AN ANALYSIS ON THE WORK ENGAGEMENT OF VIETNAMESE MIDDLE MANAGERS THE CASE OF FDI ENTERPRISES BAC NINH PROVINCE.

AN ANALYSIS ON THE WORK ENGAGEMENT OF VIETNAMESE MIDDLE MANAGERS THE CASE OF FDI ENTERPRISES BAC NINH PROVINCE.AN ANALYSIS ON THE WORK ENGAGEMENT OF VIETNAMESE MIDDLE MANAGERS THE CASE OF FDI ENTERPRISES BAC NINH PROVINCE.AN ANALYSIS ON THE WORK ENGAGEMENT OF VIETNAMESE MIDDLE MANAGERS THE CASE OF FDI ENTERPRISES BAC NINH PROVINCE.AN ANALYSIS ON THE WORK ENGAGEMENT OF VIETNAMESE MIDDLE MANAGERS THE CASE OF FDI ENTERPRISES BAC NINH PROVINCE.AN ANALYSIS ON THE WORK ENGAGEMENT OF VIETNAMESE MIDDLE MANAGERS THE CASE OF FDI ENTERPRISES BAC NINH PROVINCE.

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

MASTER THESIS

AN ANALYSIS ON THE WORK ENGAGEMENT OF VIETNAMESE MIDDLE MANAGERS: THE CASE

OF FDI ENTERPRISES - BAC NINH PROVINCE

Specialization: Master of Research in International Economics

NGUYEN DIEU LINH

Ha Noi, 2020

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

MASTER THESIS

AN ANALYSIS ON THE WORK ENGAGEMENT OF VIETNAMESE MIDDLE MANAGERS: THE CASE

OF FDI ENTERPRISES - BAC NINH PROVINCE

Major: International Economics Specialization: Master of Research in International Economics

Code: 8310106

Full name: Nguyen Dieu Linh Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Hai Ninh

Ha Noi, 2020

The master thesis has been completed with the great guidance of Dr NguyenHai Ninh I would like to express my sincere thanks for his patience and massivehelp with reading the whole of the thesis and making valuable comments for myresearch

By this occasion, I am much grateful to the Department of Graduate Studiesand Foreign Trade University - who have always create most favorable conditionsfor Morie 2 students in completing our study Thank you so much for theirgenerosity and I owe a debt of gratitude to all helpers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF FIGURES vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Emergence of study 1

1.2 Purpose of study 2

1.3 Subject and scope of the study 3

1.4 Research methodology and research questions 4

1.5 Structure of thesis 5

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 6

2.1 Theoretical famework 6

2.1.1 Literature review 6

2.1.2 Classification of work engagement 14

2.1.3 The importance of work engagement on FDI enterprises 15

2.1.4 Factors influence employees’ work engagement 17

2.1.5 Previous researches of work engagement 17

2.2 Snapshot of FDI enterprises - Bac Ninh province 24

2.2.1 FDI enterprises in Vietnam 24

2.2.2 The whole picture of FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh 25

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 35

3.1 Research design and procedure 35

3.2 Suggested research model and hypotheses 36

3.3 Research methodology 37

3.3.1 Questionnaire design: 38

3.4 Sampling method 42

3.5 Data collection method 43

3.6 Data analysis process 44

CHAPTER 4 MAIN FINDINGS 47

4.1 Demographical Analysis 47

4.2 Assessing work engagement level of Vietnamese middle level managers in

FDI enterprises - Bac Ninh province 49

4.3 Factors affecting work engagement of Vietnamese middle level managers in FDI enterprises - Bac Ninh 50

4.3.1 Reliability test (CR) 50

4.3.2 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) 51

4.3.3 Multiple regression analysis 57

4.3.4 ANOVA test 61

4.3.5 Hypothesis test result 66

CHAPTER 5 RECOMMENDATIONS 68

5.1 Conclusions and answering the research questions 68

5.2 Recommendations 70

REFERENCE 80

APPENDIX 01: SURVEY FORM FOR MIDDLE MANAGERS AT FDI ENTERPRISES IN BAC NINH 86

APPENDIX 02: LIST OF FDI ENTERPRISES IN BAC NINH 93

APPENDIX 03: REGRESSION ANALYSIS 95

APPENDIX 04: RELIABILITY TEST RESULT 96

APPENDIX 05: T- TEST RESULTS 100

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

on

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Effectors creating employees’ satisfaction 18

Figure 2.2: Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) 19

Figure 2.3: Model of Torp et al (2012) about work engagement 20

Figure 2.4: Model of work engagement Stan et al 21

Figure 2.5: Relationship of Structural Determinants and Organizational Commitment/Job Satisfaction 23

Figure 2.6: Hierarchical view of management in organizations 31

Figure 2.7: Middle management roles 34

Figure 2.8: Vietnam's FDI total capital registered and average capital per project 24 Figure 3.1 Research design and procedure 35

Figure 3.2: Suggested research model 36

Figure 3.3 The 5- point Likert scale 42

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Available options for demographic questions in Section A 39

Table 3.2 Measurement of Current Job/ Task 40

Table 3.3 Measurement of Working Conditions 40

Table 3.4 Measurement of Salary and Income 40

Table 3.5 Measurement of Leadership 41

Table 3.6 Measurement of Colleagues 41

Table 3.7 Measurement of Training and Promotion 41

Table 3.8 Measurement of Organizational Structure 42

Table 3.9 Measurement of Work Engagement 42

Table 4.1 Mean of variables 49

Table 4.2 Reliability Statistics Summary 50

Table 4.4 Model summary 57

Table 4.5 ANOVA 57

This master examines the factors that influence and shape employeeengagement in the context of FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh province It does this bystudying multilevel factors at two values: Spiritual values and Physical values.Specifically, the thesis focuses on seven independent factors affecting workengagement of employees

To achieve this objective, this study adopted a mixed-method approach including:Quantitative and Literature review

