Application of conflict solving strategies to enhancing the performance of TC STC, a holland vietnam joint venture vompany

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY TRUONG TAN LOC APPLICATION OF CONFLICT SOLVING STRATEGIES TO ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF TC-STC, A HOLLAND-VIETNAM JOINT-VENTURE COMPANY EXECUTIVE MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS Ho Chi Minh City, 6/2020 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY TRUONG TAN LOC APPLICATION OF CONFLICT SOLVING STRATEGIES TO ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF TC-STC, A HOLLAND-VIETNAM JOINT-VENTURE COMPANY Major: Executive Master of Business Administration Type of education: Applied Economics Major code: 8340101 EXECUTIVE MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS SCIENCE SUPERVISOR Assoc Prof – PhD Bui Thanh Trang Ho Chi Minh City, 6/2020 STATUTORY DECLARATION I herewith formally declare that I myself have independently written the submitted Master‟s Thesis “APPLICATION OF CONFLICT SOLVING STRATEGIES TO ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF TC-STC, A HOLLAND-VIETNAM JOINT-VENTURE COMPANY” under the supervision and guidance of Assoc Prof – PhD Bui Thanh Trang All references in this Thesis are clearly quoted with authors‟ names, research works I did not use any outside support except for the quoted literature and other sources mentioned at the end of this paper TABLE OF CONTENTS COVER PAGE STATUTORY DECLARATION TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES OVERVIEW CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Problem statement 1.1.1 Research background 1.1.2 Corporate background 1.1.3 Problem analysis and problem statement 1.2 Research objective 1.3 Scope of research 1.4 Research methods 10 1.5 Research structure 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 13 2.1 International joint ventures 13 2.1.1 Introduction 13 2.1.2 Measures of the performance of international joint ventures 14 2.2 An investigation of conflict and conflict resolution strategies 18 2.2.1 Conflict 18 2.2.2 Sources of conflicts 20 2.2.3 Conflict management styles 21 2.2.4 Conflict resolution strategies 22 2.3 The impact of conflict resolution strategies on performance of joint ventures between foreign partners 26 2.4 The impact of cultural dimension difference on conflicts in joint ventures between foreign partners 30 2.4.1 The dimensions of national cultures 30 2.4.2 The culture of Vietnam and the Netherlands 33 2.5 Factors influencing how to manage the conflicts 39 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 42 3.1 Research framework 42 3.2 Research methods 43 3.2.1 Desk research 44 3.2.2 Qualitative research 45 3.3 Data analysis 53 3.4 Validity and reliability 57 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 58 4.1 Situational factors 58 4.1.1 Existing situation 58 4.1.2 Conflict situation 64 4.2 In what way the dissimilarities in national cultures have impact on the conflict management styles? 66 4.3 How conflict resolution strategies influence the IJV performance? 73 4.4 Discussion 78 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 81 5.1 Conclusion 81 5.2 Recommendation 83 5.2.1 Recommendation 83 5.2.2 Proposed action plan 85 BIBLIOGRAPHY 98 BIBLIOGRAPHY Appendix 1: Qualitative interview questions (for managers working within STCGroup‟s joint-ventures in Vietnam) Appendix 2: Qualitative interview questions (for managers working other JVs between a Vietnamese partner with a foreign partner) Appendix 3: Conflict management test Appendix 4: 14 collaboration tools for small business Appendix 5: Local intercultural training and consulting firms LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Business results of TC-STC from 2013 to 2019 Table 2: Potential determinants of International Joint-Venture performance Table 3: Overview of conflict resolution strategies Table 4: Individualistic and collectivistic conflict lenses Table 5: Thesis interviewee details Table 6: Group discussion and meeting details Table 7: Overview of research design Table 8: Coding schedule for analysis Table 9: The company‟s objective and expectation changes over time of the partners Table 10: Results of conflict management styles test Table 11: Costs and benefits of the action plan Table 12: Stages of the proposed