Some reflections of vietnamese and american cultural values on vietnamese american business negotiation

This shows the importance of understanding how differences in cultures, sexes,experience, and characteristics could affect Vietnamese – American business negotiation.However, to cover al

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration ………

Acknowledgement ………

Abstract ………

Table of contents………

i ii iii iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale ……… 1

2 Aims of the study……… ……… 1

3 Scope of the study……….2

4 Methods of the study ……… 2

5 Significance of the study ……….2

6 Organization of the study……… 2

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1 Culture ……… ……… 4

1.1 What is culture? ……… 4

1.2 Components of culture ……… 4

1.3 Cultural values ……… 6

1.3.1 Vietnamese cultural values ……… 6

1.3 1.1 Collectivism ……… 7

1.3.1.2 Harmony ……… 8

1.3.1.3 Respect……… 8

1.3.1.4 Duty and honor……… 9

1.3.2 American cultural values……… 9

1.3.2.1 Individualism……… 10

1.3.2.2 Self-reliance……… 10

1.3.2.3 Equality……… 11

1.3.2.4 Competition ……… 12

1.3.2.5 Materialism and hard work……… 12

2 Communication……… 13

2.1 What is communication? 13

2.2 Cross – cultural communication……… 13

2.3 Potential problems in cross – cultural communication ……… 14

3 Negotiation ……… 14

3.1 What is negotiation? 14

3.2 Negotiation as a form of communication……… 15

3.3 Elements of negotiation……… 17

3.4 Business negotiation……… 18

3.5 Characteristics of business negotiation……… 18

3.6 Cross - cultural business negotiation……… 19

3.7 Potential problems in cross cultural business negotiation……… 21

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 1 Research method……… 22

2 Data collection instrument ……… 22

3 Data collection procedure……… 23

4 Informants……… 23

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 1 Presentation and analysis of the data……… 25

1.1 The negotiators – the actors of a negotiation……… 25

1.2 The size of negotiation team……… 26

1.3 Negotiation approach……… 28

1.4 Negotiating style ……… 28

1.5 Risk taking………. 29

1.6 Goal of negotiating ……… 29

1.7 The role of attorneys in the negotiation………. 30

1.8 Conflict management……… 30

1.9 Decision-making ……… 31

1.10 Activities accompanying the negotiation ………. 33

2 Similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American in business negotiation and the cultural explanation….……… 34

2.1 Similarities……… 34

2.2 Differences………. 36

3 Potential problems in Vietnamese – American business negotiation and some 39 suggested solutions………

3.1 Potential problems……… 39

3.2 Some suggested solutions……… 39

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 41 1 Conclusion……… 41

2 Limitation of the study……… 42

3 Suggestions for further study……… 42

REFERENCES……… 43

APPENDIX 2

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

During the last few decades, the increasing globalization of the economy hasresulted in the tremendous growth in international market As international businessopportunities open, negotiations also increase There have been so many studies aboutnegotiation skills across cultures, but they only focused mainly on developed countries.Just few studies have been conducted in the Vietnamese market

Located in the Southeast Asian region, the developing country Vietnam attracts alot of foreign direct investments, especially after becoming a member of the World TradeOrganization (WTO) in 2007 Among various foreign investors are those who come fromthe United States The U.S.-Vietnam Trade Agreement signed in July 2000 has createdopportunities for US investors in Vietnam and also given Vietnamese businesses access tothe U.S market on the same terms as other nations With the increasing development in US– Vietnam trade relation, the negotiations between Vietnamese and U.S partners grow to

be a norm This shows the importance of understanding how differences in cultures, sexes,experience, and characteristics could affect Vietnamese – American business negotiation.However, to cover all those differences in a study of this size seems to be overloaded Thisstudy, therefore, attempts to explore only one side of cultural differences - Vietnamese andAmerican cultural values and to find out how they influence on Vietnamese – Americanbusiness negotiation

2 Aims of the study

This study aims to investigate the potential problems in Vietnamese – Americanbusiness negotiation and the Vietnamese and American cultural values that cause thoseproblems To be more specific, the objectives of the study are:

- to find out typical Vietnamese and American cultural values

- to understand the nature of a cross cultural business negotiation

- to examine the potential problems in Vietnamese – American business negotiation

- to analyze how cultural values influence the negotiation process and outcomes These aims are formulated into 3 following research questions:

1) What are the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and Americanbusiness negotiation?

2) How are Vietnamese and American cultural values reflected in Vietnamese

– American business negotiation?

3) What are potential problems in Vietnamese – American business

negotiation?

