Crossculture in international business negotiation the case study of C food international group in Vietnam

TR NG I H C M TP HCM UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY SOLVAY BRUSSELS SCHOOL MBAVB4 PHAM KHAC HUY CROSS-CULTURE IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATION THE CASE STUDY OF C-FOOD INTERNATIONAL GROUP IN VIETNAM MASTER PROJECT MASTER IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (PART-TIME) Tutor’s name: Dr Nguyen Huu Than Ho Chi Minh city (2011) ii DECLARATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY I confirm that this thesis is a presentation of my original research work which I have studied and researched Wherever contributions of others are involved, every effort is made to indicate this clearly, with due reference to the literature, and acknowledgement of collaborative reseach and discussions This work is done for the study purpose Copying or using this paper for any other purpose must be subject to the written acceptance of the author Pham Khac Huy iii Acknowledgement This project would not have been done without the contribution and encouragement from many people First of all, I would like to express my grateful thanks to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Huu Than, for his valuable guidance, advice and recommendations during the study I am also grateful for the help and contributions from the Purchasing Manager, Mr Maher Arayssi Without his help and contributions, this study would not have been done successfully I would like to express my deep gratitude to my colleagues, Ms Nguyen Thi Mai Khoi and Ms Nguyen Thi Hong Xuan, who shared their intensive understanding and experience about C-Food I am in my parents’ and my grandparent’s debts for their continual supports spiritually and financially Finally, I would like to thank the members of the Board of Jury for spending time examining and giving valuable comments to improve this study HCM city, February, 2012 PHAM KHAC HUY iv ABSTRACT At the age of globalization, cross-country business has now been emerging as a new trend worldwide In this new trend, cross-culture negotiation play a vital role Understanding this vital role will facilitate companies doing business internationally The more you understand cross-culture negotiation, the greater your chance of success will be In Vietnam, more and more companies are involving themselves into cross-country business in general and cross-culture negotiation in particular However, there have been few studies about cross-culture negotiation For this reason, the study was conducted to get a better understanding of the new term ‘cross-culture negotiation’ The scope of the study is the business cooperation among C-Food International group –C-Food in short, a Lebanese located company – and its Vietnamese seafood suppliers Vora’s twelve cultural variable model1 was used in the study to examine the case Another nine factors obtained by the author from his actual working experience at C-Food were also used The study was begun with in-depth interiew The interviewee was the Purchasing Manager of C-Food The aim of this qualitative research was to get the viewpoints of C-Food about its Vietnamese partners in negotiation These viewpoints were served as a base to structure questionnaire which would be sent to Vietnamese suppliers to their viewpoints about C-Food in negotiation out of 14 suppliers responded, accounting for 64% The next step is telephone interview Phone calls were made to reconfirm the answer of these nine suppliers Finally, C-Food’s viewpoints and Vietnamese ones were compared to describe the differences in negotiation between two sides Vora, D (2001), Notes from lectures, University of South Carolina, Columbia, US TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION RATIONALE OF THE STUDY RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY RESEARCH MODEL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY STRUCTUE OF THE STUDY CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 CULTURE 1.1.1 ELEMENTS OF CULTURE 1.1.2 HOFSTEDE’S DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE 1.1.3 HIGH CONTEXT VERSUS LOW CONTEXT CULTURES 1.2 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE 1.3 NEGOTIATION 1.3.1 DEFINITIONS OF CULTURE 1.3.2 NEGOTIATION STYLES 1.3.2.1 PRICE NEGOTIATION 1.4 CROSS-CULTURE NEGOTIATION 1.4.1 CROSS-CULTRE NEGOTIATION 1.4.2 INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATION PROCESS 1.4.3 POSSIBLE PROBLEMS IN CROSS-CULTURE NEGOTIATION CHAPTER 2: INTRODUCTION TO C-FOOD INTERNATIONAL GROUP 2.1 PRODUCTS AND SERVICE 2.2 BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 