Relevance of information technology graduates’ competencies to the industry needs

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RELEVANCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GRADUATES’
COMPETENCIES TO THE INDUSTRY NEEDS

___________________________

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
Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management

___________________________

By
BUI NGOC TUAN (FUTURE)
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October 2014

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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

This is to certify that the research work / dissertation entitled RELEVANCE OF
INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY

GRADUATES’

COMPETENCIES

TO

THE

INDUSTRY NEEDS, orally defended/ presented under the Doctor of Philosophy in
Educational Management Program jointly offered by Southern Luzon State University
of the Republic of the Philippines and Thai Nguyen University of the Socialist Republic
of Vietnam, embodies the result of original and scholarly work carried out by the
undersigned.

This dissertation does not contain words or ideas taken from published
sources or written works by other persons which have been accepted as basis
for the award of any degree from other higher education institutions, except
where proper referencing and acknowledgement were made.

BUI NGOC TUAN
Researcher
Date Orally Defended: June, 27,2014

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Sincerest appreciation is extended to the following individuals who in
their own special ways have made this dissertation a reality:
Dr. Cecilia Gascon, President of Southern Luzon State University,
Republic of the Philippines, for her immeasurable contribution in the
development of the joint program of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational
Management between Southern Luzon State University and Thai Nguyen

University;
Prof. Dr. Dang Kim Vui, President of Thai Nguyen University, the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam for his approval in the offering of Doctor of
Philosophy in Educational Management program in cooperation with the
Southern Luzon State University, Philippines;
Prof. Dr. Tran Van Dien, Rector of Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture
and Forestry, for his invaluable assistance in the establishment of the Doctor of
Philosophy in Educational Management program in cooperation with the
Southern Luzon State University, Philippines;
Dr. Nguyen Tuan Anh, Former Director of the International Training
Center, Thai Nguyen University, for his enthusiasm in the establishment of the
Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management program in cooperation with
the Southern Luzon State University, Philippines;
The Panel of Examiners, for their remarkable comments, suggestions
and recommendations to enhance this thesis manuscript;
Dr. Conrado Abraham, his thesis adviser, for his unparalleled guidance
and advice in conducting this research;
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The Visiting Professors including Dr.Arivalan, Dr. Balakrishnan, Dr.
Walberto A. Macaraan, Dr. Lee Kar Ling, Dr. W.Johnson, Dr. Teresita V. de
la Cruz, and Dr. Apolonia A. Espinosa and other professors, for sharing
their most precious time and abundance of knowledge during the whole
duration of this study;
The information and communication departments in the provinces: Thai

Nguyen, Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Police Bac Kan, National Academy of Public
Administration, for approving the request to conduct the study;
The Graduates – respondents of the study, for their active involvement,
without their cooperation, the result of this dissertation could not have been
possible;
His loving classmates and colleagues, for the endless support and
friendship which inspired the researcher to do his best in finishing the study;
His wife, his son and his parents, for their encouragement, financial,
moral and spiritual supports and for continuously believing that he can finish
the task to the best of his abilities

Bui Ngoc Tuan (Future)

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DEDICATION

To My Friends & Family
Thank you for ALL the Support.

Bui Ngoc Tuan

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………..

i

APPROVAL SHEET ……………………………………………………….

ii

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ………………………………………..

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT …………………………………………………..

iv

DEDICATION ………………………………………………………………

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………..

vii

LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………………….

ix

LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………...

x

LIST OF APPENDICES …………………………………………………...

xi

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………

xii

CHAPTER
I

INTRODUCTION
Introduction

1

………………………………………………….
Background of the Study

13

…………………………………..

Objectives of the Study

20

…………………………………….
Hypothesis of the Study

21

……………………………………
Significance of the Study

21

…………………………………..
Scope and Limitation of the Study

22

………………………..
Definition of Terms

23

………………………………………….
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II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Related Literature

26

….....…………………….………………
Conceptual Framework

55

……………………………………
Research Paradigm

55

……………………………...…………

III

METHODOLOGY
Locale of the Study

57

…………………………………………
Research Design

59

……………………………………………
Population and Sampling

59

…………………………………..
Research Instrumentation

61

…………………………………
Data Gathering Procedure

61

……………………………..….
Statistical Treatment

61

…….………………………………….

IV

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

66

………………………….

V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary

89

…………….………………………………………
Conclusions

90

…………………………………………………
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Recommendations

91

…………………………………………

REFERENCES

93

……………………………………………………………..
APPENDICES

95

……………………………………………………………...
CURRICULUM VITAE

123

…………………………………………………….

LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
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PAGE



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1

Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the
Respondents

60

2

Frequency and Percentage Distribution of the Units
Surveyed

60

3

Weighted Mean and Rank Distribution of IT Graduate with
Highly Skilled Qualities

66

4

Weighted Mean and Rank Distribution of IT Graduate in
High Professional Capacity

67

5

Weighted Mean and Rank Distribution of IT Graduate with
High Work Ability

69

6

Industry’s Knowledge Requirement for IT Graduate
Students

70

7

Industry’s Skill Requirement for IT Graduate Students

71

8

Industry’s Working Attitude Requirement for IT Graduate
Students

73

9

Correlations

75

10

Correlations

76

LIST OF FIGURES

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FIGURE

PAGE

1

Competencies Model

39

2

Schematic Representation of the Independent Variable,
Dependent Variable and the Results of the Study

55

Location of Thai Nguyen City

57

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LIST OF APPENDICES
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APPENDIX

PAGE

A

Letter to Administer the Questionnaire …………………….

96

B

Letter to Respondents ……………………………………….

97

C

Additional Tables and Survey Forms ………………………

98

`

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ABSTRACT
Title of Research

: RELEVANCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
GRADUATES’ COMPETENCIES TO THE
INDUSTRY NEEDS

Researcher

: BUI NGOC TUAN (FUTURE)

Degree Conferred

: DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATIONAL
MANAGEMENT

Name and Address
of Institution

: Southern Luzon State University Lucban, Quezon,
Philippines and Thai Nguyen University, Socialist
Republic of Vietnam

Adviser

: Dr. Conrado L. Abraham

Year Written
: 2013 - 2014
______________________________________________________________
According to international assessment agencies on Information
Technology and Communication, Vietnam has information technology and
communication development index (IDI) ranking at 86 out of 161 nations and
rank 4th position in Southern East Asia (2012). Networked Readiness Index
(NRI) of Vietnam ranked at 84 out of 144 nations and 5th position in Southern
East Asia in 2012. With regards to information technology industry, Vietnam
ranked 8th worldwide on software processing activities (Tholon Corporation,
2011), one of the top ten nations in Asia Pacific and top thirty worldwide
(Gartner Corporation, 2012). Vietnam has been highly considered on public
service and application of information technology on state agencies. For the
norms of electronic Administration/Government, Vietnam has been classified at
4th position in South East Asia and 81 out of 190 nations in 2012.
Regarding human resource quality, Vietnam ranked 101 out of 161
nations in 2012 and highly considered on education qualification of
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mathematics and science subjects. Nowadays, human resource on information
technology is not only very limited in number in Vietnam, but it is also lacking in
the world. It has a shortage of 4 million engineers on information technology
(IT). In Vietnam demand of human resource on software industry (PM) has
been dramatically increasing. From 2011 to 2015, Vietnam is estimated to need
about 20.000 - 25.000 engineers on IT. While education and training capacity
of human resource on information technology provides about 34.448 engineers,
41.048 ones in 2010 and 2012, respectively. In fact number of qualified IT
engineers under employer’s requirements are even much smaller.
According to employer’s statistics database, Vietnamese IT engineers
are very weak in communication skill, professional working style, and English
proficiency. Moreover, about 64% of human resource is weak in group working
ability. Thus, they could not integrate and adapt to employer’s standards after
being recruited. Up to 71% graduation students have not adapted to technology
advance change, and 90% of the students has insufficiency in foreign language.
Therefore, Vietnamese IT staffs could only utilize 60% of their capacity and
became obstacles for enterprise’s recruitment.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan: “In IT industry,
Vietnam has very good potentials to cooperate with international partners. The
question is how to attract more and more foreign investors participating in IT
human resource education and training”. Therefore, this study “Relevance of
information technology graduates’ competencies to the industry needs”
was conducted. The objective of this study is to assess IT student capacity of
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Thai Nguyen University in meeting enterprise’s demand and to find out gap
between training education quality and real requirements. The findings of this
study are scientific evidences for policy-makers, educational institutions,
educators, and students in improving education program and efficiency.

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Chapter I
INTRODUCTION
Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the
knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one
generation to the next through teaching, training, or research. It is essential for
everyone and the level of education helps people earn respect and recognition.
It is a fact that the importance of education is undeniable for every single
person. It goes without saying that education has a positive effect on human
life. All people need to access to education. Only with the advent of education
can people gain knowledge and enlarge their view over the world.
Education plays such a rudimentary role in our society that we cannot
even imagine a life without it. It is a determined element for the civilization of
human society. Not only does it helps us develop healthy surroundings but it

