The reform of Vietnam’s economy from a centrally planned to a market-oriented mechanism has highlighted the ineffectiveness of the public sector’s management regime in which bureaucratic and high-power distance interpersonal relations remain dominant. Research from other countries suggests these characteristics are important determinants of negative workplace behaviors, low trust in management and low affective commitment among employees. The transition in public-sector organizations in general requires them to meet the needs of specific-stakeholder groups, such as citizens, rather than gain revenues and maximize organizational performance. As external resources are limited, public-sector leaders must look internally for potential resources to improve the organizational performance. This strategy could be achieved by the implementation of an effective human resource management (HRM) system to increase the trust and commitment of employees and maximize their contributions. Against this backdrop, and in answer to the in the call for an effective management system in Vietnam’s public sector, this study examines the determinants of trust in management and affective commitment of public-sector employees? This specific group of employees in an emerging economy has been relatively under-researched, and there have been few studies that have examined the perceptions and experience of public-sector officials towards the changes in the HRM system in Vietnam’s public sector. In this study, we integrate the literature on high commitment human resource practices (HCHRPs) with the theory of personal resources, operationalized as psychological capital (PC), to examine the extent to which the implementation of HCHRPs enables public-sector employees’ PC to mitigate negative behaviors and increase trust and affective commitment.
Data were obtained from 272 employees in six branches of a public-sector organization in Vietnam, using a self-report survey that examined respondents’ perceptions of the implementation of HCHRPs in their organizations and the level of their PC. The survey also examined their experience of workplace bullying, level of trust in management and affective commitment. We conducted the data analysis by applying structural equation modeling (SEM) approach in AMOS version 24. We also followed procedural remedies and statistical tests for common method variance, such as Harman’s one factor test and a marker variable approach. These tests showed that common method variance did not affect our analysis.
The measurement and structural model validations showed that the goodness of fit indices were all acceptable (such as CMIN/df, CFI, TLI, RMSEA and SRMR). These results provided empirical evidence suggesting that the implementation of HCHRPs is necessary for public-sector organizations in effectively utilizing human resources during the reform. We suggest that the implementation of HCHRPs enables the increase of personal resources, including hope, efficacy, optimism and resilience. These characteristics of PC together promote a positive view towards workplace interpersonal relationships and organizational environment. Furthermore, negative behaviours such as workplace bullying can be diminished because of employees’ positive self-concept. Both HCHRPs and PC then ultimately stimulate a high level of trust in management and affective commitment among employees.
Organisational change and the organisation of public sector work
IRSPM_2018_Nguyen_et_al_full_paper.pdf 