Human Resource Development in Vietnam: Research and Practice (Palgrave

Despite recent high GDP growth rates, Vietnam remains a developing country in need of developing human resources (HR) of both genders. This can be done through education, workplace training, corporate social responsibility, policies for gender equality, support for entrepreneurship, and other practices and policies. Yet, national human resource development (NHRD) is a relatively new concept in Vietnam. This edited volume highlights the importance of HR, HRD, and NHRD, enabling Vietnam to experience sustainable growth and become a modern industrial country. It examines the positive changes effected by HRD considering Vietnam's unique historical, political, economic, and cultural contexts. This book offers scholars and practitioners an indigenous HRD approach and discusses implications for future research and practices.

Winner of the 2021 R. Wayne Pace Book Award

PART I: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUNDChapter 1: National Human Resource Development in Vietnam (Van, Huyen Thi Minh Phuong, Tam To) This chapter explores literature conceptualizing Vietnam national human resource development (NHRD) and makes an initial operationalization of the construct. It will address four research questions: 1) How is NHRD defined in Vietnam? 2) What NHRD model is followed in Vietnam? 3) What issues exist about NHRD in Vietnam? 4) What approaches are applicable for managing such challenges? To answer these questions, the authors conducted an exploratory review of governmental materials and research literature. They include documents like Vietnam 2035, Vietnam Human Resource Planning 2011-2020, and Vietnam Qualifications Framework. The review also relies on authoritative research and reports by international organizations and scholarship from Vietnam. The authors further explore the strengths and weaknesses of Vietnam's human resources within the situational opportunities and threats; thus proposing strategies for Vietnam NHRD. Preliminary findings entail three conceptual propositions: a) Vietnam follows the transitional model of NHRD, b) NHRD exists in Vietnam as a broad term embedded in national policy on HRD, and c) the construct of NHRD has not been rigorously developed to regional or international levels. Operationally, this overview of NHRD in Vietnam, which is based on national policy including labor laws and other regulations on developing human resources, provides a sketch of HRD in higher education and public, private, and non-profit sectors. One trend discovered in this review was a recent strong movement towards mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the public sector, which can be a critical organization development and affects national sustained development.

Chapter 2: Historical and Cultural Contexts of Vietnam Affecting HRD (Truong, Huong Mai, Pham, Thuy Thi Hong & Doan, Thuy Thi Thanh) This chapter explores the historical and cultural contexts of HRD in Vietnam, a tropical country with a paddy-rice agricultural industry. Vietnam's history is longstanding with three main phases: the period from the Stone Age to 208 BC, the time of feudal dynasty with Chinese domination, and the period of interaction with western culture (from the 16th century to the present). Each historical narrative forms a picture of the nation as it exists in the global world. Given the history of colonization by China and France, followed by American involvement in the Vietnam War, Vietnam is at the crossroads of civilizations with major influences from Chinese and Western cultures. Thus, in addition to examining the cultural values from a Confucian perspective, the chapter also explores Vietnamese culture based on Hofstede's six dimensions of culture. The country's historical and cultural contexts are reflected in prevailing HRD strategies and practices: collective orientation, hierarchical organizational structures, centralized decision making, and seniority preference. Such practices result in poor employee relationships and personnel administration, creating challenges for HRD practitioners. These impacts are examined across six functions of HRD, including training and development, organization development, career development, HR planning, performance management, and recruiting and selection.

Chapter 3: The Influence of National Factors on National Patterns of HRD in Vietnam: A Review of Literature (Nguyen, Kien Duc & Do, Kien Duy) This chapter is motivated from two factors. First, the national context in HRD is an under-researched area. Although importance of national context in explaining the nature of HRD has been recently stressed by scholars, studies on this topic have been limited. Second, Vietnam, a developing and transition economy in Southeast Asia with political, cultural and socioeconomic particularities, appears to pose a potential non-Western context for enriching the existing literature. This chapter aims to examine the effects of institutional factors on HRD patterns and practices in Vietnam, to make comparisons of the relationships between institutional factors and HRD practices in Vietnam with those in other countries, and to investigate whether HRD models established in Western nations applicable in Vietnam. The methods used in the chapter are qualitative research and content analysis. Theoretically, this research will provide some new prepositions for institutional theory based on the findings of the current research, which result from the interaction between the western theory and Vietnamese context. Practically, the findings of this chapter are beneficial for multinational organizations in adapting their global strategies and practices to the particular characteristics in Vietnam.

