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The relationship between task- The

relationships in
oriented leadership style, Vietnamese
enterprises
psychological capital, job
satisfaction and organizational
commitment: evidence from Received 19 March 2020
Revised 7 June 2020

Vietnamese small and medium- Accepted 18 June 2020

sized enterprises
The Nguyen Huynh and Nguyen Thuy An Hua
University of Finance - Marketing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Abstract
Purpose – This study examines the relationship between task-oriented leadership style, psychological capital,
job satisfaction and organizational commitment: evidence from Vietnamese small and medium-sized
enterprises.
Design/methodology/approach – The method employed in the research is the Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM) for testing hypotheses of data collected from a sample of 800 employees working
in small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam.
Findings – The results show that the task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on organizational
commitment, limits job satisfaction and no obvious association with the psychological capital of employees.
Besides, job satisfaction and psychological capital play an important role in the organizational commitment of
employees in small and medium-sized enterprises of Vietnam.
Originality/value – This paper aims to shed light on a less fully explored topic for organizational behavior in
small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets like Vietnam. In contrast to extensive studies on the
participative and supportive leader, this study focuses on task-oriented leadership style in the testing and
analysis to understand the theory of leadership style, psychological capital, job satisfaction and organizational
commitment in emerging markets and provides more knowledge on employee behavior management for
companies in Vietnam. This is a unique contribution to the original value of this article.
Keywords Task-oriented leadership style, Psychological capital, Organizational commitment, Small and
medium-sized enterprises, Vietnam
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
In recent years, the issues of leadership style, psychological capital, job satisfaction and
organizational commitment have been interested in many scholars. The leadership style has
become a management philosophy to promote the sustainable development of the firm, and
the development of psychological capital is a necessary condition for employees to improve
their knowledge and skills in order to enhance the quality of work-life, quality of life. At the
same time, job satisfaction and organizational commitment bring not only quantifiable
benefits but also create intangible values that cannot be fully calculated for employees and
organizations. Companies with the organizational commitment of employees are more likely
to make a profit than companies without the organizational commitment of employees.
However, there are many small and medium-sized enterprises that have developed many Journal of Advances in
Management Research
incentive policies for personnel, salaries, bonuses and recording work achievements with © Emerald Publishing Limited
0972-7981
high motivation but still cannot gain the long-term dedication of employees in emerging DOI 10.1108/JAMR-03-2020-0036
JAMR markets like Vietnam. This may stem from the economic environment and the labor markets
but is partly due to the leadership style, psychological capital and job satisfaction of
employees. Therefore, determining the relationship between leadership style, psychological
capital, job satisfaction and organizational commitment plays an important role in
maintaining the development of the organization in general and enterprises in particular.
Studies on the relationship between leadership style, psychological capital, job
satisfaction and organizational commitment are very diverse and rich. Typical findings
include as follows: leadership style and organizational commitment (Yiing and Ahmad, 2009;
Kim and Brymer, 2011; Kim and Kim, 2015; Babalola, 2016; Hong et al., 2016), leadership style
and psychological capital (Gooty et al., 2009; Yiing and Ahmad, 2009; McMurray et al., 2010;
Laschinger and Fida, 2014; Fang et al., 2019), leadership style and job satisfaction (Lok and
Crawford, 2004; Yiing and Ahmad, 2009; Bhatti et al., 2012; Saleem, 2015; Alonderiene and
Majauskaite, 2016), psychological capital and organizational commitment (Allen and Meyer,
1990; Youssef and Luthans, 2007; Etebarian et al., 2012; Sen et al., 2017), job satisfaction and
organizational commitment (Youssef and Luthans, 2007; Gunlu et al., 2010; Aydogdu and
Asikgil, 2011; Dirani and Kuchinke, 2011; Kaplan et al., 2012; Yucel and Bektas, 2012;
Gebremichael and Rao, 2013; Mohammed and Eleswed, 2013; Top and Gider, 2013; Ozturk
et al., 2014; Yousef, 2016), psychological capital, job satisfaction and organizational
commitment (Demerouti et al., 2010; Luthans et al., 2010; Avey et al., 2011; Idris and
Manganaro, 2017).
In addition, there is a number of studies that focus a great deal on the relationship between
leadership styles and organizational commitment through the employees’ psychological
capital (Gooty et al., 2009; McMurray et al., 2010; Rego et al., 2016). However, these studies
focus on leadership styles such as participative and supportive leaders, while the task-
oriented leadership style has very little attention, especially in assessing the impact of task-
oriented leadership style on psychological capital, job satisfaction and organizational
commitment of employees. At the same time, the typical works of the aforementioned
research lines have not put much emphasis on the employment characteristics of small and
medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets, especially Vietnam. These are enterprises
that contribute greatly to gross domestic product (GDP) and employment in developing
countries in general, Vietnam in particular.
This article further develops the research on the relationship between leadership style,
psychological capital, job satisfaction and organizational commitment of employees in the
small and medium-sized enterprises of Vietnam. In particular, the article focuses on finding
the impact of the task-oriented leadership style on psychological capital, job satisfaction and
organizational commitment in order to expand the theory of organizational leadership style.
In particular, the article adds insights into the influence of leadership style in companies in
emerging markets and Eastern culture in Vietnam. Nguyen and Nguyen (2012) indicated that
the movement toward a market economy and international integration had forced
Vietnamese companies to change business practices and improve the qualifications of
their employees and managers. Therefore, this research will help firms understand the role of
task-oriented leadership style, psychological capital and job satisfaction in order to stimulate
employees to work effectively, thereby improving the socio-economic development of
Vietnam (Nguyen and Nguyen, 2012).

