Unproductive project management process in ITC HCM

LISTOFFIGURES Figure2:Generalworkflowforatypicalresearchprojectandpersonnel 8assignment Figure3:Recruitment/DepartureofemployeesinITC-HCMsince2010 10 Figure5:Possiblecausesleadingtoturno

LISTOFFIGURES

Figure2:Generalworkflowforatypicalresearchprojectandpersonnel 8assignment

Figure3:Recruitment/DepartureofemployeesinITC-HCMsince2010 10

Figure5:Possiblecausesleadingtoturnoveractionsacquiredfrominterview 12withAdminheadofficer

Figure6:Summaryof causesleadingtoturnoveractionsacquiredfrom 13interviewswithdepartingengineers

Figure7:Summaryof potentialcausesofdissatisfactionacquiredfrom 14interviewswithcurrentemployees

Figure8:Generalinitialcause-effectdiagramforturnoversituationinITC- 15HCM

Figure9:Simplifiedinitialcause-effectdiagramforturnoversituationinITC- 16HCM

Figure10:Updatedcause-effectdiagramwithkeydeterminants 18Figure11:PossibleadvantagesfromProductiveprojectmanagement 25Figure12:Updatedcause-effectdiagramwithfocusintointerestedissue 25

Figure15:MaintaskswithtimescheduleforadaptingProjectManagerplatform 29Figure16:GanttchartforadaptingProjectManagerplatform 29

Firstofall,Iwouldliketoexpressmywarmestthankstomysupervisor

Dr.TranHaMinhQuanforhispatience,encouragement,andprofessionalism.Hisclearg u i d a n

c e andcandidevaluationformythesishavehelpedmecompleteallqualitativeand quantitativeresearchesontimewithsatisfactoryresultsaswellasledmetofinishmyMasterthesis

IalsowouldliketothankalllecturersinInternationalSchoolofBusiness(ISB)forcoursesandsubjectsthattheyhadtaughtmeandmyclassmates.TheknowledgethatIgainedfromthecourseshaswidenedmyknowledgeaswellasprovidedmewithv a l u a b l e experienceinpracticalbusinesses

Additionally,Iwouldliketothankallmembersinthesisdefensecommittees,fo r theirinsightfulcommentsandevaluation.IalsowanttothankallITC-

HCMemployeesandofficerswhohadcooperatedwithmeduringdatagathering,interviewsa n dsurveys

Lastbutnottheleast,IwouldliketothankallmyclassmatesinMBUS7p ro gram fortheircooperation,support,discussionandunforgettablemomentsthatIh a v e beenwiththeminthelasttwoyears

Employeeturnoverplacesalotofdifficultiestowardsorganizationsintermsofn e w recruitment,training,organization,costsandsoon.Voluntaryturnoverbehaviorsc an beinitiatedbylowjobsatisfaction,especiallyinstate-ownorganizations.ITC-HCMisoneofstate-

ownedorganizationslocatedinHoChiMinhcityandfacingabnormallyh i g h turnoverrateamongskilledengineers.Toinvestigatethesituationaswellasthemaincausesforengineerturnover,anumberofin-depthinterviewswereconductedwithdepartingemployeesandrelevantco-

workers.Theresultsoftheseinterviewsrevealthemaincausesfortheirdeparture,whichinvolvesleadershipstyle,projectmanagement,w o r k environment,compensationandbenefits,workmorale.Tohavebroadviewsoftheturnoversituationinstate-

ownedpetroleumfirms,anumberofpreviousacademictheorieshavebeenappliedtomakeacause-

effectdiagramfortheturnoverissue.Byevaluatingandverifyingeachcause,researchercouldlocatethe

coreproblemsleadingt o thehighturnoverrate.Thoughthereasonsforemployeesarediverseandvariedfromemployeestoemployees,forthecompany,themostcriticalproblemsofthestate-

ownedc o m p a n y i s “ Unproductivep r o j e c t m a n a g e m e n t p r o c e s s ”w h i c h i n v o l

