FINNISH AND VIETNAMESE TEAMS : How to Improve International Teamwork and Management Practices Through Cooperation
Nguyen, Thu; Tran, Ngoc (2013)
Nguyen, Thu
Tran, Ngoc
Jyväskylän ammattikorkeakoulu
2013
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201303203477
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201303203477
Tiivistelmä
This research focuses on interaction and cooperation between Vietnamese and Finnish individuals
and teams through lenses of cultural theory, including values orientations, intercultural
communication and cross-cultural business behaviors. Additional perspective is generated through
theories pertaining to teamwork theory and practices. The researchers set out to discover and report
on cooperation challenges faced by Vietnamese and Finnish individuals and teams, and to develop
ideas for future cooperation between people from these two nations.
The research employed a mixed-methods approach in which desk research helped to inform the
creation of a survey that included both closed and open-ended questions. The survey was conducted
with Vietnamese and Finnish students (N=98) in fifteen Finnish universities of applied sciences, with
the purpose of exploring intercultural interactions between individuals representing the two
nationalities. Additional data were gathered from interviews conducted face-to-face and through
electronic means between other Finnish and Vietnamese individuals.
The research illuminated many differences in cultural characteristics and teamwork styles between
Finnish and Vietnamese people. These differences have the potential for creating barriers, but
perhaps more importantly, these differences clearly can also become advantages in the workplace
depending on the intercultural awareness, competence and reflexivity toward new ideas and
perspectives of the involved individuals. The researchers concluded that individuals and teams, both
Finnish and Vietnamese, should pursue a course of attaining a broader and deeper understanding of
the other culture with the goal of focusing on improving cooperative interaction between individuals.
The researchers provide concrete ideas and approaches to achieve collaborative success, and the
future of Vietnamese-Finnish teamwork shows much promise for future cooperation.
and teams through lenses of cultural theory, including values orientations, intercultural
communication and cross-cultural business behaviors. Additional perspective is generated through
theories pertaining to teamwork theory and practices. The researchers set out to discover and report
on cooperation challenges faced by Vietnamese and Finnish individuals and teams, and to develop
ideas for future cooperation between people from these two nations.
The research employed a mixed-methods approach in which desk research helped to inform the
creation of a survey that included both closed and open-ended questions. The survey was conducted
with Vietnamese and Finnish students (N=98) in fifteen Finnish universities of applied sciences, with
the purpose of exploring intercultural interactions between individuals representing the two
nationalities. Additional data were gathered from interviews conducted face-to-face and through
electronic means between other Finnish and Vietnamese individuals.
The research illuminated many differences in cultural characteristics and teamwork styles between
Finnish and Vietnamese people. These differences have the potential for creating barriers, but
perhaps more importantly, these differences clearly can also become advantages in the workplace
depending on the intercultural awareness, competence and reflexivity toward new ideas and
perspectives of the involved individuals. The researchers concluded that individuals and teams, both
Finnish and Vietnamese, should pursue a course of attaining a broader and deeper understanding of
the other culture with the goal of focusing on improving cooperative interaction between individuals.
The researchers provide concrete ideas and approaches to achieve collaborative success, and the
future of Vietnamese-Finnish teamwork shows much promise for future cooperation.