Dealing with all cultural factors affecting negotiation is too broad for a study of thistype Therefore, the focus of this study is to investigate only some typical cultural values ofthe two target countries: Vietnam and the United States; and to find out how they arereflected in Vietnamese-American business negotiation

4 Methods of the study

The study used mixed methods to find answers to the three research questions Theinstrument for data collection in this study was the questionnaire The data collected fromquestionnaires were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively for descriptive statistics.Considerations and comments will be made inductively

5 Significance of the study

This study points out the cultural values of the two countries that have influence onVietnamese – American business negotiation and tries to find out some potential problems

in that case The results of the study will be of some contribution to the literature ofinternational business negotiation from cross-cultural perspective Moreover, the findingsand comments of the study are believed to be useful for raising the cultural awareness ofVietnamese and American businessmen when they meet up in a negotiation so that theycan achieve success when they do business in the United States or Vietnam

6 Organization of the study:

This minor thesis consists of 5 chapters:

The first chapter is the introduction which reveals the rationale, significance, aims,

methods, scope and organization of the study

Chapter 2 is the theoretical background centering on some typical cultural values

of Vietnam and the United States, the cross cultural business negotiation with potentialproblems

Chapter 3 discusses the methodology of the study.

Chapter 4 deals with findings and discussion, and implications of the study given

by the findings

The last chapter is the conclusion, limitations and suggestions for further study.

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1 Culture

1.1 What is culture?

Culture is an abstract term which is very hard to define The meaning of the word

―culture‖ causes a lot of debates by anthropologists as well as many other social scientists.There are up to now hundreds of definitions of ‗culture‘ and different people define it indissimilar ways But the most general understanding of culture is that it is learnt, notinherent

Culture may be understood in the sense of ―high culture‖ as the appreciation of art,music, literature and so on, or ―low culture‖ as normal life with daily activities of human

beings According to UNESCO, culture is an "aggregate of distinctive, spiritual, material,

intellectual, and emotional traits, which characterizes a society or a social group Itincludes, alongside with arts and literature, ways of life, basic human rights, systems ofvalues, customs and traditions, and faiths" This is the definition that helps to articulate theconcept of cultural dimension of development Geert Hofstede (1984:22) describes culture

as the ―collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of onegroup or category of people from another.‖ Therefore, the behavior of a person can only beunderstood from the knowledge of the culture that he belongs to

Due to the fact that all negotiations take place in a socio-cultural environment, theculture of such a place will greatly influence the way the negotiators act, behave orperceive communications, both verbal and non verbal during negotiations Therefore, thedefinition ―Culture is a shared background (for example, national, ethnic, religious)resulting from a common language and communication style, customs, beliefs, attitudes,and values‖ by Levine and Adelman (1993:xvi) is the most suitable one for the scope ofthis study

composed of six elements: beliefs, values, norms, roles, role conflict and status.

- Beliefs: these are general, vague opinions held about the world and about the

nature of society They vary by society and sometimes by subcultures, e.g the ancient

people were encouraged to think that the Earth was the centre of the universe and all other planets moved around us.

- Values: these are vague beliefs about what is right and correct in the world They

imply that there are certain appropriate forms of action which ought to be taken, e.g life isprecious therefore, it is wrong to kill anybody

- Norms: these are socially expected patterns of behavior (Actions that are

regarded as normal) A norm of the British society is to say ―Hello!‖ on meeting someone, or tostand in a queue without trying to push in front

- Roles: Social roles are patterns of behavior expected of certain people according

to the occupation or position they hold in society

- Role conflict: There are innumerable social roles – father, mother, child,

shopkeeper etc All of us occupy a number of roles, which are generally complementary, butsometimes they may conflict

- Status: This refers to the position of a person or social role in society according to

the amount of prestige received from others In different societies/cultures, status varies

Myron W Lustig and Jolene Koeste (2006, 86) have the opinion that culture

involves four components: beliefs, values, norms and social practices

- Beliefs: A belief is an idea that people assume to be true about the world Beliefs,

therefore, are a set of learned interpretations that form the basis for cultural members to decidewhat is and what is not logical and correct

- Values: Values involve what a culture regards as good or bad, right or wrong, fair

or unfair, just or unjust, beautiful or ugly, clean or dirty, valuable or worthless, appropriate orinappropriate, and kind of cruel Because values are the desired characteristics or goals

of a culture, a culture‘s values do not necessary describe its actual behaviors andcharacteristics

- Norms: Norms are the socially shared expectations of appropriate behaviors.

When a person‘s behaviors violate the culture‘s norms, social sanctions are usuallyimposed Like values, norms can vary within a culture in terms of their importance andintensity Unlike values, however, norms may change over a period of time, whereasbeliefs and values tend to be much more enduring

- Social practices: Social practices are the predictable behaviors‘ patterns that

members of a culture typically follow Thus, social practices are the outward manifestations ofbeliefs, values and norms

1.3 Cultural values

In the scope of this study, only the component ‗values‘ is focused among the

components of culture mentioned above In the view of philosophers, value is a verycommon concept It relates to economy, politics, morality, art, religion, science, cultureand even the common connotation and essence of gains and losses, kindness and evil,beauty and ugliness, pros and cons in every field of daily life

Values are related to the norms of a culture, but they are more global and abstractthan norms Norms are rules for behavior in specific situations, while values identify whatshould be judged as good or evil Different cultures reflect different values At the simplestlevel, cultural values are commonly shared concepts about what is right or wrong, possible

or impossible, true or false and so on In other words, they may be seen as the commonlyheld standards of what is acceptable or unacceptable, important or unimportant, right orwrong, workable or unworkable, etc., in a community or society Values determine thought

patterns, standards of morality and behaviors Each culture has its own value system which

may be very different from that of another culture

1.3.1 Vietnamese cultural values

Known as a once war-torn nation, Vietnam has a complex culture influenced bymany foreign invaders over the centuries However, it can be said on the positive side that,this history of war has contributed to shape the Vietnamese character Long years offighting against foreign intruders have served to unify the country, fostering a sense ofnationalism and pride