v e s l o o s e m a n a g e m e n t , uncleartaskassignmentsandtoomuchreportingsystem.Thesuggentioforimprovementare1)toapplyprojectmanagementtechnologyforthecompany,whicha

l s o e n a b le s t e a m communication a n d p r o g r e s s t r a c k i n g , a n d 2 ) toh i r e c o n s

u l t a n c y servicetohelpconstructmoreproductiveworkprocesswithclearmeasuresandkeyperformanceindicators.Actionplanand budget areproposedaccordingl

y Thesuggestionsfrom researcherareexpectedt o improvethecompany’s performanceino r d e r tohelpreducetheturnoverintentionaccordingly

I COMPANYINTRODUCTION

1.1 GeneralinformationaboutITC-HCM

IntegratedTechnicalCenter(ITC)isasubsidiaryofPetroVietnamExplorationa

n d ProductionCorporation(PVEP).ThecompanywasestablishedinSeptember2010a n d worksasmainresearchunitforPVEPtosuperviseandoptimizeoil&gasactivitiesf o r mostoilfieldsonVietnamesecontinentalshelf.ITCconsistsof02offices:heado f f i c e inHoChiMinhcityandrepresentativeofficeinHaNoicity.Theresearchwillf o c u s intotheHoChiMinhheadoffice,whichisnamedasITC-HCM

HCM,untilSeptember2018,isillustratedinFigure1:

Figure1:OrganizationchartofITC-HCM

 Technicaldepartment:

TheTechnicaldepartmentincludes3sectors:Exploration,ReservoirandProduction.Eachsectorissupervisedbyheadofficerandviceofficers.Thisisthemainr e v e n u e-

e a r n i n g d e p a r t m e n t f o r company,w h i c h f o c u s e s i n t o r e s e a r c h i n g a n doptimizingo i l & g a s a c t i v i t i e s a s w e l l a s c o n d u c t i n g o u t s o u r c i n g r e s

e a r c h e s T h e

departmentincludes19skilledengineerswithoil-gasengineeringbackground.Mostofe n g i n e e r s areover30yearsoldwithmorethan5yearsworkingforITC-HCM

 GeneralAdministrationdepartment:

TheGeneralAdministrationdepartmentonlysupportsfortechnicaldepartmentsandboardofdirectorswithpaperwork,accounting,receptionactivitiesandsoon.Therear e 03sectorswithinthisdepartment:Admin,AccountingandCommerce.Adminsectori s inchargeoflogistics,paperwork,receptionaswellasotherhumanresourceactivities.CommercesectorisinchargeofpreparingcontractsandaccountmanagementwhileAccounting sectorisinchargeoftypicalaccountingactivities.Theaccountingsectorissuperviseddirectlybyavicedirector

InITC-HCM,thereareUnionDivision,WomenAssociationandHoChiMinhCo m m u n i st Y o u

t h U n i o n l i k e o t h e r S O E s T h e s e o r g a n i z a t i o n s h e l p t o i n c r e a s e t h e engagementofemployeesandtoprotecttherightsofemployees

ExplorationengineersareinchargeofGeology&Geophysicsactivities,suchasexploring

n e w h y d r o c a r b o n p r o s p e c t s , i n t e r p r e t i n g time& d e p t h h o r i z o n s o f t h o

s e p r o s p e c t s ,

identifyingsedimentarypaleo-environments.TheresultsfromExploratione n g i n e e r s willbecomeinputdataforstaticanddynamicmodelsofReservoirengineers.R e s e r v o i r engineersusetheinputdataprovi

dedfromExplorationengineerstog e n e r a t e

s t r u c t u r a l models(orstaticmodels)anddynamicmodelsinordertocalculate

HCMistheonlyoil-g a s researchunitinHoChiMinhCity.