For quantitative method, the study employed the quantitative method to

determine the relationship between work engagement and seven independentvariables, as well as the relationship between work engagement and eachdemographic factor After being collected, survey results were analyzed by theStatistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26 By conducting acomprehensive survey with a sample size of 144 middle-level managers at 4 largestindustrial zones in Bac Ninh, a number of tests were performed on thecollected data, namely Kaiser -Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure of SamplingAdequacy, Bartlett’s test of sphericity, Cronbach’s alpha reliability test, ExploratoryFactor Analysis, Multiple regression analysis and One -way ANOVA test In terms

of Literature review, by reviewing previous researches to analyze core meaningsand principal of work engagement, therefore we can identify main effectorsaffecting employees work engagement

The thesis aims to measure work engagement and look at the areas wheremanagement interventions can be implemented to increase the overall level ofemployee engagement drafting several solution and recommendation for locality inBac Ninh to attract and maintain more high qualified middle managers within FDIenterprises

1.1 Emergence of study

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

Work engagement is a common concept, both in the business context and inthe academy This term first appeared in the 1990s and meanwhile, more than 200scientific publications have appeared on this topic According to a global survey ofCEOs, attracting employees is one of the five most important challenges fororganizations Consequently, international business consulting firms have developedtheir own proprietary concepts and survey tools Based on large internationaldatabases, covering many different industries, these companies estimate that onlyabout 20% of all employees are involved in their jobs, while another 20% berelaxed and about 60% participate in moderation These consulting companies alsostate that employee engagement promotes business success (Schaufeli) 2012 It isconcluded that work engagement is a feasible concept for both science and practiceand it needs to be paid more attention and applied to the operational practices ofbusinesses

FDI inflows are a very important driving force for Vietnam's economicdevelopment and have a large contribution to Vietnam's GDP growth In particular,Bac Ninh province with good FDI attraction and one of the localities with the mostFDI enterprises in the country

With the advantage of being located in the Northern key economic region, inrecent years, Bac Ninh province has become a destination for many foreigninvestors with more than 1,000 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects By the end

of June 2029, the total registered foreign investment capital in Bac Ninh provincereached nearly 17 billion USD (Nhandan), 2019

On the other hand, in these enterprises, the middle management staff ismainly Vietnamese and plays a backbone for the activities of FDI enterprises Thework engagement of these managers to businesses is one of the importantdevelopment drivers of enterprises in general and FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh inparticular

According to Gallup Report (2019), companies with a team attached to thejob will increase the competitive advantage by 202% Therefore, the research topic:

"An analysis on the work engagement of Vietnamese middle managers: the case ofFDI enterprises - Bac Ninh province" is very urgent and suitable with practicalneeds in order to offer advanced solutions for work engagement of management atFDI enterprises in Vietnam (SKHDT BN), 2019

Thus, in theory, work engagement in human resource management is also avery important term and is mentioned by many domestic and foreign studies Interms of Vietnam's economy, FDI enterprises are the main development drivers andBac Ninh province is the most typical province in terms of FDI attraction as well asreasonable support mechanisms for FDI enterprises On the enterprise level, middlemanagers are the core force and the bridge between Vietnamese workers and foreignleaders Therefore, their work engagement determines the performance of FDI

enterprises For these reasons, the author chooses the topic: "AN ANALYSIS ON THE WORK ENGAGEMENT OF VIETNAMESE MIDDLE MANAGERS: THE CASE OF FDI ENTERPRISES - BAC NINH PROVINCE" to study with

great urgency for Bac Ninh in general and is lessons learned for FDI enterprisesthroughout Vietnam

1.2 Purpose of study

The research analyzes on the work engagement of Vietnamese middle managers in case of FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh province

In particular, the research hopes to achieve the following main purposes:

- Understanding the situation of work engagement of middle managers in FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh industrial zones

- Assessing the level of work engagement of middle managers in FDI

enterprises – Bac Ninh industrial zones

- Exploring the main factors affecting work engagement

- Analyzing the degree of impact of factors on work engagement, especially

in the case of middle managers in FDI enterprises

- Drafting recommendations to improve the level work engagement ofmiddle managers in FDI enterprises.

1.3 Subject and scope of the study

1.3.1 : Research object and research subject of study

- Research subject: Work engagement

- Research object: Vietnamese middle managers in FDI enterprises - Bac Ninh province

1.3.2 Scope of Study

Research locations:

The study will be conducted only in 4 large industrial zones in Bac Ninh

including VSIP, Yen Phong, Tien Son and Que Vo as these areas have collected the

required number of samples

Although there are 15 centralized industrial zones with total area of 7,681ha(6,847ha for industrial zones and 834ha for urban quarters), the study will beconducted only in 4 large industrial zones in Bac Ninh including VSIP, YenPhongTien Son and Que Vo Ten because these industrial zones are the largest zonesabout both scale and area compared others The FDI largest companies are operatinghere including Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverages, Fusan Technology Co., Ltd.(formerly Microsoft phone factory), Canon Vietnam Co., Ltd., Samsung ElectronicsCo., Ltd Vietnam, TOYO INK Compound Vietnam Co., Ltd (TICV), SumitomoElectric Interconnect Products Vietnam and many other famous enterprises in theworld with the largest number of workers and Vietnamese middle managers

Research period:

The time for researching, interviewing and collecting data from middlemanagers in the above mentioned industrial parks will take place from March toMay 2020 including a face-to-face meeting and gathering times Additionalinformation, filling out the questionnaire will be done by email

The research analyzes on the work engagement of Vietnamese middlemanagers in case of FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh province.

1.4 Research methodology and research questions

1.4.1 Research methodology

To solve the problems raised, the study used a combination of two methods

including: Quantitative and Literature reviews as follows:

Quantitative method: This study employed the quantitative method to

determine the relationship between work engagement and seven independentvariables, as well as the relationship between work engagement and eachdemographic factor After being collected, survey results were analyzed by theStatistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26

By conducting a comprehensive survey with a sample size of 144 level managers at 4 largest industrial zones in Bac Ninh, a number of tests wereperformed on the collected data, namely Kaiser -Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure

middle-of Sampling Adequacy, Bartlett’s test middle-of sphericity, Cronbach’s alpha reliability test,Exploratory Factor Analysis, Multiple regression analysis and One -way ANOVAtest

Literature review: Reviewing previous researches to analyze core meanings

and principal of work engagement, therefore we can identify main effectorsaffecting employees work engagement

1.4.2 Research questions

Based on these objectives, the research questions were proposed as follows:

1) How is situation of work engagement of middle management in FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh industrial zones?