In the early history, the country was dominated by Chinese for almost 1000 years.Consequently, the Viet people and culture were subject to constant Chinese influence andsignificant attempts of assimilation Therefore, Vietnamese culture is said to havefoundations in Confucian and Buddhist philosophies transmitted mainly from Chinesesource In addition, it was traditionally the agricultural society that formed the Vietnamesecharacter, which was characterized by the village community with many of its primitivevestiges retained The thoughts of farmers absorbed deeply into the Vietnameseagricultural society and their positive aspects made up the typical features of the traditional

Vietnamese The basic administrative and social unit of the society was the village withaffairs run by notables and the state rarely interfered The village culture highly valuedemotional ties and attachment to relatives and community as well as help extended to eachother especially to the less fortunate members In this way, it fostered the sense ofcollectivism.

Despite all the complexity of the structure of the Vietnamese cultural system assuch, the core distinctive values of Vietnamese culture are still recognizable

1.3.1.1 Collectivism

This cultural value means that the interests of the community or the group areconsidered to be more important than the interest of the individual Asian cultures place ahigher value on the group and tend to see individuals in terms of their membership in andobligation to groups The Vietnamese are no exception Being a collectivist society, theneeds of the group in Vietnam are placed before the needs of the individuals The concernsfor family and community will almost always come before business or individual needs

This is explained by Ellis C (1996) in her book Culture shock! Vietnam: A strong sense of community felt by all Vietnamese is an intrinsic part of their make-up and ethnographers believe it stems from their long reliance on wet rice agriculture The people had to cooperate and work together on intra-village irrigation systems to get the benefits of a good harvest This created a sense of unity…

An expression of this value is the Vietnamese people‘s allegiance to their family.There is a fact that family is the cornerstone of the Vietnamese society Vietnamese peoplecherish the complete and stable family, maintain harmony and avoid confrontations Theyusually live in extended families which may include three (or more) generations:grandparents, parents and children By virtue of the principle of collective and mutualresponsibility, each individual strives to be the pride of his family Children are taughtfrom early childhood to obey their parents and readily forget himself for the sake of hisfamily‘s welfare and harmony The elder generation always tells the younger generationwhat they should or should not do Before making a decision, the younger generation oftenasks for their parents‘ opinions

1.3.1.2 Harmony

Harmony is normally defined referring to the natural world as a cultural emphasis

on fitting harmoniously into the environment (unity with nature, protecting the

environment, world of beauty) More appropriately, it may refer to non-assertiveness in

social relations For Vietnamese culture, according to Hunt P.C (2002), the concept of harmony is based largely on the teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism Total harmony is achieved by creating harmony within oneself and one’s family, as well as in the outer world of humanity and nature He also states that observing moderation and avoiding

extremes are some ways an individual can do to produce harmony That‘s moderation and

avoiding extremes in verbal communication, daily life activities, consumption of food and drink and in social interaction This helps ensure their physical safety and they can adhere

to the moral imperative to keep their dignity unimpaired

1.3.1.3 Respect

Hunt P.C (2002, 4) supposed that ―respect is the foundation of Confucius‘teaching and it is the guiding principle of interpersonal relationships in Vietnamesesociety.‖ Vietnamese are expected to show respect to people who are senior to them in age,status, or position At home, they should show respect to their parents, older siblings, andolder relatives This is expressed by obedience in words and action Respect is part of theconcept of filial piety Insults to elders or ancestors are very serious and can often lead tosevered social ties Outside the family, respect should be paid to elderly people, teachers,clergymen, supervisors and employers, and people in high positions through language anddemeanor Puffer (2004, 204) explained that ―By giving respect, one gains respect Theessential principle is: Show other people more respect than they apparently deserve;simultaneously expect and assert less respect than you deserve.‖

1.3.1.4 Duty and honor

Duty and honor are among the highest cultural values Individuals are instilled fromchildhood with the values of honor, hard work and loyalty to the family Individuals havethe ultimate duty to carry themselves with the utmost dignity in all circumstances so as tonot bring shame to oneself and the family To lose face dishonors oneself and one‘s family.The duty and role of each immediate and extended family member is well defined Theseduties and roles govern the actions of the individuals and are the sacrifices one makes toone‘s family For example, the role of the parents is to raise their children properly Theirduties are not limited to providing food and shelter, but require them to educate and instillthe children with moral values The children in turn have the duties to obey their parents

and never to question their authority or teaching When the parents get older, it is the duty

of the children to take care of them (Hunt, P.C., 2002:4)

1.3.2 American cultural values

The United States, the home of a variety of immigrants from different races all overthe world, is a vast and diverse nation It is these immigrants that have brought along withthem the peculiarity of their own culture, diversifying American native one Being called