2. Theoretical background and hypotheses

2.1 Conceptual background
2.1.1 Organizational commitment. There are many definitions, perspectives and approaches
regarding organizational commitment and its components (Mowday et al., 1979; O’Reilly and
Chatman, 1986; Allen and Meyer, 1990). Allen and Meyer (1990) argue that organizational
commitment is a psychological state that indicates the employee’s relationship with the The
organization, and has closely related to the decision to remain a member of the organization. relationships in
Al-Sada et al. (2017) argued that organizational commitment is very important and has a
major influence on key aspects of organizational behavior. In particular, organizational
Vietnamese
commitment refers to employees’ belief in organizational goals and employee’s desire to enterprises
become loyal members of an organization (Yiing and Ahmad, 2009; Shoaib et al., 2013).
Therefore, organizational commitment is a psychological state that characterizes employee
relationships with the organization and makes sense in deciding whether to continue or end
membership in the organization (Al-Sada et al., 2017). Ackers and Wilkinson (2003) reported
that commitment had been found to involve specific actions, such as maintaining
employment with an organization, rather than an entity. At the same time, commitment
has been related to the way that employees respond to dissatisfaction, loyalty and negative
responses to the tendency to passively withdraw or ignore dissatisfying situations. Thus,
internal characteristics such as promotion from within, clear promotion pathways and
promotion opportunities make employees more committed to their organizations, and
employers convey the message that a lifetime career in the same company is impossible, the
less committed employees are (Capelli, 2000). Moreover, Shoaib et al. (2013) argued that
today’s business environment is constantly changing at a fast pace, so managers must find
ways to improve employee loyalty and organizational commitment. These not only enhance
the overall effectiveness of the organization, create a competitive advantage, but also create
satisfaction among employees on the intention of absence or related to their income (Yiing
and Ahmad, 2009; Shoaib et al., 2013). Hadian (2017) assumes that employees with
organizational commitment will devote attention, thinking, energy and time to the work to
work optimally for the company. Organizational commitment can be divided into three
dimensions: (1) interest in maintaining membership in the organization, (2) confidence and
acceptance of the organization’s values and goals, and (3) willing to work hard as part of the
organization (Hadian, 2017).
Luthans (2011) argues that there are three reasons for the organizational commitment of
employees: (1) the power of attitude when deciding to be part of an organization, (2) the high
performance that comes from the motivation of the organization, and (3) the value achieved
when organizational goals achieved. Therefore, organizational commitment describes the
attitude of showing employee loyalty to the organization (Hadian, 2017). As a result,
organizational commitment is closely related to the psychological aspects of accepting and
believing in the organization’s values and goals through a desire to maintain membership in
the organization. The organizational commitment not only describes passive loyalty but also
reflects the positive relationship of employees with the organization. Therefore, employees
who have a high level of organizational commitment will have the desire to contribute power
and responsibility to the organization’s welfare and success (Hadian, 2017). Meyer and Allen
(1991) summarized organizational commitment, including three components: (1) continuance
commitment in which employees will consider the costs of investing in the job compared with
the loss when leaving an organization or finding a job better than the organization they are
working for, (2) normative commitment in which employees will develop a positive
psychological state when receiving a lot of investment and incentives of the organization,
thereby they define the responsibilities on the organization and not leave the organization
despite the other works are better, and (3) affective commitment, the employee develops
personal feelings through the process of working at the organization.
2.1.2 Task-oriented leadership style. Al-Sada et al. (2017) think that leadership is a process
that influences others to understand and agree on what to do and how to do it and facilitates
individual and collective efforts to accomplish organizational goals. Kotter (1990) points out
that leadership does not create consistency and order, as the word implies. Individuals who
have been seen as leaders have created change to establish where a group of people should go,
JAMR get them to line up in that direction and commit to the movement and then empower them to
overcome the inevitable obstacles they will meet along the way (Kotter, 1990). The nature of
leadership in organizations is to influence and facilitates individuals and collectives to
accomplish common goals (Yukl, 2012). Moreover, leadership is a complex phenomenon
influenced by circumstances, personality, relationships and other factors in the workplace
(Al-Sada et al., 2017). In particular, the task-oriented leadership style is a two-way interaction
between managers and employees (Burns, 1978). The main target of task-oriented leadership
is to ensure people, equipment and resources are used effectively to accomplish
organizational goals. The specific missions of task-oriented leaders include planning and
organizing jobs, clarifying work goals, monitoring tasks and solving work-related issues
(Yukl, 2012). In other words, the leaders who have the task-oriented leadership style focus on
the organization’s resources achieving optimal performance (Yukl, 2012). As such, managers
who have a task-oriented leadership style help employees identify the work to be done to
achieve their goals (McMurray et al., 2010). Task-oriented leaders focus on promoting a work-
to-everyday relationship between managers and employees. In particular, they clarify job
responsibilities, assign tasks, communicate goals, make priority and deadline, set
performance standards and explain the relevant rules, policies and procedures (Yukl,
2012). In particular, managers through job evaluation consider rewards for employees, such
as additional income and recognition of employee contributions or honors. Therefore, the
leader who has a task-oriented leadership style focuses on clarifying work goals and
communicating with employees to organize tasks and action programs in order to achieve
effectiveness and quality. Thus, this relationship is based both on the hierarchy of the
company and the interaction of work between managers and employees (McMurray
et al., 2010).
2.1.3 Psychological capital. Psychological capital is described as a basic competency that
plays an important role for employees to handle awareness, strive and achieve efficiency at
work (Çavuş and G€okçen, 2015). Luthans et al. (2007) argued that psychological capital is an
employee’s positive psychological state expressed through four components: (1) self-efficacy:
confidently putting energy into success when performing challenging tasks, (2) hope:
creating hope for success in the present and future, (3) resiliency: perseverance, persistence on
goals and when necessary will adjust the path to success, and (4) optimism: optimistic when
encountering obstacles and always ready to cope with difficulties to succeed. Self-efficacy
plays an important role in the approach to goals, tasks and ways of performing tasks
(Bandura, 1977). Self-efficacy expresses the ability of an employee to mobilize cognitive and
action resources to perform a defined task in specific contexts (Kong et al., 2018). Self-efficacy
is considered to be an internal actor to effectively guide employees to perform organizational
tasks (Çavuş and G€okçen, 2015). Snyder et al. (2002) argued that hope was a belief that was to
become the driving force to pursue paths in accordance with set organizational goals. Kong
et al. (2018) suggest that hope indicates a positive psychological state stemming from the
feeling of success from achieving goals and the energy toward achieving targets. As such,
hope describes expectations about positive results and brings a good feeling to turn dreams
into reality in people’s lives. It can be identified as a feature that wakes people up to be
motivated to perform tasks (Çavuş and G€okçen, 2015). Thus, employees with active hope will
carry out the task energetically, which will result in higher results.
Kong et al. (2018) suggest that optimism is a special psychological state, which describes a
positive future expectation to open the direction of development. As such, optimism relates to
psychological expectations about the best and most positive results for the mental and
physical well-being of employees (Çavuş and G€okçen, 2015). This gives employees an
opportunity to make their lives easier and free from stress at work. Meanwhile, resiliency
refers to positive adaptations in the context of adversity or significant risk (Masten and Reed,
2002). Resiliency describes a person’s ability to overcome conflicts, adversity, failures or even
challenges (Kong et al., 2018). Thus, resiliency expresses the capacity of employees to deal The
with complex and challenging situations. Çavuş and G€okçen (2015) argue that resiliency relationships in
describes resilience, rebound and focus on goals to success. In general, resiliency relates to the
tendency to persist after adversities and allows employees to look optimistically into future
Vietnamese
situations. enterprises
2.1.4 Job satisfaction. Kalleberg (1977) suggests that job satisfaction refers to an overall
emotional orientation of individuals toward the task who currently occupy. In particular, job
satisfaction is a function that describes a specific range of satisfaction employees experience
for different aspects of their jobs (Kalleberg, 1977). Locke (1969) argues that employees may
be aware of satisfaction or dissatisfaction in different jobs or with different aspects of the
same job. Job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are complex emotional responses to work
(Locke, 1969). As such, job satisfaction relates to employees’ attitudes and feelings about their
jobs. A high level of job satisfaction can be a sign of an employee’s good mental state and
affects the organization’s functions and business (Kalleberg, 1977). Meanwhile, Al-Sada et al.
(2017) suggest that job satisfaction describes a pleasant emotional state due to the evaluation
of a job or work experience of another. In particular, high employee’s job satisfaction levels
often contribute to the success of an organization, whereas poor job satisfaction can harm the
organization (Al-Sada et al., 2017). Job satisfaction has a role in improving the productivity
and operation of the organization (Kalleberg, 1977). Therefore, job satisfaction can be
considered to be one of the main factors when it comes to job performance and the efficiency
of business organizations.

