Understanding cross - cultural management of foreign companies in Vietnam : Case study of Mercedes - Benz Vietnam limited company
Abstract
With the overall purpose of studying the cross-cultural management of foreign companies in Vietnam, this thesis used the international joint-venture company, Mercedes-Benz Vietnam Limited Company (MBV), as a case study to examine what the cross-culture of an organization was and how cross-cultural working environment might influence Vietnamese employees‟ culture and organization‟s communication. The model
of Geert Hofstede‟s five cultural dimensions and three variables of communication (communication process, communication climate, and communication openness) were used in this research. The quantitative method was applied and questionnaire with 120 respondents of MBV was conducted. The respondents were randomly chosen and divided into three different age groups: under 30, 30-40, over 40 years old; with three different groups of working year at the company: under 5, 5-10, over 10 years. This survey was done using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. As a result, through descriptive statistics and comparison the differences between cross-culture of MBV and Vietnamese culture (national level), the Uncertainty Avoidance of MBV‟s organizational culture had
the most significant influence on Vietnamese employees‟ culture of work. Moreover, after running regression analysis and testing research model, there are not enough evidences through this survey to conclude the relationship between independent variables (Masculinity / Femininity and Uncertainty Avoidance) and dependent variable (Communication).
In conclusion, there are a number of obstacles within MBV caused by the differences
of cross-cultural working environment in need of improvement. Some conclusions and recommendations were made in order to help the managers as well as workers to have the clearer picture of overall culture within company so that they can perform more
effectively.