Problems and solutions for exporting and importing staff of dap cau garment joint stock company when negotiating and communicating with busin

This study aimed to research the English oral communication problemsand solutions used by Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company exporting andimporting staff to communicate with business pa

This study aimed to research the English oral communication problemsand solutions used by Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company exporting andimporting staff to communicate with business partners The participants inthis study were 6 exporting and importing staff of Logistics Department ofDap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company based in Bac Ninh, Viet Nam Theinstruments employed in this study were interview and observation It wasfound that exporting and importing staff when communicating with businesspartners had problems with listening comprehension and grammar usage,fluency, accents, producing word stress misplacement, cultural awareness andquality of voice The result also showed that the major common oralcommunication solutions used both the leadership and exporting andimporting staff were asking business customers directly of what they did notget, making clarification requests, paraphrasing and generalization

i

Nowadays, Vietnam’s economy has many opportunities fordevelopment, the logistics service business is one of the potential economicdevelopment brings positive results for the country With the developingeconomy, logistics becomes a service that integrated many activities withhigh added value, bringing significant economic benefits Vietnam withfavorable business environment, high growth opportunities promising todevelop the service market in the near future

Development of logistics in low and middle income countries canpromote trade growth and benefit the whole business and quality assuranceservices However, the logistics industry of our country is still limited, so thatcan develop strongly need to consider many factors and developmentdirection Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company is one of the VietnamGarment Corporation which was born to meet the comprehensive strategy oflogistics services development of the country on the domestic and foreign Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company is investing in the logisticsindustry to expand the multimodal transportation service with high potential.Nevertheless, the staff’s skill must be professional enough in order to meetthe need of the logistics development of the company Especially in thedirectional exchange with the business partner, how to negotiate andcommunicate efficiently to obtain the successful transaction Despite thelimited skill in speaking and negotiating, at the present there are any thoroughmethod that helps improve their skill Therefore, the topic “Problems andsolutions for exporting and importing staff of Dap Cau Garment Joint StockCompany when negotiating and communicating with business partners” is theone that I extremely concern In this graduation paper I would like to bring aspecific view on problems and solutions for negotiation and communicationwith business partners in logistics work

ii

With the help and guidance of the management and staff of Dap CauGarment Joint Stock Company, I get knowledgement about negotiating andcommunicating in logistics transaction in practice I would like to send mysincere thanks to the teachers of Commercial English Faculty – ThuongmaiUniversity, the staff of the Logistics Department and especially the dedicatedinstruction from the supervisor help me complete this graduation paper – MSNguyen Bich Hong During my completed process, I could not avoid certainmistakes I hope to receive the comments and help of the teacher toaccomplish my graduation paper

Hanoi, March 08, 2018

Student

iii

TABLE OF CONTENT

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Previous studies 2

1.3 Aims of the study 5

1.4 Research Subjects 5

1.5 Scope of the study 6

1.6 Research methodology 6

1.6.1 Interview 6

1.6.2 Observation 7

1.7 Organization of the study 8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 9

2.1 Concept of exporting and importing work 9

2.1.1 Exporting work 9

2.1.2 Importing work 9

2.1.3 The duty of exporting and importing staff 9

2.2 Definition of communication skills 10

2.2.1 Business communication skills 11

2.2.2 Differences between Business Communication and General/ Social Communication 13

2.3 English in business communication 14

2.3.1 The importance of English Oral Communication in the business work 15 2.3.2 English communication in exporting and importing work 15