2.2 Research hypotheses

2.2.1 Task-oriented leadership style and psychological capital. Yukl (2001) argues that the
leadership style of managers contributes to the process of improving the psychological
capital of individuals and groups to complete the work effectively. Similarly, Gardner et al.
(2005), Avolio and Gardner (2005), Gooty et al. (2009) indicated that a leadership style has a
positive relationship with psychological capital, and has an important role in job
performance. This is because the manager who has a task-oriented leadership style not
only regularly interacts, monitors and supervises the employee to perform the assigned task,
but also trains the skills from basic to complex for the employee in order to perform the most
effective job. When faced with difficulties in production activities, managers and employees
frequently exchange to have a more optimistic view on the development of the business in the
future. At the same time, they can work together to find new ways of doing, such as process
improvement, product improvement, to achieve work goals (Yukl, 2012). Managers can also
promote employee’s resiliency by actively discussing the challenges and helping employees
have the will to overcome them. As a result, the more managers have a task-oriented
leadership style, the more likely they are to promote the employee’s psychological capital
(McMurray et al., 2010; Rego et al., 2016). Thus, we propose:
H1. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on the staff’s psychological
capital.
H1a. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on the self-efficacy of the
employee.
H1b. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on the optimism of the
employee.
H1c. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on the hope of the employee.
H1d. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on the resiliency of the
employee.
JAMR 2.2.2 Task-oriented leadership style and job satisfaction. Al-Sada et al. (2017) suggest that
leadership behavior is positively related to the normative commitment and affective
commitment of employees, so leadership style is positively associated with job satisfaction
and organizational commitment. Leadership behavior demonstrates effective relationships
between leaders and followers who intend to change the overall outcome of the organization.
The main mission of a leader is to help their subordinates achieve the goals effectively and
provide directions and conditions to achieve personal and organizational goals (Yiing and
Ahmad, 2009). Moreover, different leadership characteristics and styles can create different
levels of employee motivation. Al-Sada et al. (2017) suggest that leadership style has a
significant influence on job satisfaction, so managers need to adopt appropriate leadership
behaviors to improve employee satisfaction. Leadership styles should adjust to situations
that reduce employee dissatisfaction (Al-Sada et al., 2017). In order words:
H2. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on job satisfaction.
2.2.3 Task-oriented leadership style and organizational commitment. McMurray et al. (2010)
indicate that leaders who have task-oriented leadership styles focus on specific tasks and
expect employees to perform well on standards of quality and completion time. At the same
time, the more managers tend to be task-oriented, the higher the level of compliance with
labor processes is required, and the more they tend to talk to employees about tasks and work
these processes (Yukl, 2012). Employees perceive the care of their leaders as much as they do
more work, and they will generate organizational commitment on affective, normative and
continuance. Although organizational commitment is related to the level of agreement and
conflict with management strategies, leadership style is considered an essential part of a
management strategy (Lok and Crawford, 1999). Thus, the employee will consider the
benefits that would be lost if leaving the organization and compare the current benefits with
benefits from other organizations. Accordingly:
H3. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on organizational commitment.
H3a. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on the continuance
commitment of the employee.
H3b. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on the normative commitment
of the employee.
H3c. Task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on the affective commitment of
the employee.
2.2.4 Psychological capital and job satisfaction. Kaplan and Bickes (2013) suggest that
psychological capital can improve the aspects of personal efficiency, and play an important
role in the development of an individual’s attitude toward work. Improving psychological
capital makes organizational commitment and citizenship better, and job satisfaction higher
(Idris and Manganaro, 2017). This comes from both employee motivation and job satisfaction
that are tied to organizational performance, while organizational performance can be
improved by developing and managing psychological capital. As such, employees with high
psychological capital are often optimistic and satisfied with regard to achieving positive
results in their jobs (Idris and Manganaro, 2017). High psychological capital and high job
satisfaction allow employees to provide a high working motivation from which they are
willing to make efforts for the organization (Kaplan and Bickes, 2013). Employees with a high
psychological capital often perceive a more positive job and are therefore more satisfied with
the situation at the organization (Bergheim et al., 2015). Generally speaking, components of
psychological capital are related to job satisfaction, such as optimism in relation to their
performance, satisfaction and happiness (Youssef and Luthans, 2007; Nguyen and Nguyen,
2012). Hope and resiliency are related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment The
(Youssef and Luthans, 2007; Nguyen and Nguyen, 2012). Thus, we expect that: relationships in
H4. Psychological capital has a positive impact on job satisfaction. Vietnamese
2.2.5 Psychological capital and organizational commitment. Schneider (2001) argues that enterprises
optimism is a tendency to maintain a positive outlook in order to overcome difficulties and
challenges in life. If the environment changes, optimism can help employees expect good
things to happen in the future (Carver and Scheier, 2002). Therefore, optimism will help
employees to understand and have a positive view of the job; thereby, they have a positive
attitude before the difficult times of the business and ready to accompany the business. In
addition, employees with resiliency will adapt positively to difficult situations or have
significant risks to businesses (Masten and Reed, 2002). Employees with resiliency will have
the will to overcome difficulties and tend to stick together. In general, the four components
(self-efficacy, hope, optimism, resiliency) of psychological capital have a positive relationship
with the organizational commitment of employees (Avey et al., 2011; Newman et al., 2014;
Rego et al., 2016). The following hypotheses were formulated:
H5. Psychological capital has a positive impact on organizational commitment.
H5a. Psychological capital has a positive impact on the continuance commitment of the
employee.
H5b. Psychological capital has a positive impact on the normative commitment of the
employee.
H5c. Psychological capital has a positive impact on the affective commitment of the
employee.
2.2.6 Job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Yiing and Ahmad (2009) suggest that
employees who are dissatisfied at work will have less organizational commitment and look
for opportunities to quit. If there is no opportunity to change jobs, employees can withdraw
the spirit from the organization. Therefore, Al-Sada et al. (2017) argue that job satisfaction has
a positive correlation with organizational commitment. Although high organizational
commitment employees may be unhappy with their jobs, or they have high levels of job
satisfaction without organizational commitment, their lack of job satisfaction tends to reduce
organizational commitment. Therefore, organizational commitment and job satisfaction are
important issues for employee evaluation, considering the intention to quit and overall
contribution to the organization of employees (Yiing and Ahmad, 2009). The hypotheses were
proposed:
H6. Job satisfaction has a positive impact on organizational commitment.
H6a. Job satisfaction has a positive impact on the continuance commitment of the
employee.
H6b. Job satisfaction has a positive impact on the normative commitment of the
employee.
H6c. Job satisfaction has a positive impact on the affective commitment of the employee.
Figure 1 depicts a conceptual model of the relationship between task-oriented leadership
style, psychological capital, job satisfaction and organizational commitment in enterprises.
Specifically, the model proposes that the task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact
on psychological capital, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Moreover,
psychological capital is not only positively related to job satisfaction but also positively
JAMR impacts on organizational commitment. Finally, job satisfaction has a positive role in the
organizational commitment of employees.

