises “ to provide affordable fashion and everyday essentials without compromise, so that everyone deserves to look and feel good” (Primark.com, 2025). The mission statement for the organisation seeks to promote their value, inclusivity and responsibility towards the fashion industry.

Organisational structure

The retail organisation Primark undertakes a hierarchical structure along with centralised decision making; the firm has its headquarters situated in Dublin. The centralised decision-making allows the organisation to take control of key operations that include merchandising, design and underlying strategic direction (Primark.com, 2025). Whereas the role of regional managers is to oversee the store operations and logistics. Hierarchical structure helps in maintaining consistency throughout their global stores.

International expansion

Primark has undertaken the decision of expanding its business out of Europe and the UK and opening up new stores across new regions, such as the Middle Eastern market, such as the UAE (Primark.com, 2025). The decision is justified for Primark as it aligns with their strategic goal of expanding their business in different geographical markets to increase profitability.

Introduction to the international market: UAE vs UK

The decision of Primark to expand its business in the region of the UAE is justified as it provides a high-growth economy, increasing purchasing power among the people and growing acceptance of affordable and luxury clothing ranges. The current population of 9.5 million supports the UAE’s retail sector growth due to expatriate consumers and youthful demographics (Manchesterprofessionals.co, 2025). In comparison to that, the population of the UK is 68 million, with growing retail competition from already established players and slow growth recorded in the UK fast fashion industry. Furthermore, the UAE’s per capita income exceeds $ 45,000, which points to the strong consumer spending (Manchesterprofessionals.co, 2025). In comparison to that, the UK face moderate growth due to rising inflation and the slowing growth of the economy. Socially and culturally, the market of the UAE is primarily being shaped by Islamic values, influencing the fashion choices (Johnmason.com, 2020). It helps Primark to meet the market demand by launching culturally adaptive clothing lines.

Topics to be studied

The three chosen topics for the analysis are national culture, social norms and business ethics; these topics play a crucial role in shaping the international business strategies and growing consumer engagement. It has been identified that national culture influences managerial practices such as communication and choices of the consumer that align with Hofstede’s (2011) cultural dimension theory, which mainly highlights how the cultural value affects the organisational behaviour and decision-making. Social norms become important for the purpose of knowing about the behaviour of customers and also about their growing expectations, for example, in the UAE, modesty and family-oriented values help persuade the fashion consumption patterns (Minkov and Kaasa, 2021). Business ethics explains the corporate reputation along with growing sustainability, especially in the markets where ethical sourcing, along with fair long-term practices, turns out to be highly crucial, as it is mainly being highlighted in the “Primark Cares” initiative. Choosing these topics helps in developing a comprehensive understanding of how cultural as well as ethical dimensions impact the business adaptation and brand perception between the UK and UAE markets.

Planning

Week	Tasks	Objectives
Week 1	Selection of topic and background research	Defining research scope and objectives
Week 2	Literature review and collection of data	Gathering relevant academic and practical sources
Week 3	Comparative market analysis (UK vs UAE)	Identify key cultural, social and ethical factors
Week 4	Draft report writing	Develop structured analysis and discussion
Week 5	Editing, proofreading, and referencing	Ensure clarity, accuracy and proper formatting

Final Report

Abstract

The report investigated how the national culture, social norms and business ethics look ahead in influencing international business strategy for Priram, comparing its operations in the UK and that of the potential expansion in the market of the UAE. Considering Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Schwartz’s value framework and Carroll’s CSR pyramid, the study examines how cultural differences, behaviour of the consumers and ethics help Primark to shape their strategic decisions. Investigation of the report has also explained about adaptability towards UAE culture, maintaining ethics and complying with governance practices that are highly essential in achieving growth for Primark in their international market. Aligning ethics with that of the CSR initiatives with that of the local UAE culture helps in growing competitiveness for the organisation.

