There’s no right answer

More often than not, questions don’t have a right or wrong answer. They just have an answer that works well for this moment or for one purpose.

I remember reading the book “Fish Can’t See Water.” It’s about how culture affects company strategy. One case study in particular caught my attention, which was Walmart's entry into Germany.

Apparently, Walmart tried to enter the German market, but the culture they presented clashed so much with the German culture that Walmart wasn’t able to get a foot into the door and drew back.

The interesting part about this case study isn’t the details; it is that I also had the very same case study in a class on regulation where it became clear that Walmart was forced out of the German market by being sued for price dumping and thus couldn’t use its existing playbook.

To me, both conclusions made sense, and both helped me understand the concepts of the class and the book. Is there a “right” answer? I don’t think so, but there is one that’s right for the occasion.