EFFECT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND BUSINESS RESULTS OF ENTERPRISES

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY PHAM HUNG DUC EFFECT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND BUSINESS RESULTS OF ENTERPRISES: CASE STUDY ON VNPTs IN P

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

PHAM HUNG DUC

EFFECT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND BUSINESS RESULTS OF ENTERPRISES: CASE STUDY

ON VNPTs IN PROVINCES AND CITIES

Code : 9340101

DOCTORAL THESIS SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTOR:

ASSOC.PROF.DR TRAN HA MINH QUAN

Ho Chi Minh City- 2020

The work was completed at: University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City

The scientific instructor: Assoc.Prof Dr Tran Ha Minh Quan

Reviewer1:

Reviewer 2:

Reviewer 3:

The thesis will be defended in front of the university-level doctoral thesis assessment committee, held at: University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City

At hour day month year

Thesis can be found at the library:

LIST OF PUBLISHED RESEARCH WORKS

RELATED TO THE THESIS Articles published in scientific journals:

Pham Hung Duc (2019) Current situation and solutions for human resource of tourism in Dong Nai Province in the integration period Journal of transportation science and technology, 34 (11).

Pham Hung Duc (2019) Current situation and solutions for developing human resource of telecommunications (VNPT) in Dong Nai Province Journal of Economics -Technology, Binh Duong Economics and Technology University, 36 (12).

Pham Hung Duc (2020) Impact of human resource management practices on enterprises' competitive advantage and business performance - A case study of Vietnam Post and

Telecommunications Group enterprises Management Science Letters, 10 (4), 721-732.

(SCOPUS Q2).

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF THESIS

1.1 Rationale of research issue

From practical needs:

For the telecommunications service sector, the development of the information technology industry in the context of globalization and integration and especially the fourth industrial revolution (Industrial revolution 4.0) has made the field of telecommunications and information technology become an important economic sector in all countries On the other hand, competition in the context of integration has made human resource become the most important resources, deciding the competitive advantage of an enterprise Therefore, the need for research on the human resource management practice as the basis for the completion

of the human resource management regime in enterprises, especially in the field of telecommunications and information technology service has been receiving great attention from administrators and researchers However, as mentioned above, there will not be sufficient scientific basis and therefore it will not make much sense if the completion of the human resource management regime is not linked to the competitive advantage and business results of enterprises

According to experts and leaders in the post and telecommunications industry, they all agree that under current conditions with the process of deep integration into the global economy and increasing competition, especially in the digital economy, the business environment is constantly changing, “the challenge of environmental change requires flexibility and adaptability from the labor force Therefore, the labor force must simultaneously and quickly respond to the requirement of learning and applying new skills, implementing new technology, or reorganizing work” (Snow and Snell, 1992) Therefore, in general, the human resource management practice in enterprises, especially enterprises operating in fields subject to the pressure of science and technology change such as post and telecommunications, in addition to functional activities, need to lead and encourage employees to innovate and create, and through activities encourage employees to propose new ideas; promote initiatives, improve techniques, renovate working methods; diversify horizontal and vertical activities to increase adaptability to the specific requirements of the business environment such as: assigning new tasks; alternation of employees and work, etc It means that leading and encouraging necessary change in the components of the human resource management practice Furthermore,

in terms of logic, the higher the employee is encouraged to change, the more effective their work is and therefore the more efficient the organization will be Research by Tran Kim Dung et al (2010) in the Vietnamese market also verified that the component of encouraging change (innovation) was positively related to the human resource management practice

From the theoretical gap through a review of relevant researches:

Applying resource-based theory, researches in the world have integrated the theory of human resource management at the micro level, and at the same time have proved that human resource is an important potential source of a sustained competitive advantage of an enterprise and in practice, human resource management is a sufficient condition to help enterprise to achieve and maintain the sustained competitive advantage However, the researches mentioned above still have some gaps Then, this thesis is done to fill the research gaps of the above researches

New point 1: Many researches have considered the role of the human resource management practice,

but they are still limited, they have not researched into depth and comprehensively considered (measured) the role of the human resource management practice (components of the human resource management practice) Therefore, the first new point of the thesis is to consider and verify the components of

measurement of the human resource management practice.