2.3 PROBLEMS IN NEGOTION PROCESS CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 RESEARCH MODEL 3.2 RESEARCH PROCESS 3.3 RESEARCH METHOD 3.3.1 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 3.3.2 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS 4.1 NEGOTIATION PROCESS BETWEEN C-FOOD AND ITS PARTNERS 4.2 RESEARCH FINDINGS CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO CROSSCULTURE BUSINESS NEGOTIATION CONCLUSION CONCLUSION LIMITATION AND SUGGESTION LIST OF FIGURE Figure 1: Coordinating mechanism 22 Figure 2: Research model 24 Figure 3: Research process 25 Figure 4: Negotiation process 27 ABBREVIATIONS EU: European Union FCL: Full Container Load GCC: Gulf Cooperation Council HACCP: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points LC: Letter of Credit LCL: Less than Container Load NAFIQAD: National Agro – Forestry – Fisheries Quality Assurance Department TT: Telegraphic Transfer VCCI: Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry INTRODUCTION RATIONALE OF THE STUDY Before considering the worthiness of conducting the study, we should revisit some main concepts and literature related to cross-culture negotiation The first one is negotiation Negotiation is the process by which at least two parties try to reach an agreement on matters of mutual interest1 Negotiations occur in all societies, and on all levels between various parties in various situations These situations can be of a social, economic or political art Individuals, companies, ethic groups and nations have always used negotiations as a way to try to satisfy their basic needs2 The second one is cross-culture negotiation Conducting business and negotiating in one’s culture can be complicated tasks, but these tasks are more complex when they are conducted across cultures Negotiating styles that work within one culture often not work within a different culture and because of this, business negotiators working in foreign cultures have a complex task to manage3 Therefore, culture definitely has a major impact on negotiation styles4 Culture is also one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace The influence of the culture diversity on international business negotiation will continue to increase in importance as a result of the liberalization of markets worldwide and cross-border mergers and acquisition5 Gulbro, R & Herbig, P (1996), Cross-cultural negotiating process, Industrial Management & Data Systems Volume 96 Number 1996 pp 17-23, MCB University Press Nilsson Molnar, 1997, extracted from Johan Lintzen & Anne Svedjehlm (2006), The Impact of Culture on Business Negotiations between Swedish and US Businessmen: A Case Study of Two Swedish Businessmen, pp.6, Master Thesis, Lulea University of Technology Rodriguez, C (2001), International Management: Cultural Approach, 2nd edition, Cincinnati, Ohio: SouthWestern College Publishing extracted from Johan Lintzen & Anne Svedjehlm (2006), The Impact of Culture on Business Negotiations between Swedish and US Businessmen: A Case Study of Two Swedish Businessmen, Master Thesis, Lulea University of Technology pp Zoubir, Y.H (2003), International Negotiations: A Professional’s Approach Interview with Mr Josep Chriqui, Senior Vice President, Alstom Power Turbo-Systems, Thunderbird International Business Review; Nov-Dec 2003, Vol 45 Issue 6, p695, 6p Czinkota, M.R & Ronkainen, I.A (1998), International Marketing, Orlando: The Dryden Press extracted from Johan Lintzen & Anne Svedjehlm (2006), The Impact of Culture on Business Negotiations between Swedish and US Businessmen: A Case Study of Two Swedish Businessmen, Master Thesis, Lulea University of Technology, pp At this age of globalizaiton, cross-country business has become a common trend for any company involving international business In this business trend, cross-culture business negotiation plays a vital role Companies doing business internationally cannot be sucessful without realizing this vital role In Vietnam, more and more companies are involving themselves in this cross-country business process However, there have been few studies conducted by scholars or economists on this process especially for cross-culture business negotiation with Islamic partners Moreover, most of Vietnamese enterprises not pay much attention to this aspect in their business either For the said-above reasons, conducting a study on cross-culture negotiation between C-Food and Vietnamese suppliers is worth doing because both sides are involving themselves in this international business process The research problem will be stated in the next section RESEARCH PROBLEM It is worth going