Transformational Leadership, Work Motivation Influence Employee-Based Brand Equity. The Case of Small and Medium Enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in promoting the country's economic development. In the era of integration and intense competition in the market economy, businesses recognize that employees are an extremely valuable resource, and enhancing employee-based brand equity helps organizations improve their competitive position and sustainable development. The objective of this paper is to identify and evaluate factors affecting employee-based brand equity in SMEs in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The study surveyed 60 SMEs with 438 employees, using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the fit of the research model and evaluate the relationships among the factors in the model based on practical survey data. The results showed that 5 factors: Transformational Leadership; Training & promotion opportunities; Income & benefits; Organizational culture; Working environment, all have direct impact on Work motivation and Employee-based brand equity. In addition, the research results also found that two factors Transformational Leadership and Work Motivation have the most direct and greatest impact on Employee-based Brand Equity in SMEs. In conclusion, the paper provides some management implications for small and medium-sized enterprise leaders, which is to invest more in the internal environment, develop training policies and care for employees to increase work motivation and employee- based brand equity, helping to enhance the enterprise brand, competitive position, and sustainable development in the period of innovation and integration.