Table of Contents

CHAP 1: ENVIRO NMENTAL FOUNDATION......................................................................3

1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................3

2. ECONOMIES:......................................................................................................................3

3. Political systems................................................................................................................4
a, Collectivism and Individualism (Chủ nghĩa cá nhân và chủ nghĩa tập thể).........................................4
b, Democracy and Totalitarianism (Dân chủ và chuyên chế).................................................................4

4. Legal and Regulatory environment.....................................................................................5

5. Technological Environment and Global Shifts in Production...............................................6

6. Ehtics and Social Responsibility..........................................................................................6

CHAP 2: THE MEANING AND DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE.................................................8

1. Definition and charcateristics.............................................................................................8

2. Hofstede’s culture dimension.............................................................................................8

2.1 Power distance:...............................................................................................................................8
2.2 Uncertainty avoidance (tâm lý né tránh rủi ro)................................................................................9
2.3 Indualivism and Collectivism..........................................................................................................10
2.4 Masculinity and Feminity...............................................................................................................10
2.5 Long term orientation....................................................................................................................10
2.6 Indulgence & Restraint (mức độ kiểm soát mong muốn):.............................................................10

3. Trompenaar Culture Dimension:......................................................................................11

3.1. Universalism & Particularism........................................................................................................11
3.2. Individualism and Communitarianism...........................................................................................11
3.3. Neutral & Emotional.....................................................................................................................11
3.4. Specific & Disffuse (quan niệm về ko gian)....................................................................................11
3.5. Achievement & Ascription (sự thành đạt và nguồn gốc xuất thân)...............................................12
3.6. Time..............................................................................................................................................12
3.7. Environment.................................................................................................................................12

4. GLOBE culture dimension.................................................................................................13

CHAP 3: MANAGING ACROSS CULTURE.........................................................................14

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 1. Strategic Predispositions (Ethnocentric, Polycentric, Regio-centric, Geocentric)...............14

2. Meeting the challenge......................................................................................................14

2.1 The Globalization Imperative:........................................................................................................15
2.2 Parochialism: (chủ nghĩa địa phương)............................................................................................15
2.3 Simplification:................................................................................................................................15
2.4 There are ten factors or guidelines that successful global firms seem to employ:.........................15

CHAP 4: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND DIVERSITY...................................................17

2. Trompenars's culture structure........................................................................................18

2.1 Family structure.............................................................................................................................18
2.2 Effiel structure...............................................................................................................................18
2.3 Guided missle.................................................................................................................................19
2.4 Incubators......................................................................................................................................19

3. Managing Multiculturalism and Diversity.........................................................................20

3.1 Types of Multiculturalism:.............................................................................................................20
3.2 Advantages of Diversity.................................................................................................................21
3.3 Potential problem..........................................................................................................................21
3.4 Building Multicultural Teams Effectiveness....................................................................................21

Chap 5: Cross-cultural communication and Negotiation................................................24

1. Verbal communication.....................................................................................................24
1.1 Context.......................................................................................................................................... 24
1.2 Indirect and Direct Styles...............................................................................................................24
1.3 Elaborate Exacting and Succinct Styles:.........................................................................................24
1.4 Contextual and Personal Styles......................................................................................................25
1.5 Affective and Instrumental Styles..................................................................................................25
1.6 Communication Flows....................................................................................................................26
1.7 Communication barriers................................................................................................................26

2. Non-verbal communication..............................................................................................27

3. Negotiation......................................................................................................................28
3.1 Two types of negotiation:..............................................................................................................28
3.2 Steps of the negotiation process....................................................................................................29

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CHAP 1: ENVIRO NMENTAL FOUNDATION