2) Which level of work engagement of middle managers is in FDI enterprises

in Bac Ninh industrial zones?

3) Which are the main factors affecting work engagement?

4) How factors affect work engagement, especially in the case of middle

managers in FDI enterprises?

5) What are recommendations to improve the level work engagement of middlemanagement in FDI enterprises?

1.5 Structure of thesis

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Frame work of work engagement

Chapter 3: Research methods

Chapter 4: Research conclusion

Chapter 5: Recommendations

CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Theoretical framework

2.1.1 Literature review

There are many definitions of work engagement for businesses in the field ofhuman resource management From 2000 to the present, the number of research,publications and articles related to the participation of the work, or the engagement

of employees has skyrocketed both in quantity and quality From the first academicpaper on workplace engagement published by William Kahn (1990) in theManagement Academy Magazine, the changes in the world of work, the positivepsychological movement was announced and published by a group of academicsworking with Martin Seligman, then president of the American PsychologicalAssociation, that promoted the development of "work engagement " issues

Engagement refers to participation, commitment, passion, enthusiasm,uptake, focused effort and energy Work engagement first appears in business,despite its roots terminology is not entirely clear, it was first used in the 1990s byGallup Foundation (1990)

According to Maslach and Leiter (1997) work engagement is basicallyformed in aspects including emotional attachment to the organization andcommitment to continued (i.e desire to stay with the organization) and off-rolebehaviors (i.e arbitrary behavior that promotes the effective functioning of theorganization) Conceptually in this way, employee engagement constitutes a mix ofthe two existing psychological concepts As a result, it seems most consulting firmsare bringing new entrants into the old commitment and bottle the complementaryrole The employees involved have put a lot of effort into the work because theysympathize with it Engagement is also said to produce positive results, both at theindividual level (personal growth and development) as well as the organizationallevel (quality of performance) In contrast to those who are exhausted, theemployees involved consciously connect energy and efficiency with their work;

instead of stress and demanding they see their work as challenging Accordingly,engagement is characterized by energy, participation and efficiency, forming thedirect opposites of three dimensions of exhaustion - exhaustion, cynicism andreduced achievement In this view, engagement and exhaustion are inherentlylinked and can therefore be assessed by the same method In addition, engagement

is considered to be an independent, distinct concept that is negatively related toburnout It is defined in its true sense as a group of positive, fulfilling, work-relatedstates, characterized by vitality, dedication and absorption Work engagement ischaracterized by a high level of energy and resilience while working, a willingness

to invest effort in another job, and perseverance even when it is difficult.Consciousness refers to being strongly involved in one's work, and experiencingfeelings of meaning, enthusiasm, inspiration, pride and challenge Finally,absorption is characterized by complete concentration and happiness immersed inone's work, through which time passes quickly and hard with separation from work

as Schaufeli (2012)

Kahn (1990) argues that employees who engage in work will devote theirentire mind, knowledge, and physical ability to the task, but this definition may beconfused with other factors such as organizational behavior or satisfied / dissatisfied

at work In order to better understand the different levels of individuals attached totheir roles, Kahn (1990) examined a number of principles The terms Kahn (1990)use to describe these calibrations are 'personal participation' and 'personaldisengagement', which refer to the behaviors of people they include or ignoreindividual roles while performing their job roles These terms developed by Kahn(1990) integrate previous ideas taken from motivational theories that people need toexpress and self-control in work life is obvious

According to Britt (1999; 2003), the definition of work coherence is personalresponsibility and a commitment to fulfill and focus on getting work done

Maslach and Leiter (1997) assume that work engagement is the completeopposite of exhaustion, so work cohesion includes: energy, commitment, andpersonal achievement Schaufeli et al (2002) in their new research model suggest

that work cohesion is defined as a state of persistence, positivity, and motivation foraccomplishment Ulrich (2007) values employees' contribution in business becausewhen businesses try to create more outputs, businesses have to find ways to engageemployees both mentally and mentally to increase labor productivity.

Various definitions of job linkage are also provided in study of Macey andSchneider (2008) Accordingly, work engagement is the energy level of a user towork effectively and efficiently However, according to Schaufeli and Bakker(2004), work engagement is considered as a state of oscillation in themself,employees who are attached to the job, but who may have holidays and non-employment status are the same for all days It is important for organizations torecognize employees who are truly psychologically connected at work (employeeswho are truly engaged with the job) because they are always ready and able todevote themselves to the mind In their role, these employees are very motivatedand always work towards high quality work standards Bakker & Leiter (2010)

Work engagement is defined as a positive, satisfying, work-related mentalstate characterized by attributes of dedication and enthusiasm Schaufeli and Bakker,(2010) Accordingly, different from the concept of "employee engagement" in thedirection of engagement with the organization, work engagement involves themental states expressed in the verbal thinking and actions of employees to work: asdevoted to work, focused on work, passionate about work, worked hard andenergetic The cohesion mentioned in this concept refers to the state of awarenessand continuity of action and does not focus on any object, individual or event orbehavior Bakker (2009) gives three factors that measure work cohesion: energetic:energetic and willing to work hard even when facing difficulties; dedicating factors:devoting your mind to work, feeling work with enthusiasm, always being inspired,proud of the job; Passion factor: be completely focused on your work and happy tospend all your time at work

Although the aforementioned sample may feel tired after a long day at work,they consider it a pleasant state, which is well worth the positive results at work.Employees who are attached to work are not workaholics, they also enjoy other

activities of life outside of work, so for those who are engaged with work, working

is joyful (Gorgievski, Bakker & Schaufeli, 2010)

2.1.1.1 Vietnamese studies on employees work engagement

- In Vietnam, research of Pham Duy Khanh and Tran Dinh Long (2015)

studied factors affecting employee's engagement with businesses atMilitary Petroleum Corporation The research model in the article usesCronbach’s Alpha reliability assessment method and EFA discoveryfactor analysis used to screen out the factors that meet the requirements.The results of the regression model estimation show that "Employeeevaluation", "Job identification", "Training, remuneration andcompensation", "Recruitment" are important factors that have a positiveimpact on the engagement of employee with businesses

