Critical determinants for mobile commerce adoption in Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the critical determinants of mobile commerce (m-commerce) adoption in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. A comprehensive review of the related literature leads to the development of a conceptual framework to better understand m-commerce adoption in organisations. This framework is then tested and validated using structural equation modelling on the data collected from 513 Vietnamese SMEs. The study shows that perceived benefits, perceived compatibility, perceived security, organisational readiness, organisational innovativeness, customer pressures, government support, and managers’ IT knowledge are the critical determinants of m-commerce adoption. This study contributes to a better understanding of m-commerce adoption in developing countries, particularly in Vietnam. It can facilitate the development of m-commerce in SMEs by providing evidence-based strategies and policies.     

Comparative study on the relationship between just-in-time production practices and operational performance in manufacturing plants

This study analyzes the differences in approaching JIT production across countries in order to identify alternative paths to high manufacturing performance. We applied ANOVA and regression techniques to the database of High Performance Manufacturing Project to examine the similarities and differences across countries in JIT implementation and the effect of JIT production practices on operational performance. The results indicated that JIT production practices were implemented in different ways across the countries. We found that the relationship between JIT production practices and plant performance is contingent on the national context and infrastructure practices in quality and workforce management. JIT delivery by suppliers, JIT layout, and setup time reduction were found to be the most effective approaches to improve cost, delivery, and flexibility. This study highlights the important role of shop-floor communication and information sharing, which should be focused for maximizing the benefits of JIT implementation.     

Trade liberalisation,poverty, and inequality in Vietnam: a quantile regression approach

This study examines the effects of trade liberalisation on rural household welfare, poverty, and inequality in Vietnam, with the use of multiple estimation strategies, including the panel quantile regression approach based on Canay's two-step estimator. Taking account of the multi-faceted nature of trade liberalisation, we consider a set of household-level trade-related variables, including employment in export, import-competing, and manufacturing sectors. A unique panel data set is constructed from the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys conducted in 2002, 2004 and 2006. We find that employment in trade-related sectors contributes significantly to rural household welfare. Moreover, the effects of trade-related employment on welfare are heterogeneous across the welfare/income distribution, in that trade-related employment sectors have different influences on different groups/quantiles of households.     

Bank risk in uncertain times: Do credit rationing and revenue diversification matter?

We show that bank risk rises, particularly for larger banks and those with greater interest-sensitive liabilities, during times of economic policy uncertainty through two economic channels: “credit rationing” and “revenue diversification.” The credit rationing channel shows that economic policy uncertainty increases aggregate loan spreads, exacerbating both adverse selection and moral hazard problems leading to higher bank risk. The revenue diversification channel suggests that as economic policy uncertainty reduces bank profits from traditional interest-based products, banks diversify into other non-traditional activities, thereby increasing their instability. Overall, our findings highlight the impact of economic policy uncertainty on exacerbating bank risk.     

No-arbitrage condition and existence of equilibrium with dividends

In this paper we first give an elementary proof of existence of equilibrium with dividends in an economy with possibly satiated consumers. We then introduce a no-arbitrage condition and show that it is equivalent to the existence of equilibrium with dividends.     

The effects of interaction behaviors of service frontliners on customer participation in the value co-creation: a study of health care service

This research explores the roles of various interaction behaviors of service frontliners in activating customer participation and creating customer value in the context of health care service. Based on the data of 285 paired patient–physician cases of serious chronic diseases, the analysis revealed that individuated, relational, and empowered interactions expressed by a service frontliner play a critical role in activating customer participation, leading to a higher level of perceived value; while ethical interaction has a direct-only impact on perceived value. These results imply that frontliner interaction can be further broken into participation-activating interaction and value-enhancing interaction. Both of which eventually lead to the improvement of customer value.     

Getting bank financing: A study of Vietnamese private firms

Private firms in transition economies are operating in an extremely uncertain environment, with underdeveloped market institutions, poorly defined property rights, and absence of reliable business data. This raises a very basic question of how owners of these firms persuade bankers to make much needed loans. This study employs an institutional perspective and argues that firms' legitimacy positively influences their accessibility to bank financing. Specifically, this study develops a model that links networking, professional management practices, and growth stage with bank financing and tests that model using a sample of Vietnamese private firms. The results support the hypotheses that growth stage and networking greatly influence firms' accessibility to bank financing, and that the impact of networking on financing is contingent on the growth stage.     

The Impact of Internal Corporate Social Responsibility on Organizational Commitment: Evidence from Vietnamese Service Firms

This study examines the relationship between internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) and organizational commitment in the service sector in Vietnam. Results from a survey of 256 employees indicate that internal CSR has a positive and significant correlation with organizational commitment. More specifically, labor relations, health and safety, and training and education had a significant effect on organizational commitment whereas work–life balance and social dialogue have no significant association with organizational commitment. The authors also provide implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research.     

Political Economy of Industrial Development in Vietnam’s Telecommunications Industry: A Rent Management Analysis

This article contributes to the current debate in economics on the uses and benefits of rents and rent seeking. On the one hand, public choice and neoliberal scholars highlight the redistributive and damaging aspects of rent seeking, thus rendering the policy suggestion to completely eradicate rents and rent seeking in an economy. On the other hand, institutional and development economists point out the inherent theoretical inconsistencies shown in the earlier models, and suggest that certain types of rent and rent seeking could be growth-enhancing. Using the Developmental Rent Management Analysis, this article assesses the industrial development of the telecommunications industry in Vietnam using two case studies. Qualitative research points out a number of rent management factors contributing both to the industry’s failure before the early 2000s and its subsequent success thereafter. The successful development of the telecommunications industry was fundamentally based on (i) favorable political support for rent creation, (ii) an effective structure of rent allocation and implementation, and (iii) credible incentives and pressures that encouraged local firms’ industrial upgrading. The Vietnamese experience suggests that rents can be developmental, conceivably side-by-side with rent seeking, cronyism and corruption.