1. Introduction
International management is the process of applying management concepts
and techniques in a multinational environment and adapting management
practices to different economic, political, and cultural contexts.
An MNC is a firm that has operations in more than one country, international
sales, and a mix of nationalities among managers and owners.
Globalization and international linkages
Globalization can be defined as the process of social, political, economic,
cultural, and technological INTEGRATION among countries around the world.
Globalization refers to the shift toward a more integrated and interdependent
world economy
Globalization is distinct from internationalization in that internationalization
is the process of a business crossing national and cultural borders, while
globalization is the vision of creating one world unit, a single market entity.
Evidence of globalization can be seen in increased levels of trade, capital
flows, and migration.
2. ECONOMIES:
2.1. Command economies - government plans the goods and services that a
country produces, the quantity that is produced, and the prices at which they are
sold
All businesses are state-owned, and governments allocate resources for "the
good of society” Because there is little incentive to control costs and be efficient,
command economies tend to stagnate
2.2. Market economies - all productive activities are privately owned and
production is determined by the interaction of supply and demand

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 The government encourages free and fair competition between private
producers
Since the interaction of the community and firms guides the system,
organizations must be as versatile as the individual consumer. Competition is
fervently encouraged to promote innovation, economic growth, high quality, and
efficiency.
2.3. Mixed economies - certain sectors of the economy are left to private
ownership and free market mechanisms while other sectors have significant state
ownership and government planning
3. Political systems
Has 2 dimensions

a, Collectivism and Individualism (Chủ nghĩa cá nhân và chủ nghĩa tập

thể)
 Collectivism stresses the primacy of collective goals over individual
goals.
The need of societies as a whole are generally viewed as being
more important than individual freedoms. Today, collectivism is
equated with socialists.
 Individualism: An emphasis on the importance of guaranteeing
individual freedom and self-expression. Individualism is built on two
central tenets: (1) individual freedom and self-expression are
guaranteed, (2) people are allowed to pursue their own self-interest
in order to achieve the best overall good for society

b, Democracy and Totalitarianism (Dân chủ và chuyên chế)

Democracy: refers to a political system in which government is by the people,

exercised either directly or through elected representatives. These elected

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representatives then form a government, whose function is to make decisions on
behalf of the electorate
(1) an individual’s right to freedom of expression, opinion, and organization;
(2) a free media; (3) regular elections in which all eligible citizens are allowed to
vote; (4) universal adult suffrage; (5) limited terms for elected representatives; (6)
a fair court system that is independent of the political system; (7) a nonpolitical
state bureaucracy; (8) a nonpolitical police force and armed service; (9) relatively
free access to state information
Totalitarianism: In a totalitarian country, all the constitutional guarantees on
which representative democracies are built—an individual’s right to freedom of
expression and organization, free media, and regular elections—are denied to the
citizens. In most totalitarian states, political repression is widespread, free and fair
elections are lacking, media are heavily censored, basic civil liberties are denied,
and those who question the right of the rulers to rule find themselves imprisoned,
or worse.
There are four major forms of totalitarianism :
 Communist totalitarianism (chuyên trị cộng sản) – found in states
where the Communist party monopolizes power (Vietnam, Laos,
China, Cuba)
 Theocratic totalitarianism (chuyên trị thần quyền) - found in states
where political power is monopolized by a party, group, or individual
that governs according to religious principles (Iran, Saudi Arab)
 Tribal totalitarianism (chuyên trị bộ lạc) - found in states where a
political party that represents the interests of a particular tribe
monopolizes power (Zimbabwe vàTanzania)
 Right-wing totalitarianism (chuyên trị cánh hữu) - permits some
individual economic freedom, but restricts individual political freedom
(Sing, Philip, Korea, Indo)
4. Legal and Regulatory environment

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 There are four foundations on which laws are based around the world.
1. Islamic law. This is a law derived from the interpretation of the Qur'an and
the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. It is found in most Islamic countries in
the Middle East and Central Asia.
2. Socialist law. This law comes from the Marxist socialist system and
continues to influence regulations in former communist countries, especially those
from the former Soviet Union, as well as present-day China, Vietnam, North
Korea, and Cuba.
3. Common law. (Thông luật) This comes from English law, and it is the
foundation of the legal system in the United States, Canada, England, Australia,
New Zealand, and other nations.
4. Civil or code law. (Luật dân sự) This law is derived from Roman law and
is found in non-Islamic and nonsocialist countries such as France, some countries
in Latin America, and even Louisiana in the United States
5. Technological Environment and Global Shifts in Production
MNCs need to keep their businesses connected; this is becoming increasingly
easier as technology contributes to "flattening the world." Thomas Friedman, in his
book The World, Is Flat, writes World Wide Web, along with mobile technologies,
open-sourcing, and workflow software distribution, not only enable businesses and
individuals to access vast amounts of information at their fingertips in real-time but
are also resulting in the world flattening into a more level playing field.
Tech affects international management in the next decade: biotechnology,
nanotechnology, satellites, automatic translation, AI & machine learning, silicone
chips, supercomputers.
6. Ehtics and Social Responsibility
Ethics, the study of morality and standards of conduct (chuẩn mực ứng
xử), is often the victim of subjectivity as it yields to the will of cultural relativism

