Paradoxical Leadership and Public Service Motivation in Vietnam: The Roles of Confucian Values, Political Ideologies and Organisational Structure

The thesis investigates the impact of Confucian values on public managers’ paradoxical leadership and public service motivation under the constraints of political ideologies and organisational structures in Vietnam. Analyses of interview data with twenty managers and survey data with 206 manager-employee dyads show that Confucian values are positively related to paradoxical leadership which, in turn, facilitates public service motivation. Practically, the thesis recommends that in order to improve public institution effectiveness in Vietnam, leadership selection and development in public institutions should emphasize the dynamic effects of Confucian values, Capitalist and Socialist ideologies, and centralised structures.