 Revenues

ITC-HCMreceivesyearlyfinancialfundingfrommothercompanyPVEPaswella s revenuesfromoutsourcingresearchcontracts.Thefinancialdataofcompanyisnoto f f i c i a l l y a n n o u n c e d b

u t f r o m i n t e r v i e w w i t h A d m i n o f f i c e r o f t h e c o m p a n y , t o t a l combinedrevenuesofcompanyfrom2015to2017

2017,thecompanyhasencounteredunprecedentedlyhighv o l u n t a r y employeeturnoverasatotalof5engineersoftotal24engineers,whichtakesab o u t 21%,voluntarilyleftthecompany:threeattheendofyear2017andtheothertwoa f t e r M a r c h 2 0 1 8 A l l 5 e n g i n e e r s v

o l u n t a r i l y a s k e d t o t e r m i n a t e t h e i r I n d e f i n i t e DurationC o n t r ac t

s w i t h t h e company.A f t e r t h e d e p a r t u r e o f t h o s e 5 e n g i n e e r s , t h e companydidnothireanyotherreplacements

Allof5departingemployeeswerehighlyskilledengineerswhousedtoworkforT e c h n i c

a l Department,whichincluded02explorationengineers,02reservoirengineersa n d 01productionengineers.Demographically,5engineers,04malesand01female,w e r e from30-

40yearsold,marriedandhad1-2children.TheyalllivedinHoChiMinhCityandnearITC-HCM’sheadofficeinPhuMyHung,District7

Intermsofexperienceandskills,allofdepartingengineerswereexperiencedandskilledtechnicalengineerswithmorethan5professionalyearsworkingforthecompany;somehadmorethan10yearsofexperienceinoil&gasindustry.Moreover,02ofthemusedtobeprojectleaders,wh

employeesw e r e keymembersoftheirtechnicalteams andplayedimportant roleincompany’s p ro ject s Furthermore,allof5departingemployeeswerevoluntarytoterminatetheirIn defini te DurationContractswiththecompany

lotofdifficultiestothecompany.ThedifficultieswereemphasizedbyMr.BacNT,theAdminheadofficerwhoisalsoinchargeofHRactivitiesofthecompany.AccordingtotheinterviewresultswithMr.BacN T , 04maindifficultieshadbeenrevealedasshowninFigure4

- Difficultytofindreplacement:inVietnameseoil&gasindustry,thetrainingofa skilledengineersisverydifficultaccordingtotheinterviewresults

Therefore,astheskilledemployeesl e f t I T C

-H C M , t h e b o a r d o f d i r e c t o r s g o t d i f f i c u l t t o f i n d r ep lacement s Moreover,voluntaryemployeeturnoverdirectlyinvolvescostofhiringan d t r a i n i n g n e w

t i m e u n t i l n e w e m p l o y e e s a c h i e v e f u l l p r o d u c t i v i t y andcostofunusedproductioncapacityduringtheperiodofadjustmentofn e w employees(asproposedbyBuzeti1).AccordingtoDiscenzaandGardner,ascitedi n Fitchetal2,thefinancialcostsofreplacingleavingemployeeshavebeenroughlyestimatedat“twotofivetimestheirmonthlysalaries”

- Overwhelmingtaskassignment:Asittakeslongtimetofindnewreplacement,theworkloadofdepartingemployeesweretransferredtocurrentemployees.Accordingt o H a u c k3,“ thes

t r e s s c o n s t r u c t i t s e l f h a s b e e n p o s i t i v e l y r e l a t e d t o h i g h l e v e l s o f w o r

k l o a d ” Asaresult,dependingoftheamountoftransferredworkload,theemployeeswi l l sufferfromvaryinglevelsofjobstresscausedbytaskoverwhelm