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or the belief that the ethical standard of a country is based on the culture that
created it and that moral concepts lack universal application.
 Reconciling Ethical Differences across Cultures: Most MNCs seek to
adhere to a code of ethical conduct while doing business around the
world, yet must make some adjustments to respond to local norms and
values.
 Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability:
 Corporate social responsibility (CSR): The actions of a firm to benefit
society beyond the requirements of the law and the direct interests of
the firm.
 Fair trade: An organized social movement and market based approach
that aims to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading
conditions and promote sustainability.
 Sustainability: Development that meets current needs without harming
the future.

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CHAP 2: THE MEANING AND DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE

1. Definition and charcateristics

Culture is the result of human interaction, creates attitudes, and influences
behavior. Has 6 Characteristics:
 Learned: Culture is not inherited or biologically based; it is acquired
by learning and experience
 Shared: People are members of groups that shared culture; it is not
specific to single individuals
 Trans-generational: Culture is cumulative, passed down from
one generation to the next.
 Symbolic: Culture is based on the human capacity to symbolize
or use one thing to represent another.
 Patterned: Culture has structure and is integrated; a change in
one part will bring changes in another
 Adaptive: Culture is based on the human capacity to change or adapt
(the new things), as opposed to the generally driven adaptive process of
animals
Value in Culture: A major dimension in the study of culture is values. Values
are basic convictions that people have regarding what is right and wrong, good and
bad, important and unimportant
2. Hofstede’s culture dimension
The purpose of the model is to explain how and why people from various
cultures behave as they do.
Sự khác biệt trong cách suy nghĩ về điều gì là quan trọng, là hợp lý, trong
cách giải quyết vấn đề
2.1 Power distance:
Less powerful membersaccept that power is distributed unequally

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High Power distance countries Low Power distance countries

 People blindly obey superiors  A smaller ratio of the supervisor

 Centralized, tall structures to the employee
 (e.g., Mexico, South  Flatter, decentralized structures,
Korea,India)  (e.g., Austria, Finland, Ireland)

2.2 Uncertainty avoidance (tâm lý né tránh rủi ro)

High uncertainty avoidance countries Low u-a countries

 High need for security  People more willing to accept risks of

 Strong belief in experts and their the unknown
knowledge;structureorganizational  Less structured organizational
activities activities
 More written rules  Fewer written rules
 Less managerial risk-taking  More managerial risk-taking
 Low labor turnover  Higher labor turnover, more ambitious
 (e.g., Germany, Japan, Spain) employees
 (e.g., Denmark and Great Britain)

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 2.3 Indualivism and Collectivism
Individualism is the tendency of people to look after themselves and their
families only; Collectivism is the tendency of people to belong to groups or
collectives and look after each other in exchange for loyalty.

High individualism High collectivism

Wealthier, protestant work ethic, Poorer, less support of protestant work

greater individual initiative, ethic, less individual initiative,
promotions based on market value promotions based on seniority (e.g.,
(e.g., U.S., Canada, Sweden) Indonesia, Pakistan)

2.4 Masculinity and Feminity

Masculine countries Feminine countries

Stress earnings, recognition, Caring for cooperation, friendly

advancement, challenge atmosphere, low-stress job.
Eg: Germanic countries Eg: Norway

2.5 Long term orientation

2.6 Indulgence & Restraint (mức độ kiểm soát mong muốn):
Nền văn hóa Indulgence sẽ cho phép bạn tự do làm những gì mình thích và
Restraint thường không chú trọng nhiều đến thời gian giải trí để thỏa mãn sự hài
lòng của bản thân

