| Course | MAN-3720 International Management |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Module 1 written assignment: culture and ethics in international business |
| Length | About 652 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Bachelor of Science in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MAN 3720 Module 1
Before the First Meeting in Ho Chi Minh City: Culture and Ethics for a New Jersey Exporter
Student Name
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Thomas Edison State University
MAN-3720: International Management
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Before the First Meeting in Ho Chi Minh City: Culture and Ethics for a New Jersey Exporter
Introduction
Our company makes countertop water purifiers that remove sediment, chlorine and many bacteria without electricity. We sell mostly in the United States, but a distributor in Ho Chi Minh City has asked for samples, and the owners plan a trip next spring. None of us has done business in Vietnam. This paper prepares the team for two challenges that are easy to underestimate: how culture will shape the relationship and how to handle ethical situations we may meet.
How Culture Shapes the Relationship
Hofstede (2011) describes national cultures along several dimensions, including power distance, the degree to which people accept that power is distributed unequally, and individualism versus collectivism. On his measures Vietnam ranks well above the United States in acceptance of hierarchy and well below it in individualism. In practice, this suggests that decisions on the distributor's side will be made by its senior leaders, that meetings will follow a formal order of seniority and that the relationship between our firms will matter as much as the contract.
Hall (1976) contrasted cultures in which much of what is meant rides on setting, relationship and silence with cultures that expect the spoken or written words to carry the meaning. Americans tend toward the low-context end. In a higher-context setting, a polite "we will consider it" may mean no, and a direct refusal could cause the other side to lose face. Our team needs to listen for indirect signals and avoid pressing for an immediate yes.
These are tendencies, not rules. Hofstede's dimensions describe national averages, and the distributor's managers may have studied or worked abroad. We will treat the table as a set of questions to test, not a script.
| Cultural point | What we expect | How we will prepare |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptance of hierarchy | Senior leaders decide; titles matter | Our owner leads the visit; business cards with titles in Vietnamese |
| Collectivism and relationships | Trust built over meals and visits | Plan two visits before expecting a contract |
| High-context communication | Indirect refusals | Ask open questions; confirm understanding in writing afterward |
| Saving face | Public disagreement avoided | Raise problems privately, not in group meetings |
Ethics Across Borders
The harder questions are ethical. We may be asked to pay a fee to speed customs clearance, to give gifts to officials who approve product registration or to accept the distributor's claim that local practice differs from ours. Donaldson and Dunfee (1994) offer a way to think about such situations. Their integrative social contracts theory holds that communities may develop their own norms for business within a "moral free space," but that those norms must be consistent with hypernorms, basic principles that apply everywhere, such as honesty and respect for human dignity. Local gift customs can be respected; bribery of officials cannot.
U.S. law sets a firm boundary. Under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an American company may not, itself or through anyone acting for it, slip a foreign official money or favors to land or hold onto business (15 U.S.C. § 78dd-1). The law applies to payments made through a distributor on our behalf, so our agreement with the distributor must forbid them.
Our rules for the trip are simple. Small gifts with our logo, such as notebooks, are acceptable for business partners, and we will accept similar gifts graciously. No payments of any kind will be made to officials, directly or through the distributor. Any request for a payment will be declined politely and reported to the owners, even if it delays registration.
Conclusion
Culture will shape how our first meetings in Vietnam unfold, and ethics will shape what we are willing to do to succeed there. Hofstede's and Hall's frameworks help us prepare for a hierarchical, relationship-based and high-context setting, while Donaldson and Dunfee's theory and the FCPA give us a principled line between respecting local customs and paying bribes.
References
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. (1994). Toward a unified conception of business ethics: Integrative social contracts theory. Academy of Management Review, 19(2), 252-284. https://doi.org/10.2307/258705
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, 15 U.S.C. § 78dd-1 (2018).
Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. Anchor Books.
Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing cultures: The Hofstede model in context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014
Reading the MAN 3720 Module 1 assignment instructions
MAN-3720 grades six reflection assignments at 30 percent, five written assignments at 40 percent and a three-part final project at 30 percent, built on two open texts, Saylor Academy's International Business and OpenStax's Principles of Management. This sample follows TESU's Guided Study syllabus for the course, the version open to the public, and pairs one written assignment with each of the first five modules because the syllabus lists them without module dates. In Module 1, Culture and Ethics in International Business, expect to explain how culture affects business, apply a framework to a specific country and address ethical differences with a principled approach and the law.
Inside the MAN 3720 Module 1 example
The paper opens with a real decision: a first sales trip to Vietnam by a company with no experience there. Hofstede's scales and Hall's contrast between saying things outright and leaving them implied shape the culture section, whose four-row table converts each point into something the team will expect and prepare for. A caution notes that national averages describe tendencies, not individuals. The ethics section introduces integrative social contracts theory to separate respectable local customs from bribery, adds the FCPA's prohibition, including payments through agents, and sets three rules for the trip. The conclusion pairs cultural preparation with an ethical line. A short conclusion pairs the cultural preparation with a firm ethical line.
MAN 3720 Module 1 rubric: what earns full marks
A MAN-3720 written assignment is marked on how well it grasps the international management ideas, ties them to one country and one company, thinks critically, uses sources and reads clearly in APA form. On culture, marks go to work that puts a framework to use in one meeting or negotiation rather than quoting a country's scores. Recognizing the limits of national averages shows judgment. An ethical analysis that uses a framework and the law, and ends in clear rules, shows the student can act on principles. Specific, realistic examples make the paper persuasive. Mentors also credit papers that turn cultural knowledge into concrete steps, such as who leads a meeting or how a disagreement is raised, because those steps show the concepts have been understood well enough to use.
MAN 3720 Module 1 help: mistakes that cost marks
Students lose points by listing Hofstede's scores for a country without saying what they mean for business, by treating culture as fixed and identical for everyone in a country or by discussing ethics only in general terms. Others ignore the law. Choose one country and one business situation. Apply each framework to what will actually happen, admit what the frameworks cannot tell you, and set ethical rules a team could follow, citing the FCPA if a U.S. firm is involved. A free first sample of your MAN-3720 Module 1 written assignment can be drafted on the country your company is considering. Write the rules as instructions a colleague could follow on the trip, not as general values.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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MAN 3720 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free MAN 3720 Module 1 sample paper?
The paper above prepares a New Jersey water purifier maker's team for culture and ethics on its first sales trip to Vietnam.
What is a high-context culture?
One where much of a message is carried by setting, relationship and what goes unsaid, so indirect signals matter as much as words.
What is integrative social contracts theory?
A theory by Donaldson and Dunfee: each community can write its own business customs, but only inside limits set by principles that hold everywhere, which they call hypernorms.
Does the FCPA apply to payments made by a foreign distributor?
Yes; it prohibits improper payments to foreign officials made directly or through agents acting for the company.
What textbooks does MAN-3720 use?
Two open texts: Saylor Academy's International Business and OpenStax's Principles of Management.