A cross-cultural comparison of organizational culture: evidence from academic libraries in Vietnam and China

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to inspect the organizational culture of academic libraries in Vietnam and China, and the objective was to investigate how the academic libraries in Vietnam and China differ in organizational culture’s task, unity and status orientations. Design/methodology/approach This study surveyed 546 academic library staff in China and Vietnam to fulfill this objective. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and paired t-tests are used to explore whether the organizational culture in the academic libraries in Vietnam and China is different in terms of task orientation, unity orientation and status orientation. Findings The results from the data concluded that academic libraries in Vietnam had a higher score on task and status orientations than their Chinese counterparts. In this study, there were no coherent factors regarding unity orientation. Practical implications This research expresses several solutions to address the problems in academic libraries in Vietnam and China. Scholars and practitioners can benefit from this research as it is a foundation to support them in understanding the organizational culture of libraries in two countries. Originality/value This research expands the scope of organizational culture literature in the Asian library sector. Given that no prior studies have compared the library cultures between the two countries, this study is a novelty. The findings of this research can support academic library staff, leaders and practitioners in Vietnam and China to understand their organizational culture. The research also identifies some recommendations to improve the academic library culture in Vietnam and China.