- Lowerotheremployees’morale:Price4proposedthatincreasedturnoverwouldloweremployeesatisfactionand,inturn,increasedmoreturnover.Larwood5foundthato v e r a l l jobsatisfactionalsonegativelycorrelatedwithintentiontoleave,whileBluedorn6concludedthattherewa

s“asignificantpositiverelationshipbetweenleavingintentionsandactualleavingbehavior”.Therefore,theloweredemployees’morale(or

satisfaction)isacriticalissuethat

needtobeconsideredbythedirectoriftheywanttoretaintheirtalentedemployees

- Changesinoveralloperationalplanning:thedisruptioninhumanresourceswillev ent uall

y changetheo pe r a t i o n ofthecompanyaswellasplanningfornextperiodb eca

u setheboardofdirectorswillhavetoadjusttheirplanningonrevenues,budgetsand otheractivities

Moreover,a c c o r d i n g tot h e i n t e r v i e w w i t h M r B a c N T ( s e e T a b l e

5 ) ,

theturnoverrateamongtheengineersegmentoftheITC-HCMwasabout21%,whichwasmuchhigherthanthatinthemothercompany(whichwas

about15%).Theabnormallyh i g h turnoverrate,especiallywithintheskilledengineers,hadmadetheITC-HCM’sb o a r d ofdirectorsstartto investigatethe reasonswhythoseengineersleft andwhethert he symptomswouldgetworse.Theaimsofthisstudyare:

 toinvestigatethecausesleadingtoemployeeturnoveractions

 toproposethesolutionstohelpretaincurrentemployees

2.2 InterviewwithAdminheadofficer

ThepurposeofinterviewwithAdminheadofficer,whoisalsoinchargeofHRactivitiesofthecompany,istoinvestigatethecausesforturnoversituationwithinITC-

H C M fromtheperspectiveofHRperson.However,theinterviewwiththeofficerdidn o trevealthecausesfortheengineers’departurebecausethe formerengineersdidnotsharewithhimhonestly.Thegivenreasonswere“seriousindividualissues”,whichwerevagueandunconvincing.TheAdminofficeralsoassumedthatthedepartingengineersw e r e notsatisfiedwiththecompany’monetarybenefitsduetoloweredrevenues(ass h o w n i n T a b

l e 1 ) Moreover,theinterviewgaveresearchers o m e benchmarkingi n f o r m a t i o n aswellasrelevantrecruitmentinformation.Thepossiblefindingsforcauseso f turnoveractionacquiredfromtheinterviewisproposedasbelow:

Figure5:PossiblecausesleadingtoturnoveractionsacquiredfrominterviewwithAdminheadoff

icer

2.3 Interviewwithdepartingengineers

The interview with2 available formerengineersfirstrevealedtheir reasonstoleave,whichcouldbeinterpretedasfollowingfactors:leadershipstyle,projectm a n

a g e m e n t process,workmorale,income,knowledgesharingandrelationshipwithco-

workers.Whenresearcherproceededtoaskmorequestionrelatedtootherpossiblef a c t o r s, itshowedthatbothoftheywerenotsatisfiedwithmanyaspectsoftheITC-

HCM,w h i c h c o u l d h a v e r a i s e d t h e i r i n t e n t i o n t o l e a v e a n d e v e n t u a l l y l ed t o

a c t u a l turnoveraction.Thefindingsarecombinedandsummarizedinthefollowingdiagram:

Figure6:Summaryofcausesleadingtoturnoveractionsacquiredfrominterviewswith departing

engineersAfterhavinggatheredallinformationfromdepth-

interviews,therefound5maing r o u p s ofcausesleadingtoturnoveractionofformerengineers:1)Compensationandb e n e f i t s , 2)Leadershipstyle,3)Workmorale,4)Workenvironm

ent,5)Projectm a n a g e m e n t process.A l l ofthosecausesledtothedissatisfactionatworktowards

formerengineers,leadingtotheirintentiontoleaveandeventuallyvoluntaryturnovera c t i

o n s astheyfoundsuitablealternativeopportunity

2.4 Interviewwithcurrentworkingemployees

Thepurposeoftheseinterviewsaretoverifywhetherthegroupsofcausesfoundfro m interviewswithformerengineersstillexistandaffectthecurrentworkingemployeesinthecompany.Inthisphase,theinterviewsareexpandedtobothtechnicale n g i n e e r s andnon-

technicalemployees.Thefindingsoftheinterviewsaresummarizedinthefollowingdiagram:

Figure7:Summaryofpotentialcausesofdissatisfactionacquiredfrominterviewswith curren

temployees

Fromt h e interviewswithcurrentemployees,morecausesleadingtodissatisfactionh a v e b e e n r e v e a l e d T h e i n t e r v i e w e e s s h o w e d d i s s a t i s f a c t o r y f e e l i

n g towardsm a n y aspectsinthe5 groups:1)Decreasedcompensationandbenefits,2)L e a d

e r s h i p style,3 ) L o w e r e d w o r k m o r a l e , 4 ) Worke n v i r o n m e n t , 5 ) U n p r o d u c t

i v e p r o j e c t managementprocess.However,mostofthemcurrentlydonothaveintentiontol e a

v e

immediatelysincetheyfindgoodtrade-offssuchassalary,work-lifebenefitsorj o b security.Theinterviewsalsoshowthepossibleintentiontoleavefromthetechnicaldepartmentmemberswhilethenon-

technicalmembersdonot.However,astheyarenots a t i s f i e d withthecompany,itisprobablethattheycouldleavethecompanyastheyhavemoreattractiveopportunities

2.5 Initialcause-effectdiagram

Theinitialcause-effectdiagramiscombinedfromthefindingsacquiredfromalld e p t h interviews.SomeitemsaregroupedandclarifiedasshowninFigure8:

Figure8:Generalinitialcause-effectdiagramforturnoversituationinITC-HCM

expectationsmodel10,Turnoverprocessmodel11,Jobembeddednessmodel12,U n f o l d i n g modelofvoluntaryturnover13,Conceptofjobsatisfaction14.

InthecontextofITC-HCM,theconceptofjobsatisfactionismorepreferabletounderstand thehiddenreasonsle

adingtoturnoveractionandtoproposesolutionsforbettere m p l o y e e r e t e n t i o n

I n f a c t , n o t onlyl e a v i n g e n g i n e e r s butc u r r e n t w o r k i n g employeesshowvar

withinthecompany.T h e r e f o r e , byl o w e r i n g thedissatisfactiontowardsemployees,itisbelievedthatemployeesaremorelikelytostay,assuggestedbySelznicketal15.Fromtheinterviews

bd i s s a t i s f a c t i o n andpossibleturnoveractionhavebeendefined:Decreasedcompensationa n d benefits,Bureaucraticleadershipstyle,Loweredworkmorale, Toxicworken v ir

g a n i z a t i o n a s a meanofavoiding politicala c t i v i t i e s ” , l e a d i n g t o

v o l u n t a r y employeet u r n o v e r I g b a l19a l s omentionedt h a t d i s h o n e s t a n d e v

a s i v e p e r f o r m a n c e

reviewsmightdamage“theself-esteemoftheemployees”.EspeciallyinSaudiArabia’scollectiveculture,whicharequitesimilartoVietnam,“thepay-for-

performancesystemt h a t recognizedindividualsisundermined”andisviewedas“unfriendlyandhostile”byemployees.Poon21c o n c l u d e sthat“manipulationsofperformanceratingsarisingfrom

Kim17e x p l a i n s t h a t“lack ofpromotion opportunities had asignificanteffect

federal,white-collarworkforce”.Theauthoralsop r o p o s e s t h a t “ fairo p p o r t u n i t y fora d v a n c e m e

n t a n d p r o m o t i o n w i l l l o w e r t u r n o v e r intentionstotheemployees”.Igbal19,fromhisresearchinSaudiculture,alsoprovidesthatlack ofadvancement(or

reasonswhyemployeesleaveorganizations ”.Whenemployeesobs er ve limitedo p p

o r t u n i t i e s forprofessionalorpersonaladvancementintheircurrentjobs,they“prefertojoinothercompanieswhichmayprovidegoodcareergrowthandgoodpaypackages”.U n f a i r promotionpoliciesperceivedbyemployeesmaynegativelyimpacttheiro r g a n i z a t i o n a l commitment,accordingto(19).InITC-HCM,thepromotionopportunitymightbe limitedunlessemployeesjointheCommunistParty.ThePartywill

nominatei t s membersformanagerialpositionwithintheorganizationandthemembershavetos t r i c t l y followtheparty’sguidelinesandpolicies

