Thesis Format Guidelines

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Vietnam National University - Hochiminh City International University

School of Business

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS FORMAT GUIDELINES

I – GENERAL DOCUMENT GUIDELINES

Paper: The thesis must be printed on good quality white paper on one side of the paper

only.

Length: Maximum length is 75 pages, which only includes the main text and excludes

the endnotes, appendices, and list of references. There is no minimum number of pages.

The student might not be additionally credited for more than 75 pages. The thesis will be

evaluated based on the quality instead of length.

Margins: Left Margin - 1 ½ inches Top Margin - 1 ½ inches

Right Margin - 1 inch Bottom Margin - 1 ½ inches

Font Size and Type: 12 – point Times New Roman font.

Line Spacing: Documents should be 1.5 line spacing throughout, with the exception of

the table of contents, bibliography, and quotations of more than four lines or two or more

sentences. The thesis must be printed on one side of the paper.

Paragraph Indentions: 0.75"

Order of Material: Title Page, Signature Page, Acknowledgments, Table of Contents,

List of Tables, List of Figures, Abstract, the Text of the Thesis, List of References,

Appendix. (See attached sample pages.)

Numbering of Pages: Page numbers must be centered two lines below the bottom

margin. There is no heading to the left or right of the page number. The placement of

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page numbers must be consistent throughout the thesis. Pages should be numbered

sequentially throughout the chapter. Preliminary pages are numbered as follows:

• The title page is counted as page i (assumed, do not print number)

• The signature page is counted as page ii (assumed, do not print number)

• The acknowledgment page is counted as page iii (assumed do not print number)

• The remaining preliminary pages are numbered with lower case Roman numerals

(iv, v, vi, etc).

• The main body of the text and the reference section are consecutively numbered

with Arabic numerals beginning page “1” and continuing throughout, including

text, illustrative materials, list of references, and appendices.

II – PRELIMINARY PAGES:

The preliminary pages include the title and signature pages,

acknowledgements, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures and abstract. There are

no page numbers for the title page, signature page and acknowledgements page but they

are assumed to be page i, ii and iii. The Table of Contents page will be numbered with

lower case Roman numerals and considered to be page iv.

Title page: (see attached sample)

1. Name of the International University and the School: Upper case, Times New

Roman 12 – point font, Centered.

2. Logo of International University

3. Title of Thesis: Upper case, Bold, Times New Roman 20 – point font,

Centered.

4. Statement of presentation in the form: “In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements of the Degree of BACHELOR OF ARTS in

_________________”; Times New Roman 14 – point font, Centered.

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5. Student’s Name and ID: Upper case, Bold, Times New Roman 14 – point

font, Centered.

6. Advisor’s name and Degree: Upper case, Bold, Times New Roman 14 – point

font, Centered.

7. Location: Lower case, Times New Roman 14 – point font, Centered.

8. Year of thesis submission

Signature Page: (see attached sample)

1. Title of Thesis: Upper case, Bold, Times New Roman 20 – point font,

Centered.

2. Names of Committee members: the committee members’ name must be typed

under the signature lines.

3. Original Signatures in the final copy are required (if submitting electronically,

the signature page is left unsigned)

Acknowledgments (see attached sample): This page is to thank those who have helped

in the process of obtaining the degree. Permission to quote copyrighted material is listed

here, as well as acknowledgments for grants and special funding. This should occupy a

single page and be 1.5 – spaced

Table of Contents: Follow the format of the abbreviated sample included in these

instructions. For clarity, use 12 – point font. All chapter titles, headings and subheadings

should appear in the Table of Contents. Font style of items listed within the Table of

Contents should be the same as the font used within the text (e.g. headings listed within

the Table of Contents are in the same font style as in the body of the thesis).

List of Tables and List of Figures: The list of tables/figures must conform to the

examples provided and include all tables or figures (i.e. illustrations, photographs, pie/bar

charts, and maps) within the body of the thesis listed by table/figure number and title.

Abstract: The thesis must contain an abstract. An abstract is a concise account of the

thesis or dissertation and should state the problem, describe the procedure or method

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used, and summarize the conclusions reached. Paragraphs are formatted with the same

layout used in the document. This should occupy a single page and be 1.5 – spaced.

