INFORMATION MARKETING: CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE USA & VIETNAM.

The United States and Vietnam have a number of fundamental cultural differences between them that create contrasting experiences when conducting business in each of the countries. Hofstede's 6-Dimensional model gives us insight on the vast cultural disparities between the two countries. Hofstede's model shows that the United States has higher individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and indulgence scores relative to Vietnam. However, Vietnamese culture tends to observe a higher degree of power distance and is more focused on the long term than the United States. These cultural dimensions are all reflected in how businesses centered in the United States and Vietnam view ethics and approach customer service. While ethics can encompass a myriad of issues, one way of examining the cultural impact on ethics is by trying to answer how individuals in the United States and Vietnam are likely to answer if their boss asked them the following question: Will you lie for me? Based on Vietnam's high measure of power distance, collectivism, and long term orientation, we can predict that a Vietnamese employee would be likely to answer, ""yes."" The employee might feel social pressure to do as his superior asked him to do, and as Vietnamese business culture emphasizes group culture, the employee might not want to upset the status quo of his group. Finally, the employee might also feel that lying to protect his boss might end up benefiting him in the long term because he showed loyalty to the leader of his group. An American employee's answer is more difficult to predict. Since American's tend to have a higher sense of individualism and a relatively short sighted outlook, the employee will likely do whatever she feels benefits her most at that time. Also, she will have relatively little reason to lie just because her boss is asking her too as a result of America's relatively low power distance. It is important to note that these predictions do not mean that a Vietnamese employee will always lie for their boss or that an American employee will always do whatever they want, but rather these predictions provide a generalization of what a group of people might do based on Hofstede's cultural dimensions. Hofstede's cultural dimensions also impact how a firm might structure its customer service policies. Though, according to Cimigo, Vietnamese business currently do not place much emphasis on customer service, they are looking to improve their customer service processes. With Hofstede's cultural dimensions in mind, Vietnamese businesses might want to keep the collectivistic structure of Vietnamese families and to be flexible as a response to a relatively low uncertainty avoidance often found in Vietnamese culture. The United States, on the other hand, consider customer service a vital part of their business operations. Because of American's tendency to be indulgent, American companies have no choice but to offer services that cater to the impulsive needs of their consumers. Hofstede's cultural dimensions have an effect on many different parts of businesses and business culture in both the United States and Vietnam. Just as their cultural practices are different, so are their business practices. Vietnam puts community and long term relationships on a higher scale while the United States prefers individualism, indulgence, and short term investments instead. An Asian culture such as Vietnam would focus more on making sure their families or communities are satisfied as a whole not only for a short while, but for generations to come. My parents escaped from Vietnam during the war with their families and have been living traditional lives in the United States ever since. The disparity between how my family treats each other versus how a traditional American family treats each other is very different. My aunts and uncles financially and emotionally support each other. They all work together to make sure not only their children, but their nephews and nieces are also successful. They take risks to ensure happiness for others even if it means sacrificing their own. Hofstede's six dimensions allow us to have an overview of a country's culture. We can analyze how the general population thinks and interacts with each other in relation to another. Power distance shows the disparity of power inequality in certain cultures. For instance, the United States has a lower power distance than Vietnam which means that the latter views society more as a social ladder while the other views each other as equal. Individualism shows how invested people are in themselves rather than others. Vietnam has a very low individualism rating which means they are more collectivist and rely on groups and loyalty rather than each person and their own success. The United States has a slightly higher masculinity rating than Vietnam showing that they strive to be the best in comparison to others while Vietnam is more feminine and does what they believe is best. Uncertainty avoidance is once again higher in the United States, but still below the average. The degree of acceptance for new ideas, products, and innovations is fair and tolerant. Vietnam scores much higher on long term orientation. This means Vietnam prefers to view relationships and success on a more long term basis. Results are not given immediately and that is to be expected. The United States however measure performance on a short term basis. Lastly, indulgence is much higher in the United States. This dimension is defined as "the extent to which people control desires and impulses." They prefer to work hard and play hard. Success and satisfaction is very important while Vietnam prefers to live more modestly. When comparing the two countries, it's obvious that the United States is more focused on individualism and short term orientation. Hofstede's data shows that the United States greatly outweighs Vietnam in individualism by over four hundred percent. This shows that filling personal desires is of more importance than helping the desires of others. When applied to customer service, we can hypothesize that the combination of individualism and short term orientation can lead to poorer customer service when compared to Vietnam. People are more invested in their own lives and view the relationship between client and employee as a short term relationship rather than one that can be long term. Lowering the importance of this relationship leads to a lack of respect for the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]