Four major potential interviewing problems and suggestions to job applicants

Apparently, culture is an important factor that influence on business communication.Howver, many Vietnamese businesses has not really appreciated culture and its impact tobusiness commun

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HCMC UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ,/ DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

ADVISOR

BUI VU HOANG QUAN

KMII04IlDH490425CHAU THE HUU, MBA

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the persons who have helped andsupported me throughout this study They have all made it possible for me to begin andcomplete this study I would like to acknowledge and commend them for their effort,cooperation and collaboration that have worked towards the success of this study

First of all, I am deeply grateful to my lecturer, advisor - Mr.Chau The Huu for patientlytaking me through this difficult study and guiding me with his useful advices from thebeginning to the very end of this study The work would not be possible without thecontributions and involvement of my advisor

I wish to thank my friends who share much useful information to me, even when they areunder the pressures of their study To Nguyen Thi Van Anh and Truong Thanh Luan, Iwould like to say well done and good luck for us in the future

I would like to extent my thanks to all persons who have helped me in providingthoughts, opinions for the survey of this study Without their contribution, this studycannot be completed easily and accurately

In addtion, I would like to send my thanks to the IBA Department and HUFLIT forallowing me to do this study

Last but not least, I would like to thank my family for supporting and encouraging me tofinish my study I could not have done it without them

My sincere!

During his time of composing, he has been a hardworking and clever student whoimpressed me a lot.

Advisor

CHAU THE HUU (MBA)

Apparently, culture is an important factor that influence on business communication.Howver, many Vietnamese businesses has not really appreciated culture and its impact tobusiness communication In fact, many Vietnamese businesses face cultural difficultieswhen communicating with U.S partners The purposes of this study were to find out theinfluence of culture on international business communication with U.S partners andVietnamese businesses' perception of culture, then to propose practical solutions.Quantity research was conducted with random respondents Results showed that theVietnamese businesses In order to communicate with U.S successfully, doing the rightthing in U.S business etiquette, changing leader's perception, culture trainning for staffs,fostering for skilled staffs and building a good environment for staffs seems to be thepossible solutions

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF THE CULTURE ON

1.2 Overview of international business communication 11

1.3 Business communication skills 14

1.4.2 Direct language in low-context culture and indirect language in

1.4.3 Informal (egalitarian) and formal (hierarchical) business behavior 191.4.3 Rigid-time (monochronic) and fluid-time (polychronic) 191.5 The influence of culture on international business communication 20

CHAPTER 2: THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON COMMUNICATION

2.3.2 Influence of using direct language in low-context circumstances 342.3.3 Influence of informal and egalitarian business behavior 34

2.3 6 American negotiating style 372.4 Evaluation of Vietnamese corporations' perception when partnering

2.4.4 The advantages when communicating with U.S partners 412.4.5 The difficulties when communicating with U.S partners 41

3.1.2 Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement 433.1.3 Anniversary of twenty years of

3.2 Proposed measures to communicate with U.S partners successfully 463.2.1 Doing the right thing in U.S business etiquette 463.2.1.1 Communicating in U.S deal-focused style 463.2.1.2 Communicating with direct language in U.S low-context culture 463.2.1.3 Communicating in U.S infonnal and egalitarian culture 463.2.1.4 Communicating in U.S monochronic culture 473.2.1.5 Communicating with U.S expressive communication style 48

APPENDICES

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.3 Vietnam import-export turnover and balance of trade

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TPP Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement

1 Rationale

Globalizing processes keep pushing, narrowing the gap between cultures.Businesses have not stopped learning the impact of culture on international businesscommunication, to promptly immerse in the shrinking world However, beside thebenefits that globalization brings to the business, it also goes along with some difficultiesthat international businesses will encounter Many businesses lack the preparation of theculture that they will go to doing business, thus leading to a failure in communication due

to the problems that arise when two cultures meet

Therefore, the study of culture and cross-culture business communication isindispensable in the global business environment Many businesses success in othercultures because they do business with extensive knowledge of the culture andcommunicate with their partner well In recent years, the bilateral trade relationshipbetween the United States of America (U.S.A) and Vietnam is gradually developed Thisrelationship brings many opportunities to Vietnam businesses that communicate andwork with American businesses International business transactions are complex andcause some culture problems, so an understanding of the culture of U.S partners is wellprepared step for businesses when conducting business

2 Objectives

According to the rationale above, three objectives were set up First, this studyprovides an overview of the culture and communication culture Second, the influence ofculture to international business in general and those with the U.S partners in particularwere presented

Then, through the results from the survey research, the Vietnamese businesses'perception when partnering with American businesses was identified

Finally, this study recommends some methods to take advantage of the influence

of culture on international business, to help businesses communicate with U.S partnerssuccessfully

3 Methodology

The thesis combined desktop research and field research With desktop research,the author checked and compared materials on this issue from several reliable sources

For field research, the research was performed in Ho Chi Minh City, began on March20th, 2015 and finished on April 27th, 2015 The subjects of this research were whoworking with American business The instrument used in this research was questionnaire.

A total of 112 copies of questionnaire were sent to 112 randomly chosen subjects Eachcopy of questionnaire consisted of two parts: personal information and researchinformation The personal information included name, age, occupation, current position,current workplace, business structure of the subject The research information included

28 questions, and it was divided into five groups:

Group 1: Question number 1 to number 3 was used to determine theperception of subjects for culture in international business communication

Group 2: Question number 4 to number 6 were used to find out thesubjects' business behavior before communicating

Group 3: Question number 7 to number 16 were designed to exploresubjects' business behavior while communicating

Group 4: Question number 17 to number 19 aimed to find out subjects'business behavior after communicating

Group 5: Question number 20 and number 27 was used to find out subjects'evaluations and recommendations

From March 20th, 2015 to April lith, 2015, 112 copies of questionnaire were sent

to 112 subjects in Ho Chi Minh City and collected immediately after they finished it.After that, in the last sixteen days, all collected data were put into computer and analyzed

by Microsoft Excel@ software

4 Scope

Time: In particular, the research timeline from 1897 to 2015

Place: The scope of the study includes two nations: U.S.A and Vietnam.

