Relationship between trust and cooperation an empirical study of inter organisational relationships in vietnam

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY
---------------------------

NGUYEN NGOC CUONG

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRUST AND
COOPERATION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY
OF INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL
RELATIONSHIPS
IN VIETNAM

MASTER'S THESIS

Hanoi, 2020


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY
---------------------------

NGUYEN NGOC CUONG

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRUST AND
COOPERATION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY
OF INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL
RELATIONSHIPS
IN VIETNAM

MAJOR: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
CODE: 8340101.1

RESEARCH SUPERVISORS:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. VU ANH DUNG
Assoc. Prof. Dr. KODO YOKOZAWA

Hanoi, 2020


TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................ iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...................................................................................... vi
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ vii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................... 1
1.1 Practical issues .................................................................................................. 1
1.2 Theoretical gap and research objective ............................................................. 2
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................. 3
2.1 Trust .................................................................................................................. 3
2.2 Relationship commitment ................................................................................. 4
2.3 Cooperation ....................................................................................................... 5
2.4 Theoretical gap .................................................................................................. 5
2.5 Hypothesis formulation ..................................................................................... 8
2.6 Research model ............................................................................................... 10
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION ..................... 11
3.1 Research scope ................................................................................................ 11
3.2 Research design ............................................................................................... 11
3.3 Research scales................................................................................................ 12
3.4 Process of collecting data ................................................................................ 13

3.5 Characteristics of respondents......................................................................... 14
3.6 Descriptive statistics analysis .......................................................................... 17
3.7 Reliability and validity .................................................................................... 19

i


CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ..................................... 23
4.1 Exploratory factor analysis of CT and AT ...................................................... 23
4.2 Correlation coefficients analysis ..................................................................... 24
4.3 Regression analysis ......................................................................................... 26
4.3.1 Regression with AT as dependent variable ............................................. 26
4.3.2 Regression with RC as dependent variable ............................................. 27
4.3.3 Regression with COO as dependent variable .......................................... 29
4.4 Discussion ....................................................................................................... 32
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ............................................................................. 35
5.1 Theoretical contributions ................................................................................ 35
5.2 Managerial implications .................................................................................. 36
5.3 Limitations and recommendations .................................................................. 37
REFERENCES....................................................................................................... 39
APPENDIXES ........................................................................................................ 45
APPENDIX 1: ITEMS IN MEASUREMENT SCALES ..................................... 45
APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY ..................................................... 46

ii


LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1. Demographic characteristic of respondents ........................................... 14
Table 3.2. Mean and standard deviation ................................................................. 17

Table 3.3. Cronbach’s Alpha................................................................................... 20
Table 4.1. EFA of CT and AT................................................................................. 23
Table 4.2. Transforming representative factors ...................................................... 24
Table 4.3. Correlation coefficients Matrix Analysis ............................................... 25
Table 4.4. Regression with AT as dependent variable ............................................ 26
Table 4.5. Regression with RC as dependent variable (CT is predictor) ................ 27
Table 4.6. Regression with RC as dependent variable (AT is predictor) ................ 28
Table 4.7. Regression with COO as dependent variable (RC is predictor) ............. 29
Table 4.8. Regression with COO as dependent variable (CT is predictor) ............. 30
Table 4.9. Regression with COO as dependent variable (AT is predictor) ............. 31
Table 4.10. Summary of the hypothesis testing ...................................................... 32

iii


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1. Conceptual model ................................................................................. 10
Figure 4.1. Conceptual model in Vietnam .............................................................. 32

iv


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AT

Affective trust

COO

Cooperation

CT

Cognitive trust

EFA

Exploratory factor analysis

RC

Relationship commitment

v


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, I would like to express deepest gratitude to my parents, who always respect
my decisions and support me for what I have committed. Their belief and supports
have made my confidence to face challenges and move forward.
Likewise, I am grateful to my supervisors Associate Professor Kodo Yokozawa and
Associate Professor Vu Anh Dung for making this research project possible.
Associate Professor Kodo Yokozawa has been kindly, patiently and enthusiastically
accompanied and facilitated me in the process of researching from the idea
formation to every step on how to do a good scientific research. Whilst, Associate
Professor Vu Anh Dung critically evaluated the matters and logically explained the
reasons of my research. His advices helped me recognize the limitations and learnt
to improve them in the research. Thanks to my supervisors, my knowledge in the
academic research has been truly enriched.
I am also thankful to all experts, lecturers and staffs from Japan International

Cooperation Agency (JICA), Vietnam National University (VNU), Yokohama
National University (YNU), Vietnam Japan University (VNU), Waseda University
as well as those, who participated in the questionnaire survey. Thanks to all of you,
I really had a memorable and enjoyable time during my post graduate study.
Last but not least, I would like to send a special thank you to Dr. Yoshifumi Hino. I
sincerely appreciated and enjoyed the time and the process of learning quantitative
research, economics and Japanese language from him.