Introduction

Globalisation has made it easier for Primark to know about the impact of culture, social and ethical issues in their operations in the international market. This report mainly focuses on Primark, which is a leading fast-fashion retailer, investigating how the national culture, social norms and business ethics influence its own business practices, especially when comparing its home market, the United Kingdom (UK), and its potential expansion into the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The rationale for choosing this particular topic mainly lies in the growing recognition that success for businesses not only depends on the economic strategies but also depends on the factor of how organisations adapt themselves to the diverse culture and comply with the ethical principles (Alqarni, 2022).

Reason for the project

The main reason for performing this study lies in exploring how effectively Primark aligns its corporate strategies with the cultural, social, and ethical practices in the different markets. Globalisation is the factor that leads to the rise of competition for organisations, balancing the standardised business models with those of localised practices that respect national culture as well as ethical expectations (Han, 2022). Primark has built its reputation among customers based on the key factors of affordability and accessibility. First, for Primark, it becomes highly crucial to know about the consumers’ behaviour, their traditions and social practices while venturing into the market of the UAE. Knowing about these nuances, the report aims to examine the strategic opportunities for Primark to grow cross-cultural integration and also maintain ethical integrity to sustain international business operations

Overview of Primark

Primark was established in 1969 and has its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. The organisation offers luxury fast fashion wear products and accessories that allow it to hold a high position in the global fast fashion retail industry (Primark.com, 2025). Currently, the organisation operates their business across Europe and in North America through their 451 stores. The organisation is profitable due to their low-cost business model and efficient supply chain management, which helps in streamlining the operations and growing business excellence. The corporate philosophy for Primark mainly includes value for money and sustainability through initiatives such as the Primark Cares Program that look to promote ethical sourcing and encourage environmental responsibility.

Key topics of the report

The present report examines interconnectedness among three key themes, such as national culture, social norms and business ethics. These themes are being examined subsequently, which allows us to understand how these themes help in influencing Primark’s international operations.

Literature Review

Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory is considered to be one of the widely used models for examining how the national culture impacts the behaviour of the firms, determines the choices and preferences of the consumers and determines the management styles (Minkov and Kaasa, 2021). Hofstede’s model helps in identifying about six key cultural dimensions, helping in knowing about how people in different societies interact, communicate and also helps in making effective business decisions. Considering the current report, the implication of Hofstede’s framework is highly appropriate for comparing the cultural differences between the UK and the UAE. The UK scores high in the dimension of individualism but scores low in power distance, which emphasises equality, autonomy and open communication within the workplace (Theculturefactor.com, 2025). Subsequently, the UAE, on the other hand, scores higher in power distance and collectivism, which explains the higher form of hierarchical business relationships and community-oriented culture that is predominantly influenced by the Islamic traditions.

Schwarts’s theory of basic human values

Schwartz’s theory of basic human values integrates with Hofstede’s model by focusing towards universal human motivations and also determining how the values carry across societies. The theory primarily identifies ten core values comprising benevolence, conformity, power and security that help in guiding the behaviour of both individuals and teams (Schwartz,  2021). This framework is particularly useful as it helps in investigating social norms and how they help shape the attitudes of customers towards fashion and sustainability in different markets. The implication of the theory upon Primark helps in explaining why UK consumers might look ahead in prioritising self-expression and also affordability, whereas UAE consumers value social harmony, modesty and brand reputation (Johnmason.com, 2020). These key insights gained look ahead in providing support to the growing need for culturally adaptive marketing and product design. Although some of the scholars might explain that Schwartz’s model might lack contextual flexibility across different markets.

Carroll’s CSR Pyramid

In order to address business ethics, the CSR pyramid provides a comprehensive framework that helps in understanding corporate social responsibility. Examining the model, it explains about four interrelated dimensions of CSR that mainly comprise economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities (Kusyk, 2021). In the context of Primark, this framework is considered to be justified and appropriate for examining how the organisation balances profit objectives with that of ethical supply chain management and developing sustainable practices under the initiative of Primark Cares. This model also remains highly relevant as it looks ahead in integrating ethical principles within the corporate strategy and aligning it with that of the sustainability framework, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The CSR pyramid further provides a foundation for investigating the ethical challenges and how they impact the business, such as labour practices, environmental concerns and cultural sensitivity in new markets such as the UAE (Štreimikienė and Ahmed, 2021).