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 3. Trompenaar Culture Dimension:
The purpose: explain how cultures differ and offering practical ways in
which MNCs can do business in various countries.
3.1. Universalism & Particularism
 Universalism: Ideas/Practices can be applied everywhere without
modifications, formal rules > relationships. Eg: Netherland, US,
Netherland, Hong Kong
 Particularism: circumstances dictate how ideas/practices should be
applied, relationships/trust > formal rule. Eg: China, South Korea
3.2. Individualism and Communitarianism
 Individualism: people regarding themselves as individuals. Countries
with high individualism: stress personal and individual matters; assume
great personal responsibility (e.g., Canada, Thailand, U.S., Japan)
 Communitarianism: people regarding themselves as a part of the group.
Value group-related issues; committee decisions; joint responsibility
(e.g., Malaysia, Korea)
3.3. Neutral & Emotional
 Neutral: emotions not shown act stoically and maintain composure
(e.g., Japan and U.K.)
 Emotional: express openly and naturally e.g., Mexico, Netherlands,
Switzerland)
3.4. Specific & Disffuse (quan niệm về ko gian)
 Specific: large public space shared with others and small private space
guarded closely. High specific cultures: people open, extrovert, high
separation between work and personal life (cần cả ko gian chung và ko
gian riêng khi làm việc)

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  Disfuse: public and private spaces similar in size, public space shared
with private space people indirectly, introvert, work and life are linked
closely (ko cần ko gian riêng khi làm việc)
3.5. Achievement & Ascription (sự thành đạt và nguồn gốc xuất thân)
 Achievement culture is one in which people are accorded status based
on how well they perform their functions (Austria, Switzerland, U.S.)
 Ascription culture is one in which status is attributed based on who or
what a person is. Ascription cultures accord status based on age,
gender, or social connections (e.g., Venezuela, China, Indonesia)
3.6. Time
 Sequential: theo trình tự, do one at a time, keep appointments strictly
(US, Can,...)
 Synchronous: đồng thời, do more than one activity at a time,
appointment is approximate and changeable (France, Mexico)
Present & future
 Future more important (Italy, U.S., Germany)
 Present more important (Venezuela, Indonesia)
3.7. Environment
 Inner-directed: people believe in the control of outcomes (US, Switz,
Japan)
 Outer-directed: people believe in letting things take their own course
(China, Asian countries)

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 4. GLOBE culture dimension
Phát triển thêm so với Hofstede và nghiên cứu về đặc điểm lãnh đạo. Sự khác
biệt diễn ra ở cụm quốc gia (10 cụm)
Provide a global standard guideline that allows managers to focus on local
specialization.
1. Uncertainty avoidance (giống Hofstede)
2. Power distance (giống Hofstede)
3. Collectivism I: organizational and societal institutional practices encourage
and reward the collective distribution of resources and collective action.
4. Collectivism II: individuals express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in
their organizations or families.
5. Gender egalitarianism: minimizes gender role differences and gender
discrimination.
6. Assertiveness (sự quyết đoán) assertive, confrontational, and aggressive
7. Future orientation future-oriented behaviors such as planning, investing
in the future, and delaying gratification.
8. Performance orientation (định hướng kết quả) encourage performance
improvement and excellence
9. Humane orientation (định hướng con người) encourage individuals for
being fair, altruistic (vị tha), friendly, generous, caring, and kind to others
Nhận xét sự khác biệt giữa GLOBE và các học thuyết trc đó:
 Corresponds generally with those of Hofstede and Trompenaars.
 Different from Hofstede in that many more researchers with varied perspectives
were involved (vs. Hofstede working alone); studied many companies vs IBM.
 GLOBE provides a current comprehensive overview of general stereotypes that can
be further analyzed for greater insight.

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 CHAP 3: MANAGING ACROSS CULTURE

1. Strategic Predispositions (Ethnocentric, Polycentric, Regio-centric,

Geocentric)
As MNCs become more transnational, their strategies must address the
cultural similarity and differences in their varied markets.