Knowledge: The object of this study is the communication culture with Americansbusiness partners This study focus on verbal and nonverbal communication, includingspeaking, negotiation, writting and presentation

5 Previous studies

International studies

Up to now, there are a few projects, documents, books from many researchersabout U.S culture in the world Culture as well as international communication has been

• used by many researchers to do research over the period Among them, there are some

projects related to culture, and international communication (Ferraro, G., 1998) In theseprojects, the most notable is the study refers to cross-cultural communication in generaland U.S culture in particular, in the international business environment (Gesteland, R.R.,2012)

Vietnamese studies

In Vietnam, some researchers only focus on the influence of culture to business ingeneral but they not clarify the influence of culture on the business environment in theU.S Doan (2006) has shown the characteristics of communication and its application ininternational business communication However, the U.S culture and U.S businessbehavior has not been focused In addition, none of these studies mention how Vietnambusinesses response to the difference between two cultures

6 Structure

There are total three chapters in this study The structre of the study is organized

as followed: Chapter 1 includes the overview of the impact of the culture on internationalbusiness communication Chapter 2 presents the influence of culture on communicationwith U.S partners Finally, some culture-related measures for effective communicationwith U.S partners successfully are presented in Chapter 3

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF THE CULTURE ON

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION1.1 Overview of culture

Apte (1994) wrote about the problems in the definition of cultural unity as

follows: "Despite a century of efforts to define culture adequately, there was in the early 1990s no agreement among anthropologists regarding its nature." Because of thediversity and complexity of cultures, there are a lot of concepts of culture, depending onthe perspective of each researcher with their own point of view Another characteristic ofculture is changing through each historical period, so that the concept of culture willchange from time to time as appropriate

In the early 20th century, the researchers came up with some noticeable concepts

of culture as follows:

Tylor (1871) claimed that: "Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society " Tylor defined culture in the descriptive way,

which is defined as anything culture contains This definition highlights all the mentalaspects of culture, but little interest in material culture which is the important part of thecultural treasure of humanity In the 50s of 20th century, Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952)

suggest a general definition of culture as follows: "Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiment in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be

considered as products of action, on the other, as conditional elements offuture action "

Hartley et al (1994) has indicatedthat that the interpretation of Kroeber and Kluckhohn isstill quite vague and disjointed However, this interpretation can describe thecharacteristics of the culture rather than the interpretation given by Tylor, because thisinterpretation see symbol is an essential component to describe culture

Tillich (1959) stated that the "assert themselves" culture and "express themselves"culture in human society is less dependent on the knowledge, intent, or acts of man.Moreover, Haviland (2013) claimed that the culture values are diversity, not under thecontrol and adjustment of human This perception allows us to approach culture and leads

to a deeper awareness that human and culture is closely correlated According to anotherpoint of view, Hofstede (1994), a Dutch psychologist found that: "Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another " Category of people can be the country, region, ethnic,

religion, profession, organization or gender Hofstede assume that culture is mentioned asthe way people think, feel and act He looks culture as a collective program that peopleperform it according to the majority Hofstede also gives a simple concept: culture is the

"unwritten rules of social games", meaning that culture is what the members of a societyalways do it unaware and act in a certain framework

Culture is also the total sum of the values of physical and mental well as themethod of creating them In 2002, UNESCO (n d.) state that: "Culture should be regarded as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features

of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs." From thesociological perspective, this definition does not only define culture as the product ofhuman creativity, but also it is always considered culture as a process, a dynamic status,and acculturation

There are many sociological researchers agree with the definition of Federico

Mayor, the Director General of UNESCO, given: "Culture includes all of what makes one nation different from other ones, from the most sophisticated products to the beliefs, customs, traditions, lifestyle and labor " The international community has accepted this

definition at the Intergovernmental Meeting on Cultural policy in 1970, in Venice In

1982, the second meeting was admitted definition of Frederico

In Vietnam, there are many similar concepts with the opinion of these researchers.

In Vietnamese Dictionary of Linguistics Institute, published by the Center DanangPublishing House and Vietnam Lexicography Centre published in 2004, it proposes

concept of culture: "Culture is an organic system of material and spiritual values which human create and accumulate over the course of practical activities, in the interaction between human and the natural environment society." This concept has shown theculture is made of two elements: material values and spiritual values

According to The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) with their Intercultural Studies Project, stated that: "Culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization These shared patterns identifY the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group." This concept mentions specific features, highlights the ability to "share" thebehavior of people in a group and it can identify groups through culture This is also thenotion that the author thinks it suit the research of relationship between culture andcommunication in business and on the basis to study and analyze the following issues inthis research

1.1.2 Values and norms

Culture can be defined as a set of values and norms (Trenholm & Jensen, 2000).Each culture has its own values and norms that its differences used to distinguished withother cultures Values and norms are used interchangeably and inseparable but they arenot exactly the same

1.1.2.1 Values

Values can be viewed as the product of culture and the value terms can refer to the

concerns, interests, obligations, responsibilities, wishes, needs Value can vary so it isdifficult to fully determine its scope People are always looking for a value from whichthey will strive to achieve it

Macionis (2011) asserts that value is what members of a culture in whichdetermines what is desirable and undesirable, good or bad, beautiful or ugly Kamau(2009) stated that in a society, members built their own views of themselves and theworld, based on culture values During the maturing process, people learn from family,school, religion, social interaction and they determined how they should think and act

according to the values of culture Value is an assessment on cultural perspectives should

be different in each individual but in a culture Even it has some values that the majorities

of members in many cultures acknowledge and tend longevity as freedom, equality,compassion, happiness Value always changes and international conflict of valuesbetween individuals or groups in a society It also has conflict of values in the individualsuch as between their personal successes and community spirit

Values relate to norms of a culture, but more globally and abstract than norms.These norms provide rules for behavior in specific situations, while values determinewhat should be judged as good or bad For example, the national flag on a holiday is thenorm, but it reflects the value of patriotism Dressed black and appeared formally arenorms behavior to show respect at a funeral Different cultures reflect different valuesand different level of attention

Individualism culture emphasizes the values that members of a group widelyshared together People often can determine the value of a society by noting the honoreesand people who are respected In the America, professional athletes at the top level insome subjects received more honors (in terms of payments) than university professors.Another example, many voters in the America would be reluctant to elect an atheist aspresident, which showed faith in God as a common value of social

People participate in a culture even if the individual value of each member doesnot fully agree with some sanctions for violating the norms value in that culture Thisreflects an individual's ability to synthesize and extract aspects valuable to them frommany other cultures to which they belong

1.1.2.2 Norms

Scott and Marshall (2005) introduced the concept: A norm is a belief of a group onhow each member should behave in a specific context It can be seen that norms is theunspoken rules of how we act and what we do These norms are the rules that govern theway we interact with each other From the business perspective, norms will indicate how

we conduct business, how we make decisions, how we communicate, or even the way wedress when meeting

Norms are not considered as official law in a society, but it deserves to be one ofthe best ways to control society Social norms can be enforced formally (e.g, throughsanctions) or informally (e.g, through body language and non-verbal communication

cues) In a society, the members will learn when and where to say something sensible,discussed the topic or dressed reasonably Generally, this knowledge is derived throughexperience (i.e social norms are learned through social interaction) For example, ifwearing a suit to the interview, to make a first impression, it represents a commonexample of a social norm of office workers group.