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 17

3.1 Research findings about the problems when communicating with business partners of exporting and importing staff 17

iv

3.1.1 The results of the interview 17

3.1.2 The results of Observation 22

CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND SOLUTIONS 25

4.1 Plans of solving the problems of exporting and importing staff when communicating with business partners 25

4.2 Solutions for the problems of the exporting and importing staff when communicating with business partners 25

4.2.1 About the problems of communications barriers 25

4.2.2 About the problems of Misinterpretations and Assumptions 27

4.2.3 About the problems of poor listening skill 28

4.2.4 About the problems of wrong grammatical sentences 29

4.3 Conclusion for the solutions 30

CONCLUSION 31

REFERENCES 33 APPENDIX

v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

vi

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

to immediately reply to foreign partners or make serious mistakes whilehandling international contracts due to the lack of English proficient staffs.Based on the above practical needs, I would like to select the topic “Problemsand solutions for exporting and importing staff of Dap Cau Garment JointStock Company when negotiating and communicating with business partners”

as my topic I hope that my research on existing problems in negotiating andcommunicating skills and solutions to develop this condition in DAGARCOwill help the company to have an overview and to set up plans for thecompany’s development in the future

a tricky situation with a subordinate, lifting flagging morale, working out abetter way to meet productivity targets, briefing your team on customerfeedback after a product launch, or as CEO, getting your employees to buyinto your company’s vision – communication is the pivot of any businessventure, from start-up to global corporation” The next part he comparesBusiness Communication to General/ Social Communication: “Businesscommunication could be internal, that is, within the organisation betweencolleagues or between departments; or it could be external, for instance, abrand-building campaign for a company to shore up its image It could alsoinclude communicating with vendors, partner organisations, prospectiveclients or just the public at large” Whereas telephone and email were once themost often-used mediums, now online meetings, videoconferencing,teleconferencing, voice messages and even web chat and instant messagingare par for the course When it comes to a company targeting a largeaudience, videos, powerpoint presentations (PPT), blogs, apps, social mediaand television come to the rescue: “The study doesn’t have the problems andsolutions when conduct the communication skills with business partners, it

just has the definition and classifications of communications skills inbusiness.”

The second study is conducted by C Ramakanta Sarma, the researchpaper is about the importance of good communication skills for business staff.She points out the necessity of using communication skills in business works:

“People in organisations usually spends 75 percent of their daily time oncommunication through writing, reading, listening, speaking, inter-debate etc.Effective communication is an essential component for organisation success,whether it is the interpersonal intra group organisation or external levels Arecent newspaper report said that during hundred of interviews, only fivequalified for the employability It was not technically sound but they lacked incommunication skills Communication skills are as important as technicalqualifications for youngsters aiming at a bright career Communications holdthe key Poor communication skills, low confidence levels and improper bodylanguage have resulted out in the job race The person recruited will have todeal with the global clients directly The command over the language andaccent neutralization also play a vital role in the recruitment process.” Thenext point is the importance of communication:

Communication raises aspirations:

 Project the future in the present

 Raise awareness Meet information needs

 Motivates the people for a purpose

Then the author analyze the characteristics of writing skills, readingskills, speaking skills and listening skills:

 You must have patience

 Openness and desire to understand

 Concentration, intelligence and maintain eye contact

 Think before you speak

 Know something about the audience

 Read inspirational or motivational books

 Subscribe to newspaper, newsletters, periodicals journals of yourinterest to update your knowledge

 Accuracy, appropriateness, attentiveness, to your audience, avoiding

of ambiguity

 Brevity or conciseness, brightness or buoyancy

 Correctness, clarity, consistency, concreteness

The next one is a study of English oral communication skills in anundergraduate business and commerce curriculum of Crosling & Ward (2002)indicated that English oral communication skills were crucial in theworkplace Employees in this field required effective communication skillswere the most valuable On the other hand, if employees lack this core skill,they were at a disadvantage Moreover, in a sudy investigating thedevelopment of English and communication skills for modern businessconducted by Riemer (2002), the results indicated that Englishcommunication skills were essential for any business man who aspired tocarry out his or her professional practice in the workplace The results of thestudy also indicated that to prepare engineers for industrial demand, theyshould be trained to use all four English language skills especially listeningand speaking in order to communicate effectively in the global businessenvironment

Hua & Kuar (2007) also concluded that effective oral communicationskills were vital to business people, especially those who hold managerialpositions because managers need to listen, explain, persuade, guide, coach,encourage, facilitate, and direct group members to meet the goals ofindividuals and their organizations Effective oral communication enabledindividuals to be understood It also helped create understanding betweenpeople and fostered good relationships among workers in any businesscontext

