Politeness strategies employed in salary negotiation by vietnamese and anglophone females in multi cultural workplace in vietnam

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐOÀN THỊ THU HẰNG POLITENESS STRATEGIES EMPLOYED IN SALARY NEGOTIATION BY VIETNAMESE AND ANGLOPHONE FEMALES IN MULTI-CULTURAL WORKPLACE IN VIETNAM (Chiến lược lịch áp dụng đàm phán lương nữ người Việt Nam nữ nước nói tiếng Anh mơi trường làm việc đa văn hóa Việt Nam) M.A Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 HANOI - 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ĐOÀN THỊ THU HẰNG POLITENESS STRATEGIES EMPLOYED IN SALARY NEGOTIATION BY VIETNAMESE AND ANGLOPHONE FEMALES IN MULTI-CULTURAL WORKPLACE IN VIETNAM (Chiến lược lịch áp dụng đàm phán lương nữ người Việt Nam nữ nước nói tiếng Anh mơi trường làm việc đa văn hóa Việt Nam) M.A Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60 22 15 Supervisor: Văn Thị Thanh Bình, M.A HANOI - 2009 108 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ……………………………………………………………………………………….i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT …………………………………………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT ……………………………………………………………………………………………iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………………………………iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ………………………………………………………………………….v LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………………………………… vi LIST OF DIAGRAMS/CHARTS …………………………………………………………………… vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Significance of the study .2 1.3 Scope and scale of the study 1.4 Objectives of the study 1.5 Methodology of the study .3 1.6 Organization of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .5 2.1.1 Introduction of speech acts: definition & classification .5 2.1.1.1 Definition of speech acts .5 2.1.1.2 Classification of speech acts 2.1.1.3 Classification of illocutionary acts .7 2.1.2 Speech acts in salary negotiation 11 2.1.2.1 General concepts of negotiation 11 2.1.2.1.1 Definition of negotiation .11 2.1.2.1.2 Approaches of negotiation 13 2.1.2.1.2 Positional Bargaining 13 2.1.2.1.2 Interest-Based Bargaining 15 2.1.2.2 Salary negotiation and speech acts in salary negotiation 18 2.1.2.2.1 After receiving a new job offer 18 2.1.2.2.2 Annual salary review 18 2.1.2.2.3 Salary rise proposed by the Employer 19 2.1.2.2.4 Salary rise requested by the Employee 19 2.1.3.1 The concept of face 21 2.1.3.2 Definition of politeness 21 2.1.3.3 Social factors and politeness 22 2.1.3.4 Major pragmatics principles 24 2.1.3.4.1 Grice’s Cooperative Principle 24 2.1.3.4.2 Lakoff’s Conversational – Maxim Approach .25 109 2.1.3.4.3 Leech’s Politeness Principle (PP) 26 2.1.3.4.4 Brown and Levinson’s theory of politeness 27 2.1.3.5 Politeness strategies 29 2.1.3.5.1 Bald on record strategy 29 2.1.3.5.2 Positive politeness strategy 29 2.1.3.5.3 Negative politeness strategy .32 2.1.3.5.4 Off-record strategy 35 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 39 2.2.1 Overview of the research methods 39 2.2.2 Design of the study 40 2.2.2.1 Selection of informants 40 2.2.2.2 Data collection instrument 42 2.2.2.3 Data collection and processing procedure 45 CHAPTER 3: DATA PRESENTATION AND DICUSSION .47 2.3.1 The types of salary negotiation experienced by the informants 47 2.3.2 The respondents’ personal information 48 2.3.3 Respondents’ habit and opinion on salary negotiation 55 2.3.4 Most recent salary negotiation experience 61 2.3.5 Politeness strategies employed in respondents’ salary negotiation experience 65 PART 3: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 91 3.1 Major findings and conclusions 91 3.2 Recommendations .97 3.3 Limitations of the research and suggestions for further studies 102 REFERENCES 104 ANNEXES …………………………………………………………………………………………… I Bank form of questionnaire v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SHORT FORM FULL WORD CP Co-operative principle D Distance DCTs Discourse completion tasks FTAs Face threatening acts H Hearer MCQs Multiple choice questions NGOs Non-governmental/non profitable organizations P Power PP: Politeness principle Projects Foreign aided Projects PSs Politeness strategies R Rank of imposition S Speaker Sit Situation SN Salary negotiation Str Strategy vi LIST OF TABLES No Table Name Page Table Speech acts classification proposed by Yule, G (1996) Table Positive politeness strategies – names & examples 29 Table Negative politeness strategies – names & examples 33 Table Off-record/indirect strategies – names & examples 36 Table Summary of politeness strategies in respondents’ answers to the question: What is your expected salary? 