New point 2: The relationship between the human resource management practice, the competitive

advantage of human resource and business results of enterprises has not been verified from previous researches

New point 3: Researches on the human resource management practice have been mainly done in

developed markets, and limited in transition markets like Vietnam, especially in the post and telecommunications industry

1.2 Objectives of the research

General objective: The thesis aims to measure the effect of human resource management practice on the

competitive advantage and business results of VNPTs in the provinces and cities directly under Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group Based on the research results, the thesis introduces governance implications to increase the competitive advantage and business results of VNPTs

Specific objective: To achieve the general objective, the research needs to implement the following specific

objectives:

Objective 1: determine the components of the human resource management practice; competitive advantage

on human resource and business results of enterprises - Case study on VNPTs in provinces and cities under Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group

Objective 2: adjust the scale of components of the human resource management practice; competitive

advantage on human resource and business results of VNPTs in provinces and cities under the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group

Objective 3: build and verify scale model and theoretical model of the relationship between the human

resource management practice, competitive advantage on human resource and business results of enterprises

- Case study on VNPTs in provinces and cities under the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group, on that basis, locate the intensity of the interaction between these factors and propose recommendations to complete the human resource management practice to contribute to improving the competitive advantage and business results of VNPTs in provinces and cities under the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group

1.3 Methodologies of the research

1.3.1 Qualitative research method

Qualitative research is carried out by group discussion technique, with the participation of a group of lecturers specialized in the human resource management and a group of specialists of human resource

management department who are currently working at VNPT Dong Nai and some other provinces, cities, to explore, adjust and supplement the components of the human resource management practice; competitive advantage from the human resource management practice and business results of telecom enterprises with variables of observing and measuring the components of these concepts (chapter 3)

1.3.2 Quantitative research method

Quantitative research (chapter 3 and chapter 4) is carried out to confirm the values and reliability of the scale of components of the human resource management practice; competitive advantage from the human resource management practice and business results of VNPTs in provinces and cities; verify research models and research hypotheses; check whether there are differences in the effects of the human resource management practice on competitive advantage and business results of VNPTs in provinces and cities

1.4 Object and scope of the research

The research object of the thesis is: the human resource management practice; competitive advantage based on human resource theory and business results of VNPTs in terms of the human resource management practice and competitive advantage of human resource

The unit analyzed is VNPTs in provinces and cities directly under the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group Respondents surveyed are department heads; Officers and workers directly working

at VNPTs in provinces and cities Minimum defined number of respondents for each region is 30 (to ensure that the minimum sample size of an analyzed unit is large enough to be considered a normal distribution)

1.6 Meaning of the thesis

1.6.1 Practical meaning

The research will help the human resource managers to have a more overview of the effect of the human resource management practice on competitive advantage and business results of telecommunications enterprises in Vietnam Therefore, this research will lay the basis for developing human resource development strategies, policies on the human resource management practice in telecommunications enterprises in Vietnam

1.6.2 Theoretical meaning

The research is the summarization and systematization of theories about the human resource management and competitive advantage; researches on the human resource management practice in the relationship with competitive advantage and business results of enterprises Therefore, the author hopes that the research will contribute to form a theoretical framework to deploy other researches on topics related to the human resource management practice, competitive advantage of human resource and business results of enterprises

The research develops of scale system and research models on the relationship between the human resource management practice, competitive advantage from a perspective of the human resource management

practice and business results of enterprises Therefore, it will contribute to the development of theory and contribute to the missing scale system, especially the scale system in developing countries to establish the system of equal measurement value as stated by Craig & Douglas (2000)

The research uses a combination of modern techniques and methods in qualitative and quantitative research such as Focus Group, Cronbach Alpha analysis, EFA, CFA, SEM structural equation modeling, bootstrap testing, etc Therefore, this research will be a reference source of methodology, research model design and research data processing, etc for researchers, students in the field of management in general, of human resource management in particular