III – BODY OF THE THESIS:

Page numbering: The body of the thesis and appendices are numbered in Arabic

numerals starting with 1 and continuing until the last page of the thesis.

Headings of Major Divisions: The first line of the first chapter will be "CHAPTER I".

Three lines below this appears the title of the chapter in capital letters, centered. Use an

inverted pyramid and 1.5 line spacing succeeding lines of the title if it is longer than one

line. Three lines below the chapter title, place the first line of text. Succeeding chapters,

"CHAPTER II", etc., should follow this same format. Do not use terminal punctuation on

any chapter headings. Each chapter should begin on a new page.

Headings of Subdivisions: The subdivision within a chapter or section does not begin on

a new page unless the preceding page is filled. If there is not room for the complete

heading and at least two lines of text at the bottom of a page, the new subdivision should

begin on the next page. All chapter titles and headings should follow the following

example.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

You would indent and start writing the text here.

1. 1 First level heading: Lower case, Bold, 12 point.

You would indent and start writing the text here

1.1.1 Second level heading: Lower case, Bold, Italic, 12 point. You would

start writing the text here after the period and keep wrapping around underneath the

subheading like this.

1.1.1.1. Third level heading: Lower case, Italic, 12 point. You would start writing

the text here after the period and keep wrapping around underneath the subheading like

this.

IV – TABLES:

Tables should be numbered consecutively throughout the thesis (i.e. Table 1,

Table 2, Table 3, etc.). The table number should be followed by a brief, descriptive title.

The table caption should appear directly above the table. If not an original table, the

source of the table should be placed below the table. Tables may be placed on the page in

portrait or landscape orientation and may appear on a single page or in – line with the text

depending on the size of the table. Margin width and page number placement should be

consistent with the rest of the text.

Below is an example (extracted from Le and O’Brien, 2010):

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Mean St. Dev (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

(1) Performance -0.028 0.58(2) Assets 9.220 0.42 0.13(3) Employees 7.304 1.32 0.10 0.52(4) Leverage 0.489 0.19 -0.29 0.17 0.07(5) Expenses 0.068 0.33 -0.04 -0.05 -0.04 0.02(6) State Ownership 0.350 0.26 0.08 0.19 0.17 -0.08 -0.06(7) Foreign Ownership 0.040 0.11 0.00 0.20 0.11 0.00 0.00 -0.07(8) Exec. Ownership 0.000 0.01 0.01 0.05 0.04 -0.02 0.00 0.00 -0.01(9) Employee Ownership 0.002 0.02 0.00 -0.01 -0.01 -0.03 -0.01 -0.03 -0.04 0.05

(10) Individual Ownership 0.385 0.15 -0.03 -0.12 -0.07 0.04 0.02 -0.37 -0.42 -0.04 -0.01(11) Indus. Performance 0.054 0.02 0.08 0.13 0.15 -0.11 -0.04 0.17 0.02 0.00 0.02 -0.14(12) Industry Volatility 0.096 0.02 -0.06 -0.01 0.00 0.08 0.03 -0.10 0.00 0.01 -0.05 0.11 -0.31

All correlations with an absolute value greater than 0.03 are significant at p<0.05.

Variable

Table 3 Descriptive Statistics

V – FIGURES:

A figure is any graphic illustration, map photograph or chart. Figures must be

numbered in consecutive numbering throughout the thesis (i.e. Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure

3, etc.). The figure number should be followed by a brief, descriptive title or caption. The

figure caption should appear directly below the figure. If not an original figure, the

source of the figure should appear below the figure, after the figure caption. Figures may

be placed on the page in portrait or landscape orientation and may appear on a single

page or in – line with the text depending on the size of the figure. Margin width and page

number placement should be consistent with the rest of the text. Below is an example:

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-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0 20 40 60 80

State Ownership (%)

Pre

dict

ed

Per

form

ance

Low Leverage

High Leverage

Mean Leverage

Figure 1: Predicted Performance (Source: Le and O’Brien, 2010)

VI – CITATIONS IN THE TEXT:

Source material must be documented in the body of the paper by citing the

author(s) and date(s) of the sources. The principle is that ideas and words of others must

be formally acknowledged. Readers can access the source citation from the list of

references.