- Ha Nam Khanh Giao and Nguyen Dang Huyen Tran (2017) in “

Industry and Trade Magazine” studied the factors affecting employee

engagement with Ho Chi Minh Banking University, by surveying 174employees using Cronbachs alpha, EFA and multiple regression analysis.The results showed a model of 05 factors that have a positive impact onemployee engagement, in descending order: Nature of work, Colleaguerelations, School reputation, Salaries and benefits, the support from thesuperior On that basis, the author proposes administrative solutions tothe board of directors and the heads of units to increase employeeengagement

- The study "Assessing organizational awareness and job satisfaction in

the Vietnamese context" by Tran Kim Dung and Abraham (2005)

explored the relationship between job satisfaction and sense ofattachment Based on a research sample of 396 full-time employees in HoChi Minh City, the author used a network model, through 3 components

of consciousness associated with the organization and 5 aspects of publicsatisfaction Research shows that employees work hard and are proud oftheir workplace because they like the job and have a good relationship at

- In addition, many domestic authors have studied the factors that affectemployee's long-term engagement with all types of businesses In the

field of services, author Nguyen Chi Cong (2011) with the study

"Solutions to create long-term cohesion of employees with enterprises in VNPT member units", used the explore factor analysis method EFA and

multivariate regression analysis to analyze factors that affects employeeengagement The results of the analysis show that significant positiveimpact factors on employee long-term engagement include jobsatisfaction and family influence At the same time, the author alsopointed out that there is a difference in the intention of long-termassociation with businesses between different education and incomegroups Among those with higher education and postgraduate, the level ofengagement with businesses in terms of intention is lower than those withlower education And those with an income of five million or more have

a higher degree of engagement with businesses than those with lowerincomes

- Tran Van Tuan, (2018) applied the scale of reward and recognition,

organizational fairness, organizational support awareness, jobcharacteristics, work engagement and organizational citizenship M.(2006) in real life conditions at some Non-life Insurance Companies in

Ho Chi Minh City Qualitative research was conducted by the author toadjust and supplement the theory and research scale Quantitativeresearch conducted with a sample of 283 employees with 1 year ofworking experience or more working full-time in Ho Chi Minh City.Analysis results show that Organizational Justice In terms of workengagement, the Rewards and Recognition factors are considered as twoseparate factors with different levels of impact on work engagement

2.1.1.2 Foreigner studies on employees work engagement

- The research of Hersey & Blanchard (2001), “The Labor Relations

Institutes of New York” built for the first time applied to workers in

the industry, with 9 encouraging components for employees,including:

Autonomy at work: The employee has control and responsibility forhis work, is encouraged to participate in work-related decisions and isencouraged to take initiatives

Interesting work: Expressing through the diversity, creativity andchallenges of the job and the opportunity to use the individual'sabilities

Fully recognized work done: Recognized when completing the workwell, as well as contributing to the success of the company

High salary: Receive a salary that is commensurate with the results ofwork and ensures a sufficient personal life

Long-term work: Having a stable job, no need to worry about how tokeep a job or look for new jobs

Good working conditions: Related issues such as labor safety,hygiene, environment, working time, etc are above average in theindustry

Career advancement and development: Individuals always haveopportunities for advancement and development in the organization.Support from superiors: The superiors always show their care andsupport in solving labor problems

- According to Vishwanath V Baba and Muahammad Jamal (1979)

with the topic "On Becker's Theory of Commitment: An Empirical Verification among Blue-Collar Workers", through a survey of 377

production workers in 6 companies in the city Vancouver, the authorhas pointed out that the three factors that influence workers'engagement with the organization are (1) Demographics, (2)Background, and (3) Job factors In which, job factors include: variety

of jobs; relaxing time; the help of colleagues; the convenience ofgoing to the office, which is considered the main factors determiningthe work engagement and attitude of employees to the organizationand the work.

- W D Kahn (1990) with study “Psychological Conditions of

Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work”, is credited with

conceptualizing the major components of employee engagement Hismodel proposes that engagement differs from basic job involvement,

in that it focuses not on worker skills but, rather, on how one commitshim/herself during the performance of the job Engagement entailsthe active use of emotions in addition to the simple use of cognitionwhile completing work tasks The major propositions of the model arethat people express themselves cognitively, physically, andemotionally while performing their work roles The model proposesthat, in order for individuals to fully engage with their job, threepsychological conditions must be met in the work environment:meaningfulness safety, and availability

- The study of Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina (2002), “ How the

world’s greatest organizations drive growth by unleashing human potential” Employee engagement is also something that is

changeable, and can vary widely from one workplace to anotherStudies indicate that workers are, to some extent, a reflection of theadministrators of an agency Low or conversely high engagementscores have been traced back to the organization’s leadership, fromtop to bottom Therefore, the results of engagement studies shouldhave considerable applicability to the social work field For instance,leaders in human service agencies could utilize data fromengagement studies to create and implement strategies that wouldincrease staff engagement

- The study of May, Gilson, and Harter (2004), “The psychological

conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work” conducted a field study in a

large Midwestern insurance agency Using a survey format th eyexplored why some individuals fully engage in their work whileothers become alienated or completely disengaged Results of thisstudy confirmed that engagement differs from simple job satisfaction.They agreed that engagement actually entails th e active use ofemotions and behaviors in addition to cognitions Overall, studyresults supported Kahn’s earlier work in that psychologicalmeaningfulness and safety were positively linked to employeeinvestment in work roles Additionally, job enrichment and role fitwere positively related to psychological meaningfulness Having asupportive supervisor and good relations with co-workers were related

to feelings of psychological sa fety on the job

- Harter, Schmidt, and Hayes (2002), “Business-unit-level employee

satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcome analysis”

completed a meta-analysis of prior studies on employee engagementthat were conducted by the Gallup Organization The researchersexamined the relationship between employee satisfaction-engagement, and the business-unit outcomes of customer satisfaction,productivity, profit, employee turnover, and accidents Harter et al.(2002) noted that one of the defining elements of employeeengagement is the actionable quality of the measured concepts Inother words, employee engagement is related to meaningful businessoutcomes and many of the core issues of engagement are ones overwhich managers can have substantial influence High levels ofsatisfaction and employee engagement were positively correlated withcustomer satisfaction, profitability, productivity, and safety outcomes

- A study of Schaufeli, Bakker, and Salanova (2006), “The

measurement of engagement with a short questionnaire: A national study” surveyed 14,521 employees in various occupations,

cross-using a self-report questionnaire that measured work engagement Theresearchers found that engagement is not only the opposite of burnoutbut that it has its own characteristics, which were labeled vigor,dedication, and absorption The researchers concluded thatengagement is similar to burnout in that it is a stable, non-transientstate that increases slightly with age Additionally, blue collar workerswere less engaged than managers, educators, and police officers.Engagement did not seem to differ systematically between genders.

