VIETNAMBy: Jeremy Vyskocil

CAPITAL: HANOI

PRIMARY LANGUAGE: VIETNAMESE

PRIMARY RELIGION: ATHEIST

TOURIST ATTRACTION 1: NHA TANG

• The most popular seaside resort town

• Beautiful beaches with great climate

• Scuba diving center of Vietnam

TOURIST ATTRACTION 2: HA LONG BAY

• Most popular tourist attraction in Vietnam

• Features thousands of islands with thick jungle vegetation

• Means “Bay of Descending Dragons”

NATIONAL CUISINE

Nem Cuon (salad rolls), wrapped in banh tang (edible wrapper)

Bún bò Huế, a spicy, lemongrass rice vermicelli noodle soup served with fresh herbs and vegetables

STEREOTYPES BY AMERICANS TOWARDS VIETNAMESE CULTURE

• Vietnamese people are all communists

• Have a self owned business such as a Laundromat or nail salon

SUPERSTITIONS OF VIETNAM

1. If you eat an egg before an exam, you will have bad luck.

2. If you eat squid on the first day of the month, you will have bad luck.

3. If the first person you meet is a woman when you leave your house, you will have bad luck.

4. If there’s a funeral in your dreams, you will have good luck.

5. If you see a snake on the way to your destination, you should go home because you will have bad luck.

HAND AND OTHER GESTURES

• Crossing your arms is a sign of respect

• Pointing to other people while talking is disrespectful

• Placing one or both hands in the pockets or the hips while talking shows arrogance and lack of respect

BUSINESS ETIQUETTE AND BODY LANGUAGE

• Official business hours are generally Monday through Friday between 7:30 am and 4:30 p.m., with a lunch hour sometime between 12:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

• The Vietnamese are punctual and expect others to be so to

• Handshakes are used upon meeting and departing. Handshakes only usually take place between members of the same sex.

• Some Vietnamese use a two-handed shake, with the left hand on top of the right wrist.

BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

• Business cards are exchanged on initial meetings and should be presented with both hands. When receiving business cards ensure you show proper respect to it and do not simply glance at it and put it on the table.

• Showing respect to coworkers by shaking hands or bowing

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

• The Vietnamese are very polite people and will often smile and agree when in fact they may not have fully understood what is said.

• Most of business contacts in the foreign invested companies will be able to speak English but this may not be the case with government ministries and state owned enterprises. Need to speak slowly and concisely.

BUSINESS POWER STRUCTURES

• It is impolite to undermine the authority of a more senior Vietnamese person by directing questions or responding to a more junior person whose English skills may be better.

• Hierarchy and face manifest in different ways within business meetings. For example, the most senior person should always enter the room first.

SIMILARITIES/DIFFERENCES BUSINESS BODY LANGUAGE

• Vietnamese and Americans use handshakes when greeting each other

• Both have alternative greetings to handshakes

• Vietnamese bow to each other and Americans just say hello and greet one another

SIMILARITIES/DIFFERENCES BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

• Both groups use business cards to get to know one another and their business. Builds relationships with others.

• Both have meeting in business in order to communicate about everything

SIMILARITIES/DIFFERENCES BUSINESS POWER STRUCTURE

• Both cultures have hierarchy of power

• Leaders such as CEO and managers

• Vietnamese let authority figure enter a room first for a meeting.

• Americans usually wait for authority figure. CEO is the last one in.

• Internet Penetration Rate is 43.9%

•Most popular social network sites are Facebook, ZING me, and blogger

COLLECTIVISM

• Vietnam is considered a fairly collectivist culture. Because of their Confucian roots, their culture is strongly orientated around family and community. Family comes before oneself. Therefore, they value the collective whole rather than the individual. To bring pride to ones family is the ultimate goal.

LARGE POWER DISTANCE

• Vietnam is a social republic state and has a high power distance. The power in Vietnam is not distributed equally but this is accepted as part of the culture from all ends of the social classes.

WEAK UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

• Have a more relaxed attitude, The people believe there should be no ore rules then there already are. Schedules are flexible, hard work is undertaken when necessary, precision and punctuality do not come naturally, innovation is not seen as threatening.

MASCULINITY

• Masculinity is highly valued in Vietnam. Vietnam follows the Confucianism dyad of the father to son relationship and this signifies that the father is always the head of the household.

COLLECTIVISM AND INDIVIDUALISM : VIETNAM VS. U.S.A

• Vietnam is a collective culture because they focus on families while The United States is an individual culture focusing on standing out and creating self- image.

POWER DISTANCE: VIETNAM VS. U.S.A

• Vietnam has a large power distance because they practice this such as one CEO controlling a whole business without supervisors or managers. The U.S. has a smaller power distance because we have jobs leading up to CEO such as managers and supervisors.

UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE: VIETNAM VS. U.S.A

• Vietnam is a very relaxed culture not worrying about being on time. They live day by day and only work hard when it is needed. They are also non materialistic. The U.S. is different because our lives revolve around working hard and making money to make our futures better.

MASCULINITY: VIETNAM VS. U.S.A

• Masculinity is practiced in Vietnam because father and son relationship is important and the father is always the head of the household. The U.S. also practices masculinity because fathers or sons are also know as head of the household. We also use saying such as “mans greatest achievements.”

CURRENT EVENTS OF VIETNAM

• “The United States on Thursday partially lifts its longtime ban on the provision of lethal arms to Vietnam, a move that is intended to help Hanoi strengthen its maritime security as it contends with a more assertive Chine,” says New York Times

• “Vietnamese woman sets herself on fire in downtown Ho Chi Minh City to protest China’s positioning of an oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam,” says New York Times

WORKS CITED

• 10 Top Tourist Attractions in Vietnam. (n.d.). Touropia. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www.touropia.com/tourist-attractions-in-vietnam/

• Blackboard Learn â„¢. (n.d.). Blackboard Learn. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from http://www.globalroadwarrior.com.ccbcmd.idm.oclc.org/index.asp

• Social, Digital and Mobile in Vietnam. (n.d.). We Are Social RSS. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from http://wearesocial.net/blog/2012/10/social-digital-mobile-vietnam/

• THE HOFSTEDE CENTRE. (n.d.). Cultural Tools. Retrieved October 7, 2014, from http://geert-hofstede.com/cultural-tools.html

• Vietnam. (n.d.). News. Retrieved October 7, 2014, from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/vietnam/index.html

• Vietnamese cuisine. (2014, July 10). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 7, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_cuisine