Nguyen Ngoc Cuong

vi


ABSTRACT
This study examined the relationship between trust and cooperation in an
interorganizational level. A conceptual model was proposed here, which consisted
of affective trust, cognitive trust, relationship commitment and cooperation. A total
of 90 usable questionnaires were explored to test the conceptual model using the
exploratory factor analysis, correlation and regression analysis on SPSS 26.0 in a
current emerging economy. The study result presented an insignificant direct
relationship between affective trust and cognitive trust with cooperation. Cognitive
trust was highlighted as the foundation for interorganizational relationship while
affective trust was emphasized with the stronger impact on relationship
commitment, which influenced positively cooperation. Further managerial
implications for practices, limitations and recommendations were also discussed.

vii


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Practical issues
Cooperation played crucial roles in business practices since it can promote
relational exchanges, effective competitions, enhances a flow of information and
business transaction (Morgan & Hunt, 1994).

Despite its important roles and

benefits, business practicers find it challenging to achieve effective cooperation in
Vietnam.
The characteristics of the environment here was described with some frequencies of
one time deal approach, inadequacy of company profile data the shortage of proper
procedures, or the absence of developed infrastructures (Nguyen & Rose, 2009). It
is quite common to experience the late time of product delivery, the unqualified
product quality or the lack of delivering professional customer services from the
suppliers here. All of these caused difficulties for focal firms to foster relationships
with the suppliers to achieve shared goals and have motivations to maintain the
exchanged relationships. Thus, this research is motivated to find out the key for
effective cooperation to be applied in Vietnamese business practices.
Studying inter-organizational cooperation in the literature review, the researcher
was persuaded with the commitment-trust theory by Morgan and Hunt (1994).
Accordingly, trust and relationship commitment were explained to be the keys to
make cooperation effective. Morgan and Hunt (1994) also proposed important
factors that impacted trust and relationship commitment such as the termination cost,
benefits, shared values, communication or opportunistic behaviors, which helped
the researcher gain insight ideas of how to achieve these keys for effective
cooperation.

1

1.2 Theoretical gap and research objective
In the theory, the direct relationship of trust on cooperation in an emerging
economy is questionable. The inter-organizational trust was researched for over
decades (Seppänen, Blomqvist, & Sundqvist, 2007) but was mainly studied in the
developed economies (e.g., Morgan & Hunt, 1994; Zineldin & Jonsson, 2000;
Abosag, Tynan, & Lewis, 2006). Thus, there was currently insufficient study of the
relationship between trust and cooperation in the emerging market economies,
where the researcher believed in the less impacts of trust on cooperation as it
influenced in the developed economies.
It is important to understand such relationship in an emerging economy such as
Vietnam from scientific and practical aspects. Therefore, the objective of this
research is to test the relationship between trust and cooperation with a mediating
variable of relationship commitment in focus on the relationships between focal
firms with their suppliers. Six hypotheses on the relationship between trust and
cooperation in the Vietnamese business context are set and tested. It is expected an
insignificant relationship between trust and cooperation in an emerging economy,
which will become a theoretical contribution of the research.