Research gap:

Although there are many studies related to work engagement in manyorganizations with many different research methods, there has not been anyresearch focused on middle management group and in FDI enterprises in BacNinh Accordingly, the middle management team in these enterprises ismainly Vietnamese while the senior management is foreigners Therefore,

my study will concentrate in analyzing factors attracting work engagement ofVietnamese middle managers in Vietnam in general and with the case of FDIenterprises in Bac Ninh province in specific ( Detail in Chapter III)

2.1.2 Classification of work engagement

With regard to work engagement, employees can be divided into 3 groups.According to Williams and Schneiderman (2002), there are three types of people:

(1)Engaged employees, (2) Not engaged employees, and (3) Actively disengaged employees.

- (1) Engaged employees: Group of employees who are not attached

to the work (engaged employees) Those who tend to focus onspecific tasks rather than the goals and expected results in their roles.Employees who are not associated with the organization do not have agood relationship with their management and colleagues, because theytend to feel their contribution is ignored and their potential is not

known They want advice, specific guidance on what needs to bedone, and focus on completing specific tasks (Gallup, 2004).

- (2) Not engaged employees: Group of employees associated with the

work (not engaged employees) These are people with a constructivespirit They want to know the expected outcome in their role so thatthey can achieve and reap the results beyond that expectation Theynaturally care about the company and their role in the company Theirperformance is always high, working with passion And they want touse their talents and strengths in their daily work and towardsinnovation to help their organizations grow (Gallup, 2004)

- (3) Actively disengaged employees: The group of proactive

employees who are not associated with the work Those who are

"separatist" and almost resolutely against everything They not only

do not feel happy at work, but also always express their unhappyattitude Every day, this group of people seeks to undermine thesuccess of colleagues associated with the job (Gallup, 2004)

Humphrey et al (2007) suggest that contextual features should beconceptually integrated into a job specification model because they represent a class

of job characteristics focused on the following factors context of the work.Moreover, Kahn (1990) argues that because of material needs and workingconditions, workers perform tasks as if guided by external scenarios, instead ofinvesting themselves in their jobs , so they are likely to be negatively involved Asphysical demands and stressful working conditions increase, workers will becomephysically uncomfortable, leading to more negative experiences while working

2.1.3 The importance of work engagement on FDI enterprises.

Firstly, work engagement as Balogun and Johnson (2005) is as a factoraffecting the results and performance of the business: Employees are the decisivefactor to the performance of each department as well as the performance of thewhole enterprise Employees with high professional skills, problem solving skillsand creative dynamics will help improve the performance of the business

Therefore, if the employee is assigned with a suitable job as well as creatingfavorable conditions to perform work effectively, improve work engagement,businesses will get positive results.

Secondly, work engagement is as a factor to ensure business secrets essential conditions for the success of the business (Williams and Schneiderman,

-2002 ) When an employee leaves, the business not only loses part of the necessaryknowledge and skills they have accumulated while working but also help otherbusinesses get those elements without training, investing time and cost If theperson who is quitting is a senior manager who holds many business secrets,business strategies, social relationships as well as business relationships withpartners or engineers who hold real technology secrets export to work forcompetitors of the business, so the loss will be the greater

Thirdly, work engagement is as a basis for resources for sustainabledevelopment: Human resources play an important role in the knowledge economy,they capture knowledge and skills as well as important relationships of businessesand determine the development strategy of the enterprise, which is the base resourcefor leaders to develop development strategies The development strategy of anybusiness must be based on its available resources both financially and personnel El-Kot et al (2010) The presence and cohesion of the workforce will be an importantfactor for the implementation and adjustment process, which is the basis for makinglonger-term strategies and higher development goals

Fourth, work engagement is as the basis for the formation of ideas fordevelopment: In the current information age, the stage of developing globalknowledge economy, the source of knowledge and information is what determinescompetitive advantage Good and associate employees are the key force to ensureand improve the enterprise’s advantages They are also the main force for ideas andcreativity in the production, the quality of goods and services of the business,improve the process, make the difference with competitors

Finally, work engagement is as a valuable asset of the enterprise: Finding,recruiting, and mobilizing new employees to grasp the job, having the ability to run

the operations of companies is a time-consuming and costly process The companyhas to pay for new hiring, training and probation and it takes a long time to perfectthe skills and relationships necessary for employees to meet the needs of the job.

2.1.4 Factors influence employees’ work engagement

According to Demerouti et al (2001), the author of the model “ requirements at work '' (Job Demands-Resources, JD-R), each industry and jobcontains elements Own risks are related to stress at work These factors can be

Resources-categorized into 2 parts: (1) Work resources and (2) Job requirements.

