Business Culture Vietnam E-Book

Birthe R. Greisen

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

This book provides a framework and tools, for navigating with cultural intelligence in a Vietnamese business context. The book includes insights and knowledge about motivators and trust drivers, leading to successful leadership and collaboration in Vietnam. To support you in reaching the results you are aiming for, you will find advice from experienced Vietnam expats and a broad range of action strategies, ready to use. Providing a foundation of knowlegde and understanding of ways to build fruitful relationships, collaboration, and productivity in a Vietnamese cultural context, this book is intended to serve as a handbook for anyone, who wants to do successful business in Vietnam. Project leaders, business executives at all levels, employees, and students. A Danish perspective is included.

Leseprobe

Sometimes culture means everything,

sometimes culture means nothing...

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Why This Book?

About Culture

The Guide

VIETNAM

A Dynamic Market of Opportunity and Potential

ADVICE FROM THE EXPERIENCED

DIFFERENT PEOPLE, DIFFERENT CULTURES

Context

The cultural lens: My World - Your World

What you need

What you get: Framework and Tools

Context Analysis

TRUST DRIVERS IN CROSS-CULTURAL BUSINESS

Cross-cultural Trust Driver ABC - Seven Trust Drivers Fundamental for Leadership and Collaboration

4.1 AUTHORITY AND HIERARCHY

Attitudes to Authority and Hierarchy

Different Leadership Styles

Vietnam Compared to Denmark on Leadership

Danish and Vietnamese Profiles on Leadership Style

4.1.1 STRATEGIES FOR BRIDGING THE GAP - AUTHORITY AND HIERARCHY

4.2 BUILDING TRUST

Ways of Building and Maintaining Trust with Business Partners

Vietnam Compared to Denmark on How to Build Trust

Danish and Vietnamese Profiles on Trust Building and Making Agreements

4.2.1 STRATEGIES FOR BRIDGING THE GAP - BUILDING TRUST

4.3 COMMUNICATION STYLES

Different Communication Styles

Vietnam Compared to Denmark on Communication Style

Danish and Vietnamese Profiles on Communication Style

4.3.1 STRATEGIES FOR BRIDGING THE GAP - COMMUNICATION

4.4 DECISION MAKING PROCESSES

Different Ways to Make Decisions

Vietnam Compared to Denmark on Decision Making

Danish and Vietnamese Profiles on Decision Making

4.4.1 STRATEGIES FOR BRIDGING THE GAP - DECISION MAKING

4.5 EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK STYLES

Different Evaluation and Feedback Styles

Vietnam Compared to Denmark on Evaluation & Feedback

Danish and Vietnamese Profiles on Evaluation & Feedback

4.5.1 STRATEGIES FOR BRIDGING THE GAP - EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK

4.6 FLEXIBILITY AND TIME ORIENTATION

Different Concepts of Time

Vietnam Compared to Denmark on Perceptions of Time

Danish and Vietnamese Profiles on Time Perception

4.6.1 STRATEGIES FOR BRIDGING THE GAP - FLEXIBILITY AND TIME

4.7 GROUP ATTACHMENT

Weak and Strong Group Attachment

Vietnam Compared to Denmark on Group Attachment

Danish and Vietnamese Profiles on Group Attachment

4.7.1 STRATEGIES FOR BRIDGING THE GAP - GROUP ATTACHMENT

HOW TO MOTIVATE VIETNAMESE EMPLOYEES

Factors Influencing the Motivation of Vietnamese Employees

5.1 BRIDGING THE GAP - MOTIVATING VIETNAMESE EMPLOYEES

TEAMWORK AND TEAM MEETINGS

Managing and Motivating Vietnamese Teams

LAST WORDS

Summary

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BIBLIOGRAPHY

You cannot do

a copy and paste

of

good leadership

from one cultural context

to

another

INTRODUCTION

WHY THIS BOOK?

ABOUT CULTURE

THE GUIDE

WHY THIS BOOK?

This book is for inspiration and support for you who wants to create a competitive advantage for yourself and your company when working in a Vietnamese context. For you who want to build effective leadership and collaboration and seize the opportunities in the attractive and fast growing Vietnamese market.