3. Research method
3.1 Design and sample
This study was conducted from September 2018 to October 2019. Convenient sampling
methods are used by contacting managers and staff of the companies (called research
assistants) for research support and asking questions for their employees. After being
answered by the staff, the questionnaires will be sent to the support person to gather and
transfer to the study authors. The people interviewed are employees working in small and
medium-sized enterprises in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City. These are localities with
the number of enterprises accounting for a high proportion of the total number of small and
medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam. Criteria for identifying small and medium-sized
enterprises in accordance with Vietnam’s Law on Support for Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises are companies with the number of employees less than 200 people. This is a large
group of enterprises, accounting for 97% of the number of businesses and contributing more
than 50% of Vietnam’s gross domestic product.
The total of questionnaires sent was 1,200, the result was 853 retrieved, after review, the
final sample used for testing was 800, including 476 (59.5%) women and 324 (40.5%) male.
Regarding company size, 632 (79%) people working at the company have more than 50
employees, and 168 (21%) people working at the company have less than 50 employees.
Regarding working time at the company, 330 (41.25%) people worked from 1 to 5 years, 183
(22,875%) people worked at the company for less than 1 year and 287 (35,875%) people
worked of 5 years or more. Regarding age, 436 (54.5%) of respondents were under 30 years
old, and 364 (45.5%) of people aged 30 and over. In terms of income, 623 (77,875%) with
incomes below 435 USD per month, and 177 (22,125%) with incomes from 435 USD per month
or more.
The research consisted of two steps: (1) The qualitative method has conducted a series of
in-depth interviews with experts to modify the measures and scales to make them
appropriate for the context of this study. (2) The quantitative method is employed to test the
research hypotheses. For quantitative methods, Cronbach’s alpha reliability and exploratory
factor analysis (EFA) were used to preliminarily assess the scales. Confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA) was utilized to assess the reliability, convergence and discriminant value of
the scales and structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the research model.

3.2 Measurement
Constructs examined included two first-order constructs that were task-oriented leadership
style, job satisfaction and two second-order constructs, including psychological capital (hope,

Task-oriented
leadership style H3
H2
Job H6 Organizational
H1 satisfaction commitment
H4
H5
Figure 1. Psychological
Conceptual framework capital
optimism, resiliency and self-efficacy), and organizational commitment (affective The
commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment). In particular, the relationships in
€
task-oriented leadership style scale is borrowed from Bass and Avolio (1995), Ozsahin et al.
(2011); the job satisfaction scale is adapted from Wang et al. (2018). The psychological capital
Vietnamese
scale is borrowed from Nguyen and Nguyen (2012), Luthans et al. (2015); the organizational enterprises
commitment scale is inherited from Meyer and Allen (1991), Bonds (2017). The original scales
used to measure the research variables were adjusted by the research team by group
discussion method to suit the research context in Vietnam. The observed variables were
measured using a five-point Likert scale, anchored by 1: strongly disagree, to 5:
strongly agree.

4. Research results
4.1 Measurement validation
The preliminary study was undertaken by Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient and EFA (principal
components with varimax rotation) that indicated 1 item measuring self-efficacy (I feel
confident of presenting my work area in meetings with senior management) was deleted due
to its low item-total correlations (<0.30) in the reliability analysis, other scales satisfactory.
The results of the analysis for the second time show that Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients of the
scales are greater than 0.7; EFA extracted for nine factors with a total variance extracted
66.125%, and KMO coefficient is equal to 0.785 at the 1% significance level, so the factor
analysis is appropriate (Table 1). Subsequently, the validity of scales to be officially assessed
through two steps: (1) two CFA models to assess the two second-order constructs:
psychological capital and organizational commitment, (2) two first-order constructs (job
satisfaction and task-oriented leadership style) are incorporated into the first two CFA
models to form a saturated model (final measurement model).
4.1.1 Validation of second-order constructs. The results of CFA for the second-order
constructs of psychological capital and organizational commitment are presented in Table 2.
The parameters such as χ 2(df) < 3; Tucker–Lewis index (TLI), the goodness of fit index (GFI)
and comparative fit index (CFI) > 0.9; root mean square errors of approximation
(RMSEA) < 0.08 indicate that the measurement models of these constructs received an
acceptable fit to the data (Steenkamp and van Trijp, 1991).
In addition, all factor loading of standardized CFA is greater than 0.5 (Table 1) and the
correlation coefficients between the components of the psychological capital and
organizational commitment statistically significant (Table 3) indicate that the scales
measuring the components of these constructs are unidimensional and achieve convergent
and discriminant validity (Steenkamp and van Trijp, 1991).
Moreover, the composite reliability (CR) and average variances extracted (AVE) of the
measurement components of the second-order constructs are greater than 0.5 (Table 1) show
that they were significantly different from unity, and thus it could be concluded that they
supported the construct discriminant validity (Steenkamp and van Trijp, 1991). In general,
the results of CFA for the two second-order constructs (psychological capital and
organizational commitment) are satisfactory to be included in the next analysis.
4.1.2 Final measurement model. The study combines two second-order constructs
(psychological capital and organizational commitment) with two first-order constructs (task-
oriented leadership style and job satisfaction) in order to form the final measurement model in
measurement validation. The results of CFA produced χ 2(df) 5 2.747; TLI 5 0.903;
GFI 5 0.907; CFI 5 0.912 and RMSEA 5 0.047, thus saturated model is consistent with
market data. All factor loading of standardized CFA is greater than 0.5 (Table 1), which
shows that constructs are unidimensional and achieve convergent validity. At the same time,
the results of correlation analysis of constructs are statistically significant (Table 4),
JAMR Items Sources α FL CR AVE CFA* CFA

