A practical perspective on international business expansion through Dr. Andrew’s story.

From the interview of Dr. Andrew - a foreigner doing business in an international environment, I could gain a deep insight into the institutional complexities that he confronted resulting from differences between their home and host countries. Despite the difference in business context from nation to nation, Dr. Andrew still put efforts into developing international dental clinics with high-quality services and human resources across national borders. Consequently, Dr. Andrew has now become one of the successful businessmen in the international market. Regarding, his maxim of hard work will be paid off, without a doubt which has motivated students who desire to open overseas MNCs. Most entrepreneurs encountered obstacles to workplace diversity in the sense of cultural difference, language barrier, and local team management, which could affect the future of the career path. The second lesson I have learned from Dr. Andrew is the way he embraces the inclusive workplace environment. Particularly, a good relationship between the manager and employees is key to build an effective team. He indicated that a good leader should understand their employees’ attitudes, behaviors, and personalities. Thanks to the unconditional support and hard-working of his local partners, he day after day could adapt to Vietnam’s social norms such as working rules, and effective communication with staff. It is exemplified not only by expanding the clinic chain but also by managing more than a thousand employees instead of a few like the previous. Additionally, the interview of Mr. Andrew helps me obtain essential lessons of doing business internationally. Challenge is only just beginning; however, you could achieve the goal set initially whether you keep up practicing and improving the shortage of skills. Secondly, clear objectives for recruiting, retaining, motivating to prevent talent scarcity and strong control considered being necessary for the new venture to develop the commitment between the top head and their labor forces. The leader should listen and respect the staff's ideas, no matter good or not they are the key to boost employee engagement. In other words, sharing the vision is a need to encourage convergent thinking, critical analysis of employees as well as the manager, which get rid of the motivation killers and enhance the working productivity. This experience helps you reflect your goodwill towards the tasks, and level of your understanding. Apart from that, colleagues’ contributions could improve and revaluate your thoughts. From my perspective, besides equipping myself with the soft skills, and knowledge needed to deal with any actual challenges, the most critical characteristics are cognitive flexibility and quick adaptability to international circumstances related to political, legal, and environmental concerns. Overall, the meeting with Dr. Andrew gave me a big picture of real challenges and opportunities for international business ventures associated with the ways to overcome problems. Dr. Andrew’s story seemed to be such an effective informative and valuable lesson about the start-up in Vietnam, which is useful and could apply to a near-future career path.