According to the JD-R model, the resources and requirements at work covermany aspects

Firstly, this model includes job requirements related to the physical,psychological, social and organizational aspects of a job that require constantphysical effort, psychologically or require the necessary skills, and it is related tothe physiological and psychological costs

Secondly, work resources are related to the physical, psychological, social,and organizational aspects of a job that include or combine:

- Perform functions to help accomplish work goals

- Reduce work requirements and costs related to physiology andpsychology

- Promote the maturity, ability to learn and develop of individuals Caninclude the elements of the resources of the job are: feedback, controlwork, the help of society Work resources are seen as both acting as aninternal motivation because they promote personal growth and both as anexternal motivation because they are tools to help achieve goals at work

2.1.5 Previous researches of work engagement

El-Kot et al (2010) studied job participation in a sample of male and femalemanagers and professionals working in various organizations and industries inEgypt Data were collected from 242 respondents, 48 percent response rate, using

anonymous completion questionnaires Participation is assessed by three scalesdeveloped by Schaufeli (2004) vigor, dedication, and absorption The premiseincludes demographic characteristics and job situation as well as measures that needachievement and workaholic behavior; the consequences include measures of jobsatisfaction and psychology The results show that both a need for achievement and

a workaholic work behavior are found to predict all three measures of participation.Second, participation, especially dedication, predicts different job outcomes (forexample, job satisfaction, intention to quit job) The study has certain limitationsbecause causality cannot be solved because data is collected at a time Longitudinalstudies are needed to determine the impact of life experiences at work onparticipation Accordingly, organizations can increase their level of job participation

by creating supportive work experiences (e.g control, reward and recognition) thatare consistent with human resource management practices (HRM) effective

Figure 2.1: Effectors creating employees’ satisfaction

(Source: SOURCE El-Kot et al, 2010)Low work engagement can contribute to reduced performance Therefore,the evaluation, promotion and maintenance of participation in the work is theconcern of many organizations De Beer et al (2016) assessed systematically with a

meta-analysis to evaluate evidence of the effectiveness of work-relatedinterventions using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) Studiescontaining relevant quantitative data have undergone random meta effect analyzes.Results were assessed for uniformity, systematic sampling error, publishing bias,and quality Twenty studies met inclusion criteria and were categorized into fourtypes of interventions: (i) individual resource building; (ii) build employmentresources; (iii) leadership training; and (iv) health promotion Moderator analyzesrevealed an important outcome for the intervention style, with moderate to largeeffects on the group interventions The heterogeneity between the studies was highand the success of the implementation was varied

Figure 2.2: Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES)

(Source: De Beer et al 2016)Research by Torp et al (2012) investigated whether work needs, personalcontrol and social support affect the negative health measure of depressiondifferently from positive work engagement measures and investigate whether work

engagement mediates the effects of job needs and resources at the level ofdepression The authors discussed the significance of using engagement as ameasure of results in improving workplace health with a sample number of 605 Inmultivariate analysis, the need for work as well as high social control and supportare significantly correlated with high levels of work engagement Research showsthat engagement mediates the effects of social control and support on depression.Encouraging businesses to improve their engagement in addition to focusing ondisease prevention can be worthwhile in promoting workplace health Promotingengagement can have a more positive organizational impact than the focus ontraditional disease prevention, because participation is relevant and closely related

to good performance and motivation

Figure 2.3: Model of Torp et al (2012) about work engagement

(Source: Torp et al, 2012 )According to Ten et al (2012), a New way of working (NWOW), whichallows employees to choose time and place of work, is increasingly beingimplemented in organizational practice, but some studies have addressed the prosand cons to employee results The authors examined the impact of NWW on workengagement and work exhaustion Research results show that daily use of NWW is

positively associated with daily work engagement and negative to daily exhaustiondue to increased effective and effective communication In addition, NWWenhances connections among peers, leading to increased daily work engagementand reduced exhaustion However, we also found a positive relationship betweenNWW and burnout, because NWW increased disruption during work The authorshave carefully concluded that NWW has the potential to drive engagement.

In the study of Stan et al (2014), the authors focused on engaging in work as

an intermediate variable Traditionally, participation in work is defined as a positive,fulfilling mind, related to the job characterized by vitality, dedication andabsorption Engaging in work is not a state of uncertain mind, but perseverance and

no direct focus on a particular object, event, individual or behavior Workerparticipation consists of three elements: strong, devoted and absorbing Raisingemployee morale is affected by high energy level, resilience, willingness to investeffort and steadfastness in the face of problems Dedication by the employee'senthusiastic pride in the work, the feeling of work inspiration and the overall sense

of importance related to the job Absorb a state of mind in which employees arehighly focused and engrossed in their work Participation in work and internalmotivation are similar concepts Participation does not represent a specific driver ofemployee engagement, but only the strength, dedication and commitment ofemployees, without distinction between different sources Participation has beenlinked to positive organizational outcomes related to employee behavior and hasbeen found to be an intermediary variable that operates in the relationship betweenjob characteristics and employees The authors also argue that autonomy not onlyallows employees to demonstrate creative work practices, but also promotes theiroverall participation and advocacy Autonomy allows employees to achieve workgoals and respond quickly to changing work needs, and create the negative of stressfactors This has the ability to enable employees to work better with strong anddevoted work Numerous studies have confirmed that autonomy and participation inwork are positively related

Figure 2.4: Model of work engagement Stan et al

(Source: Stan et al, 2014)From the point of view of coherence measurement, using direct measures ofindividual perceptions, including behavioral and attitudinal aspects, Mowday et al.(1979) established a scale of measure employees' sense of organization by studying:

“The Measurement of Organizational Commitment” By using the definition ofOrganizational Commitment (OC) as the power of individual identity with theorganization and active participation in the organization, Mowday and hiscolleagues identified three components of OC including: (i) Strongly believe in theorganization, accept its goals and values, (ii) Be willing to work hard for theorganization, and (iii) Strongly desire to be a member of the main function oforganization Accordingly, a 15-item survey questionnaire (OCQ) was developed bythe researchers to explore the three aspects of OC and use the 07-item Likert scale.The quota for men and women is presented based on the available template.Satisfactory test reliability and internal consistency reliability were found, based on

a series of studies among 2563 employees in nine different organizations

The results of the study have shown the importance of OCQ in measuring theintention to stay and organize (considered as one of the three components of OC) ineach study Many other studies have shown that OCQ has given similar resultswhen it measures how long employees are expected to stay in the organization.Accordingly, employees with interest and career orientation are considered to have

a higher level of cohesion in the organization Correlations between OC and the JDI(Job Descriptive Index) scale were also found The strongest relationships are oftenfound between commitment and job satisfaction

Stefan Gaertner (1999) clarified the structure of job-related factors and OCwith research: “Structural determinants of Job satisfaction and Organizationalcommitment in turnover model” With data including 7,040 samples (mainly officeworkers, 49% of which are male), taken from 9 empirical studies, the author usedLISREL 8.3 to conduct analysis of Meta-Analytical Structural Equation Modeling(SEM) The author has used 10 elements (Salary; Opportunity for promotion; Fairdistribution; Colleague support; Superior support; Workload; Conflict; Notransparency; Autonomy) ; Habits) to measure the extent and how these elementsinfluence job satisfaction and engagement The research results show that all 10components have a direct relationship with job satisfaction but only 3 components(promotion opportunities; fair distribution; support of superiors) are related directlywith engagement.