―a melting-pot‖, America is the place where a various racial and ethnic groups have beencombined together However, it is also regarded as ―a salad bowl‖ where those variousgroups have remained somewhat distinct and different from one another, making up arichly diverse American culture That‘s why the nation contains many regions andsubcultures that account for a wide spectrum of cultural norms Although America'scommunal history is relatively short, many U.S.-born citizens inherently display values thatare rooted in historical events As with any culture, Americans have their owndistinguishable values

1.3.2.1 Individualism

Individualism is the idea that the rights and freedom of the individual are the mostimportant in the society The interests of the individual are considered to be moreimportant than the interests of the group Whatever it may be called: individual freedom,individualism or independence, it is the cornerstone of American cultural values that nearlyevery American would agree upon as it permeates every aspect of American society

This value shows greatly the desire and the ability of all American individuals to control their own destiny without outside interference from the government, a ruling noble class, the church, or any other organized authority Or in Gary Althen‘s (1988) words, Americans ―have been trained since very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies They have not been trained to see themselves as members of a close-knit, tightly interdependent family, religious group, tribe, nation, or other collectivity.‖ This is

expressed mostly in the tradition and spirit of self-reliance which influence greatly theyoung generation It is said that the way they are raised teaches them to becomeindependent and individualistic in their everyday lives American children usually havetheir own bedrooms Even very young children are given opportunities to make their ownchoices and express their opinions They are taught to be financially independent at a

young age in order to get more freedom For the youth, making friends, marriage or otherpersonal affairs are their own businesses, and they need not get their parents‘ permission.

At the same time, parents do not interfere with their children‘s privacy, including marriage,work and hobby

1.3.2.2 Self-reliance

Self-reliance is seen as the price paid for individualism Americans believe that

individuals must learn to rely on themselves to keep their freedom ―They own nothing to any man, they expect nothing from any man; they acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing alone, and they are apt to imagine that their whole destiny is in their own hands‖ (De Tocquevill, 2003) That is why Americans take credit only for what

they accomplish as individuals They get no credit for having been born into a rich familybut pride themselves in having climbed the ladder of success, to whatever level, all by

themselves Wanning, E (1999) in ―Culture shock! USA‖ also said that ―In American, self-reliance is the fundamental virtue Each person is a solo operation, and independence

is considered the birthright of the every child Our highest aspiration is self-fulfillment, and it’s only the unencumbered person who can become his true self.‖ What is more, an

expression of American self-reliance is that children usually leave home at the age of 18and then they will make most of their own decisions without their parents‘ help Generallyspeaking, the youth ages from 18 to 21 tend to solve their economic and emotionalproblems by themselves, for they think that depending on parents is ashamed of

1.3.2.3 Equality

―All men are created equal‖ is one of the most famous quotations from the

Declaration of Independence, and the value of equality is considered fundamental to theAmerican spirit This concept has given rise to some of the nation's deepest beliefs,aspirations, and rights It is so cherished that it is seen as having a religious basis.Americans believe that all people are created equal and that all should have an equalopportunity to succeed, ―no one is born superior to any one else.‖ (Althen, G., 1988)Although it is not always achieved, Americans strive for equality They commonly use thefirst names of their elders, professors, and lawyers—a lack of deference to age andauthority that is commonly mistaken for disrespect or laziness by foreigners Similarly,their sensitivity to disparity and unfairness causes them to be outraged when someonereceives special privilege due to their family's wealth or notoriety ―The idea of equality

makes it difficult for Americans to understand hierarchical patterns of organizationsabroad.‖ (Steward, E.C et al, 1991) They cannot believe the fact that ―the loyalty ofmembers of an organization may be the primary principle that explains otherwiseunintelligible actions and promotion.‖ Noting the absence of an emphasis on bothachievement and equality, American may fail to recognize the characteristics thatdetermine who are the high – status opinion molders and decision-makers (Steward, E.C.

et al, 1991)

Equality of opportunity receives emphasis in American culture Americans areusually individually interested in achievement and expect rewards commensurate with theiraccomplishments It is clear that the cultural values predispose Americans to function mosteffectively on an interpersonal level of equality That‘s why the theme of equality is

―running through all American social relationships‖ and ―as an ideal, the value ofequality of opportunity remains pervasive in the culture‖ (Steward, E.C et al, 1991)

1.3.2.4 Competition

Steward, E.C et al (1991) claimed that ―Competition is the primary methodamong Americans for motivating members of groups.‖ Because of the emphasis on theindividual, Americans can be competitive, and to be called a high achiever in the U.S isquite a compliment Besides, ―Americans have a deep faith that in some fundamental wayall people (at least all American people) are of equal value‖ (Althen, G., 1988) This spirit

of equality makes them ensure that the race for success is fair for everyone no matter who

he is or he is rich or not This leads to the fact that competition is a typical feature ofAmericans They believe that competition brings out the best in any individual and in anysystem It almost is seen as a race in which a person must try his best to achieve success.Consequently, people who are more competitive seem to be much more successful thanothers and they are honored as ―winners‖ in comparison with the ―losers‖ Even a childhas his own pressure of competition in life such as taking part in strong programs ofcompetitive sports provided by the public schools and community groups That is one waythey learn to compete successfully