through the brief introduction of C-Food International group, hereinafter called C-Food, before we consider the problem It was founded in 2003 in Lebanon, an Islamic country in Middle East In 2004, the branch in Ho Chi Minh city was established C-Food is a seafood trading company in Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe It is the market leader in these areas Until now, it has a distribution network covering 27 countries6 C-Food has a wide range of seafood products ranging from the farmed-raised to wildcaught shrimps and fish More than 70% of its products are being bought from Vietnam to export to its markets Despite of being a creditable account and having cooperated with these Vietnamese suppliers since 2004, C-Food is still facing www.c-food.info, www.siblou.com difficulties in negotiating with them For the newly-cooperated suppliers, the difficulties are becoming tougher and tougher These difficulties strongly are strongly affecting the efficiency of C-Food’s supply chain STATEMENT OF PROBLEM As a trading company, negotiating to purchase goods for its distribution network is vitally important for C-Food Moreover, C-Food is pursuiting both expanding the distribution network and deeply exploiting its current market share In such circumstances, the negotiation process is taking more and more time to be done Mails requesting for price quotation are being replied late Whenever a mail requesting for quotation is sent by C-Food’s Purchasing Manager, colleagues in Vietnam branch have to call the related suppliers to remind the latter of answering The Vietnamese colleagues sometimes have to make several phone calls to guarantee that any price requesting mail will be responded Moreover, the suppliers’ process of handling the orders placed by C-Food has not been done in line with C-Food’s distributing process Shipments are being delayed dramatically, which not only damages C-Food’s reputation but also costs C-Food’s money to deal with the results of shipment delaying Such sluggishness has negatively affected the overall performance of C-Food Except for the economic reasons, the project would aim at identifying cultural elements which affect the negotiation process Once the elements are discovered, the project will try to provide some remedies for minimizing the negative effects of these elements THE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Research objectives: The problem to be raised in this research is To evaluate how cultural differences cause the ineffectiveness in negotiation 42 Characteristics of information exchange: C-Food’s negotiators are so ‘aggressive’ in getting the feedback and information from their partners If they send you an email asking for quotation today, a reminder tomorrow will be mailed to you if they get no response to the first mail If the first reminder is not replied, the second, the third, even the fourth will be duplicated until a response is made And the speed of pushing of the later mail will be faster than the previous one The other aspect is the ‘load’ of information required by C-Food negotiators Once a Vietnamese supplier enters into negotiation with C-Food’s negotiators, he or she must be well-prepared for the things to be discussed Or else, he or she will be flooded questions raised by his partner C-Food Below is the summary of the findings Criteria C-Food Vietnamese suppliers Negotiation styles Competing Less competing Negotiator One team for one country One team for many selection countries Significance of Relational: relationship and Substantive: how to types of issues things parties for each other use resource, who does what Concern with protocol Less formal Formal 43 Complexity of High context High context Logical Emotional Unclear Unclear language Nature of persuasive agreement Role of individual aspiration Base of trust Cognitive: facts Affective: feelings Risk-taking Low level of risk-taking Low level of risk- propensity taking 10 Value of time Monochronic: punctual Polychronic: flexible 11 Decision making Authoritative: being authorized Consensual: asking system to decide for permission from higher managers to decide 12 Form of Written Oral - Facing strict rules in clients’ - Facing strict rules countries, conflicts between of Vietnam authority rules in Vietnam and C-Food’s - Not fully aware of satisfactory agreement 13 Legal regulations 44 policy on information release rules in countries of C-Food’s clients 14 Religion Islamic Non-religious 15 English fluency Good Not good 16 Name addressing Title + family name Title + first name 17 Mail reply habit Quick response Slow response 18 Price sensitivity High Low 19 Quantity of Small Big Strategy for Many markets with small Few markets with big occupying markets quantities to be sold quantities to be sold Regularly Irregularly Craving for information Less craving purchasing orders 20 21 Supplier switching 22 Characteristics of information exchange 45 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO CROSS-CULTURE BUSINESS NEGOTIATION Among twelve variables defined by Vora (2001), role of individual aspiration is unclear in the study because both sides claimed that they tried their best to minimize the individual negative effects on business Complexity of language is also unclear in this study The reason is that English language is used in all the transactions between parties However, the influence of English language will be examined in the later stage Risk-taking propensity, to some extend, is a variable shared by both C-Food and Vietnamese suppliers Low risk-taking level is preferred by both parties However, there still is difference Vietnamese suppliers would like “whole business to be safe”, whereas C-Food would like only “part of its business to be safe”, i.e the source of supplies In other words, C-Food wishes a safe source of supplies so that it devotes its time and efforts selling goods in such an unsafe region like Middle East Negotiator selection, concern with protocol and form of written agreement are three variables that can be easily adapted by both sides so that negotiation process can happen smoothly because the degree of adaptation is not so big Regarding to negotiator selection, one team dealing with clients from different countries is not a good practice of negotiation The good way is to let one team work with only clients from different countries but sharing similarity in their cultures Concerning form of written agreement, Vietnamese businesspersons are not accustomed to putting all the agreed things into a written contract This is a risky way of doing business internationally Once disputes about contract implementation happen, these businesspersons will not have enough evidence to defend themselves Therefore, it is of vital importance to study and compose a contract covering all the necessary provisions when working with C-Food As for the protocol, formal atmosphere is 46 important especially in early stage of cooperation However, business is tougher and tougher nowadays An informal way will moderate the stressful atmosphere Informality also facilitates the cooperation among involved parties because it creates openness in discussion For said-above reasons, Vietnamese businesspersons should adjust themselves to be as less formal as possible The rest of six variables – negotiation styles, significance of types of issues, nature of persuasive agreement, base of trust, value of time and decision making systems - are the most difficulty to comprehend because they belong to the nature of people in each culture In other words, these variables are the values and concepts shared by people in this culture We cannot force the counter-part to change their values and concepts The good remedy is trying to understand these concepts and values and adapt yourself to them The more you are exposed to these values and concepts, the greater your chance of success will be in doing business in this culture Let us take “decision making system” for example You are authoritative and your partner consensual Prepare yourself for the late decision from this partner Give your partner time so that he can consult his higher manager’s advice for final decision You should not expect an onspot-decision if your partner is consensual Another example is the “base of trust” As a cognitive type of people, you should not much emphasize facts in working with affective partner Try to understand how this partner feels the things being discussed and yourself Put yourself in his position to understand him more One he feels that you are believable, you win in the negotiation Legal regulations on seafood are a headache problem in the implementation stage of negotiation because the regulations are so strict In the study, problems happen when two parties not fully understand legal regulations in Vietnam as well as those in the countries of C-Food’s clients One remedy is that both sides should take legal regulations into consideration carefully before starting negotiation Another remedy is 47 employing legal solicitor This remedy is costly but really works when legal regulations are difficult to understand Religion in cross-culture negotiation is a sensitive issue If your partners are Islamists, never invite them beer, alcohol or food made from pork in party Another