� When the names of the authors of a source are part of the formal structure of the

sentence, only the year of publication appears in parentheses following the names of the

authors. [Note: and is used when multiple authors are mentioned in the sentence]. For

example:

Xu and Wang (1999) found that there was a positive and significant correlation between

ownership concentration and profitability.

� When the authors of a source are not part of the formal structure of the sentence, both

the authors and year of publication appear in parentheses. [Note: & is used when multiple

authors are identified in parenthetical material. In addition, when several sources are cited

in parentheses, they are ordered alphabetically by first authors' surnames and separated

by semicolons.] For example:

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Transitional nations around the world are transforming their economies towards market-

based systems, including the privatization of public sector firms (Brada, 1996; Djankov

& Murrell, 2002; Frydman, Gray, Hessel & Rapaczynski, 1999; Megginson & Netter,

2001).

- When a source is of two authors, both authors are cited every time.

- When a source having three, four, or five authors is cited, all authors are included

the first time the source is cited. When that source is cited again, the first author's

surname and "et al." are used. For example:

Transitional nations around the world are transforming their economies towards market-

based systems, including the privatization of public sector firms (Frydman, Gray, Hessel,

& Rapaczynski, 1999).

Frydman et al. (1999) argued that transitional nations around the world are transforming

their economies towards market-based systems, including the privatization of public

sector firms.

- When a source that has six or more authors is cited, the first author's surname and

"et al." are used every time the source is cited (including the first time).

� Citing personal communication (including letters, emails, and telephone interviews):

Include initials, surname, and exact date for the communication. Personal communication

does not have to be included in the References. For the text citation, use the following

format:

Y. N. Bui confirmed that Munsterlander dogs have wonderful dispositions (personal

communication, March 9, 2008) or,

Munsterlander dogs have wonderful dispositions (Y. N. Bui, personal communication,

March 9, 2008).

� Citing a Web sites and Web pages: Here are examples of citing web addresses in the

text

There is information on APA style on their Web site (http://www.apastyle.org).

Citation of Web sites shall not be included in the References.

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� Direct quotes: If a direct quote is cited, the words must be put in quotation marks. The

author’s last name, year of publication, and page number of the quote are put in

parentheses at the end of the quote. Consider the following example:

“When referring to a particular style such as APA, publishers are focusing on the

editorial style in addition to the writing style.” (Bui, 2009, p. 210)

VII – REFERENCES

Be sure that if a work is cited in the text, it must be in the references and vice

versa.

The references must be listed in alphabetical order by the first name of the

author, name of the group. In case there is no author, the title of the work will be listed.

Single spacing is used within references but double spacing is used between references.

With regard to the format of the references, using a hanging indent i.e. the

first line of the reference is flushed all the way to the left margin and the rest of the

reference are indented one half inch. First and middle name (if given) of the author(s) are

listed in initials only. Year of publication is in parentheses, followed by a period and title

of the work is written using sentence capitalization. The periodical title is run in title

case, and is followed by the volume number which, with the title, is also italicized or

underlined. The above rules for listing references of journal articles, book, book chapter

and electronic sources are presented with examples as follows:

1. Articles in Periodicals

Basic Form

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical,

volume number (issue number), pages.

Article in Journal Paginated by Volume

Journals that are paginated by volume begin with page one in issue one, and continue

numbering issue two where issue one ended, etc.

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Brada, J. C. (1996). Privatization is transition – or is it? Journal of Economics

Perspective, 10, 67-86.

Article in Journal Paginated by Issue

Journals paginated by issue begin with page one every issue; therefore, the issue number

gets indicated in parentheses after the volume. The parentheses and issue number are not

italicized or underlined.

Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: managerial behavior,

agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4): 305-360.

Article in a Magazine

Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.

Article in a Newspaper

Unlike other periodicals, p. or pp. precedes page numbers for a newspaper reference in

APA style. Single pages take p., e.g., p. B2; multiple pages take pp., e.g., pp. B2, B4 or

pp. C1, C3-C4.

Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to strengthen state energy policies. The

Country Today, pp. 1A, 2A.

Letter to the Editor

Moller, G. (2002, August). Ripples versus rumbles [Letter to the editor]. Scientific

American, 287(2), 12.

Review

Baumeister, R. F. (1993). Exposing the self-knowledge myth [Review of the book The

self-knower: A hero under control, by R. A. Wicklund & M. Eckert]. Contemporary

Psychology, 38, 466-467.

2. Books

Basic Format for Books

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle.

Location: Publisher.

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Note: For "Location," you should always list the city and the state using the two letter

postal abbreviation without periods (New York, NY).

Nolan, P. (2001). China and the global business revolution. New York, NY: Palgrave

Macmillan.

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal

publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Edited Book, No Author

Duncan, G. J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.). (1997). Consequences of growing up poor.

New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Edited Book with an Author or Authors

Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals K.V. Kukil, (Ed.). New York, NY: Anchor.

A Translation

Laplace, P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities. (F. W. Truscott & F. L.

Emory, Trans.). New York, NY: Dover. (Original work published 1814).

Note: When you cite a republished work, like the one above, in your text, it should

appear with both dates: Laplace (1814/1951).

Edition other than the First

Helfer, M. E., Kempe, R. S., & Krugman, R. D. (1997). The battered child (5th ed.).

Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Article or Chapter in an Edited Book

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B.

Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.

Grossman, S. and Hart, O. (1982). Corporate Financial Structure and Managerial

Incentives. In J. J. McCall (ed.), The Economics of Information and Uncertainty

(123-155). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

3. Other Print Sources

An Entry in an Encyclopedia

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Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopedia britannica (Vol. 26, pp.

501-508). Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica.

Dissertation Abstract

Yoshida, Y. (2001). Essays in urban transportation. Dissertation Abstracts International,

62, 7741A.

Dissertation, Published

Lastname, F. N. (Year). Title of dissertation. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from

Name of database. (Accession or Order Number)

Dissertation, Unpublished

Lastname, F. N. (Year). Title of dissertation. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Name

of Institution, Location.

Government Document

National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness

(DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government

Printing Office.

Report from a Private Organization

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Practice guidelines for the treatment of

patients with eating disorders (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Conference Proceedings

Schnase, J. L., & Cunnius, E. L. (Eds.). (1995). Proceedings from CSCL '95: The First

International Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning.

Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

4. Electronic Sources (Web Publications)

Article from an Online Periodical

Online articles follow the same guidelines for printed articles. Include all information the

online host makes available, including an issue number in parentheses.

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Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Online

Periodical, volume number (issue number if available). Retrieved from

http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart: For People Who

Make Websites, 149. Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving

Online Scholarly Journal Article: Citing DOIs

Because online materials can potentially change URLs, APA recommends providing a

Digital Object Identifier (DOI), when it is available, as opposed to the URL. DOIs are an

attempt to provide stable, long-lasting links for online articles. They are unique to their

documents and consist of a long alphanumeric code. Many-but not all-publishers will

provide an article's DOI on the first page of the document.

Article from an Online Periodical with DOI Assigned

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal,

volume number, page range. doi:0000000/000000000000

Brownlie, D. (2007). Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography.

European Journal of Marketing, 41(11/12), 1245-1283.

doi:10.1108/03090560710821161

Article from an Online Periodical with no DOI Assigned

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal,

volume number. Retrieved from http://www.journalhomepage.com/full/url/

Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of

Buddhist Ethics, 8. Retrieved from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

Abstract

If you only cite an abstract but the full text of the article is also available, cite the online

abstract as other online citations, adding "[Abstract]" after the article or source name.

Paterson, P. (2008). How well do young offenders with Asperger Syndrome cope in

custody?: Two prison case studies [Abstract]. British Journal of Learning

Disabilities, 36(1), 54-58.

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Bossong, G. Ergativity in Basque. Linguistics, 22(3), 341-392.