Four distinct predispositions toward doing things in a particular way:

• Ethnocentric: A company with an ethnocentric predisposition allows the
values and interests of the parent company to guide strategic decisions
Chủ nghĩa dân tộc: Một công ty có khuynh hướng lấy dân tộc làm trung tâm
cho phép các giá trị và lợi ích của công ty mẹ dẫn dắt các quyết định chiến lược
• Polycentric: Firms with a polycentric predisposition make strategic
decisions tailored to suit the cultures of the countries where the MNC operates
Đa tâm: Các công ty có khuynh hướng đa trung tâm đưa ra các quyết định
chiến lược phù hợp với văn hóa của các quốc gia nơi MNC hoạt động
• Regio-centric: A regiocentric predisposition leads a firm to try to blend its
own interests with those of its subsidiaries on a regional basis
Lấy khu vực làm trung tâm: Khuynh hướng lấy khu vực làm trung tâm khiến
một công ty cố gắng kết hợp lợi ích của chính mình với lợi ích của các công ty con
trên cơ sở khu vực
• Geocentric: A company with a geocentric predisposition tries to integrate a
global systems approach to decision making
Địa tâm: Một công ty có khuynh hướng địa tâm cố gắng tích hợp cách tiếp
cận hệ thống toàn cầu vào việc ra quyết định
2. Meeting the challenge

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 2.1 The Globalization Imperative:
Belief that one worldwide approach to doing business is key to efficiency
and effectiveness. In some cases, however, both the product and the marketing
message are similar worldwide: high-end products, impulse purchases, novel
products, or fast foods.
2.2 Parochialism: (chủ nghĩa địa phương)
View the world through own eyes and perspectives. This can be a strong
temptation for many international managers, who often come from advanced
economies and believe that their state of-the-art knowledge is more than adequate
to handle the challenges of doing business in less developed countries.
2.3 Simplification:
Exhibit the same orientation toward different cultural groups. For example,
the way in which an U.S. manager interacts with a British manager is the same way
in which he or she behaves when doing business with an Asian executive.
However, many factors facilitate the need to develop unique strategies for
different cultures:
 Diversity of worldwide industry standards
 Continual demand by local customers for differentiated products
 Importance of being an insider as in case of customers who prefer to
“buy local”
 Need to allow subsidiaries to use their own abilities and talents
unconstrained by headquarters
2.4 There are ten factors or guidelines that successful global firms seem to
employ:
1. See themselves as multinational enterprises and are led by a
management team that is comfortable in the world arena.
2. Develop integrated and innovative strategies that make it difficult and
costly for other firms to compete.

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 3. Aggressively and effectively implement their worldwide strategy and
back it with large investments.
4. Understand that innovation is no longer confined to the United States
and develop systems for tapping innovation abroad.
5. Operate as if the world were one large market rather than a series of
individual, small markets.
6. Have organizational structures that are designed to handle their unique
problems and challenges and thus provide them the greatest efficiency.
7. Develop a system that keeps them informed about political changes
around the world and the implications of these changes on the firm.
8. Have management teams that are international in composition and thus
better able to respond to the various demands of their respective
markets.
9. Allow their outside directors to play an active role in the operation of
the enterprise.
10. Are well managed and tend to follow such important guidelines as
sticking close to the customer, having lean organization structures, and
encouraging autonomy and entrepreneurial activity among the
personnel

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CHAP 4: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND DIVERSITY

1. The nature of Organizational culture

Organizational culture: shared value and belief enabling members to
understand their role and the norms(chuẩn mực) of organization
Characteristics:
1. Observed behavioral regularities as typified by a common language,
terminology, rituals (Các quy luật hành vi được quan sát được tiêu biểu
bằng ngôn ngữ, thuật ngữ, nghi lễ chung)
2. Norms reflected by things such as the amount of work to do and degree of
cooperation (mức độ hợp tác) between managers and employees
3. Dominant values that the organization advocates and expects participants
to share (e.g., low absenteeism ~ vắng mặt thấp, high efficiency)
4. A philosophy set forth in the MNC's beliefs regarding how employees and
customers should be treated
5. Rules dictating do's and don'ts of employee behavior pertaining to areas
such as productivity, customer relations, and intergroup cooperation
6. Organizational climate/atmosphere: the way that participants interact with
each other, customers.