PART II: HRD IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Chapter 4: The Vietnamese Educational Policy and Human Resource Development after the 1986 Economic Reform (Le, Lan Thi Ngoc & Hoang, Duy Anh) The chapter focuses on the description and analysis of the development process of educational policy and human resource development in Vietnam after its economic reforms in 1986. From the analysis of the adjustments in the educational system, as well as changes in human resource development targets and solutions of the country from 1986 to the present, the authors evaluate the achievements of the reforming efforts, such as in quality assurance, the shortcomings and causes of the reform. The authors also compare the basic elements of educational and human resource development strategies of Vietnam with those of a number of Asian countries. Based on the findings with relation to the above aspects, the chapter proposes future directions, as well as crucial solutions to national policymakers on education and human resource development for 2020-2030.

Chapter 5: Vietnam Higher Education in Promoting Innovation and an Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: Current Practices and the Way Forward (Pham, Ly Thi) The fast growth of this country in past decades mostly relied on natural resources and policy reforms in agriculture, rather than various forms of innovation. However, in recent years, the Vietnam economy has shifted more into industrial and services sectors. In this global competition context, the transition of Vietnam has led to an urgent need of improving the quality of human resources, which have significant impact on productivity growth. Under the needs for skilled workforce, the higher education sector in Vietnam has expanded dramatically during the last three decades, while the quality of education has not met the demands of the industries and society at large. Transition to a modern concept and emphasizing more the third mission of universities takes place slowly. The potential of higher education institutions has not adequately explored creating an ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship, which would be critical for strengthening human resource development and competitiveness of Vietnam. This chapter examines the role of higher education institutions in promoting the linkage between entrepreneurship and innovation in the context of Vietnam with current practices and interventions by policymakers. This chapter also proposes policy recommendations for improving the effectiveness of higher education institutions in terms of supporting the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem in Vietnam.

PART III: HRD IN PUBLIC SECTOR

Chapter 6: Human Resource Development in the Vietnamese Civil Service System (Hoang, Giang Vinh) In the context of globalization and international integration, many countries, including Vietnam, have been paying special attention to public administration reforms. Vietnam completed the Master Program on Public Administration Reform in the past (2001-2010) and has been making great efforts to fulfill the current program (2011-2020), in which civil servant development is one of the key objectives. Civil servant development is a potential solution for improving HR competence and performance in the public sector. The fundamental issues of civil servant development in Vietnamese administrative organizations were investigated in the context of administrative reforms, focusing on changes, challenges, and practical efforts of the Vietnamese government in civil servant development. This qualitative research is based on secondary data in the area of human resource development in the public sector in general and Vietnamese civil servant development in particular. The chapter begins with a brief introduction to civil service and civil servants in Vietnam. It then provides an overview of civil service reforms in Vietnam, focusing on discussion of targets, strategic changes, practical situations and challenges in civil servant development. The final part suggests recommendations on civil servant development in Vietnam.

PART IV: HRD IN PRIVATE SECTOR

Chapter 7: An ASK (Attitudes-Skills-Knowledge) Model for Assessing Labor: The Case of the Vietnamese Tourism Industry in the Context of Integration (Nguyen, Hien Tan Thu & Nguyen, Thang Quang) International integration has brought a great number of opportunities for tourism development in Vietnam. Accordingly, tourism has become the key driver for national economic development. However, a huge challenge is facing HR. Mr. Binh, Vu The, Vice-President of the Vietnam Tourism Association asserts that integration has resulted in increasing pressure for the labor force in the tourism industry to seek for and retain employment opportunities. Thus developing a high-quality labor market to meet the needs of integration appears to be extremely pivotal. To achieve that, formulating assessment criteria is the foremost needed action. Nevertheless, existing criteria for assessing labor quality in Vietnam are still backward since these criteria only focus on physical strength, educational qualifications and practical skills. Meanwhile, Attitude- an important factor affecting productivity according to numerous studies is still missing. This chapter addresses this issue by developing an ASK model (Attitude-Skill-Knowledge) as a background for creating assessment criteria for developing high-quality tourism labor in the context of international integration.

Chapter 8: Women Entrepreneurs' Development in Vietnam (Nguyen, Anh Hoang)

Women are involved in business activities at all levels in Vietnam. They contribute significantly to economic development of the country, which was previously deemed men's domain. In December 2011, there were 81,226 small and medium enterprises, 25% of which were headed by women, with the average income of VND 33 million/year (about 1,500 USD). Although many Vietnamese women were succeeding in business, they were far from meeting their potential because of traditional gender values, norms, and stereotypes in the business environment. Despite recent economic development, women are generally expected to be good housewives and mothers, as they are often perceived as weak, passive, and irrational. The newly revised Enterprise Law issued in 2014 showed some improvements; however, there is still a lack of specific support for women entrepreneurs. Recently, many heated discussions took place but remained inconclusive owing to shortage of data, evidence, and a lack of awareness of gender issues that are inherently important for different aspects of socio-economic life. To fill this gap, based on a quantitative survey of 110 companies in Hanoi and adjacent areas, the research has explored legal and socio-cultural barriers and their impact on the development of women entrepreneurs in Vietnam.

