Transformational Leadership Style, Reward Systems, Management Accounting System Information andManagerial Performance: The Impact of Ownership Type in Vietnamese Enterprises

Abstract

In a competitive business environment, managers’ need for broad scope management accounting system (MAS) information for decision making increases. This information is critical for facilitating managers to gain a better understanding of a competitive environment and to respond to uncertain situations. Such understanding, in turn, helps managers to make more effective decisions, thereby improving their performance. The extant literature suggests that several factors, such as organisational structure and external environment, may have an impact on managers’ use of broad scope MAS information (hereafter, the MAS information) and on their performance. However, the literature suggests that such an impact varies depending on contexts such as countries and cultures. In a transitional economy, as in Vietnam, studies investigating the impact of these factors on managers’ use of the MAS information and on their performance are rather scarce. Vietnam is in the process of transforming from a centrally planned economy to a market-oriented one characterised by a competitive business environment, organisations with multiple ownership types and a mix of leadership styles and reward systems. The relevant literature argues that the impact of different ownership types, leadership styles and reward systems in the transitional economy of Vietnam may differ from that found in a western country’s developed economy. However, an extensive literature review suggests that research on the impact of leadership style, reward system, and ownership type on managers’ use of the MAS information and their performance in Vietnam has yet to be conducted. The current study addresses this shortcoming.