Resha Taylor

Tammie Baker
BPS 4305.501

United States of American and Vietnam Difference in Culture, Ethics and Values

Topic
A Perspective on the Difference between the United States of America and Vietnam in
Culture, Ethics and Values
Abstract

Purpose: This article aims to investigate the differences and similarities in the
cultures of people in the United States of America and Vietnam. The focus is on the
cultural aspect of how the two countries conduct business. It also examines the degree
to which the cultural differences impact the business relations between the two countries.

Design/Approach: The data for the paper is collected from research databases as
well as some business models.

Originality/Value: This paper helps identify cultural differences between these two
countries and can be utilized in better understanding the two cultures.

Introduction

Vietnam is the 29th largest trading partner to the United State of America (U.S).
Its important to analyze the cultural distance, ethical standards, and how these factors

affect business. This is important because it minimizes conflicts and promotes a better
understanding of the cross-cultural differences between the two countries. This is
valuable information for entrepreneurs if one would have to invest in Vietnam
Entrepreneurial activity is important to economic growth and effective
management practices are critical for all organizations in developing economies.
Entrepreneurship is a driver of many kinds of wealth generation and the activity can
lead to the realization of different forms of capital, including social value, new
knowledge, and financial resources. (Cited 5)

Vietnam is an interesting case because they are the first Communist country to join the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); a free market economic grouping in
the Asia Pacific region. Vietnam insists on its own formula of a market economy with a
socialist character. Economic growth, considerably high in the last three years (8.2
percent on the average), has not been supported by a consistent and institutionalized
foreign investment framework. The managerial competency of local managers are
generally limited, which requires a high influx of expatriates to fill the gap. The nature of
effective leadership has not been clearly identified in Vietnam. (Cited 3)

Vietnamese Culture, Value, Ethics

Vietnam economy

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, or Vietnam, is the member of the Association

of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) as well World Trade Organization (WTO). Vietnam
is the developing country with an impressive integration with the global economy.

According to the research, Vietnams formal normalization of diplomatic relations with

the USA in 1995, followed by the USAVietnam bilateral trade agreement in 2001, the
Vietnamese Government has achieved several key economic policy goals and has
attracted many domestic and foreign investors with its large, skilled and low-cost
workforce. Trade between Vietnam and the USA has grown tremendously. The total trade
volume in 1992 was $4.6 million and in 2013 the trade volume reached $29,662.30 million,
including $5,013.10 in exports and $24,649.20 in imports (CITED 1).

Vietnam Culture
Vietnam has a long history of being under the control of foreign countries;
therefore Vietnamese culture is influenced strongly from Chinese culture and some
French culture. The mix of cultures creates the special characteristic for Vietnam.
Vietnamese people practice the Confucius Concept. Confucianism main concept
express the good behaviors between people in society which is based on: duty, filial
piety, loyalty, honor, and respect. It explains the relationship between members in a
family, in society and the harmony in life. Some examples would be the responsibilities
in a relationship between a father and son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger
brother, friend to friend. For example, a young person should obey and respect their
elders, also take care of their elders when they are retired. It is up to the parents to
teach how to love and nurture children.
Due to the gap of age and status that divides the social class, the younger
generation must respect and take orders from their elders even when the two disagree.
Hand gestures are used in conversation or when an item needs to be passed to an
elder as respect and etiquette. Pointing fingers should never be a gesture used as it is a