 Lackofjobsecurity

Meltz23definesjobsecuritybroadlyas“anindividualremainsemployedwiththesameorganizationwithnodiminutionofseniority,pay,pensionrights,etc.”Similarly,T r i a n d i s andHerzberg24definesjobsecurityas“theextenttowhichanorganizationp r o v i d e s s t a b l e e

m p l o y m e n t f o r e m p l o y e e s ”.Y o u s e f25,f r o m h is r e s e a r c h e s i n U A E o r g a n i z

a t i o n s , proposesthat“thereisasignificantpositivecorrelation,althoughnotverystrong,betweensatisfactionwithjobsecurityandorganizationalcommitment”.Author

(16)a ls o p r o v i d e s t ha t f o r a n employeew h o i s t h e p r i m a r y earneri n a f a m i l y w i t

h c h i l d r e n , jobsecuritywillbehighlyvalued.Therefore,thebenefitsoflongpublicsector

tenureintermsofwages,jobsecurity,andpension rightsisnegativelyassociatedwithturnovera n d de c r e as e s t u r n o v e r i n t e n t i o n.InI TC -

HC M, moste m p l o y e e s , i n c l u d i n g e n g i n e e r s

andnon-engineers,havesignedIndefiniteDurationContractwiththecompany,whichguarantee a stable, long tenure job for employees.Also,thecompanypaysfullSocialInsuranceforemployeestoguaranteeforfuturepension

 Inflexiblework-familyarrangement

MoynihanandLanduyt26

,ascitedin(16),proposesthat“work-familypolicieso f f e r e d bypublicsector

organizationsaregenerallymoregenerousthanthosefoundint h e privatesectorwhichcouldbeanincentivenottoleavethepublicsector”,especiallyf o r womenemployees.Durst27,ascitedin(17),findsth at “approximately52p e r c e n t oflocal,state,andfederalagenciessurveyedagreedorstronglyagreedt h a t family-

learningprograms,formalc l a s s r o o m training,andexternaltrainingconductedbysuppliersorformaleducationalinstitution”.However,accordingtotheinterviewresultswithMr.BacNT(seeTable5),t h e traininganddevelopmentisnotprioritizedinITC-

HCMbecausetherearenoHRdepartmentorspecialistinthecompany.Alltraininganddevelopmentprogramsarep r o v i d e d fromthemothercompany.Ifonepersonwouldliketobetrainedorfundedforth eir highereducation,theyhavetoaskforpermissionfromITC-

HCM’sdirectors.Thenthecompanywillsendaformtomothercompany’sHRdepartmentforaccepta

nce.Thep r o c e s s

istime-consumingandtheemployeesarenotkeenonaskingforsupportsoftrainingfromthecompany.Instead,theytendtodoon-the-jobtraining.However,due

tothelackofemployeecooperation, as m a n y employeesdonotwant tosharethe

existingcompensationandbenefitpolicyallowedfo remployees.Eventhoughthewageshavebeenunchangedduetothegovernment’spolicy,t h e d e c r e a s e inw o r k b e n e f i

t s h a v e s i g n i f i c a n t l y a f f e c t e d t h e t o t a l f i n a n c i a l incomeofeveryemployee.Forexample,thebonusesandhealthinsuranceplanwasd e c r e a s e d , travelandfitnesssupportwasremoved.Accordingto2007JobSatisfaction29r e p o r tbyS o c i e t y f o r Human

