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STATUS OF KNOWLEDGE ENABLING ENVIRONMENT IN PRIVATE
EDUCATIONAL COMPANIES IN VIETNAM: BASIS FOR
ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM OF
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

A Dissertation presented to
the Faculty of the Graduate School
Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines
in Collaboration with
Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management

MS. LE THU HANG (MOON)
April, 2014

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ii

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APPROVAL SHEET
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor in Education
Management, this research study entitled “Status of knowledge enabling environment in
private educational companies in Vietnam: basis for enhancement program of


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Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor in
Education Management offered by Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the
Philippines in collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

DR. TERESITA V. DELA CRUZ

DR. WALBERTO A. MACARAAN

Dean, Graduate School

Vice President for Academic Affairs

Date___________________

.

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iv

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE .......................................................................................................... i
APPROVAL SHEET .............................................................................................. ii-iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ........................................................................................ iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... v-vi
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. vii
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................ viii
LIST OF APPENDICES ........................................................................................ ix
ABTRACT ............................................................................................................... xiii

Chapter 1. INTRODUCTIOIN
Background of the Study ............................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem .............................................................................. 3
Hypothesis ..................................................................................................... 4
Significance of the Study .............................................................................. 4
Research scope, paradigm and limitations ..................................................... 4
Definition of Terms ....................................................................................... 5

Chapter 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Review of Literature ..................................................................................... 12
Conceptual Framework ................................................................................. 22

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vi

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Summary of the aspects within human resources and its
management

23

Table 2

Summary of the aspects within the communication activities of
the company

29

Table 3

Summary of the aspects within the information technology
infrastructure

31

Table 4

Summary of the aspects of the learning arenas

Table 5

Summary of the aspects of the use of knowledge

37



70

33-34

split method by company and sector
Table 11

Bivariate Pearson correlation between knowledge enabling

71

constructs and knowledge creation indicators
Table 12

Pearson correlation among knowledge creation and effectiveness
indicators

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73


viii

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No.

ix

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LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix

Page

Appendix A

Communication letters

90

Appendix B

Interview, questionnaire and document data

92

Appendix C

Descriptive Statistics

108

Table 1


Frequency of the method of selecting employees

Table 6c

Frequency of the different selection criteria

Table 7

Aspects related with new recruitments

Table 7a

Policy for new employees

Table 7b

Having a mentor

Table 7c

Policy for newly employed

Table 8

Aspects within employee turnover

Table 9

Criteria to determine salaries


Companies with newsletter by sector

Table 12d

Number of companies by person in the gatekeeper position and
sector

Table 13

Number of hour formal and informal meetings (cells refers to
percentage of respondents)

Table 14

Respondent’s perceived usefulness of formal and informal
meetings

Table 15

Distribution of information (cells refer to percentage of
respondents)

Table 16

Information technology infrastructure

Additional tables
Table 1

Workforce stability indicators

Bivariate Pearson correlation of the binary recoded indicators of
the monetary reward aspect construct in the selected companies
(above 0.4)

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xi

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Table 9

Communication patterns indicators by company

Table 10

Information technology infrastructure indicators by company

Table 11

Bivariate Pearson correlation of the binary recoded indicators of
the information technology investment binary indicators (above
0.40)

Table 12

ANOVA of course length by sector (consultancy and education)

Table 13


Rotated component matrix from the factor analysis of the
knowledge creation

Table 18

Bivariate Pearson correlation between knowledge enabling
construct and knowledge-creation indicators in each service

Table 18a

(Cont’d) Bivariate Pearson correlation between knowledge
enabling construct and knowledge creation indicators in each
service

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Title:

STATUS OF KNOWLEDGE ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
IN PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL COMPANIES IN
VIETNAM: BASIS FOR ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM OF
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Researcher:


ABSTRACT
The dissertation is an exploration of the ways Vietnamese knowledge intensive
companies manage their knowledge. By doing analysis in private educational Vietnamese
companies providing educational and consultancy services, the study explores the
relationship between the “knowledge enabling environment” and the demand for training.
These companies have participated in the program for developing employee competence,
financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB). As results of the program these companies
have evaluated their business activities and determined their training needs in order to
remain competitive.
In this study knowledge is understood not only the structure but also the content
of mental schemas, which embodies in individuals and can be tacit or explicit. It really
differs from information and data and it is through the dialectic process that people learn.
Looking at organizational processes for managing knowledge, it is important to consider
formal organized activities for learning as well as informal learning activities which
constitute so called “knowledge enabling environment”. It is argued here that through the
knowledge management, companies are indeed implementing strategies for the promotion
of lifelong learning, which has recently been used in policy arenas as a guiding principle
for educational policies and reforms.
As results of the study, the different aspects of the equally heterogenous
“knowledge enabling environment” do not present strong relationships in both education
and consultancy companies. Each company in those fields is rather unique in organization
and promotion of knowledge intensiveness in their ordinary business activities. The
companies mainly provide training with the company profile. It is interesting to find out
that employees demand for training if their engagement in informal learning is low.