action plan LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The model of conflict management styles Figure 2: The role of conflict resolution strategy Figure 3: Research framework of the thesis Figure 4: A culture comparisons of Vietnam and the Netherlands Figure 5: Research paper conceptual model Figure 6: Vietnamese managers‟ conflict management styles Figure 7: Dutch managers‟ conflict management styles Figure 8: The result of conflict resolution strategies OVERVIEW TC-STC, a Vietnamese-Dutch JV, was established in 2012 in Vietnam, is currently specializing in consulting and developing human resources in the industries of ports and logistics The company had not been able to obtain positive results until years ago, experiencing consecutive losses during the first years of operations The top management has been struggling to find ways to make the circumstances better Nonetheless, over time, differences or even conflicts among members of management board have occurred, which hindered the JV‟s from coming to important decisions Therefore, this paper tries to give TC-STC suggestions about how to manage the conflicts so as to enhance the operations of the JV Two primary goals of the thesis include (1) to examine and analyze the existing circumstances of TC-STC (2) to recommend a suitable conflict solving strategy for the J.V The research creates a conceptual model to examine the connection of variables: international J.V‟s operational performance, national culture, and conflict resolution strategy For the research methodology, a mix method approach was used to study the issues Secondary data were collected via desk research, website, and other internal sources Primary data were gathered through conflict management tests and qualitative interviews with the managers of the J.V as well as the managers of other international J Vs (Vietnamese partners with foreign partners) The data collecting was handled via qualitative content analysis as well as non-probability analysis to produce the outcomes The findings indicate that (1) the primary objectives and expectation of the J.V partners are not perfectly aligned Thus, the J.V Company has been operating under pressure from the two parties, resulting in lower-than-expected operational and business performance; (2) The Dutch managers tend to the confrontational conflict management styles whereas the Vietnamese counterparts prefer to use the non- confrontational one The dissimilarities in national culture also make it hard to create or reach a mutual commitment in TC-STC owing to the fact that perceptions of commitment of both parties are not the same (3) the Vietnamese and Dutch members of board of management of the J.V Company are still struggling to address the conflicts because of certain limitation on communication as well as the exchange of information, lack of trust and commitment, lack of consideration for partners‟ needs and concerns (4) a mixture of Problem-solving strategy and Compromising strategy can be used in order to address the conflicts in the Company amid the existing situation The recommendations to TC-STC is that the Company should adopt a combined conflict resolution strategy of Problem-solving strategy and Compromising strategy (although Legalistic strategy received a little bit higher score than Compromising strategy but all of the interviewees emphasized that it would be the last resort) in order to rectify the existing conflicts and to get ready for potential conflicts in the coming days First of all, so as to ensure a full achievement of this strategy, it is necessary for both partners to align the objectives and expectations to identify the gap between them, from which a plan for improvement can be made Both parties should be able to reach agreement on objectives in order to adopt a new way as to how the joint venture will work The two partners should commit themselves to the agreement Second of all, it is advisory for the management to set up short-term and long-term goals for the Company A strategic communication plan which also consists of the conflict resolution strategy will follow up so as to regularly update the work progress and exchange information Last of all, conducting inter-cultural training in order to avoid unworthy conflicts, misunderstanding and to identify trust or commitment signalling accurately