Critical evaluation and rationale for selection

Rightful integration of the three frameworks, Hofstede’s, Schwartz’s and Carroll’s, helps in creating a multi-dimensional understanding related to how cultural, social and ethical factors look to influence the international business strategy for Primark. The theory of Hofstede explains cultural as well as managerial differences, Schwartz’s model further helps in addressing the behaviour of the consumer and social norms, and Carroll’s pyramid examines the ethical implications of corporate actions (Hajar et al., 2023). These frameworks enable carrying out a holistic assessment related to how Primark can successfully integrate ethical practices, align with culture and undertake social responsiveness while looking to expand its business in the UAE. These theories implied in the above section provide support to the report’s objective of guiding Primark’s culturally sensitive and ethically sustainable global expansion strategy.

Case Study

Introduction and comparative method

This analysis undertakes a comparative methodology in order to investigate Primark’s strategic choices, management practices and retail activities within their domestic UK market and their international expansion into the United Arab Emirates. This particular study integrates international business theories comprising Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Schwartz’s values framework, Carroll’s CSR model and institutional theory, with evidence being gathered from Primark’s sustainability reporting and their corporate announcements. Comparisons are being drawn out as to how Primark operationalise a uniform value proposition (low price, high volume, large-format stores) while looking to adopt product assortments, partner governance and ethical practices to culturally distinct markets (Harvard.edu, 2020). It also highlights how national culture, social norms and business ethics interrelate to help shape the strategy, and it further draws out information from open-access academic literature on fast fashion, sustainability transitions and cross-cultural consumer behaviour (Primark.com, 2024).

Core strategy and management model (domestic UK)

Primark’s strategy while operating their businesses in the domestic market of the UK revolves around a high volume, low margin retail model, which is also supported by large format, high footfall stores, controlling the inventory and tightening the cost. The organisation has taken a step towards minimising its investment in e-commerce to preserve margins and drive in-store turnover (Marketingweek.com, 2023). Recently, the organisation has introduced limited omnichannel measures such as click and collect pilots in order to respond to changing expectations of the customers while prioritising their store-first approach. Management in the UK is relatively centralised for buying, sourcing and brand strategy, but devolves executional authority to regional store operations to fine-tune merchandising and deployment of labour. The low-margin retail model for Primark has mainly benefited from deep consumer familiarity with the brand, established supplier relationships and a mature retail infrastructure in the UK (Retailgazette.co, 2024). The domestic performance of Primark and its commitment towards sustainable sourcing are documented in its annual Primark care reports.

Entry model and management (International-UAE)

The decision of Primark to expand its business in the UAE is mainly being backed by a partnership entry mode method, such as with Alshaya Group, which is a leading regional retail franchise operator (Primark.com, 2025). This strategic choice helps in reducing direct capital exposure, leverages local market knowledge and …….

References

Alqarni, A.M., 2022. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions in relation to learning behaviours and learning styles: A critical analysis of studies under different cultural and language learning environments. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 18.

Bstrategyhub.com (2024). Top 15 Primark Competitors and Alternatives. [Online] Available at: https://bstrategyhub.com/primark-competitors-and-alternatives/. [Accessed on: 22^nd October 2025]

Businessoffashion.com (2025). Consumer Trends and Cultural Opportunities in Dubai. [Online] Available at: https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/global-markets/fashion-consumer-trends-and-cultural-opportunities-for-brands-in-dubai/. [Accessed on: 22^nd October 2025]

Esgdistrict.tijd, (2023). PRIMARK SUSTAINABILITY AND ETHICS PROGRESS REPORT. [Online] Available at: https://esgdistrict.tijd.be/media/Primark-2023-ENG-1. [Accessed on: 22^nd October 2025]

Manchesterprofessionals.co, (2025). UAE Retail Market Demand Analysis and Growth Forecast. [Online] Available at: https://www.manchesterprofessionals.co.uk/article/business-management/108877/uae-retail-market-demand-analysis-and-growth-forecast. [Accessed on: 22^nd October 2025]