To navigate effectively in Vietnamese business, you must realize you will have to define your role and actions in a different cultural reality, and what is most important, to act accordingly in performing your job.

A friend of mine and his wife Lisa moved from Denmark to Vietnam, both excited about their new job positions in Ho Chi Minh City. Lisa had been very successful in her recent job in Denmark, and she was very confident about her skills when starting up in her workplace in Vietnam. She had very high expectations about her future success as a leader, and her possibilities of creating a high-performance workforce, boosting the competitiveness of the company in the emerging Vietnamese market.

10 months later, Lisa left the job. She had been working seriously, long hours, and focused like in Denmark. But no matter what, even though employees in the company were polite to her, it seemed like she had no influence. Everyone agreed to the changes proposed, but no one took any action, and goals were not met. Work performance was declining. She ended up disappointed in herself and her employees. She felt she was failing. Her self-respect getting close to zero.

Of course, before she left Denmark, she realized the Vietnamese culture would be different from her own. She had the best intentions to deal with that. In Denmark, she had been a respected and valued leader, and she tried to continue her successful leadership style. She was convinced, she would be able to cope with it along the way. What she did not realize was the difference in expectations of good leadership in Vietnam and Denmark - and how to deal with it.

THREE MISUNDERSTANDINGS WERE MADE BY LISA:

That getting the opportunity, employees, in general, worldwide, would value working in an environment of egalitarian leadership and influencing decision-making.

That doing a job without close supervision, having individual and team responsibility, serves as a motivator, and that people from everywhere would appreciate working under this kind of freedom and respect.

That, in a collectivistic society like Vietnam, where people are inclined to prioritize group interests, teamwork is an easy and effective way of organizing work.

Things do not have to turn out as bad as they did for Lisa. You can learn along the way, and eventually, manage your job OK after some time.

Or even better. When you want to do a great job, perform and succeed from the very start, you can prepare. You can choose to be culturally intelligent and navigate effectively in Vietnamese business. To access your full potential and reach what you are aiming for. To create trust and collaboration followed by high performance and productivity. To create competitiveness for you and your company. Not missing out on attractive opportunities.

The multiple opportunities of the fast-growing Vietnamese market are highly attractive to Danish and European exporters and investors. To seize the opportunities and grow your business in Vietnam to its full potential, an understanding of Vietnamese business culture is necessary. Cross-cultural insight is the foundation for operating effectively in leadership and collaboration.

Vietnam is attractive as a market and as a production site. The country is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with a rising middle class, and with a government committed to growth. The Vietnamese economy is competitive at low costs, and the workforce is young and hardworking. A growing global economic integration and a free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam applying from August 2020 is enhancing market opportunities.

To be competitive in this attractive environment you must adapt to another reality. If you want to make changes in the working and organizational environment, be prepared for it to take time. To be effective you cannot just copy and paste your previous success model, or assume this economy is similar to others in the region.

This book is about motivators of behavior in leadership and collaboration in Vietnam. The intention is to provide a foundation of knowledge and understanding of ways to build fruitful relationships, collaboration, and productivity in a Vietnamese business context.

Information alone will not change your results. Your actions will.

To support you in reaching the results you are aiming for, you will also find a broad range of action strategies, ready to use in your choice of actions and cross-cultural adjustments.

The reasons for spending resources and mindset on cross-cultural knowledge are plural.

Navigation without cross-cultural insight results in:

increased time to get the job done.

Extra traveling and increased costs.

Misunderstandings and frustration.

Poor job performance.

Lower productivity and revenues.

Lost opportunities.

But how can you identify your challenges in the Vietnamese cultural context and act on what you know? This book will provide you with tools to support you. The book is intended to serve as a practical handbook for anyone who wants to do an excellent job and successful business in Vietnam. Project leaders, business executives at all levels, employees, and students.

To keep close to reality and the intended practical use of this book, in addition to visits in Vietnam and studying comprehensive literature on the subject, I have consulted people experienced in living and working in Vietnam.