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BASIS AND RESEARCH MODEL

2.1 Competition theory

Competitive advantage is the implementation of a business strategy that a competitor fails to implement to facilitate cost reduction, exploit market opportunities or disable competitive threats (Barney, 1991) The first model of the competitive pressure approach was widely disseminated by Porter (1980) According to Peteraf and Barney (2003), an enterprise achieved competitive advantage will create higher economic value than its competitors Competitive advantage is related to the economic value created from exploiting the ability of an enterprise to use resources, operational efficiency related to the economic value from commercialization Thus, an enterprise with high competitive advantage will create higher operating efficiency than its competitors

2.2 Resource basis view of the firm

Resource basic view of the firm of Wernerfelt (1984) focuses on the competition analysis based on internal resources Barney (1991) classified resources into three categories: physical capital (Williamson, 1975), human capital (Beckei; 1964), and organizational capital (Tdmei; 1987) Barney (1991) examined the relationship between firm resource and sustained competitive advantage However, RBV theory did not fully explain how and why enterprises gain competitive advantage in a rapidly changing and unpredictable business environment

2.3 Theory dynamic capabilities

The theory dynamic capabilities of Teece et al (1997) was found on the basis of the RBV theory applied in fast changing market (dynamic market) Teece et al (1997) defined dynamic capabilities as the ability to integrate, build, and reformat internal and external capabilities in response to the rapidly changing environment Dynamic capabilities reflect an organization's ability to achieve new innovation to create a competitive advantage in the market (Leonard-Barton, 1992) Dynamic capabilities of an enterprise are difficult to copy and replace Therefore, dynamic capabilities are the basis to create a competitive advantage and improve business performance (Barney, 1986; Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000)

2.6 Research model and hypotheses

Components of human resource management practice: functional activities (second level concept includes: work identification; recruitment; training; work evaluation; salary, bonus; career planning and promotion), participation of staff, activities of teams and groups, administrative activities and lead, encouragement of change

Components of competitive advantage: quality of human resource and behavior of human resource

Figure 2.1 Proposed research model

Summary of research hypotheses:

Hypothesis H1: Human resource management practice has a positive effect on the competitive

advantage of human resource of VNPTs in provinces and cities.

Hypothesis H2: Human resource management practice has a positive effect on the business results of

VNPTs in provinces and cities.

Hypothesis H3: Competitive advantage of human resource has a positive effect on the business results

of VNPTs in provinces and cities.

Work

Recruitment

Training

Evaluation

Salary-

bonus

Promotion

Participation

Team- Group

Function

Change

Administration

Human resource management practice

Human resource quality

Human resource behavior

Competitive advantage

Business results

Kết quả hoạt động của DNKN

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN

3.1 Research process

This research is conducted in two main phases: (1) preliminary research by preliminary qualitative and quantitative methods, (2) official research by quantitative method

Preliminary research: Preliminary qualitative research: From the research objective, the thesis

summarizes the theoretical basis (background theory, research concept and previous researches) On that basis, research model, hypotheses and observed variables of the scale of research concepts are formed Through the expert method in the form of face-to-face interview, the research model is evaluated to standardize the theoretical model, new factors appear and the scale will be adjusted/ supplemented to be

clear, consistent with research context Preliminary quantitative research: The scale is used for interview test

with samples of 135 VNPT enterprises according to convenience sampling method to verify the reliability of Cronbach's Alpha and analyze the EFA exploratory factor analysis before conducting the official research

Official research: In this step, the thesis verifies the appropriateness of the survey data and the value

of the scale (Composite Reliability, Convergent validity, unidirectionality, particularity) In addition, the thesis tests the suitability of the research model and initial hypothesis Finally, the thesis uses Bootstrap analysis to verify the reliability of the expected value of sample

3.2 Qualitative research results

3.2.1 Results of the theoretical model adjustment

Figure 3.1 Results of the theoretical model adjustment

Work

Recruitment

Training

Evaluation

Salary-

bonus

Promotion

Participation

Team- Group

Function

Environment

Human resource quality

Human resource behavior

Human resource managem ent practice

Competitive advantage

Business results