i THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE CULTURAL IN VIETNAMESE COMPANIES: A CASE STUDY OF VIETINBANK, HOAN KIEM BRANCH BY LE VAN QUYNH E0600106 Graduation Project Submitted to the Department of Business Studies, HELP University College, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Bachelor of Business (Accounting) Hons APRIL 2011 ii DECLERATION I hereby declare that the graduation project is based on my original work except for quotations and citations which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted for any other course/degree at HELP University College or other institutions. The word count is 15,077 words. _____________________ LE VAN QUYNH Date: iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This graduation thesis is the result of thirteen weeks of research and writing during the spring of 2011. It has been an interesting and learning experience. In fulfilling this thesis, I would like to give my special thanks to many people for their significant help, contribution, and recommendations during my writing process. First and foremost, special mentions and grate thanks must go to Ms. Dao Thi Thu Giang, my supervisor at Hanoi Foreign Trade University. With her master knowledge and experience in writing thesis, she has wholeheartedly helped me in writing this thesis. I could not have been able to complete this thesis without her positive suggestions and guidance. Secondly, I want to thank all the managers and staffs of VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch, for their cooperation that helped and inspired me in writing. Thirdly, I would also like to give my heartfelt thanks to the authors who provided me with valuable books for my thesis. My appreciation is to my family and my friends for their supports and encouragements. Gratefulness is to the readers also, whose feedback will help much in improving the thesis. Hanoi, April 2011 Le Van Quynh iv THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE CULTURAL IN VIETNAMESE COMPANIES: A CASE STUDY OF VIETINBANK, HOAN KIEM BRANCH BY LE VAN QUYNH APRIL 2011 Supervisor: Ms. Dao Thi Thu Giang Abstract The graduation project represents the results of research on impact of corporate culture in Vietnamese companies. The objectives of the project were to understand impacts of corporate culture in Vietnamese companies which shows the importance of corporate culture. Benefits of adopting corporate culture will create a unique style and attitude for each company, creating centripetal force for the entire company, helps companies boost innovation and invention, and attract more customers. In this thesis, the researcher uses case study of VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch because this Branch may be given more accurate information and able to take the right actions. v TABLE OF CONTENT Page DECLERATION ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii Abstract iv TABLE OF CONTENT v LIST OF ABBREVIATION x CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Study background 1 1.2. The objectives of study 2 1.3. Research questions 2 1.4. Scope of research 3 1.5. Structure of the thesis 3 CHAPTER II - LITERATURE REVIEW 5 2.1. Overview 5 2.2. Definition of culture and corporate culture 5 2.2.1. Definition of culture 5 2.2.2. Definition of corporate culture 7 2.3. Corporate culture forming factors 9 2.3.1. Key business processes 9 2.3.2. Employees and other tangible assets 9 2.3.3. Formal arrangements 10 2.3.4. Dominant coalition 10 2.3.5. The social system 10 2.3.6. Technology 10 vi 2.3.7. The external environment 11 2.4. The impact of corporate culture on the development of a corporation 11 2.4.1. Creating the unique manner and attitude for each corporate 11 2.4.2. Creating the centripetal force for the whole company 12 2.4.3. Fostering innovation and invention 13 2.4.4. Creating the competitive advantage of the corporation 13 2.4.5. Attracting customers 14 2.5. Level of corporate culture 14 2.5.1. Observable artifacts 17 2.5.2. Espoused beliefs and values 18 2.5.3. Basic underlying assumptions 21 2.6. The role of leader – key factor creating the corporate culture of organization 23 CHAPTER III - RESEARCH METHOLOGY 25 3.1. Overview 25 3.2. Research methodology 25 3.3. Data collection 26 3.4. Sampling 27 CHAPTER IV - RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION 28 4.1. Overview 28 4.2. An overview of Vietinbank, Hoan Kiem Branch 28 4.2.1. Introduction of Vietinbank 28 4.2.2. Overview of Vietinbank, Hoan Kiem Branch 30 4.3. An overview of VietinBank’s corporate culture 32 vii 4.4. Levels and manifestations of corporate culture in VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch. 33 4.4.1. Artifact level and its manifestations 34 4.4.1.1. Office’s architecture and decoration 34 4.4.1.2. Brand name, logo, and slogan 36 Source: VietinBank’s website, 2009 36 4.4.1.3. Language and style 38 4.4.1.4. Leadership Style 40 4.4.1.5. Behavior within the branch 41 4.4.1.6. Behavior toward customers 43 4.4.2. Espoused beliefs and values 44 4.4.3. The basic underlying assumption 48 4.5. Some suggestions to VietinBank in general 49 4.5.1. Identifying the right way of development 50 4.5.2. Improving the influence of core values inside and outside the whole system 52 4.6. Some suggestions to VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch 53 4.6.1. Leadership style as the decisive element in building and developing corporate culture 53 4.6.2. Building the specific value system 55 4.6.3. Changing the physical working environment 57 4.6.4. Building up a close relationship between customers and branch 58 4.6.4.1. “Customer is King” 58 4.6.4.2. PR and face-to-face communication with customers 61 4.6.5. Learning from other organizations 62 CHAPTER V – CONCLUSION 64 viii 5.1. Conclusion 64 5.2. Limitation of research 65 REFERENCES 66 ix LIST OF FIGURES AND IMAGES Figures Title Page Chapter 2 Figure 2.1. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 13 Figure 2.2. Levels of corporate culture 15 Figure 2.3. Corporate culture – iceberg’s principle 16 Chapter 4 Figure 4.1. Organizational structure of VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch 31 Figure 4.2. VietinBank’s logo 37 Image 4.1. “Customer is King” 59 ____________________________________________________________________ x LIST OF ABBREVIATION Abbreviation Full name VietinBank Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade Vietin Bank, Hoan Kiem Branch Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade, Hoan Kiem Branch I.L.O. International Labor Organization I.T. Information Technology –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– [...]... necessary to answer the following sub questions: i What is corporate culture? 2 ii What are the manifestations of corporate culture in VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch? iii What should VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch do to improve its corporate culture in the future? 1.4 Scope of research This study focuses on the corporate culture of VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch, particularly, the way corporate culture manifests... became a significant type of research in the field of education studies, social work studies, and many other fields The goal of qualitative research is to gather a deep understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern behavior Qualitative methods also are investigating why and how of decision making So the smaller samples are more focused than large samples 25 The advantage of qualitative... corporate culture is one of the greatest concern by both the leaders and officers of this bank Therefore, I 1 chose the topic The impact of Corporate culture in Vietnamese companies: A Case Study of VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch as graduation thesis topic in the hope that some findings and recommendations from the study could be a reference to help further developing a successful corporate culture for the. .. branch 1.2 The objectives of study The study focuses on the concepts of corporate culture, the way it manifests in an organization From the findings withdrawn from the case study of a selected organization – VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch, it is expected good recommendations will be made for creating corporate culture process of this branch Thus, the study aims to: i Get deeper understanding of the corporate. .. that define the basic concept of time in the group, how time is defined and measured, how many kinds of time there are, and the importance of time in the culture 2.6 The role of leader – key factor creating the corporate culture of organization The leader is not the one who creates the values of corporate culture in an organization but more important, he/she is the one who transmit, maintain and change... corporate culture; ii Understand why, what and how an organization forms and develops its corporate culture – a case study of VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch; iii Find out some solutions and recommendations to develop and improve the corporate culture in this branch 1.3 Research questions The key question of the study is: “What is the corporate culture of VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch? ” To answer this research... knowledge about the study The chapter will be divided into five main parts: the common concepts of the study including the concepts of culture and corporate culture; the forming factors and the main impacts of corporate culture; the corporate culture’s levels developed by Edgar H.Schein and a brief view on the role of leader to the development of culture in an organization 2.2 Definition of culture and corporate. .. success of many Japanese corporations, American corporations started to pay attention to the underlying reason behind it The term of corporate/ organizational culture” was used by organization research professors and managers to refer to one of the main reasons behind Japanese corporations’ worldwide success Many in- depth researches on composing parts as well as huge impact of corporate culture on the. .. keep in close touch with employees and assist them and at the same time, heighten these values Beside the role of shaping and managing corporate culture’s values, the leader has to change them according to the requirement of changing strategy in the case culture does not support or even be against with a new strategy The new strategy is often dominated by market and competitors – these external elements... perspectives, ranging from visible to invisible manifestations Chapter 4: Analysis and recommendation Firstly, the corporate culture in VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch will be analyzed The manifestations are seen from different perspectives, ranging from visible to invisible manifestations Next, recommendations are made to further develop corporate culture in VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch In that, this chapter . i THE IMPACT OF CORPORATE CULTURAL IN VIETNAMESE COMPANIES: A CASE STUDY OF VIETINBANK, HOAN KIEM BRANCH BY LE VAN QUYNH. this thesis, the researcher uses case study of VietinBank, Hoan Kiem Branch because this Branch may be given more accurate information and able to take the