1.3.2.5 Materialism and hard work

Materialism is simply a focus on or desire for material goods, and what Steward,E.C et al (1991) claimed to relate to ―a belief in the inviolacy of private property, a valuecommonly asserted to be at the root of the Constitution and the American conception of

democracy.‖ Therefore, Americans suppose that ―materialism is natural and proper‖ whenpeople criticize them for ―materialistic‖ and ―so concerned with acquiring possessions.‖(Althen, G., 1988) What‘s more, they even ―consider it almost a right to be materiallywell off and physically comfortable.‖ (Steward, E.C et al, 1991)

Obviously, Americans‘ hard work is attached to the value of material possessions.They believe that in life, one can improve their status through hard work and humanendeavor Values such as thriftiness, hard work, and ingenuity resulted from the time whenpeople first settled in the western United States There was so much land and so manyopportunities, but it was dangerous and difficult These conditions led to an adoptedmentality of "work hard or perish" that has withstood the test of time and been passeddown through generations

According to Beisler (1997), communication is the transmission from one person toanother of a message which is understood by the receiver as the sender intended Thisdefinition stresses on both the speaker and the hearer, somehow it is similar to the concept

of Levine & Adelman (1993): Communication is the process of sharing meaning throughverbal and non verbal behavior

Berko‘s (1989) definition seems to be more specific when he supposed that theprocess of communication is a conscious or unconscious, intentional or unintentional one

in which feelings and ideas are expressed in verbal and non verbal messages.Communication occurs in intrapersonal, interpersonal, and public levels Humancommunication is dynamic, continuous, irreversible, interactive and contextual

2.2 Cross – cultural communication

When people from different cultures communicate with each other, they normallyget problems And the term ―cross cultural communication‖ is formed to give out the

solutions for these communicative problems It is likely that cross cultural communication

is very complex because different languages spoken and non verbal barriers usually carrydifferent meanings in different cultures

According to the free encyclopedia Wikipedia, ―cross cultural communication is afield of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate,

in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicateacross cultures.‖(http://en.wikipedia.org).Whereas, Levine and Adelman defined cross-cultural communication as ―the process whereby one‘s culture affects interaction with aperson from another culture.‖ This definition emphasizes the impact of culture on the wayone communicates with other people This concept is expressed with more details by

Nguyen Quang in his book Intercultural communication: ―Cross-cultural communication

is the communication (verbal and non-verbal) between people from different cultures:communication that is influenced by actual values, attitudes and behavior; the influence ofculture on people and reactions and responses to each other‖ (1998:3)

2.3 Potential problems in cross – cultural communication

It is undeniable that there may be many difficulties, misunderstandings orcommunication failures in cross – cultural communication as people of differentbackgrounds communicate with different styles They often use their own cultural values

to interpret and evaluate others‘ speech or actions Their different cultural values may lead

to misinterpretations and misunderstandings which may even result in a total breakdown ofcommunication Consequently, this can also be the cause of confusion, anger,disappointment and culture shock

3 Negotiation

3.1 What is negotiation?

In the book ―Cross- cultural business negotiations‖ (1999), Hendon et al claimed

that ―negotiation is the process by which at least two parties try to reach an agreement onmatters of mutual interests.‖ He also added that negotiation is ―a decision-making processthat provides opportunities for the parties to exchange commitments or promises throughwhich they will resolve their disagreements and reach a settlement‖ and ―two or moreparties striving to agree when their objectives do not coincide.‖ According to Sarkar(2010), ―negotiation is conceived to be a process of interactions involving two individuals

or groups reaching a joint agreement about differing needs or ideas.‖ It can also be viewed

as a type of social interaction for obtaining a mutual commitment among two or moreparties who have different purposes or concerns which are considered to be important tothem In cross-cultural negotiation, it is more complex due to differences ofcommunication styles, traditions, cultures, political systems, customs, and ideologies of thetwo or more parties.

Knowledge of trade, economics, international businesses, politics, sociology,psychology, marketing, sales, communications, and even in conflict resolutions is applied

in negotiations Negotiation takes place when there is an economic transaction or a dispute

‗Negotiatus‘ in Latin root and ‗negocios‘ in modern Spanish both refer to ‗businesses‘.Negotiation is implied to provide different parties with equal opportunities and convenientenvironment so that their conflicts could be minimized and a mutual agreement could beestablished after exchanging information, discussing in a conclusive manner (Sarkar,2010)

3.2 Negotiation as a form of communication

According to Hendon et al (1999), the negotiation process proceeds as an interplay

of perception, information processing, and reaction; whereas Stulberg (1993) supposed thatprocess as an obligatory argument resolution process in which two or more parties classifyproblems, suggest and evaluate ways of solving these problems that all the parties mutuallyaccept Therefore, negotiation is demonstrated through communication Negotiation andcommunication are inherently intertwined; negotiation cannot occur without some means

of communication Negotiation communication is different in comparison to other dialogueforms as it is used to exchange information, change behaviors, or persuade people byconcentrating on achieving commitment from the other parties to perform in certain ways(Stulberg, 1993)