Figure 2.5: Relationship of Structural Determinants and Organizational

Commitment/Job Satisfaction

(Source: Gaertner , 1999)

2.2 Snapshot of FDI enterprises - Bac Ninh province

2.2.1 FDI enterprises in Vietnam.

Since its integration in the global economy in the early 1990s, Vietnam has become

an increasingly attractive destination of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) intocompanies and enterprises In 2015, it was ranked the world’s fifth major attractor

of FDI by number of projects, after China, India, Singapore, and Australia, andranked in the fourth position when considering the total investment capital, afterIndia, China and Indonesia, according to The FDI Report( 2016) published by FDIIntelligence

Additionally, this report ranked Vietnam the highest FDI performance indexamongst emerging economies for the period 2014-2015 Vietnam’s FDI inflow hasfollowed a long-term upward trend, with specific short-term fluctuations

Figure 2.8: Vietnam's FDI total capital registered and average capital per

project

(Source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam)During the period of 2005-2015, FDI, in both number of projects andregistered capital, increased steadily, with average growth rate of 8.1 percent and13.4 percent, respectively The sharp increase in FDI in 2008 reflected the strongworld economy up to the global financial crisis, as well as the rising interest offoreigners in Vietnam following the country’s accession to the WTO in 2007

Registered FDI in 2008 included some large projects, such as a petro-chemicalcomplex, steel mills, a software park and a tourism complex However, as the worldeconomy was hit by a severe financial crisis, many of these projects were delayed orcancelled Notably, FDI in Vietnam is concentrated in the manufacturing sector,with flows from accounting for the majority of investments At the end of 2015,seven of the top ten investors in Vietnam were Asian countries Registered capital

by these countries accounted for 67.2 percent of Vietnam’s cumulative FDI over thelast decade Vietnam’s success in attracting FDI has had a positive impact on thecountry’s economic development: during the period of 2005-2015, FDI’scontribution to GDP followed an increasing trend, moving from 15.1 percent in

2005 to 18 percent in 2015 The contribution of FDI to job creation is more modest

In 2015, FDI contributed to approximately 4.2 percent of Vietnam’s labour force, acontribution that is likely to be even greater if indirect effects are taken intoaccount Additionally, the share of FDI in total investment increased from 14.9percent in 2005 to 23.3 percent in 2015, and the contribution of foreign investedcompanies to the state’s budget fiscal revenues increased from 8.3 percent in 2005

to 14.1 percent in 2014 (Report of Vietnam General Statistics Office, 2015)

2.2.2 The whole picture of FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh

Accumulated to the beginning of 2020, Bac Ninh Industrial Zones Authorityhas issued investment certificates for 996 valid FDI projects with a total registeredcapital of over 17.332 billion USD Outside the concentrated industrial zone, theDepartment of Planning and Investment newly granted investment for 13 projectswith a total registered capital of 3,574 million USD; withdrawing 1 project withtotal registered investment capital of 0.1 million USD Thus, the total newly andadjusted investment capital increased to USD 181,675 million (Baobacninh, 2020)

In FDI enterprises, the problem of labor shortage, especially skilled workersand middle managers is an urgent problem FDI enterprises mostly exploit low-costlabor force, but do not carry out technology transfer and human resource training todevelop domestic industry High-tech products are just assemble and stages thatrequire high technology are not undertaken by domestic workers, so learning from

production experience in FDI enterprises of domestic workers is not much.Licensing for FDI enterprises has been lacking in the past, so many businesses justwant to take advantage of our country's cheap labor source (Hanoimoi, 2011) Laborwith technical and professional qualifications on average accounts for 17.90% oftotal employment in FDI enterprises: Que Vo Industrial Park and Tien Son IndustrialPark are 2 industrial parks with higher percentage of professional and technicalworkers, respectively with 25.34% and 22.46% (Hravn, 2015).

Actual requirements of the market on product quality and price as well as thedevelopment of science and technology applied in production and environmentalprotection are increasing day by day The above results show that FDI enterprisesneed to have early training strategies to improve the quality of their humanresources in order to meet the requirements of development, innovation andapplication of science and technology in production to improve the quality ofproducts and services (Hravn, 2015)

At FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh, the awareness of employees and employersabout labor relations has been significantly improved and has made many importantchanges Intermediate middle managers are mainly dependent on the employer orthe employer imposes policies and regimes that have moved to a negotiatingmechanism and agreed upon on relevant issues to the rights and interests of bothparties Middle managers have actively discussed and negotiated with employers toprotect and ensure their legitimate rights and interests The compliance with thelabor law by employers is also increasingly appreciated and has many positivechanges Many FDI enterprises are interested in improving working conditions,increasing income, supporting housing and take care of the cultural and spiritualconditions for workers (Tapchitaichinh, 2018) These factors step by step raise thecohesion level of middle managers, core forces and a bridge between thousands ofworkers and the leadership of FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh

However, the average monthly salary of middle managers in FDI enterprises

is higher than that of non-state enterprises but not equal to state-owned enterprises.Although, FDI enterprises all apply working hours 8 hours / day, 48 hours / week,

however, the number of overtime hours is relatively large, on average, eachemployee works over 275.8 hours / year and Especially high in garment, footwearand electronics businesses Many FDI businesses have overtime hours up to 500-

600 hours / year / labor As such, workers (including middle management officials)who work overtime are very crowded The average number of overtime hours in ayear surpasses about 30% of the Labor Code (Tapchitaichinh, 2018) In Bac Ninh,

in addition to Vietnamese workers in the area, FDI enterprises in this province alsoattract many foreign workers and foreign experts and technicians By the end of