Task-oriented leadership 0.856 0.965 0.823

My manager assigns work to groups or individuals €
Ozsahin et al. 0.745 0.767
My manager clarifies the role expectations and (2011) 0.828 0.804
task objectives
My manager directs and coordinates the activities 0.771 0.753
of the unit
My manager explains the rules, policies and 0.741 0.561
standard operating processes
My manager plans short term operations 0.771 0.622
My manager organizes work activities to improve 0.648 0.636
efficiency
Organizational commitment 0.972 0.836
Affective Commitment Bonds (2017) 0.784 0.961 0.892
I really feel as if this organization’s problems are 0.829 0.715 0.719
my own
This organization has a great deal of personal 0.834 0.764 0.757
meaning for me
I would be very happy to spend the rest of my 0.836 0.748 0.752
career with this organization
Continuance Commitment 0.772 0.956 0.880
It would be very hard for me to leave my 0.675 0.689 0.733
organization right now, even if I wanted to
Too much of my life would be disrupted if I decided 0.842 0.780 0.736
I wanted to leave my organization now
One of the few negative consequences of leaving 0.783 0.722 0.722
this organization would be the scarcity of available
alternatives
Normative Commitment 0.731 0.924 0.752
I would feel guilty if I left my organization now 0.702 0.599 0.575
This organization deserves my loyalty 0.780 0.690 0.671
I would not leave my organization right now 0.715 0.657 0.685
because I have a sense of obligation to the people in
it
I owe a great deal to my organization 0.671 0.611 0.615
Psychological capital 0.973 0.873
Self-efficacy Nguyen and 0.754 0.945 0.852
I feel confident of analyzing a long-term problem to Nguyen (2012) 0.752 0.598 0.598
find a solution
I feel confident of contacting people outside the 0.833 0.789 0.791
company
I feel confident of presenting information to a 0.813 0.751 0.749
group of colleague
Optimism 0.768 0.950 0.867
In uncertain times, I usually expect the best 0.852 0.787 0.789
I always expect things go to my way 0.874 0.842 0.840
Overall, I expect more good things to happen to me 0.748 0.572 0.572
than bad
Hope 0.788 0.961 0.893
At the present time, I am energetically pursuing 0.817 0.796 0.779
my goals
There are a lot of ways around any problem that I 0.814 0.767 0.772
am facing now
I can think many ways to reach my current goals 0.760 0.669 0.684
Resiliency 0.777 0.956 0.881
I quickly get over and recover from being startled 0.801 0.852 0.861
I am generous with my colleagues 0.823 0.639 0.642
I get over my anger at someone reasonably quickly 0.710 0.729 0.720
Job Satisfaction 0.783 0.954 0.839
Table 1.
Validity of scales (continued )
Items Sources α FL CR AVE CFA* CFA
The
relationships in
I am very happy to be a part of this organization Wang et al. 0.775 0.733
I really feel as if this organization’s problems are (2018) 0.799 0.782
Vietnamese
my very own I find that my opinions are respected enterprises
at work
I am satisfied with the way my pay 0.708 0.594
In general, I am satisfied with my job 0.767 0.689
EFA: KMO 5 0.785 (p-value 5 0.000); Eigenvalues 5 1.216; TVE 5 66.125
Note(s): α: Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient; CR: composite reliability; AVE: average variance extracted; CFA*:
loadings of CFA for second-order constructs; CFA: loadings of CFA for a saturated model; KMO: Kaiser-Meyer-
Olkin measure; TVE: total variance explained Table 1.

Constructs χ 2(df) GFI TLI CFI RMSEA

Table 2.
Psychological capital 1.945 0.981 0.978 0.984 0.034 Model fit of second-
Organizational commitment 2.281 0.982 0.972 0.980 0.040 order constructs

indicating that these constructs’ discriminant validity is achieved (Steenkamp and van
Trijp, 1991).
In addition, the composite reliability (CR) and average variances extracted (AVE) of task-
oriented leadership style, psychological capital, job satisfaction and organizational
commitment are greater than 0.5 (Table 1), showing that these constructs are suitable for
testing research hypotheses.
5. Results and discussion
The Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test hypotheses for the relationship
between 04 constructs are task-oriented leadership style, psychological capital, job
satisfaction and organizational commitment. Accordingly, the analytical results showed
χ 2(df) 5 2.530, TLI 5 0.915, GFI 5 0.916, CFI 5 0.924 RMSEA 5 0.044 (Figure 2), and thus the
proposed model is consistent with market data (Steenkamp and van Trijp, 1991) and the
standardized structural paths are presented in Table 5.
The results show that there is no statistical evidence to support the H1 hypothesis that the
task-oriented leadership style has a positive impact on the psychological capital of the staff in
small and medium-sized enterprises of Vietnam. This result, although not meeting
expectations, is consistent with the social context deeply influenced by Eastern culture
like Vietnam. In particular, the Vietnam human-style not only places great emphasis on
affection, kindness and depth but also emphasizes consensuses, networks and support
instead of industry, process and direction. Moreover, Eastern traditional culture emphasizes
tolerance in the virtue of the managers and underlines the concepts of tolerance in their
mission implementation (Fang et al., 2019). Thus, the task-oriented leaders who have high in
direction and principle are impossible to develop a psychological capital of employees in the
community and bureaucratic societies in Asia. The results of H1a, H1b, H1c and H1d
hypotheses tests indicate that the task-oriented leadership style only has a positive impact on
the self-efficacy, and no statistical evidence to show the effect of the task-oriented leadership
style on optimism, hope and resiliency of employees in small and medium-sized enterprises of
Vietnam. This coincides with the findings of Yiing and Ahmad (2009) on tradition, loyalty,
teamwork and personal commitment as one of the common values among Malaysian
companies.
JAMR Correlations Coefficients Critical ratios p-value

