EDMEs Decision Making: Challenges of Market Information in Vietnam

This report examines the challenges faced by foreign businesses in collecting reliable market information for decision-making in Vietnam, an emerging market with significant growth potential. It identifies three key challenges: political and legislative issues, cultural differences, and language problems. The single-party political system and associated corruption create hurdles in obtaining necessary government permissions and accurate data. Cultural differences impact the interpretation of market research and create hesitation among the population. Language barriers necessitate professional translation and careful communication strategies. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of overcoming these challenges to ensure accurate market research and informed business decisions, offering potential solutions for each barrier.

Running Head: EDMEs 0
Decision Making
Student Details
3/27/2019

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Challenges..................................................................................................................................2
1. Political and legislative issues.........................................................................................2
1. Cultural Differences........................................................................................................4
2. Language Problems.........................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
In the high growth emerging markets of Asia, Vietnam is considered as one of the
crown jewels. It provides the easiest base for conducting business in China even compared
with the China itself. Several studies and predictions have made about Vietnam that in
coming years, economy of Vietnam will grow more than 6% every year. Vietnam is a
member of regional forums and WTO, also including Economic Community and ASEAN as
well as Vietnam also poses parts in Trans-Pacific Partnership and EU-Vietnam Free Trade
Agreement, which makes the Vietnam a prime destination for the investment (Penaredondo,
2016). Vietnam’s GDP has risen by 350% since 1991, second after China. FDI increased by
6.3% in 2018 that is increased to $15.1 billion; which resulted in receiving the highest foreign
funds by real estate and manufacturing sectors then followed by retail and wholesale trade.
This report discusses about the challenges faced by managers of foreign businesses in order
to collect the reliable market information in order to develop or establish its business in
Vietnam.
Challenges
1. Political and legislative issues
Vietnam has only a single political party, and thus role and influence of the only
Communist Party is different and unique. All the legal powers of the Vietnam are
centralised in a single supreme body which is then deputized to lower entities
consisting of 63 municipalities and provinces situated in Vietnam (Focus Economics,
2019). Power of amending and passing these laws and constitution is consisted by
only the National Assembly, but there is problem with the implementation and
administration of such laws as these are decentralised. Also, due to the single political

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party regime, bureaucracy and corruption, there are several challenges faced by
foreign businesses in order to collect market information or conducting market
research. In order to conduct a market research in Vietnam it needs permission from
the government bodies as per the law of Vietnam (Truong, 2013). Taking permission
from the government officials to start a research process is also very time consuming
and take several weeks in obtaining a permit which causes slowing down of research
process. As mentioned above that Vietnam is an emerging market and governments in
emerging nations do not take census data on regular basis as like developed nations,
thus researchers find it extremely difficult to focus on a specific population as there is
no centralized data is available on which relayed on (Bhlingual, 2019).
Another issue in Vietnam is corruption due to single political party. Corruption is
widespread in Vietnam and anyone who is conducting a business in Vietnam is facing
this challenge of corruption in one or other form. Corruption causes hurdles in every
step of research process. Various practices such as giving bribes, payments, and
expensive gifts are needed to adopt in order to get the information from the
government offices or officials (Bazis Group, Overcoming Common Challenges in
Global B2B Market Research, 2017). Judicial independence is very little in Vietnam
causing strong roots of corruption in the country. Corruption in Vietnam also causes
various security issues as there are various criminal gangs exist who can threaten the
researchers with extortion and/or violence (Truong, 2013). Therefore, conducting a
market research in slum areas can be dangerous for researchers that can even threaten
their lives too.
However, there is not solid solution for the corruption problem. However researchers
should avoid wrong or illegal way of collecting data by providing bribes. Also,
wherever possible, researchers should report a complaint against officials asking for

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bribe. This process is time consuming but it is better to wait long than adopting wrong
ways of getting work done or collecting false information. In order to ensure the
safety of researchers who are carrying expensive gadgets such as computers, tablets,
and other equipment and need to travel away from a city. Although there are not
several ways of protecting researchers from being theft but some of them methods can
be included to ensure the security of them. Researchers can gather the participants at a
central place having internet connection (Universal Teacher, 2019). However,
gathering people at a central place might increases the budget of research but it is
worth in terms of lessen the risk of damage to the equipment or life of researchers..
1. Cultural Differences
Every country has their own culture, beliefs, and traditions which can cause barrier for
the market researchers who belong to a different country having different culture and
language. However, it is easy to translate one language into another of questionnaire.
But, a different culture changes the meaning of many phrases, idioms, and statements
in a different culture (Bazis Group, Tips for Overcoming Market Research Challenges
in Developing Regions, 2019). Also, developed countries do not face the barrier of
hesitation among people where market research is common activity but countries like
Vietnam where it is not a common activity causes several barriers for the market
researchers to tell about their choices (Facts and Details, 2019). Therefore, people of
Vietnam who are not open to talk can also provide false information to the researchers
while trying to please the researcher or interviewer. Also, in developing countries like
Vietnam where corruption is very high, it is very difficult to get the accurate
secondary data (Institutional Investor, 2017). This shows that global companies have
very little choices due to differences between potential marketing pitfalls and cultures
and have to include their consumers from all around the globe.

