Firm's Internal Resources and Customer Perceived Performance in Business-to-Business Professional Tax Consultant Services in Vietnam

Abstract

This study aims to test a model of antecedents of client perceived performance in the context of service tax consultant in a developing economies setting as Vietnam. Based on conceptual model recommended by La et al.'s (2009) for Malaysia and Thai market and results from qualitative study, authors propose the model containing 7 factors including firm's intangible and tangible resources. Further, we examine the effects of key moderators (firm's international experience and nature of engages services) on client perceived performance and firm internal resources. The results generally support the hypotheses that client-perceived performance is influenced by firm's internal resources (e.g., technical skills, interpersonal skills, customer orientation, reputation and relationship with tax authorities). Interestingly, the impacts of reputation and relationship with tax authorities on perceived service are not different in terms of firm's international experience and nature of engaged services. The findings can guide practitioners as to the key drivers of client perceived performance, and under what conditions this performance is maximized.