1.3 Aims of the study

On the basis of studying the communicating skills in logisticstransactions that Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company staff isimplementing, along with the effective method that logistics companies on theworld apply, I hope my research will help:

- Find problems related to oral communication of exporting andimporting staff of Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company whencommunicating with business partners

- Provide solutions to help DAGARCO develop appropriate andeffective strategies and measures for the development of communicatingskills for DAGARCO’s staff

- Improve the ability to communicate effectively with business partners

is essential, no matter what industry you work in

- Improve body language, eye contact, hand gestures, and tone all colorthe message DAGARCO’s staff are trying to convey A relaxed, open stance(arms open, legs relaxed) with a friendly tone will make staff appearapproachable, and will encourage others to speak openly with them

- Find the method to become good listeners Instead of truly listening towhat the person is saying, we interrupt, think of our response, or think wealready know what the speaker is going to say next

- Find out preferred way of communicating Respect the person you’retrying to contact and use the method they seem to prefer If you’ve calledsomeone several times and always get their voicemail, but the person isalways quick to respond to email, switch to email instead

1.4 Research Subjects

The subject of this thesis: + The real problems of exporting andimporting staff of Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company whencommunicating with business partners

1.5 Scope of the study

The research scope of the thesis is limited to analyzing the problems andsolutions of Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company’s exporting andimporting staff in communicating with business partners

The main targets are the exporting and importing staff of LogisticsDepartment of the Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company The problems arearised when the DAGARCO’s staff conducting the exporting and importingtransactions with foreign customers, particularly communicating with foreignpartners, matters in communication skill of the DAGARCO’s staff

The type of communication that this research paper will focus on is oralcommunication Problems of oral communication derive from basicdifferences in values between cultures like America, Korea, Spain, …,problems when listening to the customers, negative attitudes interfere with thecommunication process, non verbal and verbal communication matters

1.6 Research methodology

Interview and Observation are the research methods that I intend to use

in order to collect the information that help complete this research paper

1.6.1 Interview

About the interview, the interviewees are the staff of LogisticsDepartment of Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company, who directly conductcommunication with business partners The followings are questions aboutproblems and solutions for communicating with business partners effectively:

 What are the main problems of exporting and importing staff of DapCau Garment Joint Stock Company when conducting oral communicationwith business partners ?

 Does the different culture affect to the conversation between exportingand importing staff of Dap Cau Garment Joint Stock Company and businesspartners ? If it does, could you explain the detail of the affection of differentculture factor ?

 What are the matters of exporting and importing staff of Dap CauGarment Joint Stock Company when listening to the foreign business partners

All of the above questions would be answered by 5 people, the gottendata help built the content of chapter 3: Research Findings that shows theresults of the research methods

1.6.2 Observation

About the Observation, I spent one month in the recently internshipprocess to observe all the exporting and importing works such as: Contact tobusiness partner through mail, fax,…solve the exporting and importingdocuments, and especially the direct communication process in which thestaff negotiate and make the exporting and importing deals During theinternship time, with the permission of the director of DAGARCO, I wastaken to the transaction place in order to observe the process and skill ofcommunication with business partners When communicating with customers,they listened to their demands, analyzed the demands and send the analyzedinformation to the logistics department so that the staff could solve andprepare the papers, document and garment to meet the customer’s need Thedifference culture problem in communication was also solved with the skillfulmethod They also use eye contact skill fluently, the look the person in theeye to demonstrate that they are focused on the person and the conversation.They are of course be sure not to stare at the person, which can make him or

her uncomfortable After the conversation, they gave feedback about thetransaction that appeal the deals are successful or not, at the same time, theydidn’t forget to give praise such as: “ Thanks for caring our products andservices ”, “ Good job”

1.7 Organization of the study

Apart from the opening, conclusions and reference materials, the thesis

is divided into four chapters:

Chapter 1: Overview of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review

