Week 5 - Vy Nguyen

Per H. Hansen argues that Danish modern furnitures succeeded “through the creation of powerful narratives [and through] a network of individuals and organizations" (449) who share the same narratives. Networking and creating a strong narrative is very important for a startup, like Vingo, to promote their product domestically and internationally.

Vingo needs a narrative that will resonate with the targeted-audience. This narrative will discuss the importance of the end of the Vietnam War and how 1975 played a huge role in the relocation of millions of Vietnamese people and the formation of a first, second and subsequent generations of Vietnamese immigrants around the world. Thus, a byproduct of living in a foreign land means Vietnamese in the diaspora are raised with little knowledge of their language or culture. Without language, overseas Vietnamese are unable to effectively communicate with family and friends. And for older Vietnamese-American students and professionals, the lack of cultural and linguistic understanding will prevent them from connecting with Vietnam professionally. With Vietnam being the second fastest and soon to be the fastest growing economy in the world, Vingo will help provide  overseas Vietnamese with the tools to facilitate trade, diplomacy and connections to their homeland.

However, these narratives would not be effective if Vingo does not have a network of distinguished scholars and prominent organizations whose goal was “to promote and legitimize these narratives” (449). Therefore, while conducting our research, we have also pitched our vision to specific scholars and organizations in North America in hopes that they will support and help us develop a better product for the targeted-audience.

Question: Hansen’s two main arguments are about the importance of having a strong narrative and a network where people within that network can help legitimize the strong narrative. But what about the people who carry out these narrative? They are just as important as the scholars and professionals who legitimizes the narrative.

Works Cited:

Hansen, Per H. “Networks, Narratives, and New Markets: The Rise and Decline of Danish Modern Furniture Design.” The Business History Review 80.3 (2006): 449-483. JSTOR. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.

Photos cited:

Jen Ryan, Director of Inventory Solutions, Dominion Dealer Solutions. "Advanced Natural Language Generation Software | Narrative Science." Advanced Natural Language Generation Software | Narrative Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.