Newspaper Article

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from

http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to drug industry. The New

York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Electronic Books

Electronic books may include books found on personal websites, databases, or even in

audio form. Use the following format if the book you are using is only provided in a

digital format or is difficult to find in print. If the work is not directly available online or

must be purchased, use "Available from," rather than "Retrieved from," and point readers

to where they can find it. For books available in print form and electronic form, include

the publish date in parentheses after the author's name.

De Huff, E. W. (n.d.). Taytay’s tales: Traditional Pueblo Indian tales. Retrieved from

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/dehuff/taytay/taytay.html

Davis, J. (n.d.). Familiar birdsongs of the Northwest. Available from

http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-9780931686108-0

Chapter/Section of a Web document or Online Book Chapter

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. In Title of book or

larger document (chapter or section number). Retrieved from

http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Engelshcall, R. S. (1997). Module mod rewrite: URL Rewriting Engine. In Apache HTTP

Server Version 1.3 Documentation (Apache modules). Retrieved from

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_rewrite.html

Peckinpaugh, J. (2003). Change in the Nineties. In J. S. Bough and G. B. DuBois (Eds.),

A century of growth in America. Retrieved from GoldStar database.

Dissertation/Thesis from a Database

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Biswas, S. (2008). Dopamine D3 receptor: A neuroprotective treatment target in

Parkinson's disease. Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (AAT

3295214)

VIII – APPENDICES:

Appendices may include data tables, source codes, analytical procedures,

survey forms, or any other supplementary material provided by supervisory committee.

Each Appendix begins on a separate page. Each Appendix is labeled by ascending letters

(e.g. A, B, C, etc.) and title. Pages should be numbered in sequence with the rest of the

thesis. Same margins should be maintained as used in the body of the text.

IX – ELECTRONIC FORMATS:

Students must submit their thesis in electronic format after the oral defense.

The final version of your thesis should be converted to a PDF document. Once this is

complete, give one copy of the document to the school on a CD/DVD – ROM in hard

case labeled with student’s name, ID, thesis title, location and year of submission.

This guideline is prepared based on the following works: Bui, Y.N. (2009). How to write a Master’s thesis. California, CA: Sage

Le, T. and O’Brien, J. (2010). Can two wrongs make a right? State ownership and debt in

a transition economy” Journal of Management Studies. 47(7): 1297-1315.

And the following weblinks:

https://confluence.delhi.edu/display/NUR/APA+Checklist,+6th+Edition http://psychology.vanguard.edu/faculty/douglas-degelman/apa-style/ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/08/ http://library.nmu.edu/guides/userguides/style_apa.htm http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm

(This is a sample of title page) VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

UNDERSTANDING CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT OF FOREIGN COMPANIES

IN VIETNAM CASE STUDY OF MERCEDES-BENZ VIETNAM LIMITED

COMPANY

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of BACHELOR OF ARTS in BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Student’s name: DUONG THI VAN THAO (BA070148) Advisor: ALBERT LOW, M.A.

HoChiMinh city, Vietnam 2011

(This is a sample of signature page)

UNDERSTANDING CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT OF FOREIGN COMPANIES

IN VIETNAM CASE STUDY OF MERCEDES-BENZ VIETNAM LIMITED

COMPANY

APPROVED BY: Advisor APPROVED BY: Committee,

________________________ ___________________________________ Albert Low, M.A. Ho Thi Bich Van, Ph.D., Chair

___________________________________ Nguyen Huu Dang Khoa, MBA., Secretary ___________________________________ Le Thanh Long, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Albert Low, M.A.

THESIS COMMITTEE

(This is a sample of acknowledgment page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is a pleasure to express my sincere gratitude to all those who made this

thesis possible. First and foremost, I would have not finished this thesis without the

support of my professional advisor, Mr. Albert Low, who has always been there for me

whenever I need him, the encouragement he gave to keep me going and his care to

empower me which never fails all the time. Mr. Low, you taught me things beyond my

understanding. Thank you for treating me with respect and being a friend throughout my

time of doing this thesis. You really are a wonderful advisor. To you sir, I give you lots

of sincere thanks and respect. Thank you.

To Mr. Tong Viet Bay, manager of Recruitment, Training & Development,

and other employees in Mercedes-Benz Vietnam Limited Company who shared their

valuable time and gave me helpful information to finish this study. Thank you.