Businessmen negotiate in order to arrive at a mutual agreement founded on demandand supply Means of communication include face-to-face spoken, written, or telephoneforms All participants hold various implicit or explicit favorites and view their desiredoutcome as their profit goals and their behaviors should be adapted to those of thenegotiation partners Therefore, negotiation is said to be a social interactive process Inorder to succeed in an international business negotiation, all these aspects should becarefully taken into consideration

Long-term business relationships can be built with good communication in thenegotiation In contrast, negative effects such as relationship breakdown, costlyrenegotiations, and drawn out processes may be consequences of poor communication So,what decides a good negotiation communication? An effective negotiation communicationmust lead to an agreement on the semantic level, which means that it should be free ofmisinterpretation of common symbol transmission Moreover, negotiation messages of aparticipant should be utterly perceived by the others, or say another way, the pragmaticlevel must be attained Also, each communicative act brings specific validity claims such

as appropriateness, truthfulness, truth, and comprehensibility that must be evaluated by therecipient Perfectly, if the recipient rejects any of validity claims, he or she will take part in

a conversation with the sender to deal with the communicative breakdown

Good communication in business negotiation should exhibit high levels ofcoherence and transparency, a mutually positive assessment of the interaction, and theabsence of communicative misunderstandings on all semiotic levels A shared perception

of the terms and spirit of the deal result in the implementation of any commitment obtained

by the parties (Schoop, Ostertag, et al, 2010)

Negotiation communication involves a particular duality: a balance betweencompetition and cooperation need to be found among negotiators Since negotiators aremutually dependent and their goals can never be reached unilaterally, and because theyoften try to build a long-lasting business relationship, problem-solving activities such as aconcession behavior and rational argumentation are carried as a way to obtain a mutuallyagreeable resolution to sustainable cooperation Simultaneously, negotiators are trying towin over the resource distribution and usually see their goals as mutually aggressive Thus,negotiators often employ tactics and strategies such as threats or persuasion

Another significant characteristic of communication in business negotiations is therelevant series of rules and standards Social constraints affect negotiators‘ strategies,behavior, and decisions Negotiators are also influenced by standardized business processthat identify communication media and communicated content as well Nevertheless,communication in business negotiations is astonishingly rich and provides a diversity ofactions in which values and norms are moved forward or reinterpreted animatedly

Negotiation communication‘s key components are argumentation and bargaining.While argument involves claiming normative validity or factual truth with the aim to

persuade (and, therefore, supposes a willingness on the other party‘s part to agree to thebetter argument), bargaining, in contrast, includes promises and threats with an intention tochange behavior Despite the seemingly distinct modes of actions for negotiators, it isfound that these modes regularly intertwine in real negotiations The reason why they arenot separable is the social requirement of subjective claims Furthermore, negotiations arecontended to include an agreement part and an information part, which support the theory

of a double-level of language, involving a formal and an information communicative layer.Communication in business negotiations include two distinct but interwoven modes thatshould be taken into consideration for an effective negotiation communication.Communicative action and strategic action can take place in parallel, and both supportsuccessful negotiation processes Strategic actors, for example, may wisely act likecommunicative actors to save face or persuade the other party if that is likely to be themost potential strategy (Schoop, Ostertag, et al, 2010)

3.3 Elements of negotiation

Paul R Horst (2007) introduced four basic elements of negotiation as following:

Actors (negotiators): In a negotiation, the actors are members of some forms of

culture, whether it is national, ethnic, professional or any of a multitude or combination ofother types of cultures As such, their cultural background, which includes the valuesassociated with and shared by that culture, will play a significant role on the negotiationespecially how they ―perceive issues, other actors, and their intentions.‖ The culture itselfmay determine who the negotiator will be For example, in some cultures, women may not

be allowed to participate in a negotiation

Structure: The structure of a particular negotiation also holds examples of how

culture can influence the negotiation process The structural dimension includes variablessuch as the size of the negotiation team, the number and type of issues, power distributionbetween the parties, the organizational setting

Strategy: The strategy used by negotiators is another area of where culture holds

an influence on the negotiation process Strategy is the actor‘s orientation used to achievetheir goals Certain cultures, based on their values, do not shy away from a confrontationalapproach and aggressive tactics This could lead the negotiators to adopt a morecompetitive style of negotiations Other cultures may adopt a much less confrontationalstyle in order to avoid direct, aggressive conflict This culture may adopt a more

collaborative orientation toward the negotiations The approaches used to deal with theuncertainties or risks within the strategy framework may also be affected by differingcultural preferences Some cultures might approach a negotiation from an inductive stylewhereas the others prefer deductive style.

