Leadership styles and generational effects: examples of US companies in Vietnam

Abstract

Leadership styles are an important issue for a range of areas, including business and management. One aspect of this is the influence of the age of people on their receptivity to leadership styles. Yet, research on this area using Asian contexts is limited. Consequently, our research looks at the generational effect in the reception of leadership styles -performance-oriented and participative. In particular, we examine the different value orientations of age cohorts and their reception to different leadership styles in Vietnam. First, we outline three strands of literature, namely culture and leadership, generation as a subculture and Vietnam as a context for the transfer of leadership styles. Second, our research methodology is detailed. Third, our empirical research using case study methods is presented. Our results cover the characteristics of three main age cohorts: the resilience of the pre-1975 born, the adaptability of 1975 -1986 born and the arrival of the post-1986 born. Following the discussion and implications, we provide some brief conclusions.

Managerial leadership within Vietnam’s transition

“…The available leadership studies on Vietnam mainly test the applicability of Western-derived concepts of leadership styles (e.g. Cox et al, 2014; Vo and Hannif, 2013). These concepts are rooted in an atomised world view that conceptualises people as self-contained individuals (Endres and Weibler, 2017), which runs counter to the holistic world view that characterises Vietnam’s traditional philosophy (Zhu et al, 2018).…”

“…By highlighting patriarchal historic traditions, paternalistic leadership combines authoritarianism with fatherly benevolence and moral integrity (Cheng et al, 2000). While these prior studies are noteworthy for investigating leadership outside Western settings, times may be changing as a new generation of leaders takes over (Cox et al, 2014). Emerging economies are contexts that are not fully understood and new ‘context-rich’ theories are urgently needed (Ren and Zhu, 2015; Warner, 2013; Zhu et al, 2018).…”

“…With theories of leadership abound, Western-inspired research on leadership practices in Vietnam has surged in the past decade (e.g. Bui et al, 2019; Collins, 2018; Collins and Zhu, 2005; Collins et al, 2017; Cox et al, 2014; Edwards and Phan, 2013; Zhu et al, 2008). This line of work draws from the typical Western leadership styles, such as transformational leadership (Nguyen et al, 2017; Rodsutti and Swierczek, 2002), which is insufficient to uncover the interaction of context and implicit mindsets (Epitropaki et al, 2013).…”

A Cultural Analysis of Employees' Work Values and Their Consequences for Work-Related Outcomes: The Case of China

“…The implicit assumption commonly shared by most cross-cultural research is that intra-country values are homogeneous (Au, 1999;Morris, 2014). Such an overly simplistic approach may lead researchers to overlook crucial subcultural differences (McSweeney, 2009;Sasaki & Yoshikawa, 2014;Taras, Steel & Kirkman, 2012;Tung & Verbeke, 2010), such as those among generations within organizational settings (Cox, Hannif & Rowley, 2014). Thus, a cultural perspective is essential to gaining a more holistic understanding toward work values and generational phenomena in the workplace, given the changing demographics worldwide and increasingly globalized world economy.…”

“…The above critique, while insightful and valuable, falls short of providing practical guidance for addressing the measurement equivalence issue. Such measurement concern is of particular relevance to the present study conducted in China, where sub-national variations can be extreme (e.g., Redfern & Crawford, 2010;Tung & Verbeke, 2010), such as those among generations within organizational settings (Cox, et al, 2014;Li & Nimon, 2008). By using multiple-step scale development and validation, I…”