Organizational culture of privatized firms and state- owned enterprises in Vietnam

The purpose of this paper is to examine the organizational culture of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privatized firms (PFs) in Vietnam, and to study whether or not the difference in organizational culture between the two company groups exists. Different organizational cultural dimensions were reviewed. Two comparative groups, SOEs and PFs were surveyed. Based on the work of Cunha and Cooper on organizational cultural types, a structured questionnaire was developed and sent to managers, staffs, and workers in both state-owned and privatized companies. Seven hundred and ninety valid questionnaires were collected from companies located in Hochiminh City. The results show that PFs have people and market orientations significantly different from that of SOEs. There is not the difference in integration orientation and performance orientation between PFs and SOEs. These findings imply that there are many cultural dimensions existing together in an organization and the ownership structure could be the predictor of organizational culture. The limitations of the study are that the sample is limited to companies located in Hochiminh City, and the convenient sampling technique was used. Therefore the replication of this analysis in other research contexts and regions of the country and the use of random sampling technique would enhance the generalization of the findings. This study provides empirical evidence for the importance of ownership change leading to organizational culture change in the Vietnamese context.