THE ANALYSIS OF OBSTACLES IN INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY OF DOG BAC COAL MINERAL INVESTMENT CORPORATION OF VIETNAM IN ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH TRADE REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN JAKARTA, INDONESIA

Abstract

As the International business continues its unstoppable growth in the global world recently, time zone, distance, culture even nationality could not stand in the way anymore. Everybody, regardless where they came from, rises up the businesses and expands them to other countries and regions. This is not only because the international market is a lot more promising nowadays, but also because the competition in domestic market could break apart their once distinctive amount of profits into shares with other competitors. Understanding other’s culture is the first step to build a strong relationship. This culture includes but not limited to lifestyle, economic situation, politics, business style and cultural influences on conducting any business transaction. This cross culture understanding is called Intercultural business communication. One of the business scopes the world would never abandon is energy. Coal, mineral, gas and oil are main components of product in this field. The need of energy sources is seemingly unlimited, and it grows as far as the global economy does. As one of the countries with rapid growth, the Republic of Vietnam struggle as its best to, first, fulfill their energy needs, but later, supply their own. Until late 2002, Vietnam has succeeded in both; however, this success smeared the scent of business opportunity to other investors, and several more suppliers declared their existence and create a strong competition in the country. Dong Bac Coal-Mineral Investment Corporation is one of the oldest players in the field. Its existence has been so firm due to the stakeholders which are mainly from governmental body including the ministry of national defense of Vietnam. But this, however, could not save Dong Bac from fierce battle. The only way to go is to expand its business to South East Asia. The first attempt was in 2008, when Dong Bac deployed an agent to connect with Indonesian government to obtain the business license. This, however, ended up failed due to unreliable agent. In august 2010, Dong Bac sent over as many as seven personnel to Jakarta, Indonesia. This team aims to establish the trade representative office (TRO) in Jakarta. After 8 months of trying, the team could not report any significant result or progress. The communicational barrier between the field team and the Dong Bac headquarter was just overwhelming. But most important of all, the team was facing a great deal of culture shock, both in terms of Indonesian local culture and habit, and the Indonesian business style. The researcher is very interested in finding out the biggest intercultural barrier face by the field team sent over by Dong Bac, how they cope with it and how has it influenced the work and result of the field team.