Exploring Constraints of Business Productivity in a Province Nearby the Country Capital: The Case of the UK and Vietnam
Main Article Content
Abstract
In the digital era, the socio-economic and technological environment is changing continuously. Business productivity is becoming a more and more significant issue in the economy and it is essential to find out what motivates and limits productivity. The inequality in economic development of different provinces in each country is getting higher priority of government in both developed and developing countries. In this comparative study, we chose Hertfordshire in UK and Hung Yen in Vietnam, two provinces nearby the capitals of those countries respectively. These provinces have similar geographic characteristics and types of business structure. The study explores the constraints of business productivity. Hung Yen, one of Hanoi's nearby provinces, enjoys spillover benefits from the capital city's development. However, Hung Yen has to face many challenges from its geographical location and a shortage of high-quality human resources (people who tend to work and develop their careers in the capital). The same as Hung Yen, in the UK Hertfordshire is a county adjacent to London and suffers the same challenges related to graduate skills’ mobility and productivity gaps in the STEM skilled sectors. The correlation in business development issues between Hertfordshire and London is similar to the one between Hung Yen and Hanoi, in growth, hard-to-fill skills vacancies and productivity. In recent years, Hertfordshire has had numerous achievements in economic development and improved productivity growth. Therefore, the authors have focused on enterprises in these two provinces with their influencing/constraining productivity factors, including: i) innovation and technology through product/service launches; ii) workforce skill gaps; iii) leadership and management constraints; and iv) business constraints. From that, we propose some recommendations to foster business productivity of enterprises located in the two provinces.
References
[2] B.D. Audretsch, M. Belitski, The role of R&D and knowledge spillovers in innovation and productivity, European Economic Review, 2020.
[3] Asia Perspective, Vietnam Key Economic Zones & Investment Guideline, 2019.
[4] T.T. Dat, T.T. Thanh et al., Annual Assessment of Vietnamese Economy, 2019 Report on “Improving labor productivity in the digital economy”, NEU Publisher, 2019.
[5] Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy, "Longitudinal Small Business Survey: SME employers (businesses with 1 - 249) employeees - UK, 2018", In. London, UK.: BEIS. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803645/LSBS_2018_employers.pdf/, 2019 (accessed 5th September 2019).
[6] Department for Business Innovation & Skills, "Leadership and Management Skills in SMEs: Measuring Associations with Management Practices and Performance", In. London, UK.: BIS, 2015.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418404/bis-15-204-leadership-and-management-skills-in-sme.pdf (accessed 1st December 2018).
[7] Department for Business Innovation and Skills, "Exploring the feasibility of a productivity based approach for evaluating business support interventions", In BIS Research Paper. London, UK.: BIS.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/534518/bis-16-311-evaluating-business-support-interventions-productivity-based-approach.pdf/, 2016 (accessed 1st December 2018).
[8] UK. ERC, "State of Small Business Britain Report 2019", In. Warwick University: Enterprise Research Center.
https://www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/02114-State-of-Small-Business-Britain-Report_June-2019-Final.pdf/, 2019 (accessed 9th July 2019).
[9] GSO, Vietnamese Enterprise White Paper, 2020.
[10] V.E. Guzman et al., Characteristics and skills of leadership in the context of Industry 4.0, 2020.
[11] L.E.P. Hertfordshire, "Hertfordshire Business Productivity Survey - Interim Report", In. Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK.: Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership. https://www.hertfordshirelep.com/, 2019 (accessed 31st May 2019).
[12] L.E.P. Hertfordshire, Grand Challenges for Hertfordshire: towards our local industrial strategy. 12. (accessed 14th December 2020)
[13] Hertfordshire Local Enterpises Partnershi, Hertfordshire Economic Outlook: July 2018. 50 (accessed 28th October 2018).
[14] House of Commons, "Business Statistics." In. London UK.: House of Commons Library. file:///Users/dockitbrown/Downloads/SN06152.pdf/, 2018 (accessed 26th June 2019).
[15] Hung Yen Provincial Youth Union, Project to support Hung Yen Youth startups, Hung Yen Provincial Youth Union, 2018.
[16] S. Kuroda, Yamamoto I., Good boss, bad boss, workers’ mental health and productivity: Evidence from Japan, Japan and the World Economy, 2018.
[17] L.H. James, Stephen Roper, "SME Innovation, Exporting and Growth: a review of existing evidence", In. Enterprise Research Centre and Warwick Business School: Enterprise Research Centre.dhttp://enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/ERC-White-Paper-No_5-Innovation-final.pdf/, 2018 (accessed 4th June 2019).
[18] Network, Produtivity Insights, "Productivity Policy Review 2018", In. London UK.: Productivity Insights Network. https://productivityinsightsnetwork.co.uk/2019/01/productivity-policy-review/, 2019 (accessed 20th June 2019).
[19] C. Li, Enhancing or inhibiting: the impact of investment in political ties on the link between firm innovation and productivity, International Business Review, 2020.
[20] J.P. Liyanage, Hybrid Intelligence through business socialization and networking: managing complexities in the digital era, IGI Global Publisher, 2012.
[21] Mc Kinsey, The rise of Digital Challenges, 2018.
[22] A.S. Min, N. Mansor, R. Anvari, Staff Organization Training: Designing, Stages and Methods, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014.
[23] PCI Vietnam, PCI of Hung Yen. https://pcivietnam.vn/ho-so-tinh/hung-yen, 2000.
[24] Produtivity Insights Network, "Productivity Policy Review 2018", In. London UK.: Productivity Insights Network. https://productivityinsightsnetwork.co.uk/2019/01/productivity-policy-review/, 2019 (accessed 20th June 2019).
[25] V. Sidoo et al., An exploratory study of digital workforce competency in Thailand, Heliyon, 2019.
[26] UK Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy, "Longitudinal Small Business Survey: SME employers (businesses with 1 - 249) employeees - UK, 2018", In. London, UK.: BEIS. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803645/LSBS_2018_employers.pdf/, 2019 (accessed 5th September 2019).
[27] UK Department for Business Innovation & Skills. 2015. "Leadership and Management Skills in SMEs: Measuring Associations with Management Practices and Performance", In. London, UK.: BIS.fhttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418404/bis-15-204-leadership-and-management-skills-in-sme.pdf (accessed 1st December 2018).
[28] UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills, "Exploring the feasibility of a productivity based approach for evaluating business support interventions", In BIS Research Paper, London,
UK.: BIS. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/534518/bis-16-311-evaluating-business-support-interventions-productivity-based-approach.pdf/, 2016 (accessed 1st December 2018).
[29] UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), "Anchor institutions and small firms in the UK: A review of the literature on anchor institutions and their role in developing management and leadership skills in small firms", In. London UK.: UKCES.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/414390/Anchor_institutions_and_small_firms.pdf/, 2015 (accessed 15th June 2019).
[30] VGP News, Northern key economic zone must maintain leading economic engine status-Northern key economic zone must maintain leading economic engine status. Chinhphu.Vn. http://news.chinhphu.vn/Home/Northern-key-economic-zone-must-maintain-leading-economic-engine-status/20196/36919.vgp.
[31] Q. Vu, T.Q. Tran, Government financial support and firm productivity in Vietnam, Finance Research Letters, 2020.
[32] D. Zhang, Can export tax rebate alleviate financial constraint to increase firm productivity? Evidence from China, International Review of Economics & Finance, 2019.
[33] A. Windsor, Ethical values and resposibles of directors in the digital era, IGI Global Publisher, 2020.
[34] A. Wu, The signal effect of government R&D subsidies in China: Does ownership matter, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2017.