Chapter 3: Research findings

Chapter 4: Recommendations and suggestions

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Concept of exporting and importing work

2.1.1 Exporting work

Exports are the goods and services produced in one country andpurchased by citizens of another country It doesn't matter what the good orservice is It doesn't matter how it is sent It can be shipped, sent by email, orcarried in personal luggage on a plane If it is produced domestically and sold

to someone from a foreign country, it is an export

2.1.2 Importing work

An import is a goods brought into a jurisdiction, especially across

a national border, from an external source The party bringing in the good iscalled an importer An import in the receiving country is an export from thesending country Importation and exportation are the defining financialtransactions of international trade

In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods arelimited by import quotas and mandates from the customs authority Theimporting and exporting jurisdictions may impose a tariff (tax) on the goods

In addition, the importation and exportation of goods are subject to tradeagreements between the importing and exporting jurisdictions

2.1.3 The duty of exporting and importing staff

The duty of an exporting and importing staff may include performingtransactions, negotiating and signing contracts with customers and suppliers,completing the procedures and documents of Exporting and Importing goodssuch as purchasing contracts, transportation documents and exporting andimporting documents Moreover, he/she is also in charge of conducting L/Copening activities and making bank guarantees, receiving, examining,coparing and recording exported and imported goods with the actual quantity

at the border gates in the process of making dossiers of good clearance The

following duties are managing, tracking orders, contracts and coordinatingwith related departments to ensure timely delivery as well as receipt, carryingout the search for new customers, expanding the exporting market according

to the Company strategy Last but not least, an exporting and importing staffhas the obligation of contacting, caring and maintaining good relationshipwith customers and suppliers, collecting and evaluating feedback fromcustomers, markets and competitors, advising the Head of LogisticsDepartment on exporting – importing business strategies, as well as makinginternal reports and reporting to relevant state agencies

2.2 Definition of communication skills

Communication is the process by which information is exchangedbetween individuals It requires a shared understanding of symbol systems,such as language and mathematics

Communication is much more than words going from one person'smouth to another's ear In addition to the words, messages are transferred bythe tone and quality of voice, eye contact, physical closeness, visual cues, andoverall body language

Experts in child development agree that all babies develop skills forspoken and written language according to a specific developmental schedule,regardless of which language the child is exposed to Although the milestonesfollow one another in roughly the same sequence, there is significantvariability from child to child on when the first word is spoken and the firstsentence is composed

The different categories of communication include:

 Spoken or Verbal Communication: face-to-face, telephone, radio or

television and other media

 Non-Verbal Communication: body language, gestures, how we dress

or act - even our scent

 Written Communication: letters, e-mails, books, magazines, the

Internet or via other media

 Visualizations: graphs and charts, maps, logos and other visualizations

can communicate messages

Language employs symbols—words, gestures, or spoken sounds—torepresent objects and ideas Communication of language begins with spokensounds combined with gestures, relying on two different types of skills Thestaff first learn to receive communications by listening to and understandingwhat they hear (supported by accompanying gestures); next, they experimentwith expressing themselves through speaking and gesturing Speech begins asrepetitive syllables, followed by words, phrases, and sentences Later, thestaff learn to read and write Many staff begin speaking significantly earlier orlater than the milestone dates

2.2.1 Business communication skills

Communication is the lifeblood of any organisation Whether it isissuing simple instructions at work, sorting out a tricky situation with asubordinate, lifting flagging morale, working out a better way to meetproductivity targets, briefing your team on customer feedback after a productlaunch, or as CEO, getting your employees to buy into your company’s vision– communication is the pivot of any business venture, from start-up to globalcorporation

Business communication is the sharing of information between peoplewithin an enterprise that is performed for the commercial benefit of theorganization In addition, business communication can also refer to how acompany shares information to promote its products or services to potentialcustomers

Business communication involves constant flow of information.Feedback is integral part of business communication Organizations thesedays are verly large and involve large number of people There are various

levels of hierarchy in an organization Greater the number of levels, the moredifficult is the job of managing the organization Communication here plays avery important role in process of directing and controlling the people in theoragnization Immediate feedback can be obtained and misunderstandings ifany can be avoided There should be effective communication betweensuperiors and subordinated in an organization, between organization andsociety at large (for example between management and trade unions) It isessential for success and growth of an organization Communication gapsshould not occur in any organization.