To my friends who supported me in my research work. I appreciated all the

time and advice you gave to me. Thank you.

Especially, I would like to give special thanks to my beloved parents and

brothers for their patient love, unflagging belief, and dedication during the time of doing

thesis and throughout my life. Mom and Dad, you are wonderful parents and wonderful

friends. My brothers, I could not ask for better brothers and friends. To all of you, thanks

for supporting me and always being there for me.

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(This is a sample of table of contents)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ vii

LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... ix

ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................x

ABBREVIATION ........................................................................................................... xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................1

1.1. Background of Research .....................................................................................1

1.2. Rationale of Research ..........................................................................................3

1.3. Research Problems ...............................................................................................4

1.4. Objectives ..............................................................................................................4

1.5. Research Methodology ........................................................................................5

1.6. Scope and Limitation ...........................................................................................5

1.7. Implications of the Study .....................................................................................6

1.8. Structure of Research ..........................................................................................7

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................9

2.1. Culture and Cross-cultural Management ..........................................................9

2.1.1. The concept of culture .................................................................................9

2.1.2. Cross-cultural management ......................................................................15

2.2. Theories Used To Identify the Cross-culture ...................................................15

2.3. Impacts of Cross-culture On Organization’s Communication ...................21

2.4. Summary of Literature Review ........................................................................25

CHAPTER III: INTRODUCTION OF MBV COMPAN Y ........................................26

3.1. Company Name ..................................................................................................26

3.2. Brief History of the Company ...........................................................................26

3.3. Mailing Address and Relevant Web-link .........................................................28

3.4. The Type of Ownership and the Main Shareholders .....................................28

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3.5. The Sector That Company Operates In ...........................................................28

3.6. The Products and Services Produced and Offered to Customers .................29

3.7. An Organization Chart...................................................................................... 30

3.8. The Main Responsibility of Different Functions .............................................31

3.9. The Development Trend of the Company .......................................................31

CHAPTER IV: METHODOLOGY .............................................................................. 34

4.1. Research Model and Hypothesis .......................................................................34

4.2. Method of Research Use ................................................................................... 36

4.3. Questionnaire Design .........................................................................................37

4.4. Pilot Study and Question Revised ................................................................... 40

4.5. Sampling Method and Sample Size ................................................................. 40

4.6. Data Analysis Techniques .................................................................................41

4.6.1. Cronbach’s Alpha ...................................................................................41

4.6.2. EFA – Exploratory Factor Analysis ..........................................................42

4.6.3. Regression Analysis ...................................................................................42

CHAPTER V: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS ...................................................43

5.1. Sample Demographic .........................................................................................43

5.2. Main Survey Result ............................................................................................46

5.2.1. Descriptive Analysis .................................................................................. 46

5.2.1.1. Identifying cross-culture of Mercedes-Benz Vietnam Limited

Company ........................................................................................................ 46

5.2.1.1.1. Defining MBV’s Power Distance ...........................................48

5.2.1.1.2. Defining MBV’s Individualism Vs. Collectivism ...................49

5.2.1.1.3. Defining MBV’s Masculinity Vs. Femininity........................ 51

5.2.1.1.4. Defining MBV’s Uncertainty Avoidance .............................. 53

5.2.1.1.5. Defining MBV’s Long-term Vs. Short-term Orientation ....... 55

vi

5.2.1.2. The influences of MBV’s cross-culture on MBV’s Vietnamese

workers’ culture .......................................................................................... 57

5.2.1.2.1. The reasons why considering organizational cross-culture as

MBV’s Vietnamese workers’ culture ................................................. 57

5.2.1.2.2. The comparison between MBV’s Vietnamese workers’

culture and Vietnamese national culture ...................................................58

5.2.2. Reliability and Factor Analysis .................................................................60

5.2.2.1. Reliability .......................................................................................... 61

5.2.2.1.1. Power Distance reliability analysis ........................................... 61

5.2.2.1.2. Individualism / Collectivism reliability analysis ......................62

5.2.2.1.3. Masculinity / Femininity reliability analysis ............................63

5.2.2.1.4. Uncertainty Avoidance reliability analysis ............................... 64

5.2.2.1.5. Long-term / Short-term Orientation reliability analysis ............65

5.2.2.1.6. Communication reliability analysis ...........................................66

5.2.2.2. Factor Analysis ..................................................................................66

5.2.3. Regression and Hypotheses Testing Results ............................................. 69

CHAPTER VI: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ................................. 74

