No abstract

As the world of business has become more globalized than ever, organizational leadership and workforce have also become more culturally diverse. Thus, understanding the leadership behaviors and work-related stress perception of employees in different cultures is strategically important for businesses in the 21 st century. This paper specifically investigated the task and relationship behaviors as well as the work overload stress perception of working adults in Russia and Vietnam. Using Northouse's (2007) Style Questionnaire and the Overload Stress Inventory adapted from Hyde and Allen's conceptual analysis of overload (1996), this study provides a cross cultural analysis of 418 respondents including 230 Russians and 188 Vietnamese based on their place of birth and gender. Vietnamese respondents have significantly higher scores on task, relationship and stress orientations than Russians. However, gender is not a significant factor on task, relationship, and the stress perceptions of these respondents. In this paper, the history and culture of Russia and Vietnam, as well as literature review on the behavioral approaches to leadership and gender role are presented along with practical implications and suggestions for managers, practitioners and future studies.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes toward business ethics of Vietnamese business students based on gender and the experience of having taken a business ethics course. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative self-administered survey was conducted with a convenience sample of Vietnamese business students at a banking university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This study used the 30-item Attitudes Toward Business Ethics Questionnaire (ATBEQ) constructed by Neumann and Reichel (1987) based on the work of Stevens (1979). The Vietnamese version questionnaire was distributed, and 282 surveys were used for analysis. An item-by-item analysis was conducted based on gender and the experience of having taken a business ethics course. Findings – Significant differences were found on seven items based on gender and four items based on the experience of having taken a business ethics course. However, respondents appeared to have similar attitudes on the majority of the items. Research limitations/implications – Perhaps the greatest limitation of this study is the relatively uneven distribution of the respondents in the sample. The sample is skewed slightly toward women who are a bit older, fourth year or post-graduate and those who have not taken a business ethics course. In addition convenience sampling technique reduced its generalizability. This study is important because it supports the idea of ethics education to improve ethical decision-making of future business leaders and that education has an effect in Vietnam. Practical implications – As business students are the main subjects of this research, it can be useful for those involved in development of management and business education in Vietnam to have an overview on how gender impacts business students’ ethics perception. For the executives of multinational corporations, this study provides important information and adds support to a decision to do business in Vietnam. Social implications – Although there may be a perception of a less than ethical climate in Vietnam based on its Corruption Perception Index scores, it appears that Vietnamese business students in general express an ethical viewpoint. This study emphasizes the importance of ethics education that is culture-specific to build a strong ethical business environment that can help Vietnam prevent bribery and corruption and achieve sustainable growth and prosperity. Originality/value – This study contributes to the attitudes toward business ethics research and sheds light on the impact of gender and education (business ethics course) on Vietnamese business students’ ethical attitudes. There has been little research on business ethics in Vietnam. Academicians, managers, practitioners, policymakers, government leaders and the like can benefit from the findings of this paper.

The purpose of the present study is to empirically examine the personal perception of working adults on business ethics in Russia and Vietnam. Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire from 487 working adults (248 Russian and 239 Vietnamese adults). Significance of differences in Clark and Clark’s Personal Business Ethics Scores based on gender, management experience and ethics training was analysed with the help of univariate analysis of variance method (two-way analysis of variance method). Findings of the present study indicate that there is a significant difference in the level of ethical maturity among the Vietnamese and Russian working adults. Vietnamese respondents have higher business ethics perception than Russian respondents. Female adults demonstrate higher ethical maturity level than their male counterparts in the overall sample. Additionally, there is no significant difference in the business ethics perception of respondents in Russia and Vietnam on the basis of ethics training and management experience. This study provides global business leaders an opportunity to better understand business ethics perception of working adults across Russia and Vietnam.