sign of disrespect in the presence of an elder. Worships and ceremonies for the
deceased are held on specific dates of the year as a way to remember and respect
ancestors.
In Vietnam, many generations live together in one home and the reason for this
is because the elders want to live with their children for the rest of their life. Also it gives
everyone the ability to take care of each other with ease. In a family the father is
consider head of the house which in return he has the all of the power for decision
making and have masculine duties in the household. Reputation is an important aspect
to the Vietnamese society because it measures the position a person holds in their
culture. The behaviors and actions of individuals affect the family unit as a whole. The
families with the best reputation are well respected and considered to have the highest
position in society.
Culture in Business
Social relationships are considered to be a very important characteristic in the
Vietnamese culture. If people are able to share their personal thoughts in a social
environment this would create more business opportunities because everyone would feel
comfortable and that will allow them to build trust in one another. In a business setting
two-handed shakes are welcome at the start and end of a meeting instead of hugging
and kissing from Western cultures. Its also recommended to use social positions when
addressing one another, an example would be Manager Tammie or Chairman Taylor.
There are also many superstitions or ritualistic believes. For example, in Vietnam, one
should never offer or give a handkerchief as a gift because in the culture it signify death
or transfers bad luck to a family or business. Never touch a persons head because

anything over the head is considered holy and a place to worship ancestor but this rule
doesnt apply to elders in their society.
One of the most significant issues in business ethics in Vietnam is the issue of
corruption. Multiple sources such as the United Nations Development Program and the
World Bank have confirmed the seriousness of corruption in Vietnam. A 2005 diagnostic
study on corruption in Vietnam found that a third of the public officials and civil servants
admitted that they were willing to accept bribes, and one-half reported that intermediateand higher-level offices were involved in corruption. (Cited 1) As any governments
culture, especially in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, there is a strong influence on a
persons behavior in the workplace. Researchers in this study chose to compare those
who have had several years of government experience versus those with no experience
to see if long-term socialization in the public sector makes a difference in the ethical
scores of respondents. (Cited 1)

The United States Culture, Value, Ethics

Americans often take a business-first approach, with personal relationships
playing a smaller role than in many other cultures.

When friends go into business

together they can end up ruining a good friendship. This is reflected in common phrases
like its just business or its not personal. Business is generally accepted with other firms
that gives the highest value for the lowest price but always bottom line driven. Americans
tend to have a very direct approach and ask for what they want, say what they mean and
expect you to do the same. Americans expect you to get to the point, to tell them why
your product or service is better and to do so in a way that is easy to understand and

meaningful to them. They tend to want quicker results and find a way to make things
faster and more efficient to reach their goal.

It is viewed as weakness to be shy,

unassertive or extremely deferential. Direct questions are never avoided because there
is always a possibility to say no. It is expected that all business interactions be polite and
professional.

They are expected to be positive about the companys products and

services. Information is taken at face value, so downplaying the capabilities of a product

or service can be seen as inefficient quality. Asking questions is never considered an
embarrassment to American society. It is better to get the job done right the first time by
asking questions than to have to go back and correct a mistake. If you do not ask
questions, Americans make the assumption that you understand the material that is being
discussed. Since North America is a big melting pot of culture and religion, there isnt a
general basis that culture is derived from.

In the US, ethics starts with the basic assumptions all employees live according to
basic moral guidelines and conduct themselves in the work environment accordingly. All
companies whether Fortune 500 or 100, unethical behavior can cripple the company's
ability to attract customers, be approved for credit or maintain business partnerships. The
set of ethical standards are generally based on the different issues that arise at different
companies. However views are generally shared amongst industries. This is common in
professional practices such as law, medicine and psychology. Even beyond professional
practices, it is imperative that financial officers maintain fiduciary responsibility or those
sales teams provide honest and reliable information in the sales process. In order to
monitor financial officers the US government created the Sarbanes Oxley act of 2002.

Unlike Vietnam, which is based on religious beliefs, the US ethics are mainly based on
laws and regulations.