1.1.3 Constituent elements

1.1.3.1 Languages

Language is how people, or more specifically, members of a society communicateand communicate with each other Language can be identified as a cultural phenomenonand cultural interaction with many methods Every human does not know language whenthey are born.They learn languages, not by inheritance or heredity Language was themost important means of cultural transfer, making culture can be passed down from

generation to generation According to Linguistic relativity of two American linguists

Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf (Sapir- Whorf hypothesis), people can conceptualizethe world only through the language, so that language precedes thinking The hypothesishas proved the importance of the language in everyday life of people The language in the

world is diverse and divided into the following language groups: (1) The Indo-European language group is the most widely spoken and it includes English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Hindi; (2) The Sino-Tibetan language group includes Mandarin, Cantonese, and many other languages; (3) The Afro-Asiatic language group, which includes Arabic, Amharic, Somali, and Hebrew; (4) The Bantu languages group includes Swahili, Zulu, Shona, and hundreds of other languages throughout Africa; (5) The Malayo-Polynesian language group, which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Tagalog, Malagasy, and hundreds

of other languages throughout the Pacific (Lewis, 2009)

Language is used as a means to help people perceive the world National language

can express the meaning of an objective or an event that other national language can notfully interpret the meaning For example, European languages have only one worddescribes "snow", but the language of the Eskimos more diversified with twenty-fourwords that describe the various states of "snow" such as: powder snow, snow, wet snow,etc because snow is very important to the lives of the Eskimos Or in English the word

"black" (black) is in Vietnamese dictionary there are many words describing the shades

of "black" as: black, black crunchy, darked black, pitch black, etc

There are many language is spoken in the world According to the CentralIntelligence Agency (2014), the statics shows the Mandarin Chinese is the officiallanguage (first language) is used the most, followed by Spanish and English However,the language is widely used for international communication is still English, then French,Spanish and finally is Chinese (see Appendix 1) Many people still use English as theirsecond language apart from their mother language.

1.1.3.2 Religions

Religion, religionem in Latin, means "Respect for what is sacred, reverence for the

gods" or defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "duty, the relationship between humans andthe gods" Religion may have appeared in human society from 40,000 years ago, people

at that time had faith in religion and attend religious ceremonies for gratitude andworship their gods trust

Religion was formed through the stage and varied history According to Shouler(2010), it is estimated that has more than 4,200 religions exist globally There are somereligions are not well-known but there are some religions spreading throughout the worldwith millions of devotees participated Every religion has a particular characteristicreflects the faith and life of human behavior and particular religious cultural influence inmany aspects such as ritual, worship, weddings, funerals, etc

Nowadays, there are five religious have the largest number of devotees:Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism ("Major Religions of theWorld Ranked by Number of Adherents," 2005) Religion is innate propensity of humannature The activities such as worship, prayer, reconciliation and focus are the naturalprocess of human beings Human still want to reach the perfection; and to achieve that,there must be recourse to religion The various religions of the world offer many differentways to achieve that perfection in each religion own way

Religious belief is the belief in the reality of the mythical aspect, supernatural, or

the spirit of a religion Religious beliefs are often related to the existence, nature andworship a deity or deities, the intervention of God in the universe and of human life, orthe explanations of Deontology for the values and focus on the teachings of one person or

a group or spiritual leaders Contrary to other belief systems, religious belief often issystematized (Wittgenstein, 2007) Religious belief is a factor that affects cross-culturalcommunication, as they affect the conscious mind and the unconscious, and the way in

which people communicate The religious belief of each person is different, and it stemsfrom their culture Each different religious faith will has different views about death indifferent cultures Belief is one of the hidden aspects of culture, the impact on culture bythe influence of other factors within the hidden aspects of culture, such as: aspirations,laws, and symbols Each religion has its own characteristics and operating characteristics

as symbols in different forms, for example, doctrines, church, badges, data and evenspeeches Moreover, the religious symbols also show the cultural component of eachgroup (Zhang, 2013)

1.1.3.3 Values and Attitudes

As mentioned in the prevIOus section, values are the standard by which allmembers of a group are accepted Peoples & Bailey (2009) found that value is "critical

to maintaining the culture as a whole because it represents the qualities that people are essential to sustain life of them" The connection between the values and the culture is

very strong and difficult to separate Macionis (2011) stated that: "Culturally definedstandards that people use to decide what is desirable, good, and beautiful and that serve

as broad guidelines for social living." The keyword in any discussion of cultural values is

"guideline " In other words, values help us determine how we should behave.

Attitude is what people think and feel That is their attitude and how they react to

the world about them According to two researchers Hogg and Vaughan (2005), anattitude is "a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral significant objects, groups, events or symbols" Eagly and Chaiken (1993) identified that

attitude is " a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor " Attitudes also reflect how they react to the

change initiative, a colleague or client Attitudes based on direct experience will strongerand more influence on behavior than indirect experience (e.g, through listen-speak, readbooks or watch television)

Attitudes and values are the foundation of every national culture, and is the keyfactor for the development of culture and corporate culture Culture influences not less onattitudes and behaviors in a country and among different countries

1.2 Overview of international business communication

1.2.1 Overview of communication

Communication is an indispensable part of human society and an agent to promotesocial development Communication is the transfer of information from one person toanother person so that they receive information and process The majority foundcommunication is the way people establish and operate the social relationships withothers or social factors in order to satisfY certain needs It involves exchange ofinformation and understanding of others (Thai, Nguyen & Pham, 2009) Corresponding

to the above factors, the interface has three main aspects: communication, interaction andperception " The concept of communication may be given a short and specific asfollows:

- Communication is the exchange of information

_ Communication is the conveyance ideas from one person to another one

- Communicating with others is to say something with them

- Communication is information sharing and build relationships

- Communication is the introduction to others

- Communication is guiding people to do something

There are many perspectives to describe communication Doan (2006) stated that:

"Communication is the act and process, in which people carry out the exchange of information with each other, the awareness, value each other, interact, influence to each other " This definition emphasizes the communication is human behavior (say, listen,question and answer, writing, use of means of non-verbal communication, treat otherpeople ) and the process contains three arrays related activities closely, is: (1)information exchange, (2) cognitive, evaluation process and (3) the process of mutualinteraction, as indicated by the specific action

Communication is seen as a process by which information is transmitted betweenthe entities undertaking communication (see Appendix 2) In which the sender sends theinformation to one or more recipients Recipient after receiving the message of thesender will expedite the process and send back the response messages Then maybe theprocess will be repeated between two people communicate, depending on thecircumstances Elements of the social environment and relationships will affect thecommunication process