also generates an advance community. As a matter of fact, everything we
create today is based on the knowledge that we obtain throughout our life by
way of education. This assists scientists in inventing equipment and devices,
resulting in a high technology nowadays. The more developed life becomes,
the more necessary education is for everyone because the development of a
country depends vastly on the standard of education, and it must do everything
to improve it. Although the educational systems of different countries are not
similar, they share a common goal which is to provide its citizens suitable and
proper learning. Education is absolutely beneficial for the society as a whole. It
is a life-long process for each person that needs to be reinforced throughout
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life. However, we need an education system that may eradicate illiteracy and
may provide the common man an access not only to basic education but also
to higher and technical education.
Viet Nam’s competitive advantage in the global economy depends on
qualified and skilled workforce. A troubling gap, however, currently exists
between the skills and knowledge of the country’s current and projected
workforce and the demands of jobs expected to grow most rapidly during the
next decade.
From 1st of October to 15th of October 2012 in Hanoi, the 11th steering
committee of the party held the 6th meeting to discuss and draw the resolutions
on building the project “Fully and fundamentally innovate the education and
training in the market economy which is oriented to the socialist and
international integration; and “Develop science and technology to support the

industrialization and modernization in the market which is oriented towards
socialist and international integrations.”
The steering committee of the party identified that for a secured leading
of the party and for the consideration of the whole nation as well as the efforts
of the teachers, managers and scientist communities are the reasons that the
science and technology of the nation obtained important achievements on the
quantity and quality of the education in all levels, including management,
scientific research and applications, market and services for the science and
technology, and international collaboration.

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Today, most trades, fields or activity in modern society also need
contributions from Information Technology (IT). What makes IT important? The
demand for the products of this sector is enormous and growing. The presence
of IT is everywhere, it may be the phone you are using with a lot of software
pre-installed inside, and the entire banking system would stop functioning if
there’s trouble in the software system. In the same way, banking to aviation,
telecommunications to the areas such as defense security, application of IT is
also very important. So, in order to operate, develop systems and applications
of information technology, human resources require a very large and continue
increase in the coming years. Besides the expert knowledge required to be
equipped in universities, graduate students often find it difficult to find work
because of lack of job skills. There are many skills that a group of workers need.
But, where are the skills that employers are demanding Vietnam group of new

candidates for university graduates. This study’s purpose is to answer the
abovementioned questions.
Results of the study will help the students in the groups to be equipped
with the appropriate skills required by employers. On the other hand, it also
provides important reference information for units training in the process of
designing training programs associated with the practical needs of society and
students' needs. Results of the study are more useful for employers in
designing recruitment programs, training, coaching and development of their
staff.
Developing Viet Nam ICT brand name Products and Service
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On September 22nd, 2010, the Prime Minister promulgated the Decision
No. 1755/QD-TTg approving the National Strategy on “Transforming Viet Nam
into an advanced ICT country”, which defines strategic missions to accelerate
the IT industry of Viet Nam. Some of the important missions are to improve the
capacity and competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises, and to develop Viet
Nam’s ICT brand-name products and services. To accomplish these missions
and implement the campaign, “Vietnamese people prefer Vietnamese
products” of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and the
Government’s Resolution No. 11/NQ-CP dated February 24th, 2011 regarding
measures to control inflation, stabilize the macro-economy and ensure social
welfare. In this regard, the Ministry of Information and Communications
launched the Program in Promoting the development of Viet Nam ICT brandname products and services (VIBrand) in 2011.
VIBrand 2011 leverages the nation’s patriotism in encouraging domestic

consumers to choose Viet Nam ICT brand-name products and services,
thereby, creating a competitive market for Vietnamese enterprises to provide
highly qualified ICT products and services not only for domestic demands but
also for exports. The program brings together government agencies, national
and foreign enterprises and investors, as well as Vietnamese consumers to
cooperate and enjoy shared benefits for the following:
For government agencies: The program has provided a broad overview
of the current development of the IT market in Viet Nam and suggested
solutions to the challenges and bottlenecks in order to create a conducive
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condition and enhance the competitiveness of Vietnamese IT enterprises.
These understandings will help responsible agencies build appropriate support
programs in the upcoming years;
For Vietnamese IT enterprises: The program creates a venue for
enterprises to express their needs and recommendations to the state
management agencies, share their experiences, promote their images, and
seek business cooperation opportunities;
For consumers: Through this program, a variety of top ICT products and
services were introduced to the domestic consumers. It was a valuable
opportunity for IT enterprises to provide adequate and accurate information on
their trademarks and products, thus allowing for stronger trust and higher usage
of Viet Nam’s ICT brand-name products and services.
For foreign investors and enterprises: The program analyzes the
potential developments of IT market in Viet Nam, where demand for specialized

products and services in particular technical fields has yet to fully emerged. The
program has also allowed investors and foreign enterprises to explore the
opportunity for joint ventures with Vietnamese IT businesses providing IT
products and services. Thus far, VIBrand 2011 has received the support and
participation of various Ministries, agencies, associations and IT enterprises
nationwide, as well as international partners. In this context, the Ministry of
Information and Communications is developing and implementing the VIBrand
2012 on a larger scale, with the hope to bring about a greater impact.