2018, there were 284,470 employees in industrial parks of the province, including214,920 workers from other provinces, accounting for 75.5% There are about 5,000foreigners working in industrial zones This led to the development of serviceindustries in the province strongly developed

Research on the causes of termination of employment relations in FDIenterprises has the following results: Up to 39% of employees leave due to workpressure (overtime, high norms); 13.4% of employees quit their jobs due to hardand dangerous jobs; 8.4% of workers are absent from work due to sexualharassment; 16.4% of employees quit their jobs due to being scolded anddiscriminated against; 15.1% quit their jobs due to insecure health, loss of laborforce; 12.6% were laid off for no reason

The consequence has caused many tension conflicts between employees andemployers in the past According to statistics from 2017 to now, there have been 343strikes in FDI enterprises (FDI enterprises from Korea accounted for 44.02% (151cases); from Taiwan accounted for 23.91% (82 times) China accounted for 10.2%(35 cases); Japan accounted for 4.96% (17 times); the rest was from enterprises inother countries) Enterprises of the above countries are all operating in Bac Ninhprovince

The causes of collective stoppages and strikes stem from collective labordisputes or intermingling collective labor disputes over rights and benefits, mostnotably the causes of wages and bonuses , income of employees such as: Wageunpaid, not adjusted to the minimum wage, paid not in accordance with the

regulations, not under labor contracts or minus illegal income; increase labor norms

to reduce wages of workers; violating working time, rest time, debt of socialinsurance, not paying social insurance, issuing many illegal provisions, crueltreatment (Tapchitaichinh, 2018)

2.2.2.1 Types of FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh

Under the provisions of the 2014 Investment Law, FDI enterprises will be

established according to types of enterprises such as: One member limited company, Two member limited company, Joint stock companies and Partnership.

It is also possible to distinguish FDI enterprises in two main forms: 100%foreign-owned enterprises and Joint-venture enterprises between foreign countriesand domestic partners In fact, in the context of economic integration, this type ofbusiness is increasingly popular in many countries around the world In Bac Ninh,with effective FDI attraction policy, this province has a full range of FDIenterprises, through the form of direct investment from abroad, Bac Ninh hasacquired modern technologies in electronics, chemicals, automation, food, newtechnology,

2.2.2.2 Impacts of FDI enterprises on development of BacNinh

The FDI sector has made significant contributions to the training of qualityworkers The employment growth rate of the FDI sector is always high, especiallyafter WTO accession The presence of this area has contributed to shifting the laborstructure from rural to cities, especially into large industrial zones At the same time,the FDI sector also contributes to the improvement of human resources Throughthe direct participation in the operation of FDI enterprises, a team of managers andtechnical workers with high qualifications and skills is gradually formed andgradually accessible to science, high technology and modern industrial manners,good labor discipline, advanced methods and management experience A part oflocal labor is admitted to work in FDI enterprises which are fostered, trained inskills and foreign languages, contributing to improving the quality of humanresources, gradually replacing important positions , and become a key manager ofthe business

FDI has also contributed significantly to providing investment capital,creating jobs and improving Vietnam's competitiveness in the international market.Contributing to the region's average annual labor productivity growth, the FDIsector ranked second (29.3%) However, the contribution of the FDI sector islargely due to the shift of labor from the low-productivity inland labor sector to theFDI sector with higher labor productivity (this share accounts for 64%).Contribution from labor productivity growth of the FDI sector (excludingcontributions from labor mobility) accounts for a much smaller proportion, only36% The level of backward and backward linkages between the FDI sector and thedomestic sector is mostly low in all sectors, especially in the technology and high-skill sectors That showed the ability to indirectly impact labor productivity of theFDI sector through the effects of technology and low labor skills Therefore, BacNinh needs to select the key industry to have appropriate development directions toincrease the connectivity and participation of the domestic sector At the same time,

it is necessary to focus on developing the supporting industry with more specificactions and improving the training and skills of workers (MPI, 2018)

Analysis on the use of middle level managers in BacNinh FDI province

Based on Bac Ninh portal (2019), in Bac Ninh, FDI enterprises are subject todirect or indirect management from foreign investors and they will have a differentmanagement method from domestic enterprises, often bringing higher economicefficiency Enterprises will be better invested in technology, capital and humanresources

Middle management team is often seen as the pillar of the business and is thefocal point to connect employees together to bridge the gap between seniormanagement team and foreign managers with staff (Dang, T.H, 2016) Theyimplement strategic and organizational change strategies, stay with and motivateemployees throughout the operations of the business

The middle management is responsible for directly managing employees andmaking evaluation reports for senior management who can be foreigners orVietnamese Therefore, they must both have management capacity, expertise and

must have good leadership skills and must be able to evoke the potential of others.

Middle managers can also become people who face challenges indevelopment and maintenance Senior managers or foreign managers willsometimes come up with strategies but sometimes there is a shortage of people toimplement, or when there are executives who are middle managers but do not havethe capacity to implement them those strategies At this moment, it is necessary tohave the middle managers' ability to implement the strategy They must be peoplewho understand core values of the company, know how to build a subculture andunderstand the company management system and how to build a departmentmanagement system

In addition, middle managers in FDI enterprises need to be a bridge betweensenior leaders and their employees Know how to effectively convey the ideas ofsenior leadership to employees as well as implement all business instructions;Know how to source and spread positive energy to employees

Besides the difficulties of the duties of a middle manager, they must besomeone who knows how to assign, delegate, know how to coordinate employeesbetween departments, know how to solve all internal problems The departmentitself is based on the entire company

Especially, some FDI enterprises in Bac Ninh have not attached muchimportance to middle management positions, many companies do not have trainingprograms for them Training programs will improve skills for middle managers andmost importantly, this shows the middle manager that the company is alwaysinterested in and facilitates more development .(Report on social economicssituation of Bac Ninh province in March,2019

What is middle level manager?

Middle management is defined as a position in organizational hierarchies

‘between the operating core and the apex’ Mintzberg (1989) whose occupants areresponsible for a particular business unit at [this] intermediate level of the corporatehierarchy’ Uyterhoeven (1972) that comprises ‘all those below the top levelstrategic management and above first-level supervision” There is thus a consensus