Communication can be verbal, non-verbal or through the media Information that

the sender in the communication process can through language and meaning of the wordsused (verbal) or also by body language (non-verbal) like gestures, eye contact, distancecommunication, communication posture, etc Communication is also reflected throughthe media, such as pictures, sounds and text In this thesis, the author only focuses onverbal and non-verbal form of communication

In each different culture, communicate with members of the various possiblecompletely For example, in mainstream Western culture, eye contact is interpreted asattentiveness and honesty; they are taught that they should "look people straight into theeye" when talking But in many cultures as Spanish, Asian, Middle Eastern, and NativeAmericans, eye contact is said to be disrespectful or rude, and lack of eye contact doesnot mean people not paying attention to the topic

1.2.2 Overview o/international business

Daniels, Radebaugh, and Sullivan (2007) identifies: "International business comprises all commercial transactions (private and governmental, sales, investments, logistics, and transportation) that take place between two or more regions, countries and nations beyond their political boundaries." Typically, private companies carried outtransactions for profit; governments implementing them for profit and political reasons

Czinkota et al (2004) claimed that: "International business consists of transactions that are devised and carried out across national borders to satisfY the objectives of individuals, companies, and organizations." In view of Czinkota, international business

is included in different forms and often interrelated Main types of an internationalenterprise are often import-export trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) After that,this is done under diverse forms, including wholly owned subsidiary and join ventures.Additional categories of the international business are licensing contracts, andfranchising

The term "international business" refers to all those business activities whichinvolve cross-border transactions of goods, services, resources between two or morenations Transactions of economic resources include capital, skills, people etc forinternational production of physical goods and services such as finance, banking,insurance, construction etc (Joshi, 2009) International business is a business conducts an

international trade or foreign direct investment Hill (2008) stated that: "International

trade occurs when a firm exports goods or services to consumers in another country Foreign direct investment occurs when a firm invests resources in business activities outside its home country " Both concepts have pointed to the export and import trade

occurs between two or more countries but the concept of Czinkota somewhat broader Itcan point out other activities of international However, Czinkota's concept is stillunclear because it does not include reference to all fonus of investment which are onlytwo types of import and export trade and FDI

1.2.3 International business communication

International business communication includes verbal, non-verbal and written.

Verbal communication is officially or unofficially Business communication by means

of official communication, such as meetings, interviews, group discussions, speeches Inthe business environment, communication errors are sometimes informally called

grapevine (rumor, canard) and can occur in conversations, emails, text messages andphone calls between employees This error is likely to cause danger because of falseinformation will make many risks in the handling of vital information Non-verbalcommunication is communication through gestures, body language or posture, facialexpressions and eye contact; objects such as clothing, hairstyles, architecture, icons,infographics, and tone of voice Communicate in writing through the medium ofcommunication in writing of the business include - agendas, reports, manuals

Hu (2003) found "It is a communicating course of different people with different cultural background". People always communicate through conversations with othersaround them everyday Therefore, communication can be easy and familiar to everyone.But communication in daily life and in business communication is not entirely the same.Communication problems between people are an important issue while conductsbusiness, and especially in international business Long time ago, communication arelimited by talking directly or through mail, telephone or paper Nowadays, with theadvent of technology, communication also through modern media such as mobile phones,video conferencing, email, and even communicate via satellite Communication inbusiness once effective will help business achieve the goal, create credibility and bringmore benefits to the enterprise

1.3 Business communication skills

Business succeess based on clear and effective communication To keep up withthe fast changing environment business, a business needs to develop businesscommunication skills There three major categories business communication skills:negotiation, presentation and writing Business writing, presenting and negotiatingrequire clear and effective communication

1.3.1 Negotiation

Everyday, many people are still carrying out negotiation whether they like it ornot Negotiation is seen as the obvious thing in people life Negotiation concerning allaspects of social life: from the smallest things to the national problems An employee cannegotiate with his/her boss about their salary; someone who wants to buy a house willdeal with the seller at a price that he/she wishes; or is the United States Secretary of Statemet with the Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs, to put the agreement on foreignpolicy between the two countries All these things are called negotiation Negotiation is ameans by which people use to get what they want from others Negotiation is an essential

act in life and in business Ury (2011) - an American negotiator stated that: "Negotiation

is a dialogue between two or more people or parties, intended to reach an understanding, resolve point of difference, or gain advantage in outcome of dialogue, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage to craft outcomes to satisfy various interests of two people/parties involved in negotiation process " According to this definition, the negotiation is seen as the process by which

each negotiation party will try to gain an advantage for themselves The talks are also avital part of the task is done by the managers of these companies carry the responsibility

to sell products and services

According to Nguyen (2008), the negotiations took place for the followingreasons: (1) In order to agree how to share or divide limited resources, such as land,property, or time; (2) In order to create something new that no party can accomplish bytheir own resources; (3) In order to solve a problem or dispute between the parties.Nguyen identifies negotiation and bargaining are two completely different aspects.Bargaining usually ends with one side wins and one side loses This is known as a zero-sum game, also known as "win-lose", "all or nothing" In some cases, it may even end up

in a situation "lose-lose", especially when one party or both parties have negative attitude

leads to a deadlock and ending in the costly, waste time By contrast, negotiation can beended with a result "win-win", when the parties use the common principles and acommon framework for the negotiation and make it effective.

1.3.2 Presentation

Presentation is showing a judgment, perspective, strategy, professional fields and thereby convinces the audiences to accept the views and have the same thoughts, orfollow the speaker's will Presentation is the process of conveying information to achievethe specific objectives: (1) understand, (2) build relationships, and (3) implementation

Building a presentation consists of three steps: (1) analysis, (2) structure, (3)implementation First, the presenter should identify the target of the presentations, forexample, what the content the speaker want his/her audiences to understand is, whatrelationships the speaker want to build are, with whom and what the speaker wantaudiences implement Second, the speaker needs analysis his/her audiences by thinkingabout the topic under the audiences' perspective The speaker also need to focus on theiraudiences' knowledge about the issue were presented, how to use language, what theirconcerns are, prejudices, moods, relationships of list audiences Third, this is the timefor the speaker constructs and analyzes the ideas

In general, a presentation is usually divided into three parts: introduction, body

content and conclusion Opening the presentation, introduction part, the speaker attracts

the attention of audiences immediately, puts the messages overview, introduces personalexperiences, introduces problems creatively as storytelling, asks some questions, startsassumptions, or sets new information The body content of the presentation should

follow Syllogism (divided into three large sections) and use innovative methods topresent ideas in this section For examples, presented ideas in logic, in order of time,from the overall presentation to the specific, from the known to the unknown, from whathas been accepted to the conflict, expressed in relations cause and effect, from problem to

solution Conclusion of the presentation must include the highlights of the presentation.