69 Table Summary of politeness strategies used in respondents’ answers when X-4 is offered for the first time 71 Table Summary of politeness strategies used in respondents’ answers to the employers’ insistence on X-4 for the second time 73 Table Summary of politeness strategies used in respondents’ answers to the employer’s proposal for X-2 as the highest level he/she can offer 75 Table Summary of politeness strategies used in respondents’ proposal for salary rise in annual personal talk 78 Table 10 Summary of politeness strategies used in respondents’ answers to employers’ refusals for salary rise in annual talk 79 Table 11 Summary of politeness strategies used in respondents’ proposals for salary rise (not annual talk, same responsibilities) 82 Table 12 Summary of politeness strategies used in respondents’ answers to employers’ refusals for salary rise (not annual talk, same responsibilities) 83 Table 13 Summary of politeness strategies used in respondents’ proposal for salary rise (not annual talk, same responsibilities) 86 Table 14 Politeness strategies used in respondents’ answers to employer's refusal for salary rise (not annual talk, more responsibilities) 87 Table 15 Grand summary of politeness strategies used in all asked salary negotiation situations 88 vii LIST OF CHARTS/DIAGRAMS No Chart/Diagram Name Page Diagram Pragmatics rules suggested by Lakoff R 25 Diagram Diagram of five strategies proposed by Brown & Levinson 28 Chart Types of salary negotiation experienced by respondents 47 Chart Age range of respondents 48 Chart Anglophone respondents’ nationalities 49 Chart Respondents’ positions/job tittles 50 Chart English levels of Vietnamese respondents 51 Chart Number of respondents’ working years 52 Chart Number of jobs changed by respondents 53 Chart Number of promotions attained by respondents 53 Chart Respondents’ satisfaction of their current salaries 54 Chart 10 Pro-activeness in approaching employers (Sit 1.2.1 in questionnaire) 57 Chart 11 Pro-activeness in approaching employers (Sit 1.2.2 in questionnaire) 57 Chart 12 Preparation before salary negotiation 59 Chart 13 Items/Issues to be determined before negotiation 60 Chart 14 Requirement of employers’ decision in written form 61 Chart 15 Respondents’ relationship with their employers 62 Chart 16 After salary negotiation, is the relationship with the employer affected? 63 Chart 17 Factors affecting salary negotiation 64 vii Chart 18 Respondents’ rating of their bargaining power over the employer upon job offer 66 Chart 19 Politeness strategies in respondents’ answers to the question: What is your expected salary? 68 Chart 20 Respondents’ answers when X-4 is offered for the first time 70 Chart 21 Respondents’ answers to the employers’ insistence on X-4 for the second time 72 Chart 22 Respondents’ answers to the employer’s proposal for X-2 as the highest level he/she can offer 74 Chart 23 Respondents’ rating of their bargaining power over the employer in annual personal talk 76 Chart 24 Respondents’ proposal for salary rise in annual personal talk 77 Chart 25 Respondents’ answers to employers’ refusals for salary rise in annual talk 78 Chart 26 Respondents’ rating of their bargaining power in SN (not annual 80 talk, same responsibilities) Chart 27 Respondents’ proposals for salary rise (not annual talk, same responsibilities) 81 Chart 28 Respondents’ answers to employers’ refusals for salary rise (not annual talk, same responsibilities) 82 Chart 29 Respondents’ rating of their bargaining power in SN (not annual 84 talk, more responsibilities) Chart 30 Respondents’ proposal for salary rise (not annual talk, more responsibilities) 85 Chart 31 Respondents’ answers to employer's refusal for salary rise (not annual talk, more responsibilities) 86 PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study In the past years, women‟s integration into the workplace has without doubt become wider and deeper in all aspects of the working life with the most easily recognized phenomenon of women performing tasks which are far beyond the limit of simple or assisting jobs Instead, more and more opportunities are offered to involve women in taking over jobs which require more professional, analytical and even managerial skills – those who used to be considered suitable and manageable by men only (Rizzo, A.M & Mendez, C., 1990) The question of how women handle problems arising in their workplace, much to the author of this paper‟s investigation, has not received a good deal of academic attention and studies Yet, there have been few researchers are attracted to this area of research in response to the fact that "skepticism surrounding women's ability to adopt managerial roles and responsibilities has prevailed since the advent of women within the corporate hierarchy" (Portello & Long, 1994) These researchers want to explore and explode the traditional view, long an impediment to women's progress through the managerial ranks, that women are not "as good as men" at negotiating Other theorists, taking to heart either traditional cultural stereotypes or the theories of cultural feminists, have sought to explore whether women really speak in "a different voice" than men when negotiating (Korabik, Baril, & Watson, 1993) Deriving from the initial interest in the topic of females‟ participation in the workplace, after a period of time searching for necessary documents from different