Can you help me?

I don't know where the foreign partner come from but in my opinion if somebody throws his pen on the table that could mean he is upset or agitated about something (to much questions? not trustworthy? your boss asked stupid questions? Who knows?). Or he felt that your boss is not respected him...

If you dealing with international business partners it is good to know what their customs are and how they can react/behave in social interactions.

Better to have patience.
The angry  burns us first, then other  person

Hi, Kieu,
I think it's just a different culture. Because as far as I know, for foreigners, it is a normal action.

"Foreigners" come in all colours and sizes, there is not one "normal" for all of them.
In some cultures, being direct and clearly showing your opinions and emotions (like throwing your pen on the table) is is normal and may even be seen as a sign of trust. In others (like yours), it can be seen as offending.
Some cultures pay close attention to appearances, in others it is perfectly fine to sit cross-legged and wear a T-shirt in business meetings.
To do and say the right things in intercultural situations is a difficult art. Your business partner obviously didn't master it yet. That does not make him a bad partner, it just means the tolerance and mediation must come from your side.
It helps, in such situations, to concentrate on the business facts, rather than appearance or emotions, and if in doubt communicate very openly - you could for example tell him "Such actions can mean different things in different cultures. Could you please explain to us what exactly you meant?"

Thank you beppi for giving me advice

I also think beppi right. There is not one "normal" for all of them.
We need to say clearly how you feel at that moment, so it just might help him understand the culture of your country, also to help you understand his action.

With only common sense, that type of behavior shows either frustration or just plain being disrespctful. Now you're talking about business, and it's very unlikely for business partners to not aware about the cultural differences if that's the case. You can try to go back and see if there was anything that might be the cause, but foreigners doing business in your country should also learn and respect your customs. It's only fair.
I don't think it has anything to do with the culture. And I think it's a very negative act during any meeting, much less for meeting with foreign partners.

How can we help without knowing the full story? I don't think someone behave like this without a sufficient reason to upset them

Hi kieule2313,

I have merged some posts on this discussion

Thank you,

Priscilla
Expat.com Team

Vietnamese executives are notorious for coming to meetings unprepared.  That is very upsetting to people, especially if they had to spend thousands of dollars and flown half way around the world.

hi Beppi,

As you said "To do and say the right things in intercultural situations is a difficult art" Could you explain more about it? What is intercultural? Is it different from cultural competence?

Hi Primadonna,
there was no problem during the conversation, therefore his action after the discussion made me feel very angry.
Could you give me some advices to help me know more about their custom and cultural. Is the cultural competence in international business?

be careful with body language, sometimes cross arms and or legs is just comfortable not rejection or acceptance, but throwing pen on table is frustration, meaning the conversation is going no where, meeting was waste of time, go away , try again later

throwing pen on table is frustration

I'm not sure where the foreign partner is from.... BUT it could be frustration due to misunderstandings brought about by language difficulties.
If you can't get your point across, or if the other person doesn't understand what your trying to discuss... = frustration!

Don't get hooked up on the body language and "it showed no respect for my  boss" ... there is a miscommunication somewhere, find out what it is and this will help smooth out the partnership.

Don't assume, because you think everything was clear that the foreign partner felt the same way...

I think the problem is we don't understand their culture, every country has its own culture. So before you want to evaluate someone, we should know about their culture, their behavior.
And I think exploring the culture from other countries is very helpful for you when doing business with foreigners.

I also think knowing about other cultures is very necessary, especially when you doing business with foreigners.
I know there is an event talk about the culture at VLS. If you have any interest, you can join it to have more information about culture over the world and it also gives solutions to help you solve problems in different situations