Three aspect of function (3 khía cạnh chức năng)

1. The general relationship between the employees and their organization.
2. The hierarchical system of authority (Hệ thống phân cấp quyền lực) that defines the
roles of managers and subordinates (cấp dưới)
3. The general views that employees hold about the MNC's purpose, destiny, goals, and
their place in them.

Interaction between National and Organizational Culture

The national cultural values of employees have a significant impact on their
organizational performance, and that the cultural values employees bring to the
workplace with them are not easily changed by the organization. (các giá trị văn
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hóa dân tộc của nhân viên có tác động tích cực đáng kể đến hiệu suất tổ chức của
họ và các giá trị văn hóa mà nhân viên mang đến nơi làm việc không dễ bị tổ chức
thay đổi).
Andre Laurent supports Hofstede’s conclusions: cultural differences are
more visible among foreign employees working within the same multinational
organization than among those working for firms in their native lands.
2. Trompenars's culture structure

2.1 Family structure

 A leader who is regarded as a caring parent and one who knows what is
best for the personnel.
 Management assumes a paternal relationship with personnel, looks
after employees, and tries to ensure that they are treated well and have
continued employment.
 Family culture also is characterized by traditions, customs, and
associations.
Good: It can catalyze and multiply the energies of the personnel and appeal to
their deepest feelings and aspirations.
Bad: Members of the organization could end up supporting a leader who is
ineffective and drains their energies and loyalties.
2.2 Effiel structure
strong emphasis on hierarchy and orientation to the task.

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  Jobs are well defined, employees know what they are supposed to do,
and everything is coordinated from the top.
 The person holding the top position in the Eiffel Tower culture could be
replaced at any time.
 It operates very much like a formal hierarchy, impersonal and efficient.
Good: It creates a structure where equality is a point of emphasis.
Bad: It is ill-equipped to handle changes swiftly.
E.g: Denmark, Germany, Netherlands
2.3 Guided missle
 Guided missile culture is oriented to work, which typically is undertaken by
teams or project groups.
 Personnel in the guided missile culture do whatever it takes to get the job
done.
 Formal hierarchical considerations are given low priority, and individual
expertise is of greatest importance.
 Change in guided missile culture comes quickly.
 People move from group to group, and loyalties to one's profession and
project often are greater than loyalties to the organization itself.
E.g: USA, UK
2.4 Incubators
The role of organizations is to serve as incubators for the self-expression and
self-fulfillment of their members.
Incubator culture often has little formal structure.
It is often found among start-up firms.
Incubator cultures often create environments where participants thrive on an
intense, emotional commitment to the nature of the work.

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 * In this process of growth and maturity, the unique characteristics of the
incubator culture begin to wane and disappear, and the culture is replaced by one
of the other types.

3. Managing Multiculturalism and Diversity

3.1 Types of Multiculturalism:
a, Domestic Multiculturalism: It is not necessary for today’s organizations to
do business in another country to encounter people with diverse cultural
backgrounds. Culturally distinct populations can be found within organizations
almost everywhere in the world
b, Group Multiculturalism:
 Homogeneous groups (đồng nhất), in which members have similar
backgrounds and generally nhận thức, interpret, and evaluate events
in similar ways. An example would be a group of male German bankers
who are forecasting the economic outlook for foreign investment.

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  Token groups, in which all members but one have the same
background. An example would be a group of Japanese retailers and a
British attorney who is looking into the benefits and shortcomings of
setting up operations in Bermuda.
 Bicultural groups,
 Multicultural groups
3.2 Advantages of Diversity
a, Enhancing creativity
b, Prevent group thinking
Groupthink: consensus reached because of social conformity and pressure on
individual members of a group to conform to group norms
=> Agreement is achieved only through a careful process of deliberation.
c, Enhance relationships with customers
Everyone connects better with others of the same nationality or cultural
background => more quickly building trust and understanding of one another’s
preferences.
3.3 Potential problem
 People’s attitudes - Mistrust of other
 Perceptual problems vấn đề nhận thức - When culturally diverse
groups come together, often bring preconceived, erroneous
stereotypes with them.
 Inaccurate biases
 Inaccurate communication - Misunderstandings can be caused by a
speaker using words that are not clear to other members/ the way in
which situations are interpreted.
 Different perceptions of time
3.4 Building Multicultural Teams Effectiveness