sources such as books, articles, magazines, previously implemented studies in the University Library and on the Internet, the author of this paper (here-and-after referred as “the researcher”) has realized that: Negotiation in the workplace is the common topic which has been discussed in general terms by a numbers of scholars and researchers; nevertheless, salary negotiation (SN) has not yet been of popular research topic and received only basic academic concern Especially, the roles and abilities of women in handling workplace negotiation have not yet been studied in great focus Even in the documents or works that deal with SN issues, the link between the achievement of SN results and the employment of related strategies such as negotiation strategies, persuasion strategies, politeness strategies (PSs), etc has not been clearly defined The researcher, besides having a special personal interest in the topic of the relationship between PSs and SN, is currently working in a multi-cultural workplace where most of the colleagues are females of both Vietnamese and Anglo-saxon nationalities Additionally, thanks to the so called “network” relationship in the current workplace, the researcher believes to be able to get contacts with a necessary number of Vietnamese and Anglophone females in the sector These factors, added with the fact that previous studies launched at the university have not dealt with the topic, have created an urge for the researcher to initiate the M.A thesis namely: “Politeness strategies employed in salary negotiation by Vietnamese and Anglophone females in multi-cultural workplace in Vietnam” 1.2 Significance of the study The study would hopefully be of practical use for not only females working in multi-cultural workplace but also for working people in general Moreover, the research would optimistically become a good reference source for those who are particularly concerned about the utilization of PSs in workplace and SN If implemented successfully, this study would open up a fairly new research topic which has rarely been done at the University before The research would also be a great contribution to other studies related to communication and negotiation skills 1.3 Scope and scale of the study As the research title suggests, this study focuses on the employment of PSs in SN by Vietnamese and Anglophone females in multi-cultural workplace Moreover, due to the factual working conditions of the researcher, the study will be implemented with the participation of females who are working in multi-cultural environment in Hanoi Capital, Vietnam Multi-cultural workplace is limited to NGOs & foreign aided projects in which regular contacts between people of different nationalities are commonly found 1.4 Objectives of the study 101 synthesis and analysis of the data collected from the respondents together with the information from the related literature and the personal observations, draw practical conclusions and recommendations which hopefully of help to the people concerned Due to a number of reasons, the research in itself embraces different limitations; thus, suggestions for further studies will be presented in the next part at the same time the last part of this paper 102 3.3 Limitations of the research and suggestions for further studies Being conducted in a limited duration of time and resources, the research undeniably bears certain limitations which go beyond the solving abilities of the researchers Firstly, it is quite a new research topic which, to the researcher‟s knowledge, has not been discussed by any researcher at least at the university This became an urge which motivates the researcher to launch this study; however, it is also one of the biggest problems the researcher has to cope with during the process of collecting relevant literature and asking for advice from the foregoers Much as the researcher tried, the literature presented in the previous chapter is considered not detailed enough, especially the specific documents of SN and the relation between the use of PSs and the results of SN Secondly, the researcher is not totally happy with the method of data collection with two main instruments which are survey questionnaire and note-taking In normal research, interviews and real-life observations are to be utilized for realistic and in-depth data; however, in the research of such sensitive topic, those two kinds of instruments prove not to be relevant and accepted by the respondents who even not want to answer the survey questionnaires due to certain confidential issues Thus, the difficulty in collecting data has resulted in another limitation of the study Thirdly, the use of DCTs in the survey questionnaire to elicit respondents‟ choice of PSs may bring about the question of the validity of the data collected As shown and agreed by few scholars in this field, “DCTs can be used for analyzing linguistic tendency of a specific group rather than general tendency of the speakers of a language” (Golato, 2002) In this