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1


the Resolution on Vietnam Workforce Development to the year 2020 adopted at the 11th
Party Congress (April of 2011). Followed the Resolution are the Decision No. 579/QDTTg of strategy on human resource development approved by the Prime Minister on April

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19th, 2011 and the Decision 1216/QD-TTg of planning on Vietnam human resource
development for 2011-2020 approved by the Prime Minister on July 22nd, 2011. According
to those documents, in the next 10 years it should increase the rate of trained human
resource in the economy with reasonable structure. The total number of trained manpower
in 2015 has been expected to be about 30.5 million people and in 2020, there are nearly 44
million people (representing approximately 70.0% of the nearly 63 million people
employed in the economy). From the total number of trained manpower, the number of
trained personnel through vocational training system in 2015 is expected about 23.5
million (by 77%) and in 2020 - about 34.4 million people (by 78.5%); the number through
the education and training system in 2015 accounts for approximately 7 million people (by
23%) and in 2020 approximately 9.4 million people (by 21.5%).
In the context of knowledge economy, a lot of workshops and conferences of
knowledge management have been held recently in many sectors of Vietnamese
economy, both public and private ones. The major comments have been largely agreed that
many businesses in Vietnam are now just focusing on the issues such as production, cost
reduction while leaving behind the issue of knowledge management, which can support
leadership to solve business problems. E.g. when a company faces a brain drain, business
is interrupted or affected at least until a matching replacement is found. However, the
situation could have been avoided if companies perform well the task of knowledge
management, which is implemented by collection, storage, sharing and use of information
and trade secrets, not only at individual levels but at the level of the enterprise. Then a

creation plays in knowledge management, few references to educational science and
learning can be found. Therefore exploring how knowledge management is related to
training activities in organizations is an interesting and useful endeavor. As studies within
the area of human capital theory have found that small companies face more problems in
providing training opportunities to their employees than large firms. In addition, it has
been found that certain company and work characteristics, such as size of the company,
and literacy practices at work, are associated with higher levels of training participations.
Thus, it seems particularly interesting to explore the relationship between the way small
and medium organizations manage their knowledge and their demand for training.
1.2. Statement of the problem
It is sought answers to the following questions:
1. What is the knowledge enabling environment in selected companies in
education and consultancy?
2. What are the instructional variables that influence the knowledge enabling
environment and knowledge management in selected companies in education and
consultancy?
3. Is there any significant relationship between the company perceived needs for
continuous competence development, which constitute the company demand for training in
selected companies in education and consultancy?
4. What enhancement program of knowledge management can be proposed from
the results of the study?

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1.3. Null Hypothesis
There is no significant relationship between knowledge enabling environment

5

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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Independent Variables

Dependent Variable

Knowledge enabling
environment

Knowledge Management:
Use of knowledge
+ Knowledge creation

Size
Stability of workforce
Experience
Professionalism
Recruitment

Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of
thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, written, or behavior. It is
the meaningful exchange of information between two or more living creatures.
Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or
unconventional signals, may take linguistic or non-linguistic forms, and may occur through
spoken or other modes. Communication requires a sender, a message, and a recipient,
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although the receiver does not have to be present or aware of the sender's intent to
communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast
distances in time and space. Communication requires that the communicating parties share
an area of communicative commonality. The communication process is complete once the
receiver understands the sender's message.
Company Size
Company size refers to the personnel number or employees margin of company.
Besides company size can be considered on industry, ownership structure and revenue.
Dependent Variable
Variables used in an experiment or modelling can be divided into three types and
dependent variable is one of them. Dependent variables represent the output or effect, or is
tested to see if it is the effect. In a scientific experiment, you cannot have a dependent
variable without an independent variable.
Independent Variable
Variables used in an experiment or modelling can be divided into three types:
dependent variable, independent variable, or other. Independent variables represent the
inputs or causes, or are tested to see if they are the cause.