R e s o u r c e M a n a g e m e n t ( S H R M ) ,

c o m p e n s a t i o n a n d b e n e f i t s w e r e r a n k e d a m o n g t o p f i v e a s p e c t s t o w a r

d s e m p l o y e e s a t i s f a c t i o n A s t h e compensationandbenefitsdecreased,theemployeesinITC-

t h a t“therew e r e

signofunevenandpoliticaldecision-makinginpublicorganizations”.ITC-HCM,a s

astate-ownedorganization,showssimilarcharacteristicsasdescribedbytheauthors.I n thisorganization,theboardofdirectorsaredependentonrules,policiesandr eg u l at i o n s tomanagetheemployees.Theyarelesslikelytoapplynewchangesunlesst h e r e arenewpoliciesacceptedbythemothercompany.Also,theleadersshowlow-t a s k leadership astheyareless

competitiveinmodernmarket.Thehighlybureaucraticen vi ro nm ent HCMwillresultinhighemployeedissatisfactioneventually.

likeITC- Unproductiveprojectmanagementprocess:

Inpublicsectors,sincetheyarehighlyfocusedintoformalsystem,theyfailedtoe a s i l y adaptne wt e c h n o l o g y andpe rs on nel , andto al lo w f o r theg ro wt ha nd d e v e l o p m

e n t ofmaturepersonalitiesasstatedbyBennis33.AccordingtoKamoche34,p u b l i c organizationsareunabletochangeworkingpracticestofulfillthecurrentdemandf o r efficiency

duetoweakmanagement,loosemonitoring,softbudgetconstraintsandlimitedorganizationalflexibility.InITC-

HCM,theloosemanagementwithoutsourcingp r o j e c t s l e a d s t o l a c k o f t a s k c l a r i t y a

s w e l l a s w o r k c o n f u s i o n T h e c o n s e q u e n c e s includethenumberofmeetingsw i

t h littleclearresultsbetweenemployeeswithmanagers.Themanagerskeepaskingredundantquestionsmanytimedue tolackofu n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e c u r r e n t p r o j e

c t s A s a r e s u l t s , managersa s k f o r m a n y w e e k l y r e p o r t s asaproofthattheyaresupervisingtheprojectcarefully.However,thereportsar e tootime-

consumingandwastealotofworkingtimeoftheemployee

 Toxicworkenvironment:

Harder35proposesthatanorganization“canbeconsideredtoxicifitisineffectiveaswellasdestructivetoemployees”.Inhisstudy,heproposed3categoriesofelementso fworkplacetoxicity:organizationalprinciples,workconditionsandintra-officer e l a t i o n s h i p conflicts.InITC-HCM,theintra-

officerelationshipconflictsarequitecleara s thereexistedanumberofunfriendlyconversationandargumentsamongemployees.Moreover,manysenioremployeesshowrudebehaviorsandobscenewordstowardso th erco-

worker.Sometimes,whentheygetdrunk,theyhavesexual-harassment-likeb eh av io r s towardsfemaleemployees.Moreover,informationtransparencywithintheo r g a n i z a t i o n ispoorasmanyemployeesarenotwillingtosharetheirknowledgeandf i n d i n gs withjuniorones,makingprojectexecutionmoredifficult.AccordingtoHs

u36,l a c k ofinformationtransparencycanleadto“confusion,misinformationanddistrustw i t h i n organizations”.Tobettermanagetheprojects,cleartaskconfusion,knowledged e v e l o p m e n t , andsoon,theboardofdirectorsinITC-

HCMshouldpromoteinformationtransparency

 Loweredworkmorale:

Guba37suggeststhat“highsatisfactionmustprecedehighmoraleintimeiftheextraenergyrequiredforhighmoraleistobeavailable”,whichmeanslowsatisfactiond o e s notcorrespondtohighmorale.InITC-HCM,theleadership,environment,