thing is never anything affecting the images of Allah and Koran because these two icons are impossible to be insulted English fluency plays an important role negotiation because it is a mean of communication According to result of the study, C-Food’s negotiators did not show their confidence in the English fluency of their Vietnamese partners At present, Vietnamese suppliers should employ good interpreters when they enter face-to-face negotiation with C-Food Improving English skill is essential in future for Vietnamese suppliers if they want to gain the confidence of C-Food partner in their English fluency Another important tool in negotiation process between C-Food and its Vietnamese suppliers is email Most of Vietnamese suppliers are not accustomed to replying emails as soon as they receive these emails This is totally true when the emails are complaints or involving important issue that the receiver cannot decide on his or her own To make sure that their mails are well-received, C-Food’s negotiators should use other means of communication such as Skype or telephone to check with their partners about the mail receipt As for Vietnamese suppliers, they should respond at once when receiving emails In dealing with a mail of complaining, for example, such reply like “I got your mail and I am checking the issue with related departments to answer you the soonest” is better than no response to the mail The reason is that although this reply does not directly answer to the problem, it shows that the receiver acknowledge the mail and shows his or her willingness to solve the problem By showing his or her 48 willingness to solve the problem, the receiver, to some extent, moderates the bad mood of the sender Apparently, this way is better than no response C-Food is “notorious” for price sensitivity Hard bargaining is an indispensable part of its business Be patient and logical in your argument will help in bargaining again this partner Another tip is that never offer this buyer your real best price Keep the price a bit higher and gradually reduce it to your real best price because C-Food always bargains whenever it receives an offer Supplier switching is a characteristic of C-Food that Vietnamese suppliers should pay attention to Do not expect C-Food to be a loyal buyer because it is so sensitive to price It is willing to switch to the new supplier who offers the competitive price Supply diversity and punctual delivery are other reasons C-Food is supplying to its clients a wide range of products It is very difficult for a supplier to provide all products bought by C-Food at the same time “Aggressiveness” in information exchange is another remarkable characteristic of CFood Any supplier who first works with C-Food will judge that C-Food is so “aggressive” in exchanging information Don’t be surprised to this aspect They are actually not “aggressive” at all They need more information than others to decide on things To be well-prepared for negotiation is a good way to avoid such embarrassing situation In addition to the above characteristics, C-Food’s way of doing business, in the viewpoint of most of Vietnamese suppliers, is so strange And this way has greatly influenced the business cooperation between C-Food and its Vietnamese suppliers The first thing resulting in the cooperation is the LCL (less than container load) orders placed by C-Food It is firstly because one LCL order has smaller value than on FCL order Vietnamese suppliers will only give priority to those who buy with FCL orders Secondly, exporting LCL orders are as costly as doing FCL orders Thirdly, exporting 49 LCL orders need a close cooperations suppliers because C-Food usually combine three or four LCL orders into one container Since the said-above reasons, LCL orders have a strong effect on the business between C-Food and its suppliers The second thing affecting C-Food’s business with its suppliers is the breakdown of its orders There usually are many items in one order, many packings for one item, and many brands for many items With such specific breakdown, it is very difficult for any supplier to handle the orders of C-Food 50 CONCLUSION CONCLUSION As said earlier in the section of Rationale of the study, cross-country business has become a new trend for any company involving international business In this business process, cross-cultural business negotiation plays a vital role Companies doing business internationally cannot be sucessful without paying much attention to this vital role This study was conducted with aim of evaluating the influence of culture on cross-culture negotiation and seeking for remedies to