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From the studies it has been identified that cultural difference in emerging markets
can lead to process change which is acceptable to local suppliers but not to
commissioning agency (TMF, 2019). This challenge can be resolved as the
commissioning agency creates solid outlooks from the inception of the project.
Providing detailed information about the instructions and requirements related to
place, time, and setup for the face-to-face interview can be beneficial and the
researcher should make sure that all this is documented by the contracted local
supplier. It should also make sure by researcher that whether local supplier have
clarify on any changes in the agreed upon process before continue with the interview
(Nguyen, 2018). Also, it is fact that the local agency is not as proactive as the
commissioning agency want it to be. In this case, commissioning agency should
educate the local agency about the importance of project and also push them to work
on this specific project. New ways should be implemented for working with preferred
partners and make it clear to them that they only work with them only if they meet
their expectations (Export.gov, 2018).
2. Language Problems
In Vietnam, most of the population speak and understand the only language is
Vietnamese. All the document work, official work, conversations, rules and
regulations, and laws are mentioned in Vietnamese language only. Now this can be a
major problem for the researchers who belong to a different country having
knowledge of only English and/or the local language of his country (Gov.UK, 2019).
Many times or situations exist where translating the language of questionnaire does
not work in Vietnam because of local dialect. In this situation, researchers have to
take help or to hire professional translators in particular industries (Khan, Memon, &

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Bhutta, 2018). Language difference also cause challenge during the project briefing
section. Ways of dealing with this challenge include:
1. Separate budget should be allocated for an interpreter during all briefings and who
is agreed on the condition of being present in all briefings.
2. Instead of just audio calls, arrangements for video conferencing should be made.
This helps in the way that it is much easy to understand while watching in
combination with listening (Research Optimus, 2019).
3. Provide people with written text of briefing which tells about the project goals,
question addressing ways of questionnaire/guide, and detailed explanation of
terms and conditions of industry. This information should be in both languages
that are in English as well as in Vietnamese (Research Optimus, 2019).
4. An interpreter should be included who has the detailed knowledge of the project
and can be present during all briefings, teleconferences, and calls in order to
provide and make people of Vietnam in understanding about the project in a better
way (Stratfor, 2013).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that Vietnam has become
one of the growing business markets in Asia which is providing opportunities to the foreign
businesses to grow their businesses in the country. But establishing a business in the country
requires proper and detailed research about the market conditions of the Vietnam. But there
are several challenges and barriers faced by the researchers in order to conduct a research in
emerging market of Vietnam. This report discusses about political and legislative barrier,
cultural difference, and language problems causing hurdles for the researchers. Removing
these barriers are important for performing proper and accurate research as this information

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received from the research decides the base of a business and false information can lead to
damage to the business in future. However, in this report several methods are discussed for
overcoming all these barriers.

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References
Bazis Group. (2017). Overcoming Common Challenges in Global B2B Market Research.
Retrieved from https://www.mafonavigator.de/directories/media/1/pdf-1566.pdf
Bazis Group. (2019). Tips for Overcoming Market Research Challenges in Developing
Regions. Retrieved from http://bazisgroup.com/tips-overcoming-market-research-
challenges-developing-regions/
Bhlingual. (2019). The Challenges of International Marketing Research. Retrieved from
https://www.bhlingual.com/the-challenges-of-international-marketing-research-blog
Export.gov. (2018). Vietnam - Market Challenges. Retrieved from
https://www.export.gov/article?id=Vietnam-Market-Challenges
Facts and Details. (2019). Business in Vietnam. Retrieved from
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Focus Economics. (2019). Assessing Vietnam's economy: key growth drivers and challenges.
Retrieved from https://www.focus-economics.com/blog/assessing-vietnams-economy-
key-growth-drivers-and-challenges
Gov.UK. (2019). Overseas Business Risk- Vietnam. Retrieved from
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overseas-business-risk-vietnam
Institutional Investor. (2017). Vietnam: A Bright Spot in Emerging Markets, If You can get it.
Retrieved from
https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1505prspby2d5/vietnam-a-bright-spot-
in-emerging-markets-if-you-can-get-in

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Khan, I. M., Memon, Z. A., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2018). Challenges and Opportunities in
Conducting Research in Developing Countries. Pediatric Epidemiology, 21, 60-70.
Nguyen, H. (2018). Viet Nam as an emerging market. Retrieved from
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%20as%20an%20emerging%20market_NTH.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
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https://www.slideshare.net/nicopenaredondo/managerial-decision-making-57378138
Research Optimus. (2019). Challenges to Global Market Research in Emerging Countries.
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research-in-emerging-countries/
Stratfor. (2013). The emerging economy of Vietnam: Pitfalls, problems and the relevance of
business education. Retrieved from https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/emerging-
economy-vietnam-pitfalls-problems-and-relevance-business-education
TMF. (2019). Top challenges of doing business in Vietnam. Retrieved from https://www.tmf-
group.com/en/news-insights/articles/2019/february/top-challenges-business-vietnam/
Truong, Q. (2013). Vietnam: An Emerging Economy at a CrossRoads. Retrieved from
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