Perceptions of Leadership Competencies and the Acquisition of Them by CEOs in Vietnamese Small Enterprises

Le Quan

doi:10.5539/ass.v11n4p17

Abstract

Leadership competencies are expected to be critical factors for Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to be successful and to lead their SMEs to play the role as the major driver toward economic development in Vietnam. This paper aims to understand the perceptions of CEOs of Vietnamese SMEs regarding the importance of some leadership competencies and the extent to which the competencies of knowledge, skills and attitudes have been acquired by these CEOs. This research was used them a large-scale survey and in-depth interviews method to solve those issues. The result of this research included the significant difference between the perceived importance and the level of acquisition of these competencies, particularly in Vietnam Small and Medium Entreprises. The result of this research can be seen as the important source for practioners in order to design effective training and development programs tailored for CEOs of SMEs.

Highlights

Leadership is one of the most interested topic that attracted many researchers and practioners that concentrated huge efforts on finding the useful information for both practioners and researchers
This paper aims to understand the perceptions of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Vietnamese small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) regarding the importance of some leadership competencies and the extent to which the competencies of knowledge, skills and attitudes have been acquired by these CEOs
The effective leadership is needed by all types of enterprises; the role of leadership seems more vital in the case of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) given their paramount importance in national economic development and the specific disadvantages they face when compared to their giant counterparts (Baum, Locke, & Kirkpatrick, 1998; Vo & Harvie, 2009; Matzler, Schwarz, Deutinger, & Harms, 2012)

Summary

Introduction

Leadership is one of the most interested topic that attracted many researchers and practioners that concentrated huge efforts on finding the useful information for both practioners and researchers. Vietnam has been considered as the developing country and the Vietnamese economy has experienced high growth since its reform in 1986; the key sources for this rapid development can be attributed to the private sector including SMEs and foreign invested enterprises (Harvie, 2008). In the 2009-2012 economic downturns in Vietnam, these challenges were compounded, illustrated by the fact that 7,000 SMEs were dissolved and 3,000 SMEs halted-production (Asiaecon, 2013) Given this context, leadership can be a critical factor for a SMEs’ survival and help SMEs to play the role as the major driver toward economic development in Vietnam

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