6.1. Conclusion ...........................................................................................................74

6.2. Limitation and Recommendation for Further Research ............................... 76

6.2.1. Limitation ....................................................................................................76

6.2.2. Recommendation for further research ...................................................... 77

LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 80

APPENDIX ......................................................................................................................85

vii

(This is a sample of list of tables)

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Summary of Geert Hofstede’s Five Cultural Dimensions theory ................... 21

Table 2: Construct measurement scale ............................................................................. 39

Table 3: Gender ...............................................................44

Table 4: Age ......................................................................................................................44

Table 5: Year of working ..................................................................................................45

Table 6: Weighted mean of cultural dimensions .............................................................. 47

Table 7: Mean score table – Power Distance .................................................................... 48

Table 8: Frequency – Power Distance .............................................................................. 48

Table 9: Mean score table – Individualism / Collectivism ............................................... 49

Table 10: Frequency – Individualism / Collectivism ........................................................ 50

Table 11: Mean score table – Masculinity / Femininity ................................................... 51

Table 12: Frequency – Masculinity / Femininity .............................................................. 52

Table 13: Mean score table – Uncertainty Avoidance ...................................................... 54

Table 14: Frequency – Uncertainty Avoidance ................................................................54

Table 15: Mean score table – Long-term / Short-term Orientation .................................. 55

Table 16: Frequency – Long-term / Short-term Orientation .............................................55

Table 17: Comparison table of Vietnamese culture – national level Vs. Organizational

level (MBV) ......................................................................................................................59

Table 18: Power Distance Reliability ............................................................................... 61

Table 19: Individualism / Collectivism Reliability ........................................................... 62

Table 20: Masculinity / Femininity Reliability .................................................................63

Table 21: Uncertainty Avoidance Reliability ...................................................................64

Table 22: Long-term / Short-term Orientation Reliability ................................................65

Table 23: Communication Reliability 66 Table 5.22: PDI, IDV, MAS, UAI, and LTO

Rotated Component Matrix ...............................................................................................67

Table 24: Communication Component Matrix .................................................................69

viii

Table 25: Correlations 70 Table 5.25: Result of relationship between Independent

Variables and Dependent variable .................................................................................... 71

ix

(This is a sample of list of figures)

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Structure of the thesis ......................................................................................... 8

Figure 2: Levels of mental programming ........................................................................ 11

Figure 3: The Onion-Diagram: Manifestations of culture ................................................12

Figure 4: Learning of values and practices .......................................................................14

Figure 5: Organization Chart of Mercedes-Benz Vietnam Limited Company .................30

Figure 6: Research Model .................................................................................................35

Figure 7: Gender ...............................................................................................................44

Figure 8: Age ....................................................................................................................45

Figure 9: Year of working .................................................................................................46

Figure 10: Adjusted research model .................................................................................73

x

(This is a sample of Abstract) ABSTRACT

With the overall purpose of studying the cross-cultural management of foreign

companies in Vietnam, this thesis used the international joint-venture company,

Mercedes-Benz Vietnam Limited Company (MBV), as a case study to examine what the

cross-culture of an organization was and how cross-cultural working environment might

influence Vietnamese employees’ culture and organization’s communication. The

model of Geert Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions and three variables of

communication (communication process, communication climate, and communication

openness) were used in this research. The quantitative method was applied and

questionnaire with 120 respondents of MBV was conducted. The respondents were

randomly chosen and divided into three different age groups: under 30, 30-40, over 40

years old; with three different groups of working year at the company: under 5, 5-10,

over 10 years. This survey was done using descriptive statistics and regression analysis.

As a result, through descriptive statistics and comparison the differences between cross-

culture of MBV and Vietnamese culture (national level), the Uncertainty Avoidance of

MBV’s organizational culture had the most significant influence on Vietnamese

employees’ culture of work. Moreover, after running regression analysis and testing

research model, there are not enough evidences through this survey to conclude the

relationship between independent variables (Masculinity / Femininity and Uncertainty

Avoidance) and dependent variable (Communication).