study, the comparison between the two groups of respondents‟ selection of PSs is made based on the results of DCTs‟ answers and the entirely trusted generalization of the speakers of a language is not the ultimate goal, a more feasible way of data collection that allows for more trusted data generalization is hopefully done in further research Moreover, the data presentation method employed in the study is also not to the researcher‟s primary preference At first, SPSS – a famous and most updated software which allows simple data inputs and releases numerous expected outcomes such as charts, tables, diagrams, etc 103 upon request – was decided to be applied for quantitative data presentation However, due to the researcher‟s limit in and lack guidance of Information Technology skills, the software did not function as well as it had been expected At last, the manual and basic type of data input and output, i.e the use of excel file, is utilized Finally, due to the limited working conditions and personal relationships of the researcher, the respondents are selected only in projects, NGOs and the small sample size of 80 informants (40 Vietnamese and 40 Anglophone females) may hinder the generalization of the study conclusions Further research should overcome those limitations embraced by this study and if possible investigate more in the following related issues: the difference in PSs utilization by men and women in SN, the difference in negotiation skills between people working in different sectors (such as state sector, private sector, non-governmental sector, etc.), strategies employed by the employers in refusing employees‟ proposals, etc Hopefully the results of this study will prove to be of practical use by other researchers who conduct research in this field of study 104 REFERENCES Books, articles & journals Austin, J (1962), How to Do Things with Words, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press Bach, K (1979), Linguistic Communication and Speech Acts, M.I.T Press, Arizona, 127135 Barron, L A (2003), Ask and you shall receive? Gender differences in negotiators' beliefs about requests for a higher salary Human Relations, 56(6), pp 635-662 Blum-Kulka, S (1982), Learning how to say what you mean in a language, Applied Linguistics, 3, pp 29-59 Blum-Kulka, S (1987), Indirectness and politeness: Same or different, Journal of Pragmatics, 11, pp 145-160 Blum-Kulka, S (1989), Playing it safe: the role of conventionality in indirectness, in BlumKulka, S., House, J., Kasper, G (eds.), Cross-cultural Pragmatics: Request and apologies, Norwood, NJ: Ablex, pp 37-55 Bohnet, I., Greig, F (2007), Gender matters in workplace decisions, Negotiation, pp 4-6 Brown, P (1976), Women and politeness: a new perspective on language and society, Review in Anthropology, Brown, P., Levinson, S (1987), Politeness: Some universals in language usage, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 10 Brown, G., Yule, G (1979), Discourse Analysis, Cambridge University Press, London 11 Burstein, J (1989), PSs and gender expectations, CUNY Forum: Papers in Linguistics, 14 12 Deutsch, M (2006), Handbook of conflict resolution: theory & practice, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco 105 13 Dornyei, Z (2003), Questionnaires in Second Language Research, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers 14 Druckman, D (1977), Negotiations: Social-psychological Perspectives, Sage Publications, London 15 Fink, A (1995), Evaluation for Education and Psychology, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Firth, A (1995), The Discourse of Negotiation, Pergamon, Oxford, UK 16 Fisher, R., Ury, W., Patton, B (1991), Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in, Harvard University, USA 17 Gerhart, B (1990), Gender differences in current and starting salaries: The role of performance, college major, and job title, Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 43(4), pp 418 18 Gillham, B (2000), Developing a questionnaire, London: Continuum, London 19 Golato, A (2002), Studying Compliment Responses: A Comparison of DCTs and Recordings of Naturally Occurring Talk, University of Illinois 20 Goffman, E (1955), On the face work: an analysis of ritual elements in social interaction, Psychiatry 18 - Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes 18(3) 21 Goffman, E (1963), On Face-Work, Interaction Ritual New York: Anchor Books, New York 22 Grice, H (1969), Utterer‟s meaning and intentions, Philosophical Review, 78 (2), 147-177 23 Grice, H (1975), Logic and conversation, in Cole, P and Morgan, J (eds.), Syntax and Semantics 3, Speech Acts, New York: Academic Press 24 Harnish, R.M (2001), Linguistics: An introduction to language and communication, University of Arizona, Arizona 106 25 Vu Thi Bich Hiep (2006), A study on strategies used in verbal communication between native and non-native speakers of English in the workplace, English linguistics M.A thesis, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 26 Kaman, V S., Hartel, C