Developing Effective Top Management Teams at Vietnamese SMEs
Main Article Content
Abstract
Despite an increasing number of studies focusing on leadership at Vietnamese small and medium sized enteprises (SMEs), there is a lack of empirical research on collective leadership and development of effective top management teams (TMTs). The purpose of this paper is to review recent research on TMTs and analyze the current status of developing TMTs at Vietnamese SMEs in order to provide recommendations for developing effective TMTs at Vietnamese SMEs. Based on the survey results of 141 SMEs, this research shows that the common characteristics of an effective TMT at a Vietnamese SME are shared vision, optimal team size, role clarity, age diversity, functional background diversity, regular communication, solidarity and collective decision-making.
Keywords:
Collective leadership, top management team, effective top management team, SMEs.
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[2] R.S. Peterson, D.B. Smith, P.V. Martorana, P.D. Owens, The impact of chief executive officer personality on top management team dynamics: One mechanism by which leadership affects organizational performance, Journal of Applied Psychology 88 (2003) 795-808.
[3] G. Yukl, Leadership and organizational learning: An evaluative essay, Leadership Quarterly 20 (2009) 49-53.
[4] R.M. Cyert, J.M. March, A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, CA, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1963.
[5] D.C. Hambrick, P.A. Mason, Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers, Academy of Management Review 9 (1984) 193-106.
[6] C.L. Pearce, The future of leadership development: The importance of identity, multi-level approaches, self-leadership, physical fitness, shared leadership, networking, creativity, emotions, spirituality and on-boarding processes, Human Resource Management Review 17 (2007) 355-359.
[7] R. Silzer, A.H. Church, Identifying and assessing high-potential talent: Current organizational practices, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2010.
[8] Le Quan, Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Assessing competences of CEOs in Vietnamese small enterprises through ASK approach, VNU Journal of Science: Economics and Business 28 (2012) 29-35.
[9] T. Porter-O’Grady, A different age for leadership, part 1: new context, new content, Journal of Nursing Administration 33 (2003) 105-110.
[10] P.G. Northouse, Leadership, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 6th ed, 2013.
[11] C.L. Pearce, J.A. Conger, Shared leadership: Reframing the hows and whys of leadership, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003, pp. 1-18.
[12] J. Hauschildt, E. Kirchmann, Teamwork for innovation - the “troika” of promoters, R&D Management. 31 (2001) 41-49.
[13] A. Mackey, The effect of CEOs on firm performance, Strategic Management Journal 29 (2008) 1357-1367.
[14] J. O’Toole, J. Galbraith, E.E. Lawler, When two (or more) heads are better than one: The promise and pitfalls of shared leadership, California Management Review 44 (2002) 65-83.
[15] G.A. Yukl, Leadership in organizations, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 6th ed, 2006.
[16] S. Finkelstein, D.C. Hambrick, Cannella A. A. Jr, Strategic leadership: Theory and research on executives, top management teams, and boards, Oxford University Press, New York, 2009.
[17] M. Jensen, W. Meckling, Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Amsterdam 3 (1976) 305-360.
[18] B.D. Baysinger, H.N. Butler, Corporate Governance and the Board of Directors: Performance Effects in Board Composition, Journal of Law, Economics and Organization 1 (1985) 101-124.
[19] J.A. Pearce, S.A. Zahra, The relative power of CEOs and boards of directors, Strategic Management Journal 12 (1991) 135-5.
[20] Le Quan, Leadership in Vietnamese private companies, VNU Press, Hanoi, 2015.
[21] C.A. Bowers, J.A. Pharmer, E. Salas, When member homogeneity is needed in work teams - A meta-analysis, Small Group Research 31 (2000) 305-327.
[22] J. Andersen, Leadership, personality and effectiveness, The Journal of Socio-Economics 35 (2006) 1078-1091.
[23] D.C. Hambrick, P.A. Mason, Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers, Academy of Management Review 9 (1984) 193-106.
[24] P.F. Drucker, The Effective Executive, HarperCollins, New York, 1967.
[25] S.J. Zaccaro, A.L. Rittman, M.A. Marks, Team leadership, Leadership Quarterly 12 (2001) 451-483.
[26] M. Knockaert, E.S. Bjornali, T. Erikson, Joining forces: Top management team and board chair characteristics as antecedents of board service involvement, Journal of Business Venturing 30 (2015) 420-435.
[27] S.W.J. Kozlowski, B.S. Bell, Work groups and teams in organizations, Handbook of psychology: Industrial and organizational psychology 12 (2003) 333-375.
[28] S. Finkelstein, D.C. Hambrick, Cannella A. A. Jr. Strategic leadership: Theory and research on executives, top management teams, and boards, Oxford University Press, New York, 2009.
[29] M. Jensen, W. Meckling, Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure, Journal of Financial Economics, Amsterdam 3 (1976) 305-360.
[30] J. Haleblian, S. Finkelstein, Top management team size, CEO dominance, and firm performance - The moderating roles of environmental turbulence and discretion, Academy of Management Journal 36 (1993) 844-8633.
[31] N.K. Alexander, K. Victoria, Board size and composition: The main tradeoffs, Corporate Board journal 2 (2006) 48-5.
[32] E. Sundstrom, K.P. De Meuse, D. Futrell, Work Teams: Applications and Effectiveness, American Psychologist 45 (2) (1998) 120-133 (Firth-Cozens, 1998).
[33] Tihanyi, L., A.E. Ellstrand and C.M. Daily. (2000), Composition of the top management team and firm international diversification, Journal of Management 26 (1990) 1157-1177.
[34] J.B. Shaw, E. Barrett-Power, The effects of diversity on small work group processes and Performance, Human Relations 51 (1998) 1307-1325.
[35] K.A. Bantel, S.E. Jackson, Top Management and innovations in Banking: Does the composition of Top Management make a difference?, Strategic Management Journal 10 (1989) 107-124.
[36] M.J. Gelfand, D.P. Bhawuk, L. Nishii, D. Bechtold, Individualism and collectivism, In R. J. House, P. J. Hanges, M. Javidan, P.W. Dorfman, and V. Gupta (Eds.), Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 cultures, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2004, pp. 437-512.
[37] J.R. Hackman, Groups that Work (and Those That Don’t), Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1990.
[38] M.A. West, Effective Teamwork, British Psychological Society, Leicester, 1994.
[39] M.T. Brannick, C. Prince, An overview of team performance measurement, Team performance assessment and measurement, Mahwah, New Jersey, 1997, pp. 3-16.
[40] M.P. Rice, G.C. O’Conner, L.S. Peters, J.G. Morone, Managing Discontinuous Innovation, Research Technology Management 41 (1998) 52-58.
[41] A. Loxley, Collaboration in Health and Welfare, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London, 1997.
[42] T.F. Blechert, M.F. Christiansen, N. Kari, Intraprofessional Team Building, American Journal of Occupational Therapy 41 (1987) 576-582.
[43] R.S. Peterson, D.B. Smith, P.V. Martorana, P.D. Owens, The impact of chief executive officer personality on top management team dynamics: One mechanism by which leadership affects organizational performance, Journal of Applied Psychology 88 (2003) 795-808.
[44] B.L. Kirkman, B. Rosen, Powering up teams, Organizational Dynamics 28 (2000) 48-66.
[45] M. Payne, Working in Teams, The Macmillan Press, London, 1982.
[46] J.R. Hackman, N. Vidmar, Effects of size and task type on group performance and member reactions, Sociometry 33 (1970) 37-54.