should be executed by the J.V because it can result in greater trust and strong commitment between parties The proposed action plan which consists of are vital stages is expected to take place for a period of one year (from 01/01/2021 to 31/12/2021) Above all, this research partly contributes to the management of the J.V Company and the empirical researches on international joint ventures Key words: international joint ventures, international joint venture performance, cultural dimensions, national cultures, partner satisfaction, conflict management, conflict resolution/solving strategy then you have a more longer term business case and then because because I understand six and a half percent of course has nice but it's not what we're here for We're not a bank We really don't need money in the Bank we need that to go to young people and train Vietnamese people Mr Bos: also developing and platform whatever, train-the-trainer… can be investment Mr Quỳ: So just focus on our Core Business like education and training Yeah not go with the like the horizontal Direction In the other hand is a joint venture that SNP the state-owned companies, you know 50% of the state companies So when we something outside of our Core Business we have to explain, normally trouble Mr Frits: Could we have Mr Loc‟s any idea? Mr Lộc: I would love to invest in real estate It could be an office or classroom or crane Mr Quỳ: that I have to cast cash flow and also very fast earning Mr Frits: but with you classrooms or whatever then that could be Okay, but still there should be a business case but not just interesting to I think what we all saying is not buy an apartment or whatever Yeah, but something that the related to our business real estate for Education and Training Mr Bos: first thing is to explore the possibility CONFLICT MANAGEMENT TEST RESPONSES Summary Based on the technique of Thomas and Kilmann, we carried out the calculation by grouping the questions in accordance with the conflict management styles and sum up the numerical values of the answers Higher scores represent the interviewees are more favourable of such specific style Within a given style, 11 is the highest possible score and is the lowest Style Statement Competing 1, 9, 12 Accommodating 2, 7, 11 Compromising 3, 6, 15 Avoiding 4, 8, 14 Collaboration 5, 10, 13 DUTCH MANAGERS Part Participant Participant Participant Participant 27 (point) 24 27 18 96 16.58% Accommodating style 24 33 27 33 117 20.20% Compromising style 30 36 36 36 138 23.83% Avoiding style 15 24 24 21 84 14.50% Competing style Total Proportion Collaborating style 36 36 36 36 144 24,87% 204 30.9% Part Problem-solving strategy 15 12 12 48 15 12 12 12 51 15 12 12 12 51 15 12 15 12 54 S1 (Statement 1) S2 S3 S4 Compromising 177 strategy 12 12 42 12 12 12 12 48 9 12 39 12 12 12 12 48 S5 S6 S7 S8 26.81% Forcing strategy 96 9 30 12 12 42 6 6 24 14.54% S9 S10 S11 Legalistic strategy 183 12 12 12 12 48 12 12 12 12 48 12 12 12 45 12 12 42 S12 S13 S14 S15 27.72% VIETNAMESE MANAGERS Part Competing Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Total Proportion 18 21 18 15 30 102 14.52% 33 27 36 27 21 144 20.51 style Accommoda ting style Compromisi % 33 36 33 27 27 156 ng style Avoiding % 30 18 15 24 18 105 style Collaboratin 22.22 14.95 % 39 39 42 33 42 195 g style 27.77 % Part Problem- 246 solving strategy 12 12 15 12 57 12 12 12 15 15 66 S1 (Statement 1) S2 30.14% 12 12 15 15 63 12 12 15 12 60 S3 S4 Compromis 216 26.47% ing strategy 12 12 9 51 12 12 12 9 54 12 12 12 54 12 12 15 57 S5 S6 S7 S8 Forcing 129 15.8% strategy 12 9 45 12 9 12 48 9 36 S9 S10 S11 Legalistic 225 strategy 12 S12 12 15 12 60 27.57% 12 12 15 12 60 12 12 9 51 12 12 9 12 54 S13 S14 S15 APPENDIX 4: 14 COLLABORATION TOOLS FOR SMALL BUSINESS By Andreas Rivera, Writer - Updated: July 30, 2018 From in-person meetings to online video conferencing, technology has made communicating with employees and clients easier and more affordable than ever Whether you connect using software, a mobile app or social media, here are 14 collaboration tools to consider for your small business BlueJeans Everyone has their preferred way of attending online meetings BlueJeans cloudbased video communications gives attendees the flexibility of joining video conferences using a web browser, desktop app or mobile phone, all while making meetings more