Labour productivity remains a persistent challenge in labour-intensive manufacturing, particularly in emerging economies where competitiveness depends more on workforce performance than on capital-intensive technologies. This critical review examines the relationship between work attitudes and labour productivity, focusing on Vietnam’s textile and garment industry. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory, it synthesises research linking responsibility, engagement, discipline, cooperation and adaptability to productivity outcomes, including efficiency, effectiveness and output quality. The review interrogates how these constructs have been conceptualised and operationalised within labour-intensive contexts. Three limitations recur in the literature: reliance on cross-sectional surveys and self-reported productivity measures, uncritical application of exchange-based explanations, and insufficient attention to structural and institutional constraints such as wages, working conditions and labour turnover. The paper proposes a more integrated analytical perspective situating work attitudes within organisational and institutional contexts to better explain sustainable productivity outcomes.
Keywords: Labour productivity, Social Exchange Theory, Vietnam, critical review, textile and garment industry, work attitude
