Institutional influences on firm level HRM: some evidence from the Vietnamese garment and footwear sectors

The paper examines the changing institutional framework within which export manufacturing takes place in Vietnam and its influence on the management of export oriented companies. The paper draws on research undertaken in two companies in the garment and footwear sectors respectively. The paper examines the context of export oriented manufacturing within a framework defined by international treaty arrangements, supply chain relationships and the framework of employment relations law and institutions, as a basis for understanding the range of HR issues which managers in export oriented companies must face. This overview suggests that the economic development pathway being pursued by the Vietnamese government imposes a range of obligations on export companies. The paper observes that there are strong pressures for institutional reform emanating from foreign-owned export companies, but that the process of institutional development is yet to deal with bargaining systems and conflict resolution in a way which provides a reliable basis for companies in export industrie