In this section, the speaker needs to impact on the audience by questions and acts, like

"What are the presentation should be change, or create something newer?" This structuregives the audiences can see the analysis, argument, movement forward and easy toremember

1.3.3 Writing

Writing is a media representative for the language through the record of signs andsymbols In most languages, written as a supplement to speech or language spoken.Writing is not a language but a form of technology In a system of language, the text isbased on a lot of the same structure as the speech, such as vocabulary, grammar andsemantics, with the dependence of a system of signs or symbols, often in the form of anofficial alphabet Finished products of writing commonly are known as text, and recipientare called a reader Engines for documents include publishing, storytelling, letters anddiaries

Writing is a form of communication which is very important for many companies,including emails, reports, presentations, company brochures and visual aids Forexamples, a manager who manages marketing research reports must be comprehensiveand informative Additionally, as many companies operate internationally, email isreplacing contact form by phone

Communication skills, including writing, are one of the most important skills thatentrepreneurs must possess For most business professionals, such as marketing, financeand research and development fields, good writing skills needed to communicate the rightideas and concepts There are many reasons why writing skills are very important in thebusiness world For example, during a normal working day, the boss writes an email tostaff to inform them about the meeting or provides instructions for specific projects Thewritten message must be concise and self-explanatory, so employees can work efficientlyand not waste time ask for further instructions Media business people usually busy andgood writing skill will help them save time In addition, good text will increasescredibility of the writer and reflects positively on the image of the company

Employees not only know how to write an effective way, but they also have to becareful when doing work in writing For example, employees should not write emailswhen they are angry or upset because email can be saved and then printed out Oneemployee said something inappropriate in an email can create trouble or even be fired.The jokes, profanity, insults texts are also prohibited in the workplace

The purpose of business writting is to convey information to someone or requestinformation from them To be effective in business writing, the writer must write downtheir message as concise and accurate The text should be written in such a way that the

reader will be able to easily understand what the writer wants to say or ask them Manybusiness writing is sloppy, poorly written and organized, scattered with the terms, andincomplete It is often too long or too short All these things will make the businessinefficient Whether write a sales proposal, an email to parts of company, or the manualfor a package, there are some steps need to follow to create effective business writing.The emphasis on each step may vary, depending on what the writers are writing, but thesteps will be the same.

1.4 Patterns of Cross-Cultural business behavior

In the field of international business communication, Gesteland (2012) foundpatterns of cross-cultural business behavior as follows: deal-focused and relationship-focused; direct language (low-context) and indirect language (high-context); informal(egalitarian) and formal (hierarchical) business behavior; rigid-time (monochronic) andfluid-time (polychronic)

1.4.1 Deal-focused and Relationship-focused

Deal-focused people basically tend to be fundamentally task-oriented, while many other people tend to be human-oriented For example, U.S is a deal-focused culture and

Chinese is a country with a relationships-focused culture

Some relationships-focused countries in the world, includes Arab, most of Africa,Latin America and the Asia/Pacific region These are markets where business tends toavoid doing business with strangers Instead, they expect to get things done through anetwork of personal contacts and relationships They care about the relationship asfamily, friends and persons or groups with their acquaintances - who can be trusted Insome societies which are less reliable, they tend to feel uncomfortable when dealing withstrangers, especially business foreigners By key cultural value of this, the company hasrelationships-focused behavior often want to know their business partners has potential ornot before talking business with them In contrast, the deal-focused people are only asmall part of the world Deal-focused cultures are mainly found in highly trust societiessuch as Northern Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, where people arerelatively open to do business with strangers

Gesteland (2012) found that the conflict between two cultures often arise whendeal-focused businesses do not percive this basic difference to try to do business withtheir potential customers in the relationships-focused market The difference between

I-I

relationships-focused and deal-focused business behavior impacts on the success on theglobal market Many countries have the relationships-focused culture, such as Japan, seedeal-focused people pushy, aggressive and offensively blunt In contrast, deal-focusedcultures such as Canadians sometimes comment on their relationships-focused partners(e.g, Arabs) are dilatory, vague, inscrutable, and even quite dishonest

1.4.2 Direct language in low-context culture and indirect language in high-context culture

People who come from deal-focused cultures, such as Australia and New Zealand,

tend to use direct language while those come from a culture that values the relationship such as countries in South Asia - often using indirect language, or the unclear language,

-if what they say can cause dilemmas The d-ifference in this communication trends oftencause misunderstandings when the business in relationships-focused culture (e.g,Indonesia) to communicate with their partners was the the business in deal-focusedculture (e.g, Danish)

A famous anthropologist - Hall (1976) was divided culture into two kinds

separately are: low-context culture and high-context culture The phraseology in the context culture often accurate and it have to emphasis on the words in the sentences.Countries with low-context culture are often in the Nordic countries and North U.S.A.People in here often focus in transfer messages by words rather than other forms ofcommunication In these countries, the main function of speech is to present the viewsand thoughts of a person The views and thought more clearly, logically and convincing

lolV-as possible These cultures use direct language that require the meaning of the sentencemust be clear and straight For example, U.S negotiators often go straight to the point andthey do not say things out of the discussion topic Low-context culture often appreciatesthe understanding and concrete action to help the negotiation achieves the most effective

as possible These cultures focus on specific, legal contract and the agreement often are

written down on paper for signing In contrast, the high-context culture like Japan and

China focus on non-verbal messages and the function of communication is the way toimprove the relationship People from high-context cultures like to communicateindirectly and often will "save face", which they have always shown respect and mutualinterest They often pay attention to the conversation that not hurt other people's feeling.This explains why the Japanese do not like to say "no" when they want to express

,

disagreement or dissatisfaction They prefer a vaguer answer, like "that is another issue"

In East Asian countries, if a person showed impatient, depressed, annoyed or irritatedoften failed to create sympathy and were considered disrespectful Asian countries tend touse understatement as well as pay attention to the context For example, business lunch inTokyo, the boss will be the elderly and often sitting in the farthest position from theentrance of the room In Japan, higher levels positition are usually seated in prioritylocations to show respect To achieve success in Asia, it is important that leaders mustgrasp non-verbal signs and other body language The negotiations are often slow andritualistic and the agreements often based on trust

1.4.3 Informal (egalitarian) and formal (hierarchical) business behavior

Many problems will arise when an informal business from egalitarian culture workwith formal partners from hierarchical society That is when people who act breezy,sprightly will accidentally offend high status people from the hierarchical culture Incontrast, the consciousness of formal, hierarchical people may offend the sensibilities ofinformal, egalitarian people

A clear example of the difference between the two behaviors is: An Americanallowed Filipino maids sitting at the table and they said it was an obvious and equality Incontrast, Singaporeans completely disagree; they respect the rank, honoring the socialhierarchy, so they will not feel comfortable when sitting at a table with a maid Nordicregion is seen as the typical individual of informal business, or the most egalitarianculture By contrast, Britain is an expression of formal, hierarchical culture It can befound that people who follow informal business behavior in some countries such as NorthAmerica, Australia and New Zealand and formal people can be found in most ofcontinental Europe and the countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Middle East

1.4.4 Rigid-time (monochronic) andfluid-time (polychronic)

Every country in the world will have the view of time as well as the scheduling isdifferent Some societies in the world seem to "worship" the time and are always busy to

race with it, is called rigid-time culture Others culture is more relaxed about the time in

setting schedules and instead focus on the relationships between individuals, which is

called fluid-time culture In rigid-time cultures, on time is very important; work schedule

must be set in a concrete way, the agenda is always fixed time, as well as business

meetings rarely interrupted Hall (1959) has coined the term "monochronic" for the

culture "obsessed on the clock" By contrast, the members of the "polychronic" societyare less concerned with punctuality They often missed the deadline and their workschedule is not tight.

