TITLE:
An Empirical Investigation of Competitive Exam Based Selection and Placement of Managerial Public Officials in Vietnam: Is It a Cure or a Curse?
AUTHORS:
Thai Thanh Ha, Ton Duc Sau
KEYWORDS:
Competitive Exams, Selection, Placement, Public Services, Vietnam
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.9 No.7,
July
19,
2018
ABSTRACT: Competitive exams, selection, and placement of
high-ranking public officials used to be resorted only by Vietnam’s feudal
dynasties. After half a century of abandonment, this practice seems to have
made its spectacular comeback in the recent decade. In a quest for high caliber
public personnel, the Vietnamese government believes that competitiveness-base
exams would help select, recruit and place right public servants into the right
job. This research was conducted to figure out to what extent the selected
high-ranking post holders were different from the public service employers.
Based on face-to-face interviews with candidates and the heads of public
services employers who were going to place the selected ones onto the
managerial posts, data were gathered for Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
analysis with the use of structured 5 point-Likert scale questionnaire in the
field surveys. Findings showed that there existed a difference in the perceptions
towards the fairness of the competitive exams among these two types of
interviewees. By comparing SEM coefficients, several recommendations were drawn
for policy makers and managers to modernize this type of recruitment, selection
and placement of managerial public servants on the intended job positions.