1. DOING BUSINESS IN AN
INTERCULTURAL ENVIRONMENT
Trần Trí Dũng * tran@jeaustin.com
Ha Noi * 27 July 2023

3. WHY INTER-
CULTURE
MATTERS?
To create in a meaningful way

4. REACT <> CREATE
• Emotional hijacking
• Feel first, think second
• Criticize the action, not the person

5. Homo Sapiens is not the strongest, not
the most intelligent but the most adaptive
species
Receiving more information does not
make Homo Sapiens more intelligent:
“The collective wisdom of individual
ignorance” (Confirmation bias)
Lifelong learning is a must in a VUCA
world.

6. WHAT DO WE KNOW
ABOUT INTER-CULTURE?
o Tell your stories
o Culture is the beliefs, values, mindsets, and practices of a group
of people. It includes the behavior pattern and norms of that
group—the rules, the assumptions, the perceptions, and the
logic and reasoning that are specific to a group.
o Values are a culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in society. Values are
deeply embedded and critical for transmitting and teaching a culture’s beliefs. Beliefs are the
tenets or convictions that people hold to be true. Individuals in a society have specific beliefs,
but they also share collective values.
o An intercultural environment is where members of different
cultures interact and live together.
o Culture is not civilization
NOW & HERE or NOWHERE

7. A culture of transportation

8. Confucianism in Viet Nam
• Hierarchy
 Social Ranking: “Sĩ – Nông – Công – Thương”
 Gentry scholar/Intellectual Official – Farmers – Craftsman –
Trader/Businessman
 Simplified Chinese: 士农工商; traditional Chinese: 士農工
商; pinyin: Shì nóng gōng shāng
• Face-saving
• Relation-based business
• The hidden entrepreneur’s aspiration to become non-entrepreneur
Confucius (551BC – 479BC)

9. Berry’s Model of Acculturation

10. Quan Hoang Vuong and Nancy K. Napier (2015) Acculturation and Global Mindsponge: An Emerging
Market Perspective. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, (Special Issue)

11. Are you ready for being
in an intercultural
environment?
• Is Seeing Believing?

12. Universal Law
of Attraction
You don’t see it. You
don’t understand it. That
does not mean it is non-
existence.

13. Who is a good person?
Faith in G-d. “Your G-d is true G-d.”
Humbleness
Integrity/Honesty
Hard-working
Kindness
Gratitude
Righteousness

14. Tzedakah: Acts of Righteousness
1. Giving grudgingly, reluctantly, or with regret.
2. Giving less than one should, but pleasantly.
3. Giving what one should, but only on request.
4. Giving before one is asked.
5. Giving without knowing the recipient, although the recipient knows
who you are.
6. Giving without making known that you are the giver.
7. Giving when neither you nor the recipient know each other’s identities.
8. Helping someone become self-supporting through a gift, loan, or
employment. Sir Moses Montefiore: “We are worth what
we are willing to share with others.”

15. 1. “Do not do to others what you don’t want
to be done to you,” Confucius.
2. Avoid doing little bad things. Try doing
little good things.
3. Never hinder others’ development.

16. WHAT SHOULD WE DO NEXT?