productive with a wide range of collaboration features that are available across platforms These include the ability to host meetings in conference rooms and town halls, share screens, and record meetings BlueJeans makes it easy to combine workflows For instance, you can schedule meetings with Outlook, chat with Skype, and integrate with popular business apps and services Users who don't have video- or audio-capable devices can phone in to join meetings BlueJeans starts at $12.49 per meeting host per month Windstream Enterprise OfficeSuite UC Are your employees always on the go? OfficeSuite UC is a cloud-based communications system that's fully accessible anytime, anywhere In addition to audio, web and video conferencing, OfficeSuite offers unlimited nationwide calling, toll-free phone service, digital faxing and the following mobility features: mobile twinning, which makes all incoming calls ring your desk and mobile phone simultaneously; hotdesking to enable incoming and outgoing calls from any phone; and virtual voicemail to receive notifications and messages from any phone, online or by email Contact Windstream Enterprise for pricing information Cisco WebEx Businesses that rely heavily on meetings need a full-featured communications software solution Cisco's WebEx offers HD video conferences with collaboration and file-sharing capabilities for all types of meetings, including presentations, sales demos, online training sessions, web-based events, staff meetings and remote tech support WebEx is fully accessible on mobile devices using the WebEx mobile app for iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry The basic version of WebEx is free, but it's limited to three people per meeting Premium versions start at $19 a month and include phone call-ins, application sharing, remote control and live 24/7 support ClickMeeting For businesses that host lots of webinars, ClickMeeting has dozens of tools to set up and run a smooth presentation You can plan out your webinar beforehand with your branding, slideshows and screen sharing You can make customized invitations and registration pages to get everyone you need into your webinar room During the presentation, you can add polls, Q&A chats and calls to action The webinar can be saved for later viewing as well ClickMeeting starts at $25 per month with 25 available attendees The Enterprise plan is $165 per month and can have up to 5,000 attendees and multiple presenters Fuze Meeting Do you need more flexibility in your meetings? Fuze Meeting is packed with capabilities that take online and live meetings to the next level In addition to offering HD audio and video conferencing, Fuze Meeting lets users present documents, multimedia, animations and other types of rich content Participants can access Fuze Meeting using any device, whether they are in the same room as the meeting, down the hall or across the country Users can easily schedule meetings directly from Microsoft Outlook or Google Calendar Fuze starts at 10 employees, and you can easily onboard more users Fuze offers a free 30-day trial Google Hangouts Meet Whether you need to make voice calls or video calls, or simply chat and send multimedia messages, Google Hangouts Meet makes all types of group collaboration super easy, regardless of your team members' locations and devices G Suite features an improved version of Hangouts that allows you to connect with participants from all over the world You can make voice calls straight from your computer (calls to the U.S and Canada are free) as well as hold video conferences and even livestream meetings and events You can keep a history of your Hangouts so you can always go back to old conversations for reference The Business edition allows you to connect with 25 participants, with the Enterprise version upgradable to 50 GoToMeeting If you need a basic, easy-to-use web conferencing solution, Citrix's free GoToMeeting can get you started immediately Just use its one-click meeting feature to quickly schedule meetings straight from Outlook or Google Calendar In addition to HD videoconferencing, GoToMeeting comes with dozens of useful tools to make your meetings more productive and interactive These include screen sharing, web audio, a dial-in conference line, drawing tools and the ability to record meetings GoToMeeting starts at $19 per