Process: This is the actual interaction between parties These interactions are the

methods or tactics that the parties use to communicate; that is, the way they exchangeinformation, seek out methods to create options, or find room for maneuver andconcessions The manner in which the parties are communicating and the area ofcommunication style are important elements in the negotiation process The potential formisunderstandings caused by the hidden messages transmitted by a high context negotiatorcomplicates the negotiation process, especially if negotiating with parties from a culturethat is ambiguity adverse

3.4 Business negotiation

A business negotiation is considered to be a formal event that happens at thecommon bargaining table where negotiators discuss over performance and price or acomplicated term of partnership business Accordingly, it is an increasingly importantrequirement for businessmen if they wish to expand their enterprise horizons to improveand better their negotiation skills In global business context, negotiations are the focalpoint of international diplomacy The wise implementation of negotiation can support aparty‘s concern and help get rid of unexpected alternatives such as litigation, trade wars, orprolonged conflict settlement process under the WTO system In the broad context of traderelations, international negotiations may involve negotiations over sales, tariffs, prices, orqualitative negotiations over general rules about safety and environment, health, labor, orother emerging conflicts and effects of trade related agreements (Sarkar, 2010)

3.5 Characteristics of business negotiation

―Negotiations do not happen in a vacuum.‖ They occur in a certain environment,and its elements such as surrounding, time, and place can intensely have an effect on thecourse of discussions In international transactions, in which one‘s environment might bedefinitely new to the others, a blockade to reaching a mutual commitment might beconstituted (Salacuse, 2010)

As an author with great interest on international business negotiation, Ghauri(2008) provided a list of characteristics that he supposed to be common to all businessnegotiation situations:

- There are two or more parties The negotiation as a process is considered to occur between individuals, within groups and between groups

- There are one or more issues to be resolved

- There are various positions, which define responses of the negotiator on a

- A "give and take" process is expected, this means that both sides modify or move away from their opening statements, request or demands

- The parties prefer to negotiate and search for agreement rather than to fight openly, they prefer to invent their own solution for resolving the conflict

- Even if the outcome is not the one expected at first, each party must retain hope that an acceptable outcome can be reached

- Successful negotiation involves the management of tangibles such as the price,the terms of agreement as well as the resolution of intangibles, which are the underlyingpsychological motivations that directly or indirectly influence the parties during the negotiations

3.6 Cross - cultural business negotiation

Globalization is an important factor that increases the volume of negotiations inperson among members of different cultures (George, Jones, et al, 1998) Negotiation iscommonly a communication process by which different parties look for their own interestadvancements through commitment on some future transactions These negotiations could

be open when parties from different countries set up a round table meeting to discuss theirpreferences, or they might be implied when two engineers from different companies meet

up at the project side to talk about their upcoming equipment arrival In internationalbusiness, negotiation is an invasive, continuing process and is essential to all kinds ofbusiness activity Accordingly, global businessmen have to negotiate in their dailyactivities (Salacuse, 2010).

Cross cultural business negotiation is one of many specialized areas within thewider field of cross cultural communications It is suggested that people from differentcountries perceive decision-making situations differently owing to the culturalcharacteristics of their nation, so negotiation approaches vary accordingly Additionally,negotiators‘ feelings, moods, and emotions also play in information processing in crosscultural negotiations While there is not much difference in the experience of primarymoods and emotions, their demonstration and correlates are likely to be affected by bothuniversal and culturally-specific factors These factors include individual differences,cross-cultural differences, and context Of which, cross-cultural differences are controlled

by internalized cultural values and norms, emotional expression, and linguistic style(George, Jones, et al, 1998)

Cultural differences in an international negotiation are a possible obstacle tosuccessful transactions It is the fact that international business activities not only takeplace across one‘s border, but also across the cultures Culture has a powerful impact onpeople‘s thought, communications, and behaviors It also has an effect on their negotiationstyles Effective international businessmen should understand and control the effect ofcultural differences to ensure the success of their negotiations (Salacuse, 2010)

In international business, the success or failure of negotiations, especially for venture, is prominently and largely determined by the perceptions of cultural values.Hofstede (1980) figured out the following elements which are regarded to be significant inthe global business negotiations including a variety of cross-cultural issues ―Negotiatinggoal and basic concept, protocol, communication, risk-taking propensity view of time:decision-making system: form of agreement, power distance, personal style, coping withculture.‖ Before deciding to enter into any international business negotiation, traders shouldconsider these issues including a variety of cross-cultural and cross-cutting issues (Sarkar,2010)

joint-3.7 Potential problems in cross cultural business negotiation.

Cross cultural negotiations are not easy tasks There is a great separation amongnegotiators who come from different cultures: physical features, different language,different way of defining business goals, perceiving the world, expressing thinking andfeeling, and showing or hiding motivation and interests (Ghauri, 2003) That‘s why manypotential problems often occur during cross-cultural negotiations According to Frank(1992) and Hendon et al., (1996, p 241), those problems may be:

- Insufficient understanding of different ways of thinking

- Insufficient attention to the necessity to save face

- Insufficient knowledge of the host country, including history, culture, government, status of business and image of foreigners

- Insufficient recognition of political or other criteria

- Insufficient recognition of the decision-making process

- Insufficient understanding of the role of personal relations and personalities

The conflict and compromise that happens during negotiations has an intrinsicaffective element, and touching or sentimental reactions such as suffering or upset areusually felt in the negotiation process In addition, the negative escalation causes increasingmistrust, regular arguments, and protective strategies which can lead to utter attacks anddefense On the base of the above potential problems, this research will try to find out thespecific potentials problems in the case of Vietnamese- American business negotiation

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

1 Research method

This study seeks to find answers to the following research questions:

1) What are the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and American business negotiation?