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Together with VIBrand, the Ministry of Information and Communications
is conducting several related activities, namely: periodically updating a list of
IT products suitable for government-funded organizations and agencies;
developing and publishing the “Catalogue of Viet Nam IT products”;
implementing the “National Brand” program in cooperation with Ministry of
Industry and Trade; and promoting youth innovation in the IT sector in
cooperation with Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. These activities will
contribute substantially to the development of the IT industry and operationalize
the National Strategy on “Transforming Viet Nam into an advanced ICT
country”.
In recent years, under the leadership of the Party and the Government,
the ICT sector of Viet Nam has been continuously moving forward, fostering the
development of infrastructure system, and contributing positively to the socioeconomic growth. In 2011, although the Vietnamese economy still faced many
challenges due to the negative effects of the global economic crisis, this sector

maintained its growth and continuously gained many important achievements.
The telecommunication infrastructure was modernized to cover the
whole country with and had met international standards in providing good
quality services and improving customer satisfaction. IT application in
government agencies has been adopted widely and contributed to a significant
extent to public administration reform efforts.
The educational system on ICT human resource was scaled up both in
volume and form. In view of this, 290 universities and colleges had ICT faculties
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or departments (only 13 compared with 2010) and the quota of ICT-related
student’s enrolment was 64,796 students (only 4,000 students compared with
2010). In 2011, there were 41,908 students graduating in different ICT majors;
173,107 studying in ICT faculties or departments; and 55,197 ICT students are
enrolled in these institutions.
The policy and regulatory environment for ICT development was
gradually improved in order to assure the transparency and clarity to facilitate
procedures and to ensure strict law enforcement. Specifically, the
establishment of Viet Nam Telecommunication Authority in August 2011 was
considered a big step to strengthen the public management capacity in the field
of telecommunications and the Internet.
In particular, on January 16th, 2012, the 4th Congress of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam promulgated the Resolution
No. 13-NQ/TW on Building a synchronous infrastructure system with a view to
transform Viet Nam into a modernized industrial country by 2020. The

resolution places strong emphasis on “Improving the capacity to leverage
technology and manage effectively the information infrastructure and content
to assist the Party’s and the Government’s leadership; meeting the demand of
information exchange and flow within the society to boost socio-economic
development to ensure the national defense and security, information security,
state sovereignty over the cyber space. Further, the development in the
networking system inside the country and with other nations to form the
country’s information super highway and in enhancing the application of
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information technology in the management of the socio- economic
infrastructure and the whole economy. This is considered a top priority in the
industrialization and modernization process of each strategic economic sector;
and in accelerating the information technology industry including the software
industry in a fast and sustainable manner.
The fundamental guiding objectives of the strategy by 2020.

By 2020, Information Technology and Communication of Vietnam will
have been an important sector which contributes positively to increase GDP
growth rate. The Information Technology and Communication of Vietnam will
reach the advanced level among ASEAN countries and contribute to the
successful implementation of the industrialization and modernization of the
country, paving the way for the development of knowledge economy and
information society.
Information Technology and Communication infrastructure will achieve

the targets of the service level equivalent to the average of industrialized
countries, diversify the type of services, catch up with the trend of technology
convergence and Telecommunications Services - Information Technology Communications, form integrated network by new generation technology,
broadband, high capacity in everywhere and at all times with any access
devices to meet the needs of application of Information Technology and
Communications, shorten the digital technology gap and ensure better security
and defense.

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Information Technology and Communication infrastructure will achieve
the targets of the service level equivalent to the average of industrialized
countries, diversify the type of services, catch up with the trend of technology
convergence and Telecommunications Services - Information Technology Communications, form integrated network by new generation technology,
broadband, high capacity in everywhere and at all times with any access
devices to meet the needs of application of Information Technology and
Communications, shorten the digital technology gap and ensure better security
and defense.
Information Technology and Communication industry will become a key
economic sector and an important step in the chain of processing,
manufacturing and global supply, ensure the high-speed growth, modern
technology and produce variety of products with high level of creativity. Some
important industrial products of electronic sector, hardware, software will reach
the level of developed countries. Software industry and content industry will be
developed and also intellectual property and copyright will be respected.

Human Resources in Information Technology and Communication will
reach the level of ASEAN leading countries in the quantity, quality and level to
meet the requirements in management, manufacturing, service and application
for domestic use and international export. People, especially teenagers will
have universalized information technology and improve the level and
information technology application skills.
Solutions to strategic implementation.
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