month for up to 10 people If you need more participants and features, check out the Pro plan ($29 per month) for 50 attendees or the Plus plan ($49 per month) for up to 100 attendees A free 14-day trial is available Join.me This application is unique in that its video chat windows are circles instead of squares Join.me is set up for you to easily start casual voice chats with anyone in your business, no software required You can join video meetings and webinars from your web browser It also has an iOS app, VoIP and toll-free capabilities It features several integrations, including with scheduling programs such as Outlook and Google Calendar, and other applications such as Salesforce and Slack The Lite version starts at $9 per month for 25 meeting participants, which can be upgraded to the Business version for $30 per month billed annually Office 365 – Skype for Business, Yammer Businesses with Office 365 have access to two popular and reliable communication applications: Skype for Business and Yammer Skype is the quintessential video chat platform, and the Business edition comes with a plenty of features, including large group meetings with up to 250 people, collaboration tools and screen sharing You can use Skype for Business on any device and schedule meetings through Outlook The latest version adds HD video calling for up to 24 users on all devices New messaging features allows chat participants to send notifications via mentions You can share photos, videos and other files, which can be kept in a media gallery for you to refer to later Microsoft plans on adding more features, such as read receipts for messages and call recording With Yammer, businesses can create their own private social networks to unite employees and share internal information The platform looks a lot like Facebook and offers similar capabilities: profile pages, status updates, likes, comments, groups, private messages, chat and more Users can also upload photos, documents and other files 10 Slack Slack is a multipurpose platform for project management, instant messaging and video conferencing It allows you to create several channels for different teams and makes it easy to add new members to multiple channels From here, team members can instant message, share and store files with up to 20GB per member, and start video calls Slack has a free version for an unlimited number of users, with the paid version starting at $6.67 per month The paid versions keep an unlimited searchable history of past messages and let you host video meetings with up to 15 participants 11 TeamViewer 13 Remote support has come a long way from relaying issues over the phone TeamViewer 13 gives anyone complete access to desktops, applications and data so users can skip explaining problems and reduce miscommunication Available 24/7, this program does not require any installation on the client's part In addition to remote support, TeamViewer provides an online collaboration platform for holding meetings, presentations and training sessions called Blizz TeamViewer 13 starts at $49 per month, and Blizz starts at $72 per year 12 Unified Meeting Collaborating should be easy Unified Meeting 5, created by conferencing solutions provider West, is an all-in-one audio, video and web conferencing platform that makes creating and joining meetings a piece of cake It provides simplified scheduling tools, offers streamlined audio call management and seamlessly integrates with popular business tools Attendees join meetings by clicking on a link from a meeting invitation They can this on their desktop computer, smartphone or tablet, no matter where they are located Unified Meeting also operates on the same network as West's enterprise customers, giving small business owners access to the same reliable connection without the enterprise price tag.