Hofstede model

As discussed above, Vietnamese culture can be referred to as high power distance,

high collectivism and restraint group. The figure shows Vietnams cultural dimensions
based on Hofstedes models:
Power distance focuses on the degree of equality or inequality between people in
the countrys society. This dimension indicates the degree of interdependence a society
maintains among its members. Masculinity describes the degree to which the society
reinforces traditional gender roles of male achievement, control and power. This
dimension indicates the degree to which a culture values virtues toward future such as

persistence and thrift. This dimension indicates the degree to which people in a society
can tolerate risk and ambiguity. It reflects how strongly people believe that they can
control the future, uncertainty avoidance index (UAI), tolerance for uncertainty and
ambivalence. (Cited 5)
Vietnam is high score in power distance and long term orientation compare to the
U.S. It makes sense as we discuss above, father is the head of house and more power
than mother. The role of male is higher than female because male inherits and remain
the family blood over the time. That is the reason of inequality in power. The number
shows that Vietnamese seem accept that orders in family and in society. In business, it
seems rarely which a female is hired in the Chairman or the President position; and the
lower level does not have voices in generate ideas.
In American society, there are many single parent households and a new trend of
same sex households as well. With this being said there is not a single male family
leader in the house. There is much better equality in the US society as well regarding
feminine leadership but still room for improvement. In 1982, a significant change in the
women's leadership behavior across the two situations was found. Females were less
likely to assume leadership when paired with males (Gloub 1982). In 2015, many
companies are geared toward the advancement of leadership but there is still
significantly less than their male counterparts. Women have leadership in organizations
as well as government in the US and are growing more and more every day. Even
though there are as many opportunities for women as men, there is a pay gap that
exists. In the twenty-first century, women continue to be paid at a substantially lower
rate than men. A recent study of the status of womens pay in different states reveal an

improvement of 69% in 1989 to 77% in 2006. The wage gap reduction may be linked to
the increase in education levels of women in the job market. In addition, women are
now more prevalent in better paying positions, namely, professional and managerial.
Full-time working women earned less than full-time working men in all states. Also,
there was a great deal of variation in improvement in the female-to-male wage ratio
from one state to another- 1% in one state to 17% in another. If progress remains
constant we will not see wage gender parity until the year 2056. This is nearly a century
after employment discrimination against women was outlawed. (Alkadry 2013)
Individualism defines the degree to which the society reinforces individual versus
collective achievement. Low individualism typifies societies of a collectivist nature that
feature close ties between individuals. These cultures reinforce extended families and
collectives, in which everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group.
(CITED 5) On the other hand, Vietnamese is the low scores in term of individualism and
indulgence. Its individualism is 20, means they are strong collectivist societies. People
look after themselves as a member in group which cannot detach, and they are loyal in
it. In Vietnamese society, family is the most important, and members in family
influenced by family. Children are depended much in parents, they are raised and
supported even in education or marriage or any helps whenever they needs. Payback,
younger member in family will take care parents when parents are old (they rarely send
their parents to nursing home or homeless departments. In business, people establish
the family-owned company, members or relative in family manage and operate the
business. Moreover, the most difficult decisions are made by experienced older member
in family. Others characteristic of collectivism are the loyalty and trust when people

need extra finance to run a business, their friends or relative willing to help without
signing any loan contracts. Most Vietnamese people have extensive networks among
friends, relatives, colleagues and business partners which require a very close personal
relationship. The quality and success of the social and business interactions depend
vastly on whether they are perceived to be an in-groups or an out-groups (Watkins
and Liu, 1996). People are said to have a good relationship only after successfully
building trust among them and convincing each other that they all belong to the same
in-group. (CITED 1)
On the contrary, in the US the culture is more focused on individualism. Children
are taught to early on independence. Major decisions are made by a parent while
through adolescent years but as they grow they are taught to be more of an
independent thinker. This tends to flow into organizational environment. There are
certain aspects where team involvement is required but generally day to day activities
are from individual efforts. US is geared towards larger corporations where there is a
hierarchy established for convenience. Superiors are accessible and managers rely on
individual employees for their expertise. American individualism has been linked to the
Puritans, the founding fathers, the birth of a market economy, and the fast American
frontier. From the beginning, Americans have been enjoined to value life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness and to think of themselves as spate and independent
individuals, isolated from others. In de Tocquevilles words, Such folk owe no man
anything and hardly expect anything from anybody. They from the habit of thinking of
themselves in isolation and imagine that their whole destiny is in their own hands
(Oyserman 2002) Indeed, modern American cultural icons continue to articulate this