Psychological capital
(1) Hope ↔ Optimism 0.078 26.13 0.000
(2) Hope ↔ Self-efficacy 0.059 29.97 0.000
(3) Resiliency ↔ Hope 0.047 26.95 0.000
(4) Resiliency ↔ Self-efficacy 0.040 29.40 0.000
(5) Optimism ↔ Self-efficacy 0.048 26.92 0.000
(6) Hope ↔ Resiliency 0.469 16.98 0.000

Table 3. Organizational commitment

Correlation coefficients (1) Affective ↔ Continuance 0.031 27.39 0.000
of second-order (2) Affective ↔ Normative 0.175 23.67 0.000
constructs (3) Continuance ↔ Normative 0.329 20.07 0.000

Correlations Coefficients Critical ratios p-value

Task-oriented leadership ↔ Psychological capital 0.083 30.70 0.000

(1) Task-oriented leadership ↔ Hope capital 0.044 29.52 0.000
(2) Task-oriented leadership ↔ Resiliency capital 0.063 30.08 0.000
(3) Task-oriented leadership ↔ Optimism capital 0.049 26.90 0.000
(4) Task-oriented leadership ↔ Efficacy capital 0.199 23.08 0.000
Job satisfaction ↔ Psychological capital 0.246 21.97 0.000
Psychological capital ↔ Organizational commitment 0.961 3.98 0.000
(1) Psychological capital ↔ Affective commitment 0.086 25.96 0.000
(2) Psychological capital ↔ Continuance commitment 0.700 11.87 0.000
(3) Psychological capital ↔ Normative commitment 0.401 18.47 0.000
Job satisfaction ↔ Task-oriented leadership 0.127 32.10 0.000
Task-oriented leadership ↔ Organizational commitment 0.300 20.73 0.000
(1) Task-oriented leadership ↔ Affective commitment 0.044 27.03 0.000
(2) Task-oriented leadership ↔ Continuance commitment 0.063 26.52 0.000
(3) Task-oriented leadership ↔ Normative commitment 0.340 19.83 0.000
Job satisfaction ↔ Organizational commitment 0.381 18.91 0.000
Table 4. (1) Job satisfaction ↔ Affective commitment 0.078 26.13 0.000
Correlations between (2) Job satisfaction ↔ Continuance commitment 0.257 21.72 0.000
constructs (3) Job satisfaction ↔ Normative commitment 0.164 23.94 0.000

These continue to be confirmed in the results of the H2 hypothesis test that the task-oriented
leadership style has a negative impact on job satisfaction of employees in small and medium-
sized enterprises of Vietnam at a meaningful level of 5%. Yiing and Ahmad (2009) argue that
the leaders who have task-oriented leadership style always tell their subordinates exactly
what they have to do; thus, these leaders are a difference with supportive leaders who care
about the individual needs and benefits of subordinates. Besides, Vietnamese small and
medium-sized enterprises have a few employees and low skill levels and income of laborers,
so their labor that is influenced by the traditional community culture must accept rank within
organization and decline in job satisfaction. Yukl (2012) argues that task-oriented leaders
focus on planning tasks and often require subordinates or staff to provide information to
support this planning. In addition, leaders make on the controlling and careful monitoring of
the work, which employees have implemented according to the plans built. However, the
management capacity of small and medium-sized enterprise leaders in Vietnam may be
limited in the early stages of economic transition and the production of industrial, so they
 The
relationships in
Vietnamese
enterprises

Figure 2.
Standardized
structural results

sometimes control excessive, superficial or irrelevant. At the same time, their forms of solving
may have ignored the signs of a serious problem, given a hasty response before identifying
the cause of the problem, discouraging helpful recommendations from subordinates, and
responding in ways that create more serious problems (Yukl, 2012). These causes have delved
into the extent of the decline in job satisfaction and vulnerability in the quality of work-life of
workers in small and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam.
However, the results support the H3 hypothesis that the task-oriented leadership style has
a positive impact on the organizational commitment of employees in Vietnamese small and
medium-sized enterprises at the 1% significance level. This result is similar to the research
results of Hong et al. (2016) in Korea and other leadership style studies of Yiing and Ahmad
(2009), Acar (2012), Rego et al. (2016). Therein, leadership behavior directly affects the
organizational commitment of workers. In particular, Vietnamese small and medium-sized
JAMR Structural path Estimate Standard error p-value

Task-oriented leadership → sychological capital 0.083 0.033 0.106

(1) Task-oriented leadership → Self-efficacy 0.199 0.051 0.000
(2) L~anh dạo thi^en về nhiệm vụ → Optimism 0.050 0.025 0.243
(3) Task-oriented leadership → Hope 0.044 0.400 0.306
(4) Task-oriented leadership → Resiliency 0.063 0.046 0.141
Task-oriented leadership → Job satisfaction 0.114 0.041 0.007
Task-oriented leadership → Organization commitment 0.395 0.041 0.000
(1) Task-oriented leadership → Continuance commitment 0.081 0.048 0.061
(2) Task-oriented leadership → Normative commitment 0.374 0.036 0.000
(3) Task-oriented leadership → Affective commitment 0.058 0.037 0.182
Psychological capital → Job satisfaction 0.233 0.085 0.000
Psychological capital → Organization commitment 0.943 0.123 0.000
(1) Psychological capital → Continuance commitment 0.711 0.129 0.000
(2) Psychological capital → Normative commitment 0.429 0.074 0.000
(3) Psychological capital → Affective commitment 0.098 0.064 0.047
Job satisfaction → Organization commitment 0.195 0.043 0.002
Table 5. (1) Job satisfaction → Continuance commitment 0.258 0.051 0.000
Standardized (2) Job satisfaction → Normative commitment 0.168 0.037 0.000
structural paths (3) Job satisfaction → Affective commitment 0.080 0.039 0.073