Conflicts arise between two societies due to a number of rigid-time people seetheir fluid-time partners as lazy, undisciplined and rude people Meanwhile, thepolychronic people see monochronic people as arrogant individuals and a slave to timeand deadlines Germany and the German-Swiss is seen as representing monochronicculture, followed by the countries of Northern Europe, North America and the CzechRepublic, Hungary and Japan Countries in Eastern and Southern Europe, East Asia,Latin America are examples of polychronic culture Among them, South Asia andSoutheast Asia, the Middle East and most of the countries in Africa that representcountries with polychronic cultures is considered the most important

1.5 The influence of culture on international business communication

The world economy is currently subject to the influence by globalization, hasforced businesses to consider when conducting business in different cultures.Communication between businesses and partners in different cultures is important todrive business success Culture contributes no small part to the success of the business, ormore specifically, successful in business communication The elements that constitute thecultural component will be the influence of communication in international business

American scholar, Kinixti, stated that: "The success of each of only 15% is based on specialized techniques, while 85% is based on the communication and relationship skills that his treatment." In an organization, effective communication can offer theopportunity to gain some advantages for business Some businesses know how to usewords, images, messages to create a strong relationship with anyone who involves tobusiness, can get a high respect and easy to build image In addition, a businessmanknows how to build relationships by communication can easy to impact on others'thinking

1.5.1 Languages

Language is an important factor that influence most clearly communicates IIIinternational business The knowledgeable and proficient use of the national languagewhich they are doing business is an advantage and strength in business communication.Conversely, the lack of experience in the use of foreign languages is a major

disadvantage when communicating Those disadvantages are easy to createdisagreements in relationships with partners, sometimes misleading and leads to manynegative consequences to business cooperation issues between the two sides Basiccommunication is the exchange of information, such as words, ideas or feelings In theother hand, information will convey meaning.

Verbal communication is the way people use language to communicate Usingaccents sound, tone up and down, using the words they all hold specific meanings.These language elements very easy to mislead, especially for foreigners; because whenused improperly, it will cause negative thinking, convey the wrong information, leads tothe imbalance in communication, and failure in business communication Western societyhas a culture that is mainly verbal They also communicate through the media such aspaper, film and conversation While talking to each other (verbal), speaking style of eachcountry also has many differences and similarities, the AngloSaxon take turns to speaks,

A finished his/her speaking, B will starts (Fons & Charles, 2012) They said that was notpolite to interrupt the person opposite With Latinos, by contrast, B will cut off Aregularly to express concerns and listen to the topic that the A is saying Thecommunication type has moments of silence of Orient people will make Westernersconfused (Figure 1.2) The moments of silence meant a failure in communication Eachculture different way of thinking, as if Latinos think that interrupt other people willexpress interest in the topic In the other hand, Orient think the way they silent is a sign

of respect to others because that is how they used the time to process the information, not

Source: Fons T & Charles.H (2012)

The voice is also a way that people express attitudes and emotions in theirdialogue Figure 1.3 shows that the AngloSaxon language type, Latin and Orient are

different Some neutral societies, up and down voice means the speaker is not serious, butmost of the Latin "exaggerated" the voice to express attention to the issue are talking.The Orientalists have more monotonous style, self-restraint and it shows the respectpeople opposite Typically, the higher the position of the speaker, the more they lowertheir voices.

Figure 1.3 Voice

AngloSaxon

Latin

Orient

Source: Fans T& Charles H (2012)

Words also play an important role in communication. Whether the tone, thehumor is shown, it still would need to attaches great importance to the words TheEnglish-speaking countries have an advantage because there are now more than 300million people who understand their language However, even the British and theAmericans are divided by a common language which is used completely different inmany contexts and many differences in the meanings of words Misunderstanding themeaning of words or communication context may transfer wrong information to thelistener and business may fail in communication

Non-verbal language, also known as non-verbal communication is a way ofcommunication between people Research shows that 75% of the communication is non-verbal Culture between different countries led to the use of non-verbal language is alsodifferent When working with foreign partners, businesses should find out the regulations

or rules of non-verbal communication to fit the culture Non-verbal communication isalso important for a conversation For examples, Japanese makes the hand shakes lightly.Japanese see the eye-contact person is hostile or angry Japanese people can hide theirfeelings of anger or disagreement with a smile When communicating with Japanese,people should also be noted that they should avoid strong gesture or wave, the case using

body language is also limited Holding arm or patting someone's back also is misleading

as a fonn of insult

1.5.2 Religions

Religions do not only affect the culture, but also affect the business and workingenvironment For example, in the Middle Eastern culture, where Muslims have had themost impact: Muslims must pray five times a day, appointments and meetings should bearranged in a proper way with the praying time When business in the Middle Eastmarket should try to avoid the month of Ramadan, the month in which Muslims abstainfrom eating, drinking or smoking from sunrise to sunset Two major festivals of theMuslims should be noted that Eid al-Fitr feast after Ramadan and Eid al-Adha Feast afterthe annual pilgrimage On these days, people layoff about three days Businesses shouldavoid these two important festivals of the Muslims During working hours, generally thework is reduced or rearranged depending on the nature of work of companies or tradeorganizations (Fons & Charles, 2012)

Thus, culture always appear and influence in all aspects of society and ininternational business communication Capture the cultural importance of communicatingwith foreign partners, entrepreneurs and enterprises can easily communicate moresuccessfully, achieving the business purpose, to give confidence and make people respectarea more comfortable in communication

1.5.3 Values and Attitudes

Values and attitudes greatly influenced the culture and behavior of the members ofthat society In the scope that every value is different, the participants of interculturalcommunication will tend to represent and predict the different behavior in similarcircumstances For example, while all cultures respect the elderly, the strength of thesecommon values is very different when switching from one culture to another culture InKorean and American Indians culture, older people are appreciated and respected Theyare even looked to get counseling and advice please Of course, this culture is totallyopposed to the U.S., where people focus in teenagers - young generations