Business Communication is goal oriented The rules, regulations andpolicies of a company have to be communicated to people within and outsidethe organization Business Communication is regulated by certain rules andnorms In early times, business communication was limited to paper-work,telephone calls etc But now with advent of technology, we have cell phones,video conferencing, emails, satellite communication to support businesscommunication Effective business communication helps in building goodwill

of an organization

Business Communication can be of two types:

1 Oral Communication - An oral communication can be formal or

informal Generally business communication is a formal means ofcommunication, like : meetings, interviews, group discussion, speeches etc

An example of Informal business communication would be - Grapevine

2 Written Communication - Written means of business

communication includes - agenda, reports, manuals etc

Speaking or verbal communication is perhaps the most frequently usedway to get a message across at the workplace, and it includes meetings,presentations, workshops, in-person interviews, and telephonic and videoconferencing

It is direct, it costs nothing, and it is instant It is also effective because itallows the receiver to pick up on critical non-verbal cues such as facialexpressions, tone, pitch and body language.

This communication skill is best used in situations where establishing apersonal connection is important, such as conflict-resolution scenarios, team-building exercises and while selling a product But as more and morebusinesses go global and they work with partners, clients and customers allover the world, verbal communication is losing out to digital platforms

Writing is another powerful business communication skill, whichembraces the gamut from email, internal business memos, formal letters,bulletin boards, posters, flyers, PPTs etc Effective writing requires carefulchoice of words that send out a message cogently and accurately

This form of communication is reliable; it can be used to reach multipleindividuals all at once; and is the best way to convey technical information.Since it is precise and explicit, written communication is an effective tool toexplain complex concepts and to issue instructions It is unambiguous, andwhen the writer is articulate, he or she leaves no room for misinterpretation.Written communication also creates a paper trail for future reference and italso helps the legal teams of large companies do their job

2.2.2 Differences between Business Communication and General/ Social Communication

Business communication differs greatly from regular communication Itrefers to communication that takes place in a work environment, and is meant

to achieve the common goal of getting the job done and doing it effectively.Business communication could be internal, that is, within theorganisation between colleagues or between departments; or it could beexternal, for instance, a brand-building campaign for a company to shore upits image It could also include communicating with vendors, partnerorganisations, prospective clients or just the public at large

There are many career tracks that are based almost entirely on businesscommunication skills, such as marketing, customer care, corporatecommunications, public relations, brand management, advertising and eventmanagement.

While the parties at the sending and receiving ends of thecommunication differ, each of these career domains revolves around getting acertain message across and getting it across to a very specific target audience.The number of platforms that we use for business communication hasexploded in recent times Whereas telephone and email were once the mostoft-used mediums, now online meetings, videoconferencing,teleconferencing, voice messages and even web chat and instant messagingare par for the course.When it comes to a company targeting a large audience,videos, powerpoint presentations (PPT), blogs, apps, social media andtelevision come to the rescue

2.3 English in business communication

The concept of Business English has undergone some major shifts in thelast few years because of a number of developments, such as advances ingenre theory and the coming together of English for Business Purposes andBusiness Communication, inspired by the realization that there is a gap to bebridged between the academy and the globalized business world Drawing onadvances in the analysis of business discourses, especially in applied genreanalysis, this state-of-the-art review revisits the frameworks currently used inEnglish for Business Purposes and Business Communication (or, moregenerally, Professional Communication) to suggest an integration of the twoapproaches for the design of English for Business Communication (EBC)programmes The study incorporates an extensive review of much of therelevant published work in all the three areas mentioned above to identifysome of the main issues in EBC, and illustrates a gradual shift in the rationalefor the design and implementation of EBC programmes