The exploration of factors relevant to influencing Civil Servants’ Job performance: A case of Vietnam

Giang Vinh Hoang (National Academy of Public Administration)
​Martin Broad (University of Southampton)
Pingli Li (University of Southampton)
Hong T. M. Bui (University of Bath)

Over the years, there has been a considerable body of researches on performance, but very few found in job performance within public organizations. Recently, several public administration scholars and practitioners have paid attention to this theme due to the requirements of public sector reforms, especially the application of New Public Management, basing on the theories from the private sector. It should note that performance in the public sector have their own characteristics, differing from in the private sector. Therefore, it is unreasonable when most of researchers in the public sector consider performance as a variable by applying the theoretical frameworks conducted in the private sector. Furthermore, since the theories performance are mostly studied in developed countries, it is a “naive” and even “disastrous” copy for the
developing countries which have been implementing public sector reforms to apply these theories, especially on performance, which are unique and complicated.

The aim of this study was to gain more knowledge about the experiences and concerns of Vietnamese civil servants and to determine what influences their job performance in practice. The aims of the research are: 1) to understand the perceptions of civil servants in their job performance practices, 2) to identify what factors affect civil servants’ job performance. We used grounded theory methodology and collected data through fifty-six civil servants from different administrative organizations, roles, ages, and years of experience from the north, the centre, and the south of Vietnam were interviewed within six months (from July 2016 to December 2016). We analysed the data in accordance with grounded theory, using open, axial, selective coding and comparative method.

It is indicated that numerous factors, such as civil servants’ status, relationship issues,
leadership, job characteristics, job performance evaluation, regulation frameworks, political interventions, hierarchical apparatus, organizational factors and social context are relevant to affecting the Vietnamese civil servants’ job performance in practice.

Powerpoint Presentation