In many respects, the Germans can be considered the master of the planning This

is a culture that they know what they will do at a specific time on a specific day Thethought process of the Germans was extremely thorough; they consider every aspect of aproject is very detailed In business, the Germans planned very carefully and often give

partners a sense of security Most aspects of life and work, the German rules of astructure, for example, through the law, rules and procedures, which is evident in alleconomic sectors, the main political and even social Rules and regulations allow people

to know what is expected so that they can plan their lives accordingly In the businessculture of the Germans, this is reflected in compliance with business rules as required,resulting in less flexibility and spontaneity in attitudes and values

Culture is a complex concept and it has a lot of definitions were given by manyreseachers, anthoropologists and experts Languages, religions, values and attitudes are apart of culture, which also involve in communication Communication and businesscommunication take part in business as an important factor Moreover, internationalbusiness communication can help business achieve their goal and bring benefits oncesuccessful in communication The concepts of culture, its elements and internatioalbusiness communication of chapter 1 will be the foundation for the analysis and research

in chapter 2 The following chapter will provides information and go deeper into the U.Sculture in terms of international business communication

CHAPTER 2: THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON COMMUNICATION WITH

AMERICAN BUSINESS PARTNERS2.1 Overview of the United States culture

2.1.1 Summary of United States history

United States (official named the United States of America) was established in

1776 when thirteen former colonies of the British Empire in North America unanimouslyadopted the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson - the third president of theU.S who has compiled the document declaring independence from Great Britain and thecolonies The U.S is a huge country with fifty states, including the largest city is NewYork (as known as "Big Apple") and the capital is Washington, D.C An estimated ofU.S population showed that they will have over 325 million people in 2015 The U.S is apowerful country and the largest national economy in the world In U.S, the culturaldiversity is expressed via 37 different ethnic groups In other words, because U.S is acountry with multiracial, multi-ethnic culture, it is a combination of many differentcultures gathered together in many years of development history

The U.S has a diversified history by the immigration of other ethnic groups Thiscountry is the place that received more immigrants than any other country with over 50million immigrants and increasing 700,000 people each year Talking about the commonculture of the majority of people in U.S is like talking about "American Mass Culture."The U.S is sometimes described as a "melting pot" in which different cultures havecontributed to become specific "flavors" for American culture The phrase "Westernculture" today usually refers to the culture of the U.S and Europe It is a Western culture,which is largely drawn from the traditions of immigrants from Western Europe, startedwith the Dutch and British settlers firstly The culture of Germany, Ireland, and Scotlandhas much impact on American culture A number of indigenous traditions and manycultural characteristics of enslaved Western Africans were absorbed into the Americanmainstream The border extended westward gave the Americans close contact to Mexicanculture, and the migration to a large extent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries fromSouthern and Eastern Europe introduced more new cultural elements More recentimmigration from Asia and especially Latin America has wide influence on Americanculture

While American culture determined that the u.s is a classless society, the

economy and society have identified cultural differences between the social classes of theU.S, affecting socialization, language, and values Professional class and middle-classAmericans have been the source of many direction of change of modern social such asgender egalitarianism between men and women, environmental protectionism, andcultural pluralism The perception of self, social views, and cultural expectations of theAmerican relate to their career with a close distance While Americans tend to take theachievement of economic and social seriously, an ordinary or normal average is also seen

as a positive attribute The changing role of women has also changed the Americanfamily Women, previously confined to housewife role, now mostly work outside and arethe majority group receive bachelor's degree U.S.A is the modern democracy anddemocratic spirit of American culture also affects business Americans since the founding

of the nation believed that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed, which isequality This concept is more important than "freedom", or is complementary to

"freedom" In fact, it still remains racism, discrimination and social status, but theconcept of equality still exists in the subconscious community at least Caucasian.Therefore, in society, Americans would feel uncomfortable when others treat them tooreverently Women and men are equal in this country

2.1.2 Language

The immigrants brought to the United States many languages of their culture.Through its history, U.S has accepted an enormous amount of immigrants, but until now,

the U.S has no official language at the federal level American English is the most

popular language, one third of states use English as the official language; while theremaining use American English or other foreign languages as the official language.Since the Immigration Act 1965 was enacted, Spainish is the second popular language inthis country, and is used by approximately 35 million people

The use of English as the official language is still a controversial issue in the U.Sfor many decades The 26th President ofthe U.S - Theodore Roosevelt declared in 1907:

"We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house " He was not the first one

to express this point of view The second President of the U.S - John Adams - has

proposed to the National Assembly should make the use of English as the officiallanguage in 1780 This opinion is not widely acceptable because the Americans at thattime spoke many different languages Therefore, the idea of choosing the most

appropriate language and make it the primary language is considered "undemocratic and threat to individual liberty." Typically, migrant languages tend to be lost throughassimilation within two or three generations, though there are some groups as Cajuns(France), Pennsylvania Dutch (German) in a state where many people have used it before

1950, and the original settlers of the Southwest (Spain) have maintained their languagefor centuries

Ryan (2013) has created a list of 381 languages used in this country English is

the language widely used at home to communicate, with 231 million over 291.5 millionpeople (79.2%) The data shows that the majority of Americans use English as theirprimary language and communication used even at home Considerating 67.5 million

people speak a language other than English to communicate at home, Spanish is the

leading language with 37.5 million people (62%) (see Appendix 3) In U.S, they teach

students Spanish as a second language in school In Hispanic communities across thecountry, bilingual signs in both Spanish and English may be quite common

2.1.3 People

U.S.A is the gathering place of many cultures and diversity of race, ethnicity due

to migration history during five centuries (Fiorina et aI., 2000) Americans do not identifytheir ethnicity as racial groups, but they consider themselves both American and their

ancestral origin Every American people at once blend with the common culture of the

U.S and have retained its own identity for themselves, created a diverse andpolychromatic country

U.S people are always mentioned along with the phrase "individualism".

American based on the ability and moral character of one individual to judge Americansuphold individualism above all anything else, although this has given rise to manycomplex social issues However, the researchers have said that American culture can notmake Americans abandon individualism because it is one of their main characteristics as

a nation American people are extremely individualistic cult and always put this issuecombined with the independence to- th~ fQr;efrQnt.These personal standpoints mean that

to abandon any commitment to the family or community Some opposed opinions thinkthat each individual is a member of society, have a duty to the community cohesionelement, put the community first and renounce individualism In fact, in the U.S, someachievements are achieved by groups of people and based on contribution of eachindividual Currently, some U.S companies tend to use personal power by using theabilities of each member to support each other and accomplish certain goals Americansalways wanted to have a private space for themselves and will be offended if someoneinfrings private space without permission Privacy enshrined in many situations, such as

if an American is ready to welcome their partner at home, or at their office, but surely itwill have the space that the guest can not walk through If the border is being violated,the Americans may have a distant attitude toward to this guest

At work, they often work in their own way and they will achieve results based on

it rather than from the others Therefore Americans can be seeing as a model ofindependence, autonomous and distinct However, in terms of "individualism", eachindividual in American society is different For example, many Americans see otherindividuals as an ideal type and admire them, such as the famous aviators CharlesLindberg and Amelia Earhart Americans also admire those who overcome poverty ordisability to achieve success in life, as a coloured educator Brooker T Washington - anauthor with visual and hearing impairments

Americans are characterized by expressing their personality frankly and authentically They always have opinions on issues that interested and concerned They

identify themselves as ambitious, hard-working, energetic people and they pride in theirown living standards, as well as the role of the country they live in comparison with theworld Despite many contradictions in society of race and ethnic, the Americans stilltrying to show the friendliness and want to create relationships quickly Comparing withother countries, it must take some time and even cause distrust in this relationships.However, friendliness level should also be considered based on each particularrelationship

In the U.S Declaration of Independence, addressed the issue "all men are created equal" and also partly reflect the views of Americans about equality in society, but there

is still racism in this country Equality expressed through the ballots, they said that "oneperson one vote" and express their own opinion of themself is always be respected and

valuable Americans especially do not like gestures that are too much formal, as greetingbows and they want to be treated equally However, there are some exceptions;discrimination still takes place but delicate and subtle Accents of words, the ordered, theuse of words, and the seating position are the way to American distinguishes socialposition People in higher positions can speak out first louder and longer This person canhave a seat in head of the table and have the most comfortable seats If there are problemsbetween the people involved, the person with a higher position will be prioritized saidfirst In communication, Americans often interrupts conversations when they want tospeak their opinion and this is contrary to the culture in Asia.

2.1.4 Religion

The U.S is a multiethnic country so it becomes to the most religiously diversecountry in the world Nearly all religions were present in the U.S and were established onthe basis of religious freedom Because of the religious diversity that has created a unique

country and distinct from any other country in the world Religious pluralism in the U.S

is a result of the historical development of this country U.S population, except the Indian(Native American), includes the migrants and their descendants with diverse races, ethnicgroups from Europe, Asia and Africa They are the followers of religions, differentbeliefs, and they carry their religion, beliefs to the U.S This migration processes tookplace in history and continues to this day Therefore, the U.S religious landscape hasdiversed and now even more diverse Since the course of history, the U.S was deeplyinfluenced by religion (Ahlstrom, 2004) The influence continues to this day and isreflected in all aspects of human life, especially culture For Americans, religion is anindispensable element in their life The survey results by the Pew Research Center (2002)shows that 6 out of 10 (59%) of people living in the U.S said that religion plays animportant role in their life This percentage firgue is double when compared with thepercentage of people who admit they have religion in Canada (30%), and higher ifcompared to Japan and some countries in Western Europe Figure 2.1 shows that the

religion has the most followers in the U.S is Christian, representing 70.6% of thepopulation in this country and also the amount of followers more than any other country

in the world While only 22.8% of the U.S population is non-religious and the rest areother religions such as Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam (Pew Research Center, 2014)

Source: Pew Research Center (2014)

Although the U.S has a lot of religious organizations, this country does not have anational religion This has made the U.S become the first nation without religion (Noah,2005) This feature has been mentioned by Engels & Marx (1845) H ••• religion develops in its practical universality only where there is no privileged religion (cf the North American States " In summary, it can be concluded that the religion in the U.S has two

features are: First, the U.S is a nation of many religions; second, in religious diversitywith many religions coexist; the Christian church is thriving with largest number offollowers, especially Protestants But if considered Protestants as a collection of smalldenominations, the Catholic occupies the top spot

Religions also have an influence on American business culture American peopleattach great importance to religion For example, on the U.S dollar there is a statement

"In God We Trust" However, religion is a subject to be discussed with partners with avery careful way Some people do not want to discuss it, while some others havementioned only a very limited way In the U.S, the mention of religion is a taboo in thebusiness In fact, the conversation often leads to religious issues Dagher (2011) gave anexample of Jim Heitman - a Canadian, when asked about his plan for the weekend; he didnot hesitate to answer that he will attend the church on Sunday Then he continues talkabout his Jewish faith Heitman said that he works with a customer who is very difficult

to decide to sell or not to sell a real estate portfolio Heitman has a quote from Bible for

his customer: "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it " A few days later, he said, his customer decides to sell The U.S also has many

big holidays like Christmas On these days, most businesses have stopped working and

staffs will have days off Thus, religion affects many aspects of communication andnegotiation.

2.2 Vietnam - United States trade relations from 2010 to present

After 20 years, since the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S announced the formal normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam on July 11, 1995 During this time,

Vietnam - U.S trade relations becomes closer and expands commercial exchangeregularly Both goverments signed a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in July 2000which is effective in December 2001 This agreement expands the scale of bilateral tradebetween the two countries and the U.S has large-scale investments in Vietnam Vietnam_ U.S BTA has opened up many opportunities for trade between two countries as well asbreaks down tariff barriers It also facilitates Vietnam exported goods to the U.S market.The agreement not only supported Vietnam in the consumption of goods and exports tothe U.S market, but also a step for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organization (WTO)for more opportunities The economy and trade situation of Vietnam at that time was in afair, convenient business environment and businesses also received positive influencefrom BT A During this time, the trade relationship between the Vietnam - U.S hasachieved positive changes In 2007, the U.S approved the Permanent Normal TradeRelations (PNTR) with Vietnam Up until 2009, Vietnam - U.S bilateral trade has givenUS$15.6 billion, increases more than 30 times compared to 1995 During this time, theU.S has become the largest export market of Vietnam and it was the second largestinvestor in Vietnam with capital up to US$9.8 billion, accounting for 25% of total FDI inVietnam The volume of exchange of goods has increased 130 times and reached nearlyUS$30 billion, while the volume of goods Vietnam exported to the U.S is more thantwice that of U.S goods imported from Vietnam The volume of direct Americaninvestment into Vietnam has also increased In 2013, bilateral trade between twocountries has reached US$25 billion The U.S keeps being the largest export market and

is ranked 7th of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam

2.2.1 Import-Export turnover

In 2013, General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that total exports andimports of goods of Vietnam and the U.S reached US$29.1 billion, up to 18.8%compared with 2012 This figure is 4.3 times as much as US$6.77 billion recorded in

2005 In particular, exports reached nearly US$23.9 billion, increase 21.4% compared