Comparative Analysis of CSR: Cultural Impact in Vietnam and the USA

This essay explores the impact of national culture on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by comparing Vietnam and the USA. It argues that cultural differences significantly influence how managers perceive and implement CSR. In Vietnam, a culture of high collectivism and large power distance can hinder the advancement of CSR compared to the USA, where individualism and a more egalitarian structure promote it. While Vietnam's moderate uncertainty avoidance can positively influence CSR by encouraging caution and a balance between economic and social goals, the USA's risk-taking culture fosters innovation and adaptability. The essay concludes that understanding these cultural nuances is crucial for businesses aiming for sustainable development in different national contexts. Desklib provides a platform for students to access past papers and solved assignments to enhance their understanding of such topics.

Corporate Social Responsibility 1
IMPACT OF CULTURE ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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Corporate Social Responsibility
The concept of corporate social responsibility is mostly evaluated as a business approach
that is employed by many firms to contribute to sustainable development within the firms and
without by developing economic, social as well as the environmental benefits for all
stakeholders. However, it is a broad concept which addresses and a number of business aspects
in terms of growth, development, and sustainability. Therefore the main purpose of corporate
social responsibility in businesses or markets is to drive change towards sustainability. The
national culture of a nation has an impact on the development of the concept or approach of
corporate social responsibility (Preuss et al., 2016, p. 356). Culture impacts on the thoughts and
behaviors of people belonging to that nation or country. Culture brings about different social and
cultural backgrounds and therefore corporate social responsibility conceptual understandings
also differ among managers of firms and businesses in different nations or countries. The impact
of culture, segmentation, and positioning in relation to corporate social responsibility and how
the impact differs in different countries can be understood from our analysis of Vietnam and
USA markets analysis.
The Vietnamese culture impacts the concept and perspective of corporate social
responsibility just as the culture of USA impacts the development and perspective of corporate
social responsibility. The enterprise and firms culture in Vietnam is more of high collectivism
and therefore most Vietnamese managers have a collectivist perspective of corporate social
responsibility as compared to USA managers. Their employee’s tent to work together in
harmony and in most cases has in-group thinking as well as decision-making style (Sinha, 2017,
p. 17). They work with the motive of attaining benefit for the entire team as compared to
achieving personal goals which are the case in the USA firms. Therefore in a culture that

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embraces high collectivism, it negatively affects the manager’s perspectives of corporate social
responsibility. This means that corporate social responsibility in the USA is more advanced and
enhanced as compared to Vietnam (Karam & Jamali, 2017, p. 472). Segmentation of markets and
positioning is done taking into consideration this cultural aspect of collectivism and therefore
markets segmentation is done through group thinking and decision making in the Vietnam
centrally to the USA where segmentation is not influenced by a group decision-based approach
but through market research which can be conducted by an individual.
Vietnam people embrace the culture of large power distance where most decisions are
made by the senior leaders or the managers and the employees are okay with it. This is central to
the culture in USA markets or firms where everyone in an organization is valued and their
contributions are taken seriously. Therefore in such a culture of large power distances, many
employees are acquainted with obeying orders from their seniors which does not promote
organizational corporate social responsibility. Such a culture therefore negatively affects the
manager’s perspective of corporate social responsibility (Chaudhri, 2016, p. 430). In the USA
there are no such power gaps and managers work closely with employees which creates a
cooperative environment and promotes accountability which is vital in enhancing corporate
social responsibility. It does not promote segmentation as the environment does not allow
managers to seek to understand what the employees or the society or their customers may need
by seeking their views and therefore large power distance culture negatively affects the
perspectives of corporate social responsibility.
The Vietnam markets and most firms, as well as organizations, also have a culture of
moderate uncertainty avoidance and therefore managers in these firms have a certain level of risk
aversion and in most cases may delay making immediate decisions when feeling uncertain. This

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is contrary to USA culture that is more of risk-taking behaviors and uncertainties are seen as
future opportunities for learning and development (Ubrežiová & Moravčíková, 2017, p. 209).
This culture has enabled Vietnam people to become quite flexible in terms of their consumption
and social behaviors and therefore can easily adapt to real-life situations as compared to USA
people who are more rigid to their social behaviors. Vietnam people due to this culture usually
believe that everything happening depends on fate whereas the USA people usually seek to
understand the root cause of everything. This culture of high uncertainty avoidance, therefore,
affects positively the manager’s perspective of corporate social responsibility as organizations
and firms as well as business become more cautious of their operations and the resultant impact
(Maryam Abdullahi, 2015, p. 1306). Therefore they always strive to have a balance of economic
objectives and corporate social responsibility goals of achieving sustainable development.
Therefore the culture of a nation impacts the concepts and perspectives of managers as well as
the other stakeholders of corporate social responsibility. The focus or the goal of achieving
sustainability in business and economic development should be maintained.

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List of references
Chaudhri, V 2016, 'Corporate Social Responsibility and the Communication Imperative:
Perspectives From CSR Managers', International Journal Of Business Communication,
53, 4, pp. 419-442, Communication & Mass Media Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 28
November 2017.
Karam, C, & Jamali, D 2017, 'A Cross-Cultural and Feminist Perspective on CSR in Developing
Countries: Uncovering Latent Power Dynamics', Journal Of Business Ethics, 142, 3, pp.
461-477, Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost, viewed 28 November 2017.
Maryam Abdullahi, H 2015, 'Corporate Social Responsibility, Challenges, Prospects and Its
Impact on Infrastructural Developments in West African Economies', International
Journal Of Management, Accounting & Economics, 2, 10, pp. 1299-1311, Business
Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 November 2017.
Preuss, L, Barkemeyer, R, & Glavas, A 2016, 'Corporate Social Responsibility in Developing
Country Multinationals: Identifying Company and Country-Level Influences', Business
Ethics Quarterly, 26, 3, pp. 347-378, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 28
November 2017.
Sinha, SN 2017, 'A Critical Analysis of the Provisions of Corporate Social Responsibility', IUP
Journal Of Corporate Governance, 16, 3, pp. 7-25, Business Source Premier,
EBSCOhost, viewed 28 November 2017.

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Ubrežiová, I, & Moravčíková, K 2017, 'How To Perceive The Corporate Social Responsibility In
The Agro-Food Companies?', Serbian Journal Of Management, 12, 2, pp. 201-215,
Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 28 November 2017.