2


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Trust
The literature surveyed on interorganizational trust, highlighted the primary
conceptualization of trust as confidence, belief, willingness or expectation on
exchange partners to fulfil their obligations (Zaheer & Harris, 2005); however, later
studies

showed

a

lack

of

consistent

agreements

for

the

appropriate

conceptualization and operationalization in the trust context (Abosag et al., 2006;
Seppänen et al., 2007).
This research shared the perspective with one of the most cited theories on the
context of interorganizational trust from Morgan and Hunt (1994), who argued the
redundancy of willingness in trust definition and indicated importantly the
confidence; therefore, trust was redefined persuasively as the confidence in the
reliability and integrity from the partners that the focal firm exchange with (Morgan
& Hunt, 1994). Later studies were also persuaded with the conceptualization of
confidence and be applied in interorganizational cooperation (Dyer & Chu, 2000) or
industrial marketing relationships (Cooote, Forrest & Tam, 2003).
Being consistent with the above conceptualization, trust was also distinguished by
feeling and rational thinking (McAllister, 1995; Johnson & Grayson, 2005).
Previous studies categorized trust into two dimensions of cognitive trust and
affective trust (e.g., Lewis & Weigert, 1985; McAllister, 1995; Mo l̈ lering, 2002;

Johnson & Grayson, 2005). The reviews on interorganizational trust from 1990 to
2003 also highly recommended include cognitive and affective dimensions to
capture interorganizational trust (Seppänen et al., 2007).

3


Accordingly, cognitive trust is the confidence, which is founded on the knowledge
of the party’s performance and capabilities. This critical thinking is necessary to
reduce the uncertain behaviors due to some degree of risk on the party’s behavior in
the future (Eriksson & Sharma, 2003); therefore, strengthening the relationships
with their exchange partners. Whilst, the affection trust is the confidence, which is
based on the natural feeling from the experience of receiving caring or concerns in
transaction processes with exchanged parties (e.g., Lewis & Weigert, 1985;
McAllister, 1995; Mo l̈ lering, 2002; Johnson & Grayson, 2005). This emotional
trust is motivated by the partners’ goodwill (Ring & Van de ven, 1994) and shared
values (Morgan & Hunt, 1994); which showed the willingness and quality of
interaction in promoting the relationships.

2.2 Relationship commitment
Similar to trust, relationship commitment has been seen in different disciplinary to
have a central position in developing sustainable relationships (Abosag et al., 2006).
It was not forced but earned, which revealed the willingness or intention to maintain
in a long-term process rather than short-term alternatives (Zineldin & Jonsson,
2000).
Based on the definition of relationship commitment in social exchange (Cook &
Emerson, 1978), organizations (Meyer & Allen, 1984), strategic marketing and
relationship management (Zineldin & Jonsson, 2000), this research conceptualized
the relationship commitment as the belief on the importance of collaborating and
maintaining the exchange relationship as well as the intention to endure it

sustainably. It has become crucial since the belief naturally leads to the positive
perceiving toward the exchanged partners while the willingness will result in
collaborating behaviors and activities to enhance the productivity and effectiveness
of the relationships.

4


This definition corresponds closely with the development of Morrman, Deshpande
and Zaltman (1993, p.316) as the “enduring desire to maintain a valued relationship”
and the conceptualization of Morgan and Hunt (1994) as a belief the relationship is
worthy to endure sustainably and be willing to maximize the efforts on maintaining.

2.3 Cooperation
Cooperation was defined as the situation which exchange partners worked together
to achieve mutual goals (Anderson & Narus, 1990; Skinner, Gassenheimer, &
Kelley, 1992). Morgan and Hunt (1994) highlighted that the effective cooperation
could promote an effective competition within network and enhance the success of
the relationship marketing. Previous research on interorganizational study also
emphasized the importance to understand how to develop and maintain cooperation
to acquire sustainable satisfying relationships (Childers & Ruekert, 1982). Later,
cooperation has been viewed with the temporary conflicts within the process
(Frazier, 1983; Morgan & Hunt, 1994).

2.4 Theoretical gap
The practical roles and benefits of inter-organizational trust continuously fascinated
the study by various scholars and business practicers. Trust was considered as a
primary source of sustainable competitive advantage as well as the main factor to
improve the organization’s

business capacity (e.g., Barney & Hansen, 1994;

Seppänen et al., 2007). Nevertheless, trust facilitated information exchanges,
cooperative behaviors and reduced costs of transaction and relationship conflicts
(Nguyen, Babar, & Verner, 2006).
In academic study, trust varied from economy, psychology, sociology to business,
especially in the area of industrial marketing relationship and strategic alliance

5


(Morgan & Hunt, 1994). In the interorganizational level, the research primarily
focused on the relationships between buyers and sellers, business and business,
suppliers and manufacturers (Seppänen et al., 2007).
Despite its important roles and benefits, the nature of trust makes it risky in trusting
their partners due to the possibility of uncertain anticipation for the party to behave
opportunistically (Zaheer, McEvily, & Perrone, 1998; Dominique, 2012). The
degree of freedom to disappoint the relationship’s expectation are still possible
(Gambetta, 2000; Abosag et al., 2006) and makes it challenging for the exchange
partners to assess this occurrence (Hosmer, 1995).
Together with the natural risk of trust itself, the risk for investments are even higher
in the emerging economies. The emerging nations are still in the process of
industrialization and modernization; therefore, the lack of advanced infrastructures
or the consistency in accounting or financial information will cause it riskier to do
business in the emerging markets rather than in other developed economy nations.
That is to say, the higher risks in the in the emerging markets might limit the effect
of trust on cooperation even though primary studies of trust and cooperation in
developed economies showed the supported direct relationship of trust and
cooperation in their nations (Morgan & Hunt, 1994; Zineldin & Jonsson, 2000;
Abosag et al., 2006). This belief was also strengthened since Glaser-Segura (1998)

statistically

discovered

the

unsupported

interorganizational

trust

and

interorganizational cooperation Mexico.
Furthermore, the previous studies indicated the different level of cognitive trust and
affective trust in fostering the relationship exchange and cooperation. The structural
model of Park, Lee, Jang, and Lee (2013) also found the unsupported direct
relationship between affective trust and the intention to use from the focal firms.

6


This shapes a research belief that different type of trust may have different impact
on the cooperation; therefore, it is motivated to find out whether cognitive and
affective trusts have direct impact on cooperation or not. If so, which type of trust
can have higher impact on the cooperation in the emerging market economy?

7

2.5 Hypothesis formulation
In this section, six hypothesizes have been formed to address the research questions.
Hypothesis 1: Cognitive trust positively influences affective trust
There was occurrence of bidirectional causal effect between cognitive trust and
affective trust since cognitive trust firstly occurred and became the base for
developing affective trust but when affective trust developed to a certain level,
reverse causal direction might occur (McAllister, 1995). However, that mature level
involved with risk as it based on emotion rather than knowledge of partners’
business performance, therefore, it was more natural to see the initial development
of cognitive trust for secure and its influence on affective trust. For instance, having
a belief in the suppliers’ actual performance could open the committed partners in
sharing information actively and openly.
This direction, therefore, was made on hypothesis one, which was also consistent
with the proven dependence of affective trust on cognitive trust in an organizational
level (McAllister, 1995). In the interorganizational relationship, the direct impact of
cognitive trust on affective trust was also confirmed in relationship marketing
(Morgan & Hunt, 1994); financial consulting environment (Johnson & Grayson,
2005), international trading (Zur, Leckie & Webster, 2012) or information
technology service (Scott, 2000; Park et al., 2013).
Hypothesis 2: Cognitive trust positively influences relationship commitment
Hypothesis 3: Affective trust positively influences relationship commitment
The two above hypothesizes are also proposed in the research. Accordingly,
Moorman, Deshpand and Zalman (1993) emphasized that exchanged partners
valued and committed to the relationship, which characterized by trust. Later,
Morgan and Hunt (1994) proved trust as the major influence on the relationship

8

commitment in the relational exchange. The causal relationship from trust to
relationship commitment was also determined by a variety of authors in
interorganizational level (Zineldin & Jonsson, 2000; Abosag et al., 2006; Park et al.,
2013; Jeong & Oh, 2017; Wang, Tajvidi, Lin & Hajli, 2019; Cui, Mou, Cohen, Liu
& Kurcz, 2020)
Hypothesis 4: Relationship commitment positively influences cooperation
The hypothesis four was formulated. To make the relationship work properly and
efficiently, a partner who is committed to the exchange relations will cooperate with
others (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). Similarly, both theories and empirical research has
proven this relationship and found the significant influence of relationship
commitment on cooperation in various contexts (Zineldin & Jonsson, 2000; Abosag
et al., 2006; Park et al., 2013).
Hypothesis 5: Cognitive trust positively influences cooperation
Hypothesis 6: Affective trust positively influences cooperation
The above hypotheses were made. In a market where the quantities of suppliers are
limited, cooperation might be taken temporarily in the initial establishment of the
relational exchange process. In this situation, trust might form and develop in the
middle of the process by a certain period of time with the flow of business
transactions. However, this direction did not often happen and involved with higher
risk for the success of business transaction. To secure the business, especially in a
long term, the performance and the goodwill of the suppliers should be evaluated
prior for cooperation to be established. It was persuaded that the partner would
undertake action of cooperating when trust existed (Pruitt, 1981; Anderson & Narus,
1990). The empirical research from Morgan and Hunt (1994) also indicated a direct
impact of trust on cooperation since coordinating activities required trust in their

9


partner. The direction was also consistent with other studies in cross-national

contexts (e.g., Abosag et al. 2006; Martins, Faria, Prearo, & Arruda, 2016).

2.6 Research model
From the above hypothesizes, a conceptual model was proposed to investigate the
relationship between trust and cooperation with mediating variable as relationship
commitment (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1. Conceptual model

10


CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION
3.1 Research scope
Vietnam was selected for its relevance with the phenomenon of the research. The
country was one of the most vibrant emerging market economies in East Asia
region (Worldbank, 2019). Despite the challenges that committed suppliers might
neither have sufficient competence performance nor enthusiastic attitude to
cooperate for long-term relationship developments, this prospective nation has still
attracted an increasing number of foreign direct investments with numerous
opportunities.
Since it is highly valuable to measure how trust was perceived for the measurement
of these interorganizational levels (Mo l̈ lering, 2002), this would investigate the
perception from the focal firms or non-governmental organizations that purchased,
partnered or consumed the products and services from their exchanged suppliers.

3.2 Research design
The quantitative research was implemented to examine the conceptual model with
collected data through online questionnaire survey.
The questionnaire included three sections. Section one was an introductory letter

that briefed the topic, its objectives, an estimated time, confidentiality and
appreciation for participation. While the second section was designed for
demographic information, the last section composed twenty one questionnaire items.
An additional open question was also made for further recommendation from
respondents.

11


To increase the effectiveness of carrying out survey, the questionnaire was
discussed and reviewed by the supervisors. Then, pilot questionnaire was sent to
several readers who had capabilities for evaluation and correction. This research
also provided the simple definition of what suppliers were so that the readers could
understand better. Since the targeted respondents are Vietnamese, a translation into
Vietnamese was made for assessment. To increase the correctness of the translation,
reversed-translation has been done and bilingual languages have been adapted, in
which both original English version and Vietnamese translation were made for the
readers’ comparison.
The questionnaires were constructed to aim at those, who were responsible,
represented or being involved in the organizational process of making
organizational decisions to deal with their major suppliers. To make the judgement,
it was important for the respondents to have certain experiences in the field;
therefore, this research targeted responders, who had at least three years of relevant
experiences, hold the position as senior staff, supervisor, manager or business
owner.

3.3 Research scales
Hypothesis testing depended highly on the solid construct measurement (Bacharach,
1989); therefore, this research critically considered the measure that was consistent
and relevant with the conceptualization, met the standard of empirical research and

importantly could capture the respondents’ objective perspective on evaluating their
suppliers from the organizational level.
Focal constructs: The scales include twenty one items that were adapted from
previous well-known research of interorganizational trust to measure each variable.

12


Six items for cognitive trust and four items for affective trust were adapted from
Mo l̈ lering (2002), which reflected our conceptualization. The trustworthy research
from Mo l̈ lering (2002) was also consistent with others (Sako, 1992; Morgan &
Hunt, 1994; McAllister, 1995). It was noted that this research also omitted one item
from the affective trust, in which, Mo l̈ lering (2002) also omitted it due to the
proven in the vague meaning and irrelevance measurement of the item.
Whilst, six items to measure relationship commitment and four items to measure
cooperation were used from the study of Zineldin and Jonsson (2000), in which
items reflected with this research’s conceptualization and other notable studies
(Mowday et al., 1979; Morgan & Hunt, 1994).
Five-point Likert scales were carried out to construct cognitive trust and affective
trust while seven-point Likert scales was implemented to measure relationship
commitment and cooperation. All constructs used multiple items, which were
shown in Appendix 1.
3.4 Process of collecting data
Mailing and social media were used to collect the data within a month, from 13th
March 2020 to 12th April 2020. The research followed the three steps. At first, the
introductory letter was sent to ask if the respondents were having experience in
dealing with the supplier in the organizational level. Then, the study quickly asked
for their permission to fill the research. As long as they agreed, the link of the
research was sent for them to answer. Thirdly, the research also made a list of those
who agreed for participation to remind if the questionnaire was not filled within

three days due to their heavy workload. There were approximately twenty
percentages of the cases that the respondents were required to remind by another
message for completion.

13


It was crucial to target a variety of companies to avoid the bias of working in the
same organization, who might share similar characteristics. While the study
followed the three main steps above, three main networks were utilized to increase
the population. The first one was the research’s connection in business. A list of
suitable contacts with relevant experiences was made through the network. Most of
individuals in this list hold the managerial positions and were willing to participate
when they were asked for permission. Secondly, the research also expanded by
asking those who have been currently holding the management levels in corporation
to share the link to more suitable respondents within their networks. Thirdly, the
research also received supports from individuals, who agreed to share the link on
the Business Networking Association in Ho Chi Minh City and the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) groups at the Foreign Trade University (FTU) in Hanoi.
3.5 Characteristics of respondents
There were ninety five respondents that were collected on this questionnaires
survey; however, five unqualified individuals were sorted out. Among the five
unqualified respondents, the reversed question identified two unqualified
individuals who responded without consideration. In addition, the question of
asking direct working experiences with suppliers in the demographic section
indicated other three respondents, who had less than three years of working
experience, were considered as lacking of relevant experiences for evaluation. Thus,
this questionnaire survey used ninety samples for the data analysis in Vietnam. All
of the information was shown in the summary of frequency result (table 3.1).
Table 3.1. Demographic characteristic of respondents

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Industry

Manufacturing
Service
Manufacturing & Service
Organization type Vietnamese organization
International organization
Vietnamese enterprise
Joint venture enterprise
Wholly foreign own enterprise
Organization size
Less than 100
100-1000
More than 1000
Department
Research and product development
Executive Management
Marketing, sales, customer service
Finance, Accounting, Purchasing
Logistics
Production
Human Resource
Position
Senior staff
Supervisor
Owner or CEO

Manager
Working experience Experience (3-5)
with suppliers
Experience (6-10)
Experience (>11)
Gender
Female
Male
Age
Less than 25
25-35
35-50
More than 50

Number Percentage
29
32.2
47
52.2
14
15.6
4
4.4
1
1.1
39
43.3
15
16.7
31

34.4
41
45.6
24
26.7
25
27.8
2
2.2
34
37.8
28
31.1
14
15.6
4
4.4
5
5.6
3
3.3
32
35.6
20
22.2
26
28.9
12
13.3
44

48.9
28
31.1
18
20
57
63.3
33
36.7
1
1.1
53
58.9
32
35.6
4
4.4

Source: Summary result of frequency analysis on SPSS version 26.0

15


The number of respondents by industry was 29 (32.2%) for manufacturing; 47
(52.2%) for service, 14 (15.6%) for both manufacturing and service.
There were four Vietnamese respondents from non-governmental organization and
one from German non-governmental organization, who also have experience in
dealing with suppliers, participated in this survey. The rest 85 respondents worked
in business, which included 39 (43.3%) for Vietnamese enterprise, 15 (16.7%) for
joint venture enterprise and 31 (34.4%) for wholly foreign own enterprise.

The number of respondents who worked in small business, which has the number of
employees less than 100 employees were 41 (45.6%); medium business which has
number of employee in the range of 100 to 1000 were 24 (26.7%); big corporation
which more than 1,000 employees were 25 (27.8%).
There were 34 (37.8%) respondents who worked in general executive management
department; 28 (31.1%) for respondents worked in the marketing, sales and
customer service department, 14 (15.6%) worked for finance, accounting and
purchasing; 5 (5.6%) for production; 4 (4.4%) for logistics; 3 (3.3%) for human
resource and 2 (2.2%) for research and product development.
The position of respondent was 26 (28.9%) for business owner or CEO; 12 (13.3%)
for manager; 20 (22.2%) for supervisor and 32 (35.6%) for senior staff. The
respondents’ years of working experience with suppliers was 44 (48.9%) for three
to five years; 28 (31.1%) for six to ten years and 18 (20%) for more than 11 years.
The gender of respondent was 57 (63.3%) for female; 33 (36.7%) for male. The age
group was 1 (1.1%) for less than 25 years old, 53 (58.9%) for the range from 25 to
35 years old, 32 (35.6%) for 35 to 50 years old and 4 (4.4%) for more than age of
50.

16