enterprises have a few laborers, so the frequency of interaction between leaders and
employees is high and their dominant behavior for regular and continuous employees. Hong
et al. (2016) argue that task-oriented leaders have a positive impact on the organizational
commitment of employees in the cultures governed by Confucian values that emphasize
harmony and absolute loyalty. Therein, the leaders have a role in guiding and directly setting
goals for employees to perform tasks. They assign schedules, communicate the importance of
meeting deadlines and maintain standards to fulfill the tasks in order to maintain order and
harmonize relationships within the organization (Hong et al., 2016). The results of H3a, H3b
and H3c hypothesis tests show that the task-oriented leadership style positively impacts on
the continuance commitment at the 10% significance level, positively impacts on the
normative commitment at the 1% significance level and does not conclusive evidence of
the impact of task-oriented leadership style on the affective commitment. In spite of the
psychological oppression and satisfaction damages by the penetration of business leaders in
Vietnam, workers still choose morality and economics to invest in the job. This has conveyed
important messages about the organizational commitment of employees in Vietnamese small
and medium-sized enterprises that can depend greatly on Eastern hierarchical characteristics
of culture, which emphasizes the hierarchy at work to maintain harmony among individuals,
except for reasons of difficulties in transforming job opportunities in emerging markets.
The H4 hypothesis test result shows that the psychological capital has a positive effect on
the job satisfaction level of employees in Vietnam’s small and medium-sized enterprises at the
1% significance level. This result is similar to the findings of Kaplan and Bickes (2013),
Bergheim et al. (2015), Jung and Yoon (2015), Idris and Manganaro (2017), Kong et al. (2018) on
the positive relationship between psychological capital and job satisfaction of employees.
The stronger the psychological capital of employees in Vietnamese small and medium-sized
enterprises, the higher the happiness level the job will bring them. Jung and Yoon (2015) argue
that resiliency has the most significant impact on performance, helps individuals overcome
frustration, and gives them opportunities for career development. If psychological capital can
stir up a positive atmosphere or create a happy psychological feeling, it will create an increase
in job satisfaction. Vietnamese workers have been high tolerance and persistence, always
have hope and optimism, so they have high satisfaction in work situations. Jung and Yoon The
(2015) suggest that employees who are optimistically overcoming hard work or flexibly relationships in
solving a problem are not significantly dominated in a closed work environment and unified.
Moreover, the community culture of Vietnamese makes it possible for employees to have a
Vietnamese
positive influence on their peers and tend to find some ways to create a sense of personal enterprises
happiness and positive motivation for the work environment. In addition, Vietnamese
workers have a high degree of optimism about the future and have confidence in the ability to
succeed in their current jobs; so they strive to overcome challenges and persevere in facing
obstacles, and become satisfied with the job instead of becoming quitters (Avey et al., 2011).
Therefore, the employee, who has the expectation of success stemming from optimism, and
the belief in the individual’s ability to create work efficiency, will be more satisfied with the
job. Psychological factors, especially positive ones, are of vital importance to sustainability
and happiness in Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises.
The results support the H5 hypothesis that psychological capital has a positive impact on
organizational commitment in small and medium-sized enterprises of Vietnam at the 1%
significance level. Thus, the findings of the study coincide with the findings of Youssef and
Luthans (2007), Nguyen and Nguyen (2012), Sahoo and Sia (2015), Yalcin (2016), Idris and
Manganaro (2017), Sen et al. (2017), Yildiz (2018) on the role of the psychological capital to the
organizational commitment of employees. Moreover, the results support the H5a, H5b and
H5c hypotheses that psychological capital positively affects continuance, normative,
affective at the significance levels of 1 and 10%. Psychological capital and organizational
commitment are positive in nature, so they are usually positively related to each other (Sahoo
and Sia, 2015). Employees in small and medium-sized enterprises with high psychological
capital often develop a positive attitude, work effectively in the workplace, and focus on
organizational commitment. Psychological capital is to be a condition for employees to have
positive psychological beliefs and emotions at work. This is because workers in small and
medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam are largely family-based and of agricultural origin, and
so they are closely related, enthusiastic and show the necessary effort to achieve goals,
endure difficult and uncertain conditions, express an optimistic view against events
occurring in the organization. At the same time, cultivating psychological capital toward
optimism and love of life of agricultural residents has a mediation role in the relationship
between procedural justice, interactional justice and organizational commitment (Yalcin,
2016). It can be said that psychological capital is an important factor determining the affective
commitment, normative commitment and continuance commitment of employees in small
and medium-sized enterprises in particular, enterprises in general of Vietnam (Yildiz, 2018).
The results support the H6 hypothesis that the job satisfaction of workers has a positive
impact on their organizational commitment in Vietnamese small and medium-sized
enterprises at the 5% significance level. This means that the research results are
consistent with the findings of Youssef and Luthans (2007), Aydogdu and Asikgil (2011),
Kaplan et al. (2012), Nguyen and Nguyen (2012), Top and Gider (2013), Yousef (2016) on the
positive impact of job satisfaction on organizational commitment of workers. The results also
support the H6a, H6b and H6c hypothesis that job satisfaction has a positive impact on the
commitment of continuance, normative and affective at the 1 and 10% significance levels.
Thus, job satisfaction directly and positively affects various aspects of organizational
commitment (Yousef, 2016). This shows that an increase in the factors that create job
satisfaction in Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises will push up the
organizational commitment of workers. This means that the internal factors of firms such
as using the skills and experience of workers will make the employees having an
organizational commitment that is based on a sense of obligation to the business and a strong
belief with becoming a member of the business that is the right thing or morality to do, rather
than external factors like pay, promotion, or working conditions (Aydogdu and Asikgil,
JAMR 2011). As a result, employees in small and medium-sized enterprises of Vietnam who have
excessive workloads, encounter ambiguities and conflicts or perceive a lack of corporate
support may have job dissatisfaction and a low level of organizational commitment (Top and
Gider, 2013). This is because job satisfaction occurs as a result of the experience gained
during job performance. Organizational commitment describes the employee’s overall
response to common corporate values and goals (Aydogdu and Asikgil, 2011). Therefore,
Chih et al. (2012) think that the job satisfaction of employees is the key to the success of
enterprises today.