\ 13 Zoho Meeting There's more to web conferencing than staff meetings Zoho Meeting offers a comprehensive online meeting solution that lets businesses hold live meetings to share product demonstrations with prospects, provide remote client support and more Users simply sign in with their Google, Facebook or Yahoo accounts; via Google Apps; or by entering a meeting session ID from any Windows, Mac or Linux device You can also embed meetings on webpages, blogs and wikis for easy access Zoho Meetings starts at $12 per month ($10 when paid annually) for five participants, with four other pricing plans for more participants 14 Zoom Zoom is an enterprise-level, all-in-one collaboration tool with a small business price tag It offers video and web conferencing solutions as well as cross-platform instant messaging and file-sharing features Zoom lets users hold all types of online meetings, such as one-on-one video conferences, town hall meetings, training, webinars and marketing events The service can be used on desktops, mobile devices, and your company's video and conference room systems A developer platform is available to integrate Zoom features – such as video, voice and screen sharing – with apps your business already uses Zoom offers a free, basic plan that comes with one-to-one meetings and group meetings for up to 100 participants Paid, unlimited plans start at $14.99 per month per host and come with admin tools, customization options and additional integrations APPENDIX 5: LOCAL INTERCULTURAL TRAINING AND CONSULTING FIRMS Trường Doanh nhân PTI Trường đào tạo doanh nhân PTI thành viên thuộc Tổ Chức Giáo Dục chất lượng cao PTI, trường đào tạo doanh nhân hàng đầu Việt Nam.Trường đào tạo doanh nhân PTI tổ chức & cung cấp chương trình đào tạo chuyên nghiệp nhằm nâng cao & phát triển chuyên môn & lực điều hành quản lý dành cho doanh nhân Với kinh nghiệm đào tạo kiến thức chuyên môn sâu đội ngũ giảng huấn & chuyên gia hàng đầu nước & quốc tế kết hợp với lực tổ chức dịch vụ giáo dục chuyên nghiệp mình, PTI cung cấp chương trình đào tạo mang tính thực tiễn cao phù hợp với phát triển xã hội Sự khác biệt PTI tạo môi trường học tập có lực vượt trội so với tất trường đào tạo khác-nơi chủ yếu cung cấp khóa đào tạo ngắn hạn mang nặng tính nghiên cứu & học thuật, không đáp ứng nhu cầu thực tế học viên Website: https://pti.edu.vn Trường Doanh Nhân PACE Trường Doanh Nhân PACE (gọi tắt “Trường PACE”) “học viện quản lý” Việt Nam có uy tín quốc tế, ngơi trường đặc biệt doanh giới Việt Nam, nơi chia sẻ lan tỏa “Tinh thần mới, người cho kinh thương mới” Bên cạnh đó, với mong muốn giúp "người Việt Nam trở thành chuyên gia đẳng cấp quốc tế" chuyên ngành quản trị như: Nhân sự, Marketing, Tài chính, Kế tốn, Dự án Nhà Trường phối hợp với đối tác uy tín giới để đào tạo hướng dẫn học viên đạt "Chứng Năng lực Nghề nghiệp" công nhận phạm vi quốc tế lĩnh vực Website: https://www.pace.edu.vn/ Trường doanh nhân HBR - HBR Business School Nắm bắt xu thời đại, Trường doanh nhân HBR đời với sứ mệnh cầu nối truyền cảm hứng mang hội học tập từ chuyên gia tiếng nước quốc tế, cập nhật liên tục kiến thức lãnh đạo quản trị từ trường đại học hàng đầu giới Wharton, Harvard, MIT Sloan, INSEAD, NUS, SMU… Website: https://hbr.edu.vn/ Trường Doanh nhân CEO Việt Nam Trường Doanh nhân CEO Việt Nam trường đào tạo doanh nhân cho học sinh tốt nghiệp THPT Trên sở lấy tảng chương trình đào tạo thực tiễn, phối hợp hệ thống giáo dục quốc gia Trường Doanh nhân CEO Việt Nam đơn vị thành viên thuộc Tập đoàn CEO Việt Nam Hiện hoạt động 12 lĩnh vực: CEO Education, CEO Academy, CEO Software, CEO Travel, CEO Language, CEO Light, CEO Marketing, CEO Media, CEO Resources, CEO Hotel, CEO Master, CEO Land Website:https://truongdoanhnhanceovietnam.edu.vn/ Trung Tâm Đào Tạo Doanh Nhân PMT Với sứ mệnh nâng tầm doanh nhân sánh ngang với doanh nghiệp khu vực giới Với nhận thức với kinh nghiệm 15 năm làm công tác Tư vấn đào tạo cho doanh nghiệp vào ngày 01/07/2015 Trung tâm đào tạo doanh nhân PMT, tên viết tắc PMT thành lập PMT đơn vị chuyên hoạt động lĩnh vực cung cấp dịch vụ Tư vấn, Đào tạo Huấn luyện cho doanh nghiệp Website: http://www.pmt.edu.vn/ (Trích nguồn: https://toplist.vn/top-list/truong-dao-tao-doanh-nhan-chuyen-nghiepnhat-o-viet-nam-33051.htm) ... topic ? ?Application of conflict solving strategies to enhancing the performance of TC- STC, a Holland- Vietnam joint- venture company” is chosen to conduct the thesis 1.1.2 Corporate background TC- STC...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY TRUONG TAN LOC APPLICATION OF CONFLICT SOLVING STRATEGIES TO ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF TC- STC, A HOLLAND- VIETNAM JOINT- VENTURE. .. STRATEGIES TO ENHANCING THE PERFORMANCE OF TC- STC, A HOLLAND- VIETNAM JOINT- VENTURE COMPANY” under the supervision and guidance of Assoc Prof – PhD Bui Thanh Trang All references in this Thesis are