2) How are Vietnamese and American cultural values reflected in Vietnamese –

American business negotiation?

3) What are potential problems in Vietnamese – American business

negotiation?

In this research, the methods used to process the collected data are both qualitativeand quantitative All the considerations, comments and assumptions are based on theanalysis of statistic data and reference to relevant publication These methods are used

because by ―using more than one method within a research program, we are able to obtain

a more complete picture of human behavior and experience Thus, we are better able to …achieve our research goals more quickly.‖ (Abbas & Teddlie, 2003: 189)

2 Data collection instrument

According to Frazer, L & Lawley, M (2000), questionnaire is ―a formalized set

of questions for obtaining information from respondents‖ and ―a well-designed andadministered questionnaire can provide the data necessary to address research questions.‖Verma & Mallick (1999) also had the same idea: ―The questionnaire is often a vital tool

in the collection of data‖ and ―it can provide data economically and in a form that lendsitself perfectly to the purposes of the study.‖ With the above advantages, questionnaire isused as an instrument to collect data for this research An undeniable strong point of usingquestionnaire is that it gives respondents a chance to see the written form of the questionsand answer them at their own time Therefore, feedback from a large number ofrespondents can be quickly collected because the process of completing questionnairedoesn‘t take much time

The questionnaire is first formulated in English and then literally translated intoVietnamese Therefore, the two versions have exactly the same content The questionnaireconsists of two parts In part one, respondents were asked to give their personalinformation such as age, gender, nationality and especially their experience in Vietnamese– American negotiation Including 15 questions, part two aimed to collect information ontheir attitude and perceptions of what happen in a negotiation Respondents can choose thesuitable answer to each question or give their own ideas in the space provided if their idea

is different from the ones provided or if they want to make their choice more explicit The

questions were arranged in the order of the main elements of a negotiation: questions 1 and

2 relate to the ―actors‖ – the negotiators of a negotiation The aim of these two questions

is to find out the criteria that Vietnamese and American firms base on to select their staffmembers to participate in a negotiation, and the attitude of the negotiators towards theother party members‘ status, position or age Questions 3 and 4 test the characteristics of

the structure of a negotiation - that is the size of the negotiating team Questions 5 focuses

on the preferred negotiation approach of each party and question 6 is to see ―whethernegotiating a business deal is an inductive or deductive process‖ (Salacuse, 2004); and theattitude on risk-taking is mentioned in question 7 The last group including questions from

8 to 15 help to find out the goal of each party when coming to the negotiating table, theirrelationship-building, trust-building, decision-making and non-verbal communication

3 Data collection procedure

The questionnaires were delivered to American and Vietnamese business people inface-to-face meetings and conversations, and via email There is a fact that gatheringsufficient number of American and Vietnamese negotiators or people who have experience

in the field was extremely difficult I had to make use of all the personal relationships that Ihave as well as of my friends, colleagues, former classmates, neighbors, relatives … inorder to get enough data for the research

4 Informants

As mentioned above, the questionnaires were delivered to many people and 22American and 22 Vietnamese business people were finally selected as eligible informants.Among these, only 8 Vietnamese and 3 American are female The ages of all theinformants range from 26 to 60 They are employers or employees in different types ofcompany or business group Their fields vary from sales, import/export to agency, etc Butwhat they have in common is that they all have experience in Vietnamese – Americanbusiness negotiation The majority of American informants are still working in Vietnamand the rest are in the U.S., whereas all the Vietnamese ones are in Vietnam

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

1 Presentation and analysis of the data

1.1 The negotiators – the actors of a negotiation.

Question 1 focuses on the criteria for selecting negotiators of each party

91

90

82 80

Chart 1: Selection of negotiators

Notes on options:

A: negotiating skills D: position

B: seniority E: experience in negotiating with the counterpart

As can be seen from chart 1, Vietnamese companies seem to require more criteria

when they choose their representatives to take part in a negotiation All the criteria

provided are selected with slight differences While the Americans appreciate negotiating

skills (64%), expertise (64%) and especially experience in negotiating with the

counterpart (82%) and position (27%), the Vietnamese place most emphasis on

negotiating skills (91%), then position (46%) and both expertise and experience in

negotiating with the counterpart (both 36%), seniority (32%).

One American respondent added that ―the criteria will depend upon who the

other negotiator is.‖

Question 2 is about the negotiators‘ attitude toward their counterparts‘ status,

position and age

The pie chart 2 shows the differences in the attitude of Vietnamese and American

negotiators when their counterparts have lower status, position and age 91% Americans do

not care much about the balance in status, position and age of negotiators of the two

parties However, there is an opposite view of the Vietnamese in this situation: a half

requires a balance between two parties and the rest suppose that it doesn‘t matter

1.2 The size of negotiation team.

Question 3 tries to find out the affect of the team size to the negotiation outcome

Table 3: The influence of team size on negotiation outcome

As shown on table 3, Vietnamese and American have very different interpretations

of the influence of the size of the negotiation team on the outcome of the negotiation The

majority of both Vietnamese and American people agree that the team size has certain

very considerable while most of the American (72%) said that it is small The same