E J (1994), Gender differences in anticipated pay negotiation strategies and outcomes, Journal of Business and Psychology, 9(2), pp 183-197 27 Korabik, K., Baril, G., Watson C (1993), Managers‟conflict management style and leadership effectiveness: The moderating effects of gender, Sex Roles, pp 405-418 28 Kray, L J., Thompson, L (2005), Gender stereotypes and negotiation performance: A review of theory and research, Research in Organizational Behavior Series, Vol 26, pp 103-182 29 Dao Thi Phuong Lan (2007), A study on PSs in the business conversations of the course book “Business basics”, English linguistics M.A minor thesis, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 30 Lax, D., Sebenius, J (2006), 3-D Negotiation – powerful tools to change the game in your most important deals, Havard Business School press 31 Lakoff, R (1975), Language and women’s place, Harper, New York 32 Lakoff, R (1977), What you can with words: politeness, pragmatics and performatives, in Rogers, P (ed.), Proceedings of the Texas Conference on Performatives, VA: Center for Applied Linguistics, Arlington, pp 79-105 33 Leech, G (1983), Principles of Pragmatics, Longman, London 34 Do Thi Thuy Mai (2001), A study of PSs in the conversational activities of the course book “Interchange” I-II-III, English linguistics M.A thesis, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University, Hanoi 35 Moore, C.W (1996), The Mediation Process, (2nd ed.), CA: Jossey-Bass, San Francisco 36 Mendez, C., Rizzo, A M (1990), The Integration of Women in Management, pp.145-147 37 Mills, S (2003), Gender and Politeness, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Thank you for your kind cooperation in answering the survey questionnaire on the topic of politeness strategies employed in salary negotiation Since it is guaranteed that the information you provide will be undoubtedly kept confidential and used for research purpose only, please kindly give the answers to the questions below as close to what you did or what you are most likely to as possible The more realistic the information you provide is, the better analysis and conclusions of the research paper will be Thank you General assumptions - The word “salary” mentioned in this questionnaire refers to a FINANCIAL entity which may be termed as salary, wage, fee, payment, etc used in your own negotiation experience which either includes or excludes tax / compulsory insurance It is assumed that the SAME principle of annual bonus, contract termination allowance, overtime working payment or other types of extra payment apart from X is applied for all of you; therefore, those payments will be considered constant and will not interfere in your salary negotiation It is also assumed that you are going to share you experience on FACE-TO-FACE salary negotiation Hence, other types of salary negotiation via mail, email, telephone, etc are not considered If you are Anglophone, please share your most recent salary negotiation experiences If you are Vietnamese, please refer to your most recent salary negotiation with the Employer of a different nationality and the language you used then was English To answer the questions below, you could refer to what you experienced In case you have not experienced any asked situations, please select the options which best represent what you MAY in reality - If you answer this questionnaire in hard copy, just put ticks to the checkboxes for multiple-choice questions; If you answer this questionnaire in soft copy, for multiple-choice questions, please: * use your left mouse to tick the boxes * if it does not work, please double click the boxes that you select, tick the box “checked” (or “not checked”), then press “ok” (#) Please put a tick (√) next to the type(s) of salary negotiation you have experienced (more than answer is accepted) upon job offer annual talk during working time (not annual talk), proposed by your employer during working time (not annual talk), requested by you other: (please specify: ……………………………………………………………………………) not yet (please be more detailed): ……………………………………………………… PART GENERAL INFORMATION 1.1 Your personal information No Question 1.1.1 Your age 1.1.2 Your nationality 1.1.3 1.1.4 What is your current position/job? If you are Vietnamese, please specify your general English level 1.1.5 How long have you been working? 