moderate the scope of this influence The research was conducted by both qualitative and quantitative methods It was commenced with in-depth interview with C-Food’s Purchasing Manager to get the overall viewpoint of C-Food about its Vietnamese suppliers in the negotiation process Details of negotiation process were also dug into during the interview to find out the difficulties faced by this manager After that, questionnaire which was composed by relying on the results of the interview was sent to Vietnamese suppliers to collect data Later on, telephone interview was made with each of respondent to the questionnaire to reconfirm the response from this respondent Observation from real business activities between two parties was also employed in the study According to the results of the study, culture has a great influence on international business negotiation between C-Food and its Vietnamese suppliers By applying the twelve cultural variables defined by Vora into the research, the influence was step by step described and evaluated In each variable, comparision was made and examples from actual business cooperation between two parties – C-Food and its suppliers – were given to make the influence become clearer Moreover, nine factors drawn from the observation of the author during the study as well as his five-year-working experience were included into the study to examine the scope of the influence 51 LIMITATION AND SUGGESTION Cross-culture business negotiation is a large field of study This study is confined only in the business cooperation between C-Food and its Vietnamese suppliers C-Food is one of many businesses from Lebanon and Vietnamese suppliers are only in seafood processing and exporting field The study focuses on the business relationship of CFood and its Vietnamese partners Hence the possibility of generalizing the study to “Cross-culture in business negotiation between Vietnamese and Lebanese cultures” is not so high Other issue is the willingness to respond of the respondents – Vietnamese suppliers Vietnamese people in general and suppliers in particular tend to be not so straightforward For this reason, there may be a risk mis-interpretation of the data collected Moreover, the twelve variables of culture defined by Vora (2001) not cover all aspects of cross-culture business negotiation In the study, the aspects such as legal regulations, English fluency and price sensitivity are included to guarantee that all the aspects affecting the negotiation will not be missed For the said-above reasons, it is worth conducting a futher study on the “Cross-culture in business negotiation between Vietnamese and Lebanese cultures” to get deeper understandings between the two cultures The scope of study should be expanded to other fields of business instead of seafood industry LIST OF REFERENCE Arazi Idrus, Azzuin Amer, & Chritiono Utomo (2007), A Study of Negotiation Styles in Malaysian Construction Industry, Civil Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia Czinkota, M.R & Ronkainen, I.A (1998), International Marketing, Orlando: The Dryden Press Deresky, H (2000), International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc Francesco, A.M & Gold, B.A (1998), International Organizational Behavior: Text readings, cases, and skills, London: Prentice-Hall International Limited Gulbro, R & Herbig, P (1995), Industrial product and consumer products firms, Journal of business & industrial marketing, Volume 10 Number 1995 pp 18-28, MCB University Press Gulbro, R & Herbig, P (1996), Cross-cultural negotiating process, Industrial Management & Data Systems Volume 96 Number 1996 pp 17-23, MCB University Press Johan Lintzen & Anne Svedjehlm (2006), The Impact of Culture on Business Negotiations between Swedish and US Businessmen: A Case Study of Two Swedish Businessmen, Master Thesis, Lulea University of Technology Lewis, R.D (1996), When cultures collide: Manging Successfully Across Cultures, London: Nicholas Breadly Publihsing Mary Jo Hatch, 1997 Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic and Postmodern Perspectives Oxford University Press Rodriguez, C (2001), International Management: Cultural Approach, 2nd edition, Cincinnati, Ohio: SouthWestern College Publishing Trompenaars, F (1997), Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, London: Breadly Vora, D (2001), Notes from lectures, University of South Carolina, Columbia, US Winters, E (2000), Across the Pacific pond: A very personal view of Japanese, Chinese, and North America bargaining environment Yin, R.K (2003), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 3rd edition, Sage Publications, Inc Zartman, W (1993), A Skeptic’s View, Culture and Negotiation, Ed By Faure & Rubin, pp 17-21, ISSN 0-80395371-2 Zoubir, Y.H (2003), International Negotiations: A Professional’s Approach Interview with Mr Josep Chriqui, Senior Vice President, Alstom Power Turbo-Systems, Thunderbird International Business Review; Nov-Dec 2003, Vol 45 Issue 6, p695, 6p òan Th H ng Vân, Kim Ng c t (2009), àm phán kinh doanh qu c t , NXB Lao ng – Xã h i Winning Negotiations That Preserve Relationships, Harvard Business School Press, 2004 Series HD58.6.W566 2004 http://www.geerthofstede.nl/culture/dimensions-of-national-cultures.aspx http://www.nafiqad.gov.vn/?set_language=en&cl=en CÂU H I CHO KH O SÁT QUA TH I NT (QUESTIONNAIRE FOR EMAL SURVEY) i v i câu h i có nhi u l a ch n, anh (ch ) vui lòng ch n Font ch in nghiêng cho câu tr l i c a (For multiple choice questions, please use Italic Font for your answer.) Anh (ch ) b t u làm vi c v i C-Food t nào? When did you work with C-Food? Anh (ch ) có tìm hi u k v C-Food tr c làm vi c v i h ? Did you learn about C-Food before working them? Trong trình àm phán v i C-Food, theo anh (ch ) i m n i b t c a h ? In negotiating with C-Food, which character of C-Food is remarkable in your opion? Khi nh n c n t hàng c a C-Food, anh (ch ) ánh giá nh th v chi ti t k thu t i u kho n n hàng c a C-Food? What you think about the specifications and provisions in the purchasing orders of C-Food? a n gi n (Simple) b Bình th ng (Normal) c Ph c t p (Complicated) d R t ph c t p (Very complicated) Anh (ch ) c hi u chi ti t k thu t i u kho n n hàng c a C-Food nh th nào? How you read the the specifications and provisions in the purchasing orders of C-Food? a cl t (Scanning) b Ch c nh ng ph n liên quan cơng vi c c a (Scanning for the related tasks) c c k nh ng ph n liên quan cơng vi c c a (Carefully reading the related tasks) d c k toàn b (Carefully reading all) Trong q trình àm phán, anh (ch ) có quy n quy t nh n thông tin nh sau? In negotiation, which of the following provisions you decide on? a Giá c (Price) b Th i i m giao hàng (Delivery term) c Hình th c tốn (Payment term) S l ng hàng mua qui cách óng gói c a n hàng C-Food nh h ng nh th n k t qu àm phán? How purchased quantities and packing specifications result in the outcomes of negotiation? Anh (ch ) có ch p nh n l giao hàng k p th i h n cho C-Food? Have you ever suffered a loss to guarantee a punctual delivery to C-Food? So v i i tác khác, theo anh (ch ) àm phán giá c v i C-Food In comparision with other partners, negotiating with C-Food is a R t khó kh n (Very difficult) b Khó kh n (Difficult) c Bình th ng (Normal) d D dàng (Easy) e R t d dàng (Very easy) 10 Anh (ch ) có ch p nh n bán giá th p h n thu hút khách hàng C-Food v công ty? Will you sell products at a lower price to attract C-Food to your company? 11 Anh (ch ) có ch p nh n l tr c m t có lãi t ng lai? Will you accept a loss in short-term to get profit in long-term? 12 Ngồi chi phí u vào, anh (ch ) cịn c s tính giá chào cho C-Food? In addition to the cost of the input, you have other base to make an offer for C-Food? 13 Chuyên môn c t o c a anh (ch ) gì? What is your major? 14 Chun mơn có nh h ng nh th n công vi c hi n t i c a anh (ch )? How significant does this major result in your present job? 15 Trình ti ng Anh c a anh ch nh th nào? How is your English fluency? c hi u tài li u (good enough at reading) a Ch b c hi u t t (very good at reading) c Vi t th n gi n tr l i i tác (good enough at writing and relying emails) d c hi u tr l i th t t t (very good at writing and relying emails) e Ch nghe nói xã giao (good enough at listening and speaking in daily conversation) f Nghe, nói t t có th àm phán v i i tác (very good at listening and speaking in business negotiation) 16 V n ti ng Anh có nh h ng nh th n công vi c anh (ch ) ang làm? How significant does your English fluency result in your present job? 17 Anh (ch ) ánh giá nh th v kh n ng ti ng Anh c a i tác C-Food? What you think about the English fluency of C-Food partner? 18 Anh (ch ) ã làm vi c ngành n m? How long have you been working in this field? 