Culture and Environment in Vietnam (Term Paper Sample)

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Culture and Environment in Vietnam
Vietnam occupies the eastern coast of Southeast Asia. Environmental factors such as political stability, technology and economic stability, support investments in Vietnam. Vietnam offers a favourable environment for firms to establish themselves. The country has a solid economic growth, political stability and a healthy competition, which support business in the region (Pecotich, A. 2006, 102). The state’s geographical position also assists in efficient transportation and trade among international trade centres. Favourable climate allows healthy growth of crops, which would support the juice making company. Sectors that assist investment significantly include ICT, education and infrastructure. These factors offer a supportive environment for healthy businesses (Harisson, A. 2010, 660).
Besides environmental factors, a report on cultural elements also affects investment. Vietnamese people speak three languages based on the three Vietnamese communities; the Northern, Central and Southern. However, the country has made the effort of training people to speak in English, which enables easy communication between the country and foreign investment countries. There are a number of religious practices in the country which include Buddhism, Catholicism, Taoism and Confucianism (Cadiere, L. 1989, 98). Despite the diverse religions, they all assist in enhancing the behavioural aspects of the community. They provide a set of cultural values, which people implement in order to ensure respect for one another is maintained. Additionally, no religion bans the drinking of juice hence the organization is at an advantage. Based on social interactions, government controlled media and socialist cultural influences have greatly affected the social aspect of the nation. The government and the society shun adoption of foreign cultures, which may affect foreign investment based on cultural relations (Mcleod, M. 2001, 87). The society tends to live a spiritual life more than a material one. Their basic culture and religion enhances the spiritual life in the community and criticizes materialism.
The Vietnamese value system establishes itself on four basic aspects: yearning for a good name, respect for other people, love for education and allegiance to the family. These stand as strong values, which assist in business such as dignity and love for education. In Hofstede’s classification scheme, PDI in Vietnam does not affect business as Vietnamese are less powerful compared to Australia. Vietnam poses low individualism, that is, people feel less independent. In Masculinity dimensions, Vietnam possesses a high value of masculinity that aids in labour providence in the nation. Vietnam holds a low Uncertainty Avoidance Index, which means that the country plans less on avoiding uncertainties in the future economy. Finally, based on long and short term goals persistence, Vietnam holds a higher preference for long term goals. Due to cases of high inflation and low GDP, consumers have lost confidence (Yutaka, K. 2011, 23). These two factors have led to selective buying where people choose to buy what is necessary and spend less on luxuries. The Vietnamese culture advocates for healthy eating (Esterik, P.2008, 5). Food consumption levels are high in the country. Most men love drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. Additionally, recent generations have adopted western culture of eating, dressing and music. Current generations are deeply influenced by western culture (Rollins, P. 1991, 200). In Vietnam, business runs the same as other companies. Limited liability companies, joint stock companies and Partnerships are the main forms of business in the country.
By understanding the country’s business, social and consumption culture, it is easy to market the products and know which market section to target. Market mixing strategies involve four aspects, product, promotion, place and price. Based on pricing, most people in Vietnam live a middle class life hence pricing should be fair in order to ensure people can afford it. With the presense of technology, product promotion is easier to implement. Based on its geographical position, Vietnam allows effieci...