6. Implications
This study examines the relationship between task-oriented leadership style, psychological
capital, job satisfaction and organizational commitment in Vietnamese small and medium-
sized enterprises. The research may enhance the understanding of the theory of task-oriented
leadership style in an environment influenced by Confucianism and Eastern culture. The
research results provide important messages about organizational behavior in small and
medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets like Vietnam. In particular, the task-oriented
leadership style has a positive impact on organizational commitment but limits job
satisfaction and does not clearly relate to the employees of psychological capital. Therefore,
the theory of leadership style may seek leadership styles that are appropriate for Vietnamese
culture, or Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises begin to change organizational
culture to be compatible with emerging markets, the internationalization of economic activity
and harmony with Eastern values (Yiing and Ahmad, 2009). Jung and Yoon (2015) suggested
that people with excellent resiliency, hope and optimism with their jobs and job satisfaction
will strengthen organizational commitment. The improvement in the positive mentality of
employees directly affects organizational commitment. This has revealed the importance of
small and medium-sized enterprise managers on developing a leadership style that takes into
account the psychological capital of employees, and employees whose commitment
organization increases with psychological capital will work more effectively (Yildiz, 2018).
Meanwhile, job satisfaction requires openness and clarity in the leadership behaviors of
managers, especially they should share the necessary information when making important
decisions, provide feedback to employees on time and accept ideas from others, especially
their subordinates (Kong et al., 2018). In addition, there is a relationship between job
satisfaction and life satisfaction, which is influenced by satisfaction with life domains,
including work (Nguyen and Nguyen, 2012). Therefore, job satisfaction in employees is
related to the level of agreement and conflict with the leadership style in the business. No
leadership style is ideal for all situations in strategic management and management (Yiing
and Ahmad, 2009). In particular, company leaders in Vietnam are deeply connected with the
traditional culture and values of East Asia. As a result, generally accepted leadership theories
from the Western may not be well expressed in the Eastern and Vietnamese contexts (Yiing
and Ahmad, 2009).
Besides, Avey et al. (2011) suggest that psychological capital can create desirable
attitudes, behaviors and results and help alleviate undesirable employee behavior and
attitudes. In particular, psychological capital is the motivation that pushes up individuals to
accumulate energy through positive psychological structures of self-efficacy, hope, optimism
and resiliency (Idris and Manganaro, 2017). Improving psychological capital leads to better
organizational commitment, better employee behavior, lower employee absences and higher
job satisfaction (Abbas and Raja, 2015; Luthans et al., 2007; Idris and Manganaro, 2017).
Strengthening the psychological capital is said to be an important task in terms of business
management in small and medium-sized enterprises in particular and businesses in general.
Therefore, Vietnamese business managers should improve their knowledge and skills in the
development of psychological capital in the business.
 Therefore, defining the relationships among research constructs will help small and The
medium-sized enterprise managers in Vietnam to make better decisions related to choosing relationships in
leadership styles and improving job satisfaction, improve psychological capital and enhance
organizational commitment. In particular, managers focus on perfecting the leadership style
Vietnamese
toward being more considerate, more in line with Eastern culture to improve job satisfaction enterprises
and enhance the organizational commitment of employees. Small and medium-sized
enterprise managers in Vietnam should encourage employees to improve self-efficacy, hope,
optimism and resiliency to enhance their psychological capital. Jung and Yoon (2015) think
that hope and optimism are a motivating factor for achieving the desired goals and mental
energies to enable the implementation of various methods in the pursuit of organizational
goals. Therefore, positive psychology will lead employees to different efforts to develop the
organization and stick to the organization in order to create efficiency and strengthen
management power (Jung and Yoon, 2015). In addition, Vietnamese small and medium-sized
enterprises can provide employees with opportunities to develop independently and increase
the support needed to achieve job satisfaction. This will help employees strengthen
organizational commitment and have a positive attitude toward organizational change (Chih
et al., 2012). Finally, leaders and managers of all and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam
regularly evaluate the entire system for the nature and form of the job satisfaction,
organizational commitment and psychological capital of employees, then follow up
appropriate activities to improve or continue efforts to build successful issues (Top and
Gider, 2013). This is important for developing organizational development strategies and
increasing business efficiency.

7. Conclusions
This study examines the role of task-oriented leadership style, psychological capital and job
satisfaction on organizational commitment of employees in small and medium-sized
enterprises in Vietnam. Research results have shown that task-oriented leadership style does
not have a clear relationship to psychological capital, limiting job satisfaction but positively
contributing to the organizational commitment of employees. In addition, psychological
capital and job satisfaction have a positive impact on the organizational commitment of
employees in the process of working at the enterprise. Therefore, the research results
contribute to expanding the theory of task-oriented leadership style, psychological capital,
job satisfaction and organizational commitment in small and medium enterprises in emerging
markets like Vietnam. Moreover, the outstanding feature of Vietnam is deeply influenced by
Confucianism and Eastern culture, so the leadership style theories of the West need to be
applied appropriately and effectively.
This will help small and medium-sized enterprise managers in emerging markets to pay
attention and implement the task-oriented leadership style to promote the organizational
commitment of employees. Moreover, the application of a task-oriented leadership style
consistent with cultural and economic characteristics will create a harmonious relationship
between managers and employees in order to develop business. At the same time, the task-
oriented leadership style will form methods for resolving conflicts that arise between
employers and employees in a logical, efficient and prompt manner. Small and medium-sized
enterprises will be fully aware of the development of positive psychological capital of
employees to encourage organizational commitment. The companies can also organize
positive psychological formation activities to promote the thinking of employees with a more
positive view of life and work in the workplace. In addition, employees need to be equipped
with the knowledge and psychological advice to work to be more productive, more effective
and long associated with organizational commitment.
JAMR 8. Limitations and research directions
The research has limitations such as using traditional statistical methods to test scientific
theory and discovering the net effect of independent variables affecting one or more
dependent variables, so it is impossible to make a relationship, cause and effect between
variables. In addition, there may also be variables that regulate the relationship between task-
oriented leadership style, psychological capital, job satisfaction and organizational
commitment such as job uncertainty, the uncertainty of the performance of tasks of the
worker. This is a potential research direction in the future. The sample focuses on small and
medium-sized enterprises, so future studies can expand into other areas such as the public
administration, banking services to comprehensively comprehend the task-oriented
leadership style theory. Future research can also investigate by the production industry to
understand each job type, education level, salary and age gap, which may have a positive
impact on job satisfaction and organizational commitment of employees.

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About the authors

The Nguyen Huynh is a teacher at the University of Finance and Marketing, Vietnam. His research
interests include macroeconomics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability, and international
business and management. His work has been published in the Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and
Business, Vietnam’s Socio-Economic Development. The Nguyen Huynh is the corresponding author and
can be contacted at: huynhthenguyen@ufm.edu.vn
Nguyen Thuy An Hua is a teacher at the University of Finance and Marketing, Vietnam. Her
research interests include organizational behavior, strategic management and international business
and management.

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