 Loworganizationalcommitment

Organizationalcommitmentisdefinedas“individuals'beliefandtrustinorganizationalgoalsand

values,andaffectionstowardtheorganization”,mentionedinTing40.T h e a u t h o r p r o p o s

e s t h a t “ i n d i v i d u a l s a r e l i k e l y t o b e c o m e p s y c h o l o g i c a l l y a t t a c h e d totheorganizationbeforetheydevelopaffectionateattitudestowardtheirjobs,a n d employeesoftendevelopjobsatisfactionconsistentwiththeleveloforganizationalco m m i tm en t ”.T h e a u t h o r ( 2 0 )

p r o p o s e s t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n c o m m i t m e n t a n d turnoverintentioninUAEoilindustry.Meanwhile,themothercompany PVEPisa leadingcompanyinVietnam’soilandgasindustryformanyyears.Inyearof2017,thec o m p a n y contributedabout$6.14billiontoGDPofVietnam,accordingto(41).Themothercompanyisinchargeofsupervisingalloil&gasexplorationandproductionactivitiesonVietnamesecontinentalshelf.Therefore,forpetroleumengineers,PVEPisg r e a t placeforworkinginVietnam.Moreover,duetothecompany’ssecuritypolicy(seeTable5),theemployees,whoareleavingthecompany,arenotallowedtoworkforan y domesticcompetitors.Thismeanstheyhavetocommittothecompanyunlesstheytendtomovetodifferentindustry

3.2 Causejustificationandproblemofinterest

Toverifytheexistenceofalldeterminantsinupdatedcause-effectmapaswella s theirimportance,asurveywascarriedoutfor15workingemployeesinITC-HCM,consistingofengineersandnon-

engineers(seeTable11).Theresultsofthesurvey(seeF i g u r e 17)showedthatrespondentsshowedmost“Disagree”responsestowardwork

management,l e a d e r s h i p style,compensationa n d benefits.T h e s e 03d e t e r m i

n a n t s r e c e i v e d from87%to100%of“Disagree”responses,meaningthatemployeesaremostdissatisfied withthesedeterminants.Intermsofworkmoraleandworkenvironment,thenumberof“ Disagree”responses exceeded60% oft ot al responses aswell.M

os t“ A g r e e” r e s p o n s e s b e l o n g edt o t h e j o b s e c u r i t y , c o m m i t m e n t

a n d f a m i l y

-f r i e n d l y p o l i ci e s Respondentsshowmost“Neutral”responsestowardstraining,advancemento p p o r t u n i t y andperformanceappraisal

Fromthequantitativefindings,itcanbeconcludedthatthemostseriousissuesi n ITC-HCMforemployeeturnoverare1)Unproductiveprojectmanagementprocess,

2) Bureaucraticleadershipstyleand3)Decreasedcompensationandbenefits.However,a f t e r havingconsideredeachissue,theresearcherfindsoutthatit’snotpossibletoadjustt h e leadershipstyleaswellasthecompensationandbenefitsoftheorganization.Thedirect or istheheadoftheorganizationandtheleadingdecision-

maker,hispersonalitieso rleadershipstylemaynotbeadjustedinshortperiodoftime.Ontheotherhand,thecompensationandbenefitpolicyofITC-

HCMreliesheavilyonthemothercompanya n d itsbusinesssituation.Duringtheperiodofoilrecessionsinceyear2014,therevenueofITC-

HCM,aswellasthemothercompany,isnotpossibletoimprovequickly.Theb e n e f i t s , asaresult,isdifficulttobeadjustedsolelybythemanagers.Therefore,ther e s e a r c h w

i l l f o c u s i n t o s o l v i n g t h e mostc r i t i c a l i s s u e “ U n p r o d u c t i v e p r o j e c t managementprocess”

3.3 Importanceofinterestedproblem

Byimprovingproductivityofprojectmanagement,thecompanycanutilizeitshumanandtimeresources,aswellasbringhighqualitytotheprojectresults.Asaresult,t h e firm’sp e r f o r