ABOUT CULTURE

Culture is about the values, beliefs, and all the underlying reasons, determining why people behave the way they do. Differences in values, logic, and mentality exist among individuals in all cultures. However, for various reasons, some cultural traits tend to become dominant in different areas and countries. It is important to accept and understand that no culture is right or wrong. Cultures are different. Describing the general picture of the cultural traits of countries makes it possible to compare countries on cultural dimensions. Looking at culture like this is generalizing. The descriptions in this book of cultural tendencies are meant to serve as a framework - a foundation. It is crucial to emphasize, that it is not the intention of this guide to do stereotyping. Stereotyping is an oversimplified, fixed understanding. What you find in this guide will be tendencies or generalizations based on research, showing that different geographic regions around the world have a preferred way of doing things.

Every person still has their way. Always remember that you are dealing with people, not cultures and each individual is different.

THE GUIDE -

YOUR PRACTICAL ROADMAP FOR BUILDING TRUST AND COLLABORATION IN VIETNAM

Vietnamese business culture is different from Danish business culture in many aspects.

How can you possibly keep up with all the different cultural contexts you are a part of, in a culture different from your own, such as the Vietnamese? How can you work in a Vietnamese context, bridge the gaps, and leverage from both diversity and similarities? How can you create a working environment characterized by the willingness of employees to increase efforts towards meeting the goals of the organization? How can you diagnose the cultural code, adapt your behavior and act appropriately in different settings?

In the following, you will find cross-cultural insights and tools supporting you in navigating in Vietnamese business.

I structured the tools in this book into four categories:

You will be presented with a framework of seven cultural dimensions, fundamental for building trust and collaboration in business. Your cross-cultural trust driver ABC.

On each trust driver, you will find a profile of the tendencies, cultural norms, and expectations in Danish business.

On each trust driver, you will also find a profile of the cultural norms and expectations in Vietnamese business culture. Included are descriptions of how to motivate Vietnamese employees and how to manage teamwork and meetings.

To support you in defining your challenges, a model for context analysis is included. For your inspiration in defining your personal cultural code and strategy to bridge the gap, you find a broad range of action strategies as well as advice from experienced expats.

1 VIETNAM

A DYNAMIC MARKET OF OPPORTUNITY AND POTENTIAL

The Next Asian Miracle?

VIETNAM

Vietnam is a fast-growing market opening multiple opportunities for foreign exporters and investors. From 2016 to 2050 the average real GDP1 growth p.a. is estimated to be 5 %2, making Vietnam the leading emerging market in the world.

In addition to high annual growth rates in GDP, favorable conditions for doing business in Vietnam include:

Free trade agreements, including free trade agreement with the EU.

Commitment to continuing global economic integration.

One of the leaders in wind capacity and renewable energy adoption among ASEAN

3

countries.

Energy demand is predicted to increase by over 8 % per year from 2021 to 2030.

Significant potential for renewable energy due to geographic features and natural resources.

Strong low-cost manufacturing sector.

Young and growing workforce.

Relatively open environment for FDI

4

.

Government committed to growth and improvement of the business environment - allocating resources to exports, infrastructure, and schools.

Internal political stability.

Strategic location.

Rising middle class.

Obstacles/disadvantages to doing business in Vietnam could be corruption and scarcity of skilled labor.

The Communist Party maintains tight political control of the country. However, according to Chief Global Strategist Ruchir Sharma, the Government is making autocratic capitalism work unusually well, through open economic policies and sound financial management.

After multiple rounds of privatization, the government owns significantly fewer companies. However, those still owned by the government are huge and account for nearly a third of economic output.5

The Vietnamese government has designated four geographical areas as priority regions for industrial development, which are: The Northern, Central, Southern, and Mekong Delta Key Economic Zones.

Vietnam is extending 1,650 km north to south and is only 50 km across at its narrowest point. You will experience quite a difference in culture between the north and south of the country. Ho Chi Minh City in the south is characterized by a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and open spirit. The city is the largest economic hub in Vietnam, showing growth rates larger than the rest of the country. Hanoi in the north, the center of Government, is more traditional.

Vietnam is not the same as any other economy in the region, and even within Vietnam, you must adapt your strategies to the local environment.