1.1.6 1.1.7 1.1.8 Your answer ……………………… Vietnamese other: (please specify……………………………… ) …………………………………………………… pre-intermediate intermediate upper-intermediate advanced like mother tongue other (please specify: ……………………………….) ………… Up till now, how many times have you changed job(s) in total? ………… How many times have you been promoted? ………… How much are you satisfied with your current salary? (please select one number that is most relevant to not satisfied at all your case) …………………………… very satisfied 1.2 Your habit and opinion on salary negotiation (*) (**) (***) 1.2.1 During your working stay silent and not perform the job to the best of your ability 1.2.2 During working time in time in an organization/project, an organization or project, you stay silent and look for a part-time job besides the job you are doing you realize that though there is are given more responsibilities stay silent and look for another job no change in your or more tasks without being complain to your colleagues or co-workers only responsibilities, you are still offered any pay rise, you TEND continue working and wait for relevant opportunities for salary review lower paid than you actually to (more than one answer is (annual talk, your employer’s proposal, etc.) deserve, you TEND to (more accepted) (to answer this approach the employer, directly mention your situation and frankly ask for a than one answer is accepted) question, please put ticks to the personal talk appointment (to answer this question, please boxes in (***) column which approach the employer, directly mention your situation and frankly ask for a put ticks to the boxes in (*) correspond to the answers in personal talk right at that time column which correspond to (**) ) your own way (please specify: ………………………) the answers in (**) ) 1.2.3 Before any salary review/negotiation, you often: nothing and wait for the negotiation prepare some key points to respond to your employer’s questions if he/she asks prepare yourself well enough with all the ground you may have for your arguments your own way (please specify: ………………………………………………………………………………….) 1.2.4 Before attending salary negotiation, please select what you often determine in advance (more than one answer is accepted) your highest level of expected salary the lowest level of salary you may accept the highest salary level the employer may agree the lowest salary level the employer may propose the issues to be negotiated and the sequence of the arguments/positions you may make other (please specify: ……………………………………………………………………………………………) 1.2.5 After the agreement on your salary has been reached, you often require that finalization in written form? yes up to the employer no other (please specify: …………………………………………………………) 1.3.Your most recent salary negotiation experience 1.3.1 Please provide some information of the employer with whom you have recently had salary negotiation with: a His/her age …… ………………………………………………… a His/her gender: …………………………………………………… b His/her nationality: ………………………………………………… 1.3.2 Please relatively specify the relationship between you and the employer with whom you have recently had salary negotiation with (by putting a tick next to the most relevant level from (not close) to (very close)): not close very close 1.3.3 In your observation, after salary negotiation(s) in general, is/was the relationship between you and the employer affected? no, not at all a little (please be more detailed: ………………………………) yes (please be more detailed: ………………………………….) you not recognize this other (please specify: ………………………………………….) 1.3.4 During salary negotiation in general, what is the key factor that causes you most difficulties in achieving your expectation (please select ONE option only) language problems (you not have enough English to fully express what you want to say) cultural problems (you are not sure whether what you may say is culturally acceptable to the employer or not) persuasion & negotiation skills (lack of necessary skills & tips for negotiation, persuasion) the employers (you can hardly overcome the distance between you and the employer; you are afraid that the relationship with the employer will be badly affected afterwards; etc.) confidence (you lack confidence in yourself, your ability, your working capacity, etc.) preparation (not enough background knowledge of the position & the salary, arguments not well-prepared before the discussion, etc.) other (please specify …………………………………………) PART POLITENESS STRATEGIES EMPLOYED IN YOUR SALARY NEGOTIATION EXPERIENCE To answer the questions below, please refer to your most recent salary negotiation in 1.3 If you have not experienced any of the asked situations, please kindly imagine how you may deal with them supposing that you discuss with the employer also referred to in 1.3 2.1 Upon getting job offer 2.1.1 After being selected for the job, in the final discussion on your salary before you get the job, how you rate your bargaining power – your ability to favorably influence the employer’s decision - over the employer at that time? You have higher power You have equal power You have lower power 2.1.2 The employer asks you what your expected salary/payment is and you actually expect to 2.1.3 Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.1.2 receive X, you will: (that is best similar to what you may say in reality): state that you expect to receive X+2 ……………………………………………………… state that you expect X ……………………………………………………… not state a specific number but instead state the normal salary range for your position in ……………………………………………………… other organizations/labor market not state a specific number but instead refer to the salary you receive for your previous