21
 a, Understanding the conditions for Effectiveness
b, Focus of attention must be determined by the stage of team
development
In the entry stage, the focus should be on building trust and developing team
cohesion
In the work stage of development, attention may be directed more toward
describing and analyzing the problem or task that has been assigned. This stage
often is fairly easy for managers of multicultural teams because they can draw on
the diversity of the members to generate ideas
In the action stage, the focus shifts to decision-making and implementation.
This can be a difficult phase because it often requires consensus-building among
the members. In achieving this objective, experienced managers work to help the
diverse group recognize and facilitate the creation of ideas with which everyone
can agree
c, Using proper Guidelines:
(1) Team members must be selected for their task-related abilities and not
solely based on ethnicity. If the task is routine, homogeneous membership often is
preferable; if the task is innovative, multicultural membership typically is best.
(2) Team members must recognize and be prepared to deal with their
differences. The goal is to facilitate a better understanding of cross-cultural
differences and generate a higher level of performance(hiệu suất) and
rapport(mối quan hệ). In doing so, members need to be aware of their
stereotypes, as well as those of others and use this information to better understand
the real differences that exist between them. This can then serve as a basis for
determining how each individual member can contribute to the overall
effectiveness of the team.
(3) Because members of diverse teams tend to have more difficulty agreeing
on their purpose and task than members of homogeneous groups, the team leader

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must help the group identify and define its overall goal. This goal is most useful
when it requires members to cooperate and develop mutual respect in carrying out
their tasks.
4) Members must have equal power so that everyone can participate in the
process; cultural dominance always is counterproductive (sự thống trị về văn
hóa luôn phản tác dụng). As a result, managers of culturally diverse teams
distribute power according to each person’s ability to contribute to the task, not
according to ethnicity.
5) It is important that all members have mutual respect for each other. This
is often accomplished by managers choosing members of equal ability, making
prior accomplishments and task-related skills known to the group, and minimizing
early judgments based on ethnic stereotypes.
6) Because teams often have difficulty determining what is a good or a bad
idea or decision, managers must give teams positive feedback on their process
and output. This feedback helps the members see themselves as a team, and it
teaches them to value and celebrate their diversity, recognize contributions made
by the individual members, and trust the collective judgment of the group

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Chap 5: Cross-cultural communication and Negotiation

1. Verbal communication
1.1 Context
Context (bối cảnh) is information that surrounds a communication and helps
convey the message
 In high-context societies: Messages are often highly coded and implicit
~mơ hồ (e.g., Japain and many Arab countries). The receiver’s job is to
interpret what the message means by correctly filtering through what is
being said and the way in which the message is being conveyed.
 In low context societies: Messages are often explicit~rõ ràng, and the
speaker says precisely what s/he means (e.g., U.S. and Canada)
1.2 Indirect and Direct Styles
High-context cultures: messages implicit and indirect; voice intonation ~ngữ
điệu giọng nói, timing, and facial expressions play important roles in conveying
information
Low-context cultures: people often meet only to accomplish objectives; they
tend to be direct and focused in communications
One way of comparing two kinds of cultures is by finding out what types of
questions are typically asked:
• In high context culture: who will be at this meeting?
• In low context culture: what is the meeting going to be about?
1.3 Elaborate Exacting and Succinct Styles:
Three degrees of communication quantity— elaborating, exacting, succinct
Elaborating (tỉ mỉ) style is most popular in high-context cultures. There is a
great deal of talking, the description includes much detail, and people often repeat
themselves (Arab countries)
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 Exacting (chính xác) style is more common in low-context, they focus on
precision and the use of the right amount of words to convey the message
(England, Germany, and Sweden)
Succinct (ngắn gọn) style is more common in high-context cultures where
people say few words and allow understatements, pauses, and silence to convey
meaning (Asia)
1.4 Contextual and Personal Styles

a, Contextual style (ngữ cảnh)