feelings since the schemas have important emotional components. Further, it includes
knowledge as a process, as a wave and as a living organism, since these three elements
refer to the idea that knowledge is in a constant dialectic process with the reality it
represents. The frame and the content are reinforced or change in each action that we
perform. It is through action that we test our schema in the real world. This action will
inform us about the schema that in tum will or will not change. In this way, action
develops our knowledge, and knowledge is therefore a dynamic entity. Knowledge as a
static entity never changes. The positivistic view of science maintains that scientific
inquiry looks for objective and universal knowledge, what traditionally has been called
Truth with a capital T. However, post-positivistic views criticize the idea of a universal
truth and propose the existence of different truths. Thus there is not a unique, invariant
knowledge but different types of knowledge viewed from different perspectives.
The dynamic feature of knowledge is thus related to the idea that knowledge must
be translated into and associated with action (Elkjaer, 2003; Hunt, 2003). Further, the
action uses knowledge but does not “consume” the knowledge that can be re-used in its
modified form. Thus it is important to mention that “knowledge is not ‘consumed’ in a
process, it sometimes increases through use” (Hall, 1998, p. 13). Through this process of
adaptation, or equilibrium in Piaget’s terms, knowledge, action and learning are closely
linked together.

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To conclude, it is important to note that knowledge is related to learning. Li et al.
(2003, p. 17) argue: “learning and knowledge mutually reinforce each other in a cycle. The
act of learning provides knowledge and understanding, which in turn feed further
learning”. As has been argued already, learning can be regarded as the adaptation of

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Knowledge creation
Organizational knowledge creation is a part of the knowledge management
process. Knowledge creation is about continuous transfer, combination and conversion of
the different types of knowledge (as users practice, interact and learn). Knowledge creation
is a product of the interplay between knowledge and knowing them. The shift in condition
between the possession of knowledge and the act of knowing - something that comes about
through practice, action, and interaction- is the driving force in the creation of new
knowledge. Furthermore, in order for this interplay to be most fruitful, it is important to
support unstructured work environments in areas where creativity and innovation are
important.
Knowledge enabling environment
Knowledge enabling environment refers to the organization of company, the ways of
working and the facilities that employees have in order to deliver services and constantly
upgrade their knowledge. Such an environment constitutes a knowledge intensive
organization (where knowledge is produced and sold). The knowledge enabling
environment encompasses main areas: human resources and its management,
communication activities and information technology infrastructure.
Knowledge management
Knowledge management is the process of capturing, developing, sharing, and
effectively using organizational knowledge. It refers to a multi-disciplined approach to
achieving organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge. Knowledge
management efforts typically focus on organizational objectives such as improved
performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration
and continuous improvement of the organization.
Learning arenas
Leaning arenas relate to professional development programs, training and learning
activities. It focuses on abstract concepts, complex theoretical understandings and
interactions across many contexts, such as learning experiences and integrating
observation, planning and assessment seem to require long timeframes for new

Reward system
Employee reward systems refer to programs set up by a company to reward
performance and motivate employees on individual and/or group levels. They are normally
considered separate from salary but may be monetary in nature or otherwise have a cost to
the company. While previously considered the domain of large companies, small
businesses have also begun employing them as a tool to lure top employees in a
competitive job market as well as to increase employee performance. Although employee
recognition programs are often combined with reward programs they retain a different
purpose altogether. They are intended to provide a psychological - rewards a financial benefit. Although many elements of designing and maintaining reward and recognition
systems are the same, it is useful to keep this difference in mind, especially for small
business owners interested in motivating staffs while keeping costs low.
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Stability of workforce
Workplace stability is a major factor in levels of employee morale. People who work
together for long periods of time get to know each other, and a workplace with no paranoia
about layoffs and job loss is a much more pleasant place in which to work. Benefits are an
important factor for many people in their choice of jobs. Good benefits will entice many
people to remain at jobs they might otherwise leave.
Work experience
Work experience is any experience that a person gains while working in a specific
field or occupation, but the expression is widely used to mean a type of volunteer work that
is commonly intended for young people - often students - to get a feel for professional
working environments.


environment for constant skills formation and learning, what von Krogh et al. (2000) call
“the knowledge enabling environment”. On the one hand, knowledge management
strategies enforce a lifelong perspective of learning through the continuous emphasis on
the creation of knowledge and skills upgrading. On the other hand, knowledge
management strategies promote constant opportunities for skill development and learning,
both formal and informal. Knowledge management includes formal learning activities,

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