- Title
- Exploring the drivers of organisational commitment in an emerging Asian economy: the case of Vietnam
- Creator
- Nguyen, Ha Thi Ngan
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Organisational commitment is a theoretical framework that has been used to assess employees’ attachment, loyalty, and responsibility to the organisations in which they are employed. Historically the concept been applied by scholars and Human Resource practitioners to assist organisations to improve the productivity and engagement of their employees. However, to date most of the research into organisational commitment has been undertaken in developed Western countries. Few studies have been undertaken in non-Western emerging economies such as Vietnam, a country that has values strongly underpinned by Confucian philosophies and collectivist values. Vietnam has undergone enormous changes over the past 30 years, including the impressive transformation of the economy from a poor, centrally governed command economy, to an open market economy with a large influx of international companies. Incomes and the level of education have both improved, especially among women. These substantial and rapid changes are thought to have an impact on organisational commitment among employees in Vietnam. Institutional theory can be used to describe which institutions influence individual behaviours. Institutional frameworks can also be used to examine changes that occur in society over time and how these changes may influence behaviours. However, there is a lack of a conceptual framework for examining the interplay between institutions, organisational behaviour and management, and more specifically, a framework for examining how institutional change may impact organisational commitment. This study uses a combination of institutional theory, organisational commitment, and demographic characteristics to develop a conceptual framework to analyse the influences that changing regulatory, social-normative and cultural-cognitive institutions might have on the nature and practice of organisational commitment in Vietnam. This study was conducted using a mixed-methods approach. Data were gathered by conducting face-to-face interviews with employees studying MA degrees at four universities in Ho Chi Minh city and a survey of employees studying their second Bachelor degree in Ho Chi Minh city. This study finds that demographic characteristics such as gender, type of organisation and hometown have a significant influence on the affective, continuance and normative commitment of employees. The findings indicate that changes in Vietnamese institutions have affected the beliefs, norms, and behaviours of employees. Specifically, this study has found gender is an impacting factor on organisational commitment and a new factor (hometown) affects organisational commitment in the Vietnamese context. Women show lower levels of organisational commitment than men. Migrating employees show higher levels of organisational commitment than their counterparts who were born and grew up in the city where they are working. This study provides applied and policy contributions to Human Resource Management practices in Vietnamese organisations. It suggests that employees from different backgrounds may commit differently to organisations and therefore, HRM policy makers should recognise and accommodate this issue to enhance organisational commitment.
- Subject
- organisational commitment; Vietnam; Doi moi; institutional change; demographic characteristics
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1427170
- Identifier
- uon:38522
- Rights
- Copyright 2021 Ha Thi Ngan Nguyen
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 244 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |