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Mike Berrell: Monash University, Australia
Phil Wright: Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, and
Tran Thi Van Hoa: National Economics University, Vietnam
Introduction
Traditional explanations of management behaviour have included understandings about the influence of values, norms, roles, regulations and activity within organisations. Since the 1980s, however, management research has indicated that culture profoundly influences all aspects of management behaviour (Adler, 1997; Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1987, 1992; Mead, 1994). Nevertheless, the influence of culture operates at such an embedded level, that most people are unaware of cultural influences either on their own management behaviour, or on the behaviour of others (Hall, 1976; Triandis, 1983). It is possible, therefore, that various cultural groups might approach similar management tasks in quite different ways.
The Vietnamese economy is particularly susceptible to management problems resulting from the influence of culture. Currently, 55 foreign countries have investments in Vietnam totalling $US 31,729 million in 1,795 Government-approved projects (Vietnam Investment Review, 20-26 April 1998). Most of these companies are joint ventures (JVs). Therefore, they can employ people from several cultures in management positions. For example, Hanoi Towers Center Co. Ltd has five cultures represented in its senior management structure, while UNILEVER-Hanoi Soap Co. Ltd employs senior managers from eight different countries. In addition, Vietnam is an economy in transition in which "Western" approaches to management compete with more traditional understandings of the role of the manager.
This paper identifies cultural influences on management and discusses international management using examples drawn from a sample of the 49 Australian-Vietnamese projects located mainly in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, and predominantly in the international manufacturing and distribution sectors. While these two cultures approached management tasks from different perspectives, this paper will not imply that one is better than the other. Rather, we argue that there are different ways of getting work done. Thus, when managers understand and appreciate the motivations of the others, there is more likelihood that stakeholders can accommodate differences to the benefit of the company.
Methodology
Following Burns (1994, pp. 277-92), unstructured interviews were conducted at opportune times in the three-month period in 1998 with Australian (n = 10) and Vietnamese managers (n = 26) working either in Australian companies, or in companies that employed Australian staff in management positions....