The research aims at understanding the nature of control and its impact on performance of international joint ventures (IJV) in Vietnam. The case studies permit to identify principal determinants of control in IJV, namely capital contribution, technological and managerial contribution, strategic importance of the IJV and partners’ relative bargaining power. Besides, the results show that the control of IJV in Vietnam corresponds to a system combining two subsystems of control, one specific to foreign partner and the other specific to local partner. The control of local partner is operational and decentralized whereas the control of foreign partner is essentially strategic and financial. Beyond the clear distinction between foreign control and local control of international joint venture, the results show that the perception of performance of international joint venture could vary depending on whether it is analysed from the viewpoint of foreign partner or vietnamese partner. The research ends with conclusions, limitations and our proposal for further research.