Camaraderie and Conflict: Intercultural Communication and Workplace Interactions in South Korean Companies in Bình Dương Province,Vietnam

Abstract

Rapid expansion of South Korean investment in Asia and Africa highlights a need to understand how local staff manage intercultural communication, particularly involving conflict with their superiors. South Korea is Vietnam’s largest investor and the Southern Key Economic Zone hosts the majority of 1252 projects and 70,000–80,000 South Koreans working in Vietnam. This paper reports on a mixed methods data set comprising 356 survey responses and nine in-depth interviews of Vietnamese workers at South Korean companies in Bình Dương province. According to workers, the main causes of conflict in workplace interactions with Korean managers are ‘differences in working culture’ – especially about workplace time use – and ‘attitude differences’. The most popular solution from both sides is to apologise. However, workers report frequently remaining silent when they are verbally abused. This research shows that intercultural communication is an ongoing and dynamic interpersonal process that is influenced by social, contextual and individual factors.