Chapter 9: Importance of Human Resources in Building a Sustainable Enterprise: The Case of SMEs in Vietnam (Nguyen, Thang Quang & Nguyen, Hien Tan Thu) The world has rapidly changed, resulting in growing concern for economic, social, and environmental issues prominently, including global poverty, social inequality, natural resource exhaustion, and climate change. As a result, a transition towards sustainable development has been globally called for in all sectors of the economy. Accordingly, sustainable development has become one of the most critical objectives of businesses. In the firm's sustainability journey, human resources (HR) are considered as a key driver in fostering greater sustainability. HR plays an important role in a successful implementation of sustainable business practices at all levels of the organization. For instance, HR can contribute to create sustainable corporate vision and mission, achieve sustainable corporate culture, build up sustainable HR systems and processes or strengthen stakeholder's engagement for sustainability purposes. This chapter will discuss how human resources can contribute to create a sustainable enterprise with insights from multi case studies of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from different industries in Vietnam.

Chapter 10: Human Resource Practices and Effectiveness in Vietnam (Duong, Nhung Thi Hoai & Vu, Giang Thi Huong) HRM literature provides evidence of the effects of HRM systems on organizational performance, yet the research on HR functions in business implementation has not received much attention. Even though SMEs in Vietnam account for a significant portion of jobs and employment, current research on HR practices has focused primarily on larger firms. There exists little empirical research on current HR practices in SMEs in Vietnamese enterprises. Hence, this chapter determines HR practices in Vietnamese SMEs and how HR practices make contributions to HR effectiveness to improve firm performance. Using a structural equation modeling approach, we analyzed data collected from line managers of Vietnamese SMEs and evaluated how line managers felt HR practices were contributing to HR effectiveness. Research implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

PART V: HRD TRENDS

Chapter 11: Human Resource Development through Corporate Social Responsibility (Do, Kien Duy & Tran, Hien Thi)

This chapter will explore Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices through the HRD lens. In particular, it will examine the interactions between CSR and HRD in the case of Vietnam. The combination of these under-researched topics in Vietnam (CSR and HRD) is important. First, this chapter will explain the role of CSR in the construction and development of HR practices in Vietnam through looking at formal and informal CSR practices. It will further examine circumstances where CSR is a tool for fostering HR development goals and vice versa. In doing so, this chapter will conduct a qualitative study using interview data of HR managers and companies' leaders in Vietnam through a case study. The author will perform case studies with public companies which are listed on Vietnam's stock exchange. Regarding theoretical perspective, this chapter uses institutional theory to explain similarities and differences in HRD between Vietnam and the US. The outcome of this chapter could serve as a guide to inform corporate managers as well as policymakers in Vietnam regarding the usefulness of CSR practices in promoting HR activities within organisations.

Chapter 12: Managing Culture for Management Innovation in Vietnam (Nguyen, Loi Anh) Management innovation refers to the implementation of management ideas, practices, tools, or structures that are new to the adopting organization. Organizational performance and other measures of innovation success are found to be related to management innovation. Among many essential factors affecting management innovation, organizational culture is considered to be one of the most crucial determinants. However, little is known on how organizational culture, which is often considered to be stable and difficult to change, impact management innovation, which tends to bring radical change to organizations. In addition, far less is known about this relationship in the context of emerging and transitioning economies, like Vietnam. Organizational culture is also a relatively new concept in Vietnamese business communities. In this chapter, using case study approach and discourse analysis, I illustrate the dynamics between organizational culture and innovation in an innovative company in Vietnam. I found some patterns in how the focal organization managed its cultural artifacts to overcome barriers and to implement management innovation. The implications for research and practice are addressed.

Chapter 13: Optimizing Human Resources for Vietnam: Next Steps? (McLean, G. N., Phuong, T. T., Van, H. T. M., Tran, H. T.) We provide an overview of the emerging topics of HRD in research and practice in Vietnam highlighting convergences (similarities) and divergences (differences) of HRD in the wide range of Vietnamese contexts and sectors. For this to occur, we synthesize all chapters; summarize common successes and failures, barriers, HRD trends such as M&A, the research gaps and opportunities to attempt for an identification of why differences and commonalities have existed in Vietnam. Based on the chapters preceding this one, we identify the characteristics of HRD in Vietnam. The book ends with a vision for the future.