19 Ngồi C-Food ra, anh (ch ) có ph trách n hàng c a khách hàng khác không? In addition to C-Food, are you working other clients? Anh (ch ) vui lòng ch n Font ch in nghiêng cho câu tr l i mà anh (ch ) (Please use Italic Font for your answer.) ng ý Tôi dùng nh h ng c a ng i khác ch p nh n ý ki n c a I use my influence to get my ideas accepted Tôi c g ng làm vi c v i i tác tìm gi i pháp th a mãn yêu c u c a I try to work with the other to find solutions to a problem which satisfy our expectation Tôi trao i nh ng thông tin chu n xác v i i tác hai bên gi i quy t v n I exchange accurate information with the other so that we can solve the problem together Tôi c g ng a v n theo h ng c i m hai bên tìm cách gi i quy t t t nh t có th Arazi Idrus, Azzuin Amer, & Chritiono Utomo (2007), A Study of Negotiation Styles in Malaysian Construction Industry, Civil Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS 31750 Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia I try to bring all concerns out in the open so that the issues can be resolved in the best possible way Tôi h p tác v i i tác i n nh ng quy t nh mà ch p nh n c I collaborate with the other to come up with decisions acceptable to us Tôi c g ng làm vi c v i i tác hi u rõ nguyên nhân c a m t v n I try to work with the other for a proper understanding of a problem Nhìn chung tơi c g ng th a mãn nhu c u c a i tác I generally try to satisfy the needs of the other Tôi c g ng khơng r i vào tình hu ng khó x gi hịa khí v i i tác I attempt to avoid being “put on the spot” and try to keep my conflict with the other to myself Tôi th ng th a mãn yêu c u c a i tác I usually try to accommodate the wishes of the other 10 Tôi th ng nh ng b i tác I usually allow concessions to the other 11 Tôi th ng ng ý xu t c a i tác I often go along with the suggestion of the other 12 Tôi th ng v i i tác tìm hi u k m t v n tìm gi i pháp ch p nh n c cho bên liên quan I try to investigate an issue with the other to find a solution that will be acceptable to everyone involved 13 Tôi t n d ng chun mơn c a a quy t nh có l i cho I use my expertise to make a decision in my favor 14 Tôi th ng kiên quy t theo u i m c tiêu làm vi c v i i tác I am generally firm in pursuing my side of the issue 15 Tôi th ng trao i v i i tác i n quy t nh có l i cho bên I try to integrate my ideas with the other to come up with a decision jointly 16 Tôi c g ng tìm m t gi i pháp dung hòa cho m t v n b t c I usually propose a middle ground to break deadlocks 17 Tôi àm phán v i i tác hai bên t c s nh ng b I negotiate with the other so that a compromise can be reached 18 Tôi th ng “cho nh n” t c s nh ng b I use “give and take” so that a compromise can be reached 19 Tôi c g ng h n ch trao i nh ng thơng tin gây khó x cho i tác I try to avoid unpleasant exchanges with the other QUESTIONNAIRE FOR IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW What you think about the way to negotiate of Vietnamese packers? In addtion to Vietnamese suppliers, you purchase from other countries? Do you prefer a formal relation with our packers or an informal one? Do you concern about the process of handling our orders or the results of handling our orders? Will you sacrifice some benefits to get a long-term relationship? When disputes occur, does logic or emotion affect your solution? Are you willing to take risk to guarantee a punctual delivery to our client? For example: signing a Letter of Indemnity for a reefer shipment Does shipment delay negatively affect our business? In dealing with Vietnamese packers, are you authorized to decide most of the related problems? 10 Are detailed order confirmation and contract so important? 11 What you think about the changing of regulations in seafood industry when these regulations are becoming so strict? 12 What steps will you follow, when you are seeking for a new supplier? 13 When you start to work with a new supplier, what you usually to ensure that this supplier is the one you need? 14 What you think about the English fluency of Vietnamese partners? 15 When a company is in a stage of downsizing, will you accept a reduce salary to stay with the company? 16 How important is the price to our business? 17 What are conditions you base to negotiate price? 18 Who decides the price? 19 When a supplier insists on its prices, you accept the prices or switch to other suppliers? 20 Which one will you choose among two suppliers, one provides high quality goods with high prices and the other with lower price and acceptable quality? 21 What are the tips when you negotiate price with our sole suppliers, e.g: Hai Nam and Agrex SG? ... Telegraphic Transfer VCCI: Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry INTRODUCTION RATIONALE OF THE STUDY Before considering the worthiness of conducting the study, we should revisit some main concepts... also the other sources of supplies To facilitate its business activities in these countries, the branch in Ho Chi Minh city – CFood International Vietnam – was established in 2004 The coordinating... of study In this project, the study is confined in the business cooperation between C- Food and its Vietnamese suppliers In other words, the study focuses on the business relationship of C- Food