job, ……………………………………………………… adding that this new job gives you more responsibilities and for sure you expect more ……………………………………………………… state that the salary depends on the decision of the Employer/follows the salary range in that ……………………………………………………… organization your own way (please specify: ………………………………………………………………) ……………………………………………………… 2.1.4 After listening to your statement, the employer starts offering you a salary level which is in ……………… fact lower than what you actually expect (you expect X but the employer offers only X-4) Certainly 2.1.5 Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.1.2 (that is best similar to what you may say in you CANNOT accept this level You will (more than one answer is accepted): reality): refuse it, confirm your ability to perform the job well and state that level does not reach your …………………………………………………… expectation refuse it, confirm your ability to perform the job well and directly/indirectly insist on your …………………………………………………… expected salary X that you’ve mentioned …………………………………………………… listen to the employer’s explanation for his/her offer, refuse X-4 and emphasize on the …………………………………………………… benefits of hiring you / your strengths over other candidates …………………………………………………… your own way (please specify: ……… ……………………………………………………) …………………………………………………… …………………………………………………… ………………………………… 2.1.6 No matter what you argue in 2.1.4, the employer still insists on the reasons for his/her offer of X-4 (and you still cannot accept X-4), you will (more than one answer is accepted): 2.1.7 Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.1.5 keep protecting you idea against all the reasons given by the employer (that is best similar to what you may say in reality): politely address the employer’s ideas to have more time for your next arguments, then find ……………………………………………………… other ways to strengthen your arguments ……………………………………………………… other (please specify: ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………) ……………………………………………………… 2.1.8 At this time, the employer asserts that X-2 is the highest level he can offer you, you will: ……………… still refuse it and insist on your expected X 2.1.9 Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.1.7 still refuse it and imply that you are also at the moment being offered another job which is (that is best similar to what you say in reality): also interesting ……………………………………………………… consider: if the job really attracts you, you will accept that level; otherwise, you will refuse ……………………………………………………… accept that level and think that during working time, you will ask for salary rise accept that level and ask for extra financial bonus (such as telephone bill payment, ……………………………………………………… transportation support, etc.) ……………………………………………………… accept that level and ask for other non-financial bonus (leaves, holidays, etc.) ……………………………………………………… your own way (please specify: ……………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………) 2.2 Request for salary rise ……………………………………………………… 2.2.1 Annual personal talk ……………… 2.2.1.1 At the annual personal talk between you and the employer in which salary review discussion is an integral part, how you rate your bargaining power your ability to favorably influence the employer’s decision - over the employer at this time? You have higher power You have equal power You have lower power 2.2.1.2 In response to the employer’s question concerning your proposal for next year working and you intend to propose for a pay rise, you will (more than one answer is accepted): state that salary rise is a norm applied in all working organizations for both subjective and objective reasons (inflation/living cost compensation, encouragement, bonus, etc.) state that your working performance over the past year is, to your evaluation, satisfying enough for a pay rise compare your tasks and performance with other colleagues in the organization and ask for a pay rise ask for more tasks of your interest and accordingly higher salary your own way (please specify: 2.2.1.3 Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.2.1.2 (that is best similar to what you say in reality): ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………) ……………… 2.2.1.4 No matter what argument you may make in 2.2.1.3, the employer, after giving some reasons, states that he/she can offer you no rise /a lower level than what you expected, you will (more than one answer is accepted): be patient and stick to your previous argument 2.2.1.5 Please specify your EXACT utterance in add some more undoubted facts about regular pay rise and the relevance of the rise for your 2.2.1.4 (that is best similar to what you say in own case (your good working capacity, your strengths, your commitment on the job, etc.) reality): claim that it is unfair for you and your co-workers in comparison with the staff of other ……………………………………………………… organizations ……………………………………………………… insist on the reduced workload if no pay rise will be offered ……………………………………………………… threaten that you will quit the job other (please