belief in individualism. Personal privacy, individual rights, and personal freedoms are
extolled; personal pleasure and autonomy are valued; and every American is exhorted
to create a personal private and unique self. Americans celebrate individualism as a
uniquely American characteristic, an integral part of their culture.(Oyserman 2002)
The next comparison is indulgence the extent to which people try to control their
desires and impulses..relatively weak control is called indulgence and relatively strong
control is called restraint (Hofstede). Therefore Vietnam is in the restraint group. Due to
the effect of moral rules, people dont really enjoy free time as well as dont show what
they want. In business, there is job/ careers are illegal in Vietnam such as prostitute or
casino. Event though people imply their idea, they meet the fighting from family and
society.

Indulgence versus restraint describes hedonistic behaviors: how freely can people
satisfy their basic needs and desires, how strict social norms are followed and gratification
suppressed and regulated. The US as a culture lacks restraint. Their need for gratification
is not suppressed. It is seen in the sexual content that is displayed on television and in
music. Social media is currently the largest display of indulgence in todays American
society. We have a very contradictory attitudes and behaviors. The United States is
actively waged a war on drugs but yet drug addiction is higher than any other wealthy
country. Another example is our clergy and pastors work to teach their religious beliefs
but appear to be immoral within themselves.

The next cultural difference is masculinity/femininity. The U.S. is higher in

masculinity at 62, which means that we are more focused on working hard to earn

individual achievement Vietnam ranks (40) lower on this scale, focusing more on the
quality of life and importance of relationships. In the US, people are driven by
competition and achievement of success. We have the winner takes all approach where
as in Vietnam it is more of a collective effort. The focus in US society is immediate
praise and gratification whether through incentive pay or some other type of employee
benefit. Americans are motivated by being the best whereas Vietnamese want to like
what they do. Also the culture in Vietnam is based on solidarity and quality in their
working lives. There are many countless stories where Americans have sacrificed their
work home life to achieve bonus. In this case they are putting work first over home
life. In small Vietnam has the work to live v the US live to work philosophy.
Vietnamese individuals tend to be sensitive and care more about other peoples
feelings and concerns. People work together to reach consensus, even though they
may have to sacrifice their own interests. Compromise is the most common negotiation
technique to resolve conflicts. And oftentimes, other peoples opinions can impact ones
decision. (CITED 1)

Uncertainty avoidance differs in these two countries. In the United States, we are
more set in our routines and schedule everything. Vietnam is more relaxed and less
stringent on deadlines. For example, I am a single mother in the US. Currently I am
employed full time working 55 to 60 hour weeks. I attend the University of Texas at Dallas
full-time taking 12 hours as well as run a Girl Scout troop, and assist with my daughters
basketball team. With all of these tasks a schedule and routine are imperative in order
for everything to run smoothly. If I took on a more relaxed role, homework would never
be completed, deadlines at work would fall through the cracks, and my girl scouts would

not have a very reliable leader. This also will lead in planning for the future. In our society
we are tied to 401ks and IRAs instead of traditional pension systems. Without planning
for your future you will be left to a declining Social Security system. Leaving your future
to chance in many aspects can lead to disaster and anxiety. Needless to say that routines
and schedules are mandatory to perform everyday tasks and duties. Americans use
uncertainty avoidance to accomplish their individualist view these two dimensions are
correlated.

