Perceptions of ethical conduct in Vietnamese managerial leaders: an institutional logics perspective

Ethical leadership has become a topic of significance in the business world as numerous organisations around the world struggle to contain unethical behaviours in all aspects of social, economic and political life. Much of the current mainstream research perspectives on ethical leadership focus on the relationship between leaders and followers. Leaders are considered ethical when they are seen as being morally sound by their employees and possess qualities such as integrity, honesty, and fairness. Ethical leaders are also evaluated by the responsibility, effectiveness and environmental sustainability of their work, aspects which stem from their power and access to resources that allow them to achieve the goals set by their organisations. The advantage of the mainstream perspective is that it shows the specific and pre-determined values that an ethical leader should possess, making it easier to put these into practice. Another perspective is the critical interpretive perspective which has criticised the mainstream for being too simplistic, ignoring the complexity and social dynamics of ethical practices rooted in the life experience of leaders. The critical orientation has shifted to an ontological and interpretive perspective, arguing that ethics should be conceptualised between human interaction and emotional connection, demonstrated through the care and body embodiment of leaders.

In addition, the majority of studies on ethical leadership are conducted in the Global North where there exist stable institutions such as the rule of law. Although there is an increased awareness of how ethical leadership is practised in the Global South where most multinational corporations (MNCs) base their subsidiaries, we have not yet fully understood the complexities of institutions underlying ethical leadership which influence how it is perceived and practised in the Global South.

This study does not refute the merits of either the mainstream or critical interpretive perspectives. Instead, it acknowledges the strengths and weaknesses of both, while proposing an institutional perspective as a more holistic approach to understanding ethical leadership. The institutional logics perspective assists in exploring perceptions of ethical leadership as a multi-level, inter-relating and multi-faceted set of social forces. The study adopts the institutional logics perspective based on the assumptions that the perceptions and behaviours of individuals within organisations are framed by broader socio-cultural forces through a range of institutions (i.e., family, religion, state, market, profession, corporations and community). Specifically, the study draws on the microfoundations of institutional logics that move away from the isomorphism and compliance of behaviours in relation to certain logics to argue that multiple institutional logics and institutional complexity exist, in which individuals negotiate ways to justify the ethical dimensions of decisions.

The study was conducted in Vietnam, which has a complex institutional context owing to the country’s historical ties with China, America and France. Vietnam currently stands at a pivotal period in its history owing to the influence of transnational neoliberalism and its state-based capitalism (which have been fused together to create what the government refers to as a ‘socialist market economy’), the institution of the Đổi Mới (Renovation and Open Door) policy in 1986 due the failure of the communist economic system, and its cultural-religious traditions in the form of the Three Teachings (Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism).

The purpose of the study is to explore how Vietnamese managers working in MNC subsidiaries in Vietnam interpret institutional logics from the perception and practice of ethical leadership. The methodology was informed by an exploratory qualitative and interpretive approach. Interviews were conducted with 33 Vietnamese managerial leaders working in 17 MNC subsidiaries. The interview data were analysed using a six-phase thematic analysis outlined by Clarke et al. (2015) and the three-step approach (data reduction, data display and drawing and verifying conclusions) outlined by Miles and Huberman (1994), which were used to guide the data analysis process.

The findings reveal that Vietnamese managers are confronted by multiple logics (competing and complementary) and institutional complexity that requires their

interpretations of and self-reflection on the concept of tâm (wholehearted/mind). The structures of the logic of some institutions such as religion are different from the typical religion logic explained in the current literature. There are other indigenous institutional logics within which Vietnamese managers are embedded, such as the “way of living” logic, the apolitical logic and the logic of tâm. Therefore, Vietnamese managers mainly use có tâm (with heart/mind) and hợp tình hợp lý (with emotion and with rationality) when making ethical decisions.

This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the ethical leadership process in a Global South country such as Vietnam. It advances the literature on ethical leadership by arguing that there is not simply a dyadic relationship between leaders and followers in which leaders are prescribed some normatively appropriate characteristics to execute the best ethical practices. Instead, leaders are always confronted with institutional complexity, in which both contrasting and complementary logics co-exist, stemming from the indigenous institutional context. Although ethical leaders should have some appropriate

moral characteristics, as indicated by mainstream research, the interpretation of the underpinning logics remains different, which leads to distinctive ethical decisions. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the ethical leadership process in a Global South country such as Vietnam. It advances the literature on ethical leadership by arguing that there is not simply a dyadic relationship between leaders and followers in which leaders are prescribed some normatively appropriate characteristics to execute the best ethical practices. Instead, leaders are always confronted with institutional complexity, in which both contrasting and complementary logics co-exist, stemming from the indigenous institutional context. Although ethical leaders should have some appropriate

moral characteristics, as indicated by mainstream research, the interpretation of the underpinning logics remains different, which leads to distinctive ethical decisions.