• A contextual style is one that focuses on the speaker and the relationship
between the parties.
• For example, in Asian cultures, people use words that reflect the role and
hierarchical relationship of those in the conversation. As a result, in an
organizational setting, speakers will choose words that indicate their status relative
to the status of others.

b, Personal style (cá nhân)

• A personal style focuses on the speaker and the reduction of barriers

between the parties. In the United States, for example, it is common to use first
names and to address others informally and directly on an equal basis
1.5 Affective and Instrumental Styles

a, Affective style

• The affective style is characterized by language that requires the listener to

note what is being said carefully and to observe how the sender is presenting
the message.
• Quite often, the meaning that is being conveyed is nonverbal and requires
the receiver to use his or her intuitive skills to decipher what is being said. The part
of the message that is being left out may be just as important as the part that is

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being included. The affective style is common in collective, high-context cultures
such as the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia

b, Instrumental style

• The instrumental style is goal-oriented and focuses on the sender.

• The individual clearly lets the other party know what he or she wants the
other party to know.
• The instrumental style is commonly found in individualistic, low-context
cultures such as Switzerland, Denmark, and the United States.
1.6 Communication Flows
a, Downward Communication
Transmission of information from manager to subordinate
 The primary purpose of manager-initiated communication is to convey
orders/information/instructions and performance feedback
 Communicating with subordinates can be both challenging and
difficult, especially if the managers do not believe in the decision
b, Upward Communication
From subordinate to superior
 Purposes: provide feedback, ask questions, obtain assistance from
higher-level management
 Outside Asian countries, upward communication is not as popular
1.7 Communication barriers
a, Language barrier
English is popular but local language is still beneficial, critical for business
success
Written communication has been getting increased attention, poor writing is
proving to be a greater barrier than poor talking

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 b, Cultural barrier
The standard business communication practices are different between
countries. Many American writers are far more blunt and direct compared to
Asians.
Example of writing business letter of complaint.
c, Perceptual barrier
Perception: a person’s view of reality. How people see reality can vary and
will influence their judgement and decision. Misperceptions can become a barrier
to effective communication and decision making
2. Non-verbal communication
Kinesics including: Eye contact, Posture, Gestures
Proxemics: physical space when communicating

 Intimate distance used for very confidential communications

 Personal distance used for talking with family/close friends
 Social distance used to handle most business transactions
 Public distance used when calling across room or giving talk to group

Chronemics: the way time schedule is used in a culture:

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  Monochronic time schedule: trình tự
 Polychronic time schedule: đồng thời
Chromatics: The use of color to communicate message
 Color that mean one thing in this country may mean something entirely
different in other countries.
 E.g: For mourning (thương tiếc, viếng thăm), people in US dress in
black while people in India dress in white
Achieving communication effectiveness:
(1) Improve feedback systems: There are two types of feedback systems:
 Personal (face to face meetings, telephone conversations, and
personalized email)
 Impersonal (reports, plans)

=> Both systems help affiliates keep their home office aware of progress and,
in turn, help the home office monitor and control affiliates performances as well as
set goals and standards.
(2) Provide Language training
(3) Provide Cultural training
(4) Increase Flexibility and cooperation
3. Negotiation
Negotiation: Process of bargaining with one or more parties to reach an
acceptable solution for all
3.1 Two types of negotiation:
Distributive when two parties with opposing goals compete over set value
(Win-lose situation)
 Ex: seller and buyer negotiating the price of the product
 Knowing more valuable information can help

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 Integrative when two groups integrate interests, create value, and invest in
the agreement (win-win scenario)
 Try to maximize the benefit for both sides and distribute the benefits
 Ex: business negotiation
3.2 Steps of the negotiation process
1. Planning:
 Identifying the objectives they would like to attain.
 Then they explore the possible options for reaching these objectives
(the greater of options, the greater chances for successful negotiations)
 Consideration is given to areas of common ground between the parties.
2. Interpersonal relationship building
 Getting to know the people on the other side.
3. Exchange of task-related information
 Each group sets forth its position on the critical issues.
4. Persuasion – is the most important step.
5. Agreement

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