Abstract

Vietnam has joined the globalization trend to make itself an inviting market for foreign investment. However, working with foreigners and expanding business abroad can be a risky venture. The diversity among business cultures frequently leads to confusion, misunderstandings, and failures in cross-cultural endeavors. There is hence a need to study business negotiation in a cross-cultural setting. Among the investing countries, America has always been on top of the list, with a strong strategic partnership for years and billions of U.S. dollars in registered invested capital. Many studies have been conducted to understand this important partner, yet none of them so far have addressed nonverbal communication during negotiations between Vietnamese and American businesses. This paper examines through reviewing related studies on the proxemics within a traditional Vietnamese company, specifically the choice of negotiation site (e.g. location) and the room arrangement of that site to see how American people perceive them and how they affect the negotiation process.