In conclusion, there are a number of obstacles within MBV caused by the

differences of cross-cultural working environment in need of improvement. Some

conclusions and recommendations were made in order to help the managers as well as

workers to have the clearer picture of overall culture within company so that they can

perform more effectively.

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces the brief description of the research’s background

and rationale; next, research problems are specified, which are then directed down to

objectives and research methodology. Finally, the scope and limitations are discussed,

coming up with the final part which is the research structure.

1.1. Background of Research

In today’s highly competitive global business environment, organizations

need to constantly compete for new markets, products, services in order to develop and

maintain their own competitive advantage. It is the fact that besides growing by

competing in domestic market, companies gradually expand their markets to other

countries in the world. For many years, multinational companies (MNCs) have

successfully managed their financial and material resources globally, but it is not enough

for them to succeed without the management for human resources (HR) which are now

being managed on global scale too. In other words, in order to clearly win and sustain the

competitive advantage, those MNCs must effectively compete for talent people and

unlock their employees‟ potential abilities.

Turning to more specific case is Vietnam‟s economy; in the past, companies

doing business in Vietnam were mostly state-own companies or privately owned.

Employees working for these companies were mainly Vietnamese people. There were

2

(This is a sample of list of references) LIST OF REFERENCES

1. Adeoti-Adekeye, W. B. 1997. The importance of management information

systems. Library Review, Vol. 46, No. 5, pp. 318-327, MCB University Press.

2. Adler, N. J. 1983. Organizational development in a multicultural environment.

Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 349-365.

3. Berrell, M., Wright, P. & Hoa T. T. V. 1999. The Influence of Culture on

Managerial Behaviour. Journal of Management Development, Vol. 18, No. 7, pp.

578-589, MCB University Press, 0262-1711.

4. Bjerke, Björn 1999. Business leadership and culture: national management styles

in the global economy, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, Cheltenham, UK.

5. Broom, L. & Selznick, P. 1968. Sociology, Harper Row, p. 50.

6. Chang, L. C. 2003. An examination of cross-cultural negotiation: Using Hofstede

framework. Journal of American Academy of Business, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 567-

570.

7. Churchill, G. A. 1979. A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing

constructs. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 16, pp. 64-73.

8. De Mooij, M. 2003. Convergence and divergence in consumer behavior:

Implications for global advertising. International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 2,

No. 2, pp. 183-202.

9. Dennis, H. S. 1975. The construction of managerial communication climate

inventory for use in complex organizations. Paper presented at the Annual

Convention of the International Communication Association, Chicago.

10. Falcione, R. L., Sussman, L. & Herden, R. P. 1987. Communication climate in

organizations, in Jablin, F. M., Putnam, L. L., Roberts, K. H. & Porter, L. W.

(eds.), Handbook of organizational communication: An interdisciplinary

perspective, pp. 195-227, Sage Publications, Newbury park, CA.

3

(This is a sample of Appendix) APPENDIX

QUESTIONAIRE

CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION

QUESTIONNAIRE

Name (Họ tên): ....................................................................................................................

Gender (Giới tính): Male (Nam) Female (Nữ)

Age (Tuổi): ..........................................................................................................................

Years of working at company (Số năm làm việc tại công ty): ……………………………

Nationality (Quốc tịch):………………………………………………………………........

Department - Position (Vị trí công tác): …………………………………………………..

Email: ……………………………………………………………………………………..

Phone number: …………………………………………………………………………….

Objective of this interview: to obtain information regarding to cultural differences within

company, the relationship between staff, how individuals behave in life and organization, as

well as their impacts on each other. This is the answer of what the culture of organization in

cross-cultural setting is and its effect on communication. As you read each statement, please

use the following 5 levels of agreement:

1. Strongly disagree (Hoàn toàn không đồng ý).

2. Disagree (Không đồng ý).

3. Neutral (Bình thường).

4. Agree (Đồng ý).

5. Strongly agree (Hoàn toàn đồng ý)