The last cultural difference that Hofstede hits on is long term orientation. Vietnam
scores very high in relation to long term orientation, while the U.S. is very low. Vietnam
is seen as a pragmatic country in which they believe each situation has its own truth. They
can adapt to traditions more easily with a natural tendency to save and invest. The US
scores a low 26 which makes them a normative culture. Americans tend to analyze new
information to check whether it is true. For example, we evaluate consumer reports or
reviews before making new purchases as well as fact check many news stories.
Americans are also very practical in nature with a can do attitude. US businesses are
measured on a short-term basis, with profit and loss statements being issued on a
monthly and quarterly basis. This also drives individuals to strive for quick results within
the work place. Making meeting deadlines essential.
Nikes example

Nike is famous brand name in the footwear industry. Its product is popular all the
world. Back in 1990s, Nike came to Vietnam and cooperated to some Vietnamese
companies to manufacture the footwear. By changing outsources and establishing the

manufacturer in developing countries or undeveloped countries, Nike had the costcompetitive and got more benefits. About Vietnam, welcome foreigner companies to
invest, this strategy created more jobs, brought the new technologies to Vietnam as well
as brought bright life to Vietnamese employers.

However, Nike faced issues during doing business in Vietnam. Although there
wasnt any evidence about bad treatment to Vietnamese employers, Nike wasnt really
fair in paying the wage for labor. According to Nike, their labor wage was still comfortable
for Vietnamese employers to live and its wage rate was even better some companies.
Also, the difference in cost of living between the U.S and Vietnam was a factor. Nike
explained that Vietnamese infrastructure was poor which affected company expense, so
Nike could not pay same level as Nikes employers who worked in the U.S. What was
the ethics in business? The fact is Vietnamese employers got side-effects from chemical
as same as the U.S employers, Vietnamese employers should then get same
compensation, shouldnt them?
Another issue was the communication and culture, which related to Nikes failure:
the company is controlled by absentee owners, managed by expatriates - who in VN in
particular, do not speak the local language fluently (Nike work cited). As we know, in
order to have success in the foreign countries, the companies should really understand
foreign culture, training well expatiates or hiring local managers who knew well about the
culture of those countries. Nikes problems will be lessons for other companies which
want to expand business in the foreign countries generally, or particularly in Vietnam.

In the US, we have developed laws created by the Department of Labor to protect
workers. Many of the issues that Vietnam is facing today have been addressed and
eliminated in the US.

If a manufacturing company exposed employees to harmful

chemicals in the US Nike plant they would be held liable to protect their employees. In
the past there have been cases where people have died due to unregulated business
practices. Once they are brought to light, the government will step in and protect its
citizens and their rights.

Conclusion and Suggestion

In summary, there are many differences between Vietnam and America which is
the Western style versus Eastern style or the developed country and developing country.
Vietnam being a traditional country using the Confucius Concept and Buddhist has a
major influence on their life and business. On the other hand, America is a freedom
country which has economy and capitalistic views. The United States of American is a
diverse country ethnically and racially due to the country being a melting pot. Throughout
history the United States has adapted many cultures worldwide.
After researching the difference between the United States of American and
Vietnam, the best suggestion for any business person is to research all cultures they
would want to have a business relationship with. In order to conduct business in another
country its best to learn more about that countrys culture. If learning another culture is
not a concern then there is possibility then you will be in jeopardy of missing out on a
business opportunity due to a culture difference. More research can be done to

understand why countries differ and not just what the differences are. Understanding why
something or someone functions can also help people adapt to other cultures.
Overall the differences in the two cultures based on the Hofstede method widely
vary. Vietnam scores higher in Power distance and Long Term Orientation. This culture
believes in hierarchical order and strong traditions. The USs western culture is scores
highest in Individualism and Masculinity. We as a nation focuses more on capitalism,
individual freedoms and are generally male dominated. In order to bridge the gaps
between the two cultures we have reviewed these differences and understand that we
must honor the differences to build a stronger economic force between the two cultures.
not just what the differences are. Understanding why something or someone functions
can also help people adapt to other cultures.
Overall the differences in the two cultures based on the Hofstede method widely
vary. Vietnam scores higher in Power distance and Long Term Orientation. This culture
believes in hierarchical order and strong traditions. The USs western culture is scores
highest in Individualism and Masculinity. We as a nation focuses more on capitalism,
individual freedoms and are generally male dominated. In order to bridge the gaps
between the two cultures we have reviewed these differences and understand that we
must honor the differences to build a stronger economic force between the two cultures.

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