The impact of power hierarchy on fostering innovation and creativity among employees in Vietnam: A study based on East Asian Culture

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School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
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Date

2018

Department

Mikkelin kampus

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Mcode

Degree programme

(Mikkeli) Bachelor’s Program in International Business

Language

en

Pages

59 + 2

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Abstract

Objectives: The main objective of this thesis is, firstly, to study the impact of traditional Vietnamese cultural practices, which is heavily influenced by East Asian culture, on the presence of power hierarchy in the workplace in Vietnam. Secondly, the paper seeks to identify and gauge the effects of power hierarchy and bureaucracy in Vietnamese organizations. Lastly, this study aims to explore the relationship between hierarchy of power on the creativity level among employees. Summary: This thesis relies on qualitative research method to attain its objectives mentioned above. Four in-depth interviews were conducted with top-level managers who are working in Vietnam. These interviews aim to evaluate the impact of cultural factors on the presence of power hierarchy in organizations. Also, the relationship between hierarchy of power and organizational creativity in Vietnam is examined based the participants’ perspectives. Certain insights are generated from the interview result, which provides a comprehensive study of power hierarchy and employees’ creativity in organizations from a cultural perspective. A discussion of the findings in this thesis and related arguments by previous scholars is also presented to more elaborately study how creativity is affected by organizational hierarchy. Conclusions: The findings in this research imply that the hierarchy of power is greatly influenced by the national culture of the country that the organization operates. In addition, power hierarchy has strong impacts on employees’ willingness to raise their voice, which eventually affects the development of organizational creativity. Generally, organizations in Vietnam adopt steep hierarchy of power where the gap between superiors and subordinates is significant, which might impede employees’ creativity and innovation. However, the contingency theory is also supported as this study implies that the impact of power hierarchy varies due to the uniqueness and different objectives of each organization. Certain level of hierarchy is still required to ensure effective operation and avoid chaos among employees.

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Thesis advisor

Almor, Tamar

Keywords

power hierarchy, organizational structure, creativity, innovation, cultural Influence, Vietnam, East Asia

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-201809105030

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[kand] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ (Open Access)