specify: ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………) ……………………………………………………… ……………… 2.2.2 Asking for salary rise without being given more responsibilities (not annual talk) 2.2.2.1 During working time, you realize that you are being lower paid than what you deserve or lower paid in comparison with other colleagues of the same position inside and outside the organization Supposing that you decide to approach the employer, how you rate your bargaining power - your ability to favorably influence the employer’s decision - over the employer at this time? You have higher power You have equal power You have lower power 2.2.2.2 What would you say to the employer to ask for a pay rise in this situation? (more than one 2.2.2.3 Please specify your EXACT utterance in answer is accepted) 2.2.2.2 (that is best similar to what you say in state frankly that you realize you are being under paid and ask for a pay rise reality): state that you would like to receive more tasks and thus wish to have higher salary ……………………………………………………… state that you wish to have higher salary; otherwise you will look for another job ……………………………………………………… make a comparison with other colleagues of the same position inside or outside the ……………………………………………………… organization ……………………………………………………… provide evidence showing that the salary range for your position has increased these days ……………………………………………………… your own way (please specify: ……………………………………………) ……………………………………………………… 2.2.2.4 No matter what argument you may make in 2.2.2.3, the employer, after giving some ……………………………………………………… reasons, states that he/she can offer you no rise /a lower level than what you expected, you will 2.2.2.5 Please specify your EXACT utterance in (more than one answer is accepted): ……………… 2.2.2.4 (that is best similar to what you say in be patient and stick to your previous argument reality): add some more supporting ideas for the relevance of the rise for your own case (your ……………………………………………………… strengths, your good performance, your working potential, the benefits of hiring you instead of ……………………………………………………… other people, etc.) claim that it is unfair for you if you are not offered the pay rise as proposed insist on the reduced workload if no pay rise will be offered threaten that you will quit the job other (please specify: ……………………………………………………………………………………) ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………… 2.2.3 Asking for salary rise after being given more responsibilities (not annual talk) 2.2.3.1 During working time, you have been given more responsibilities/tasks without being offered any rise in salary or financial bonus Realizing that it is not fair for you, you decide to approach the Employer, how you rate your bargaining power - your ability to favorably influence the employer’s decision - over the employer at this time? You have higher power You have equal power You have lower power 2.2.3.2 What would you say to the employer to ask for a pay rise in this situation? (more than one answer is accepted) state your situation frankly and ask for a pay rise 2.2.3.3 Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.2.3.2 (that is best similar to what you say in reality): ……………………………………………………… state your situation frankly and ask for a pay rise; otherwise you will refuse the new responsibilities your own way (please specify: ………………………………………………………………….) ……………………………………………………… 2.2.3.4 No matter what argument you make in 2.2.3.3, the employer, after giving some reasons, states that he/she can offer you no rise / a lower level than what you expected, you will (more than one answer is accepted): be patient and stick to your previous argument add some more supporting ideas for the relevance of the rise for your own case (your strengths, your good performance, your working potential, the benefits of hiring you instead of other people, etc.) claim that it is unfair for you if you are not offered the pay rise as proposed insist on the reduced workload if no pay rise will be offered threaten that you will quit the job other (please specify: ……………………………………………………………….) That is the end of the survey questionnaire Thank you very much for your kind co-operation! ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………… 2.2.3.5 Please specify your EXACT utterance in 2.2.3.4 (that is best similar to what you say in reality): ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………… ……………… ... the researcher to initiate the M.A thesis namely: ? ?Politeness strategies employed in salary negotiation by Vietnamese and Anglophone females in multi- cultural workplace in Vietnam? ?? 1.2 Significance... understanding and common habits in SN? 43 What are the PSs employed by Vietnamese and Anglophone females in SN? Are there any differences in the choice of PSs in SN between Vietnamese and Anglophone females? ... finding answers to the research questions: What are Vietnamese and Anglophone females? ?? general understanding and common habits in SN? What are the PSs employed by Vietnamese and Anglophone females