internship report on vietnam market penetration strategy for paulas choice skincare by tota vietnam

As an intern, I was assigned to work in marketing team to not only support daily marketing activities but also work on study and research to develop market penetration strategy for Paula

IAE School of Business Administration

&

THANG LONG UNIVERSITY

MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION -

INTERNSHIP REPORT ON VIETNAM MARKET PENETRATION STRATEGY FOR PAULA’S CHOICE

SKINCARE BY TOTA VIETNAM

Submitted by: NGUYEN THI HAI – AMI9A, 2019

Academic Supervisor

Dr Le Thanh Binh

Director of International Relation Department

Thang Long University

First of all, I would like to express my appreciation to professors from Nice Sophia Antipolis and Thang Long University for their helpful and practical lectures throughout my MBA course Those lectures have become the essential foundation for my report development

Secondly, I especially extend my gratitude to Dr Le Thanh Binh, my academic supervisor for her valuable guidance and instructions to help me complete this report Her continuous support and candid feedback was the key contribution for my accomplishment of the report

Taking this opportunity, I would like to send my heartfelt thanks to the direct supervisor at Tota Vietnam, Mr Nguyen Bang Tong and all other colleagues for their great support, guidance and valuable comments to my research works Without the support, I would not have been able to collect sufficient data and information for my report

Last but not least, without the kind help, understanding and encouragement of my family, the work may not have been completed This is highly appreciated with warm-hearted thanks

This report is the outcome of my 4-month internship at Tota Vietnam Joint Stock Company from May 1st, 2019 until August 31st, 2019 The aim of this paper is to present

my understanding of Tota Vietnam business and my proposed strategy to the company based on

my knowledge from the MBA course

The internship has offered me the opportunity to put all theoretical knowledge into practice in a real working environment It also allowed me to learn about a new business industry of cosmetics particularly and FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) generally

During the internship, I was able to practice market study and research conduction, project management, strategy development as well as to improve multiple skills such as negotiation, teamwork, planning and ect Besides, I also contributed to the company business and operations

in many aspects such as staff training, project deployment, company’s events organization and working process set-up or improvement

This report consists of back-ground information of Tota Vietnam, briefed purposes of my internship, strategic analysis and proposed strategy for Tota Vietnam to launch Paula’s Choice –

a cosmetic brand to Vietnam As conclusion of the report, I also share my recommendations to Tota Vietnam for improvement in specific areas based on my observation during the internship

TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 1: COMPANY BACKGROUND 2

1.1 Key Facts 2

1.2 Company Mission, Values and vision 3

1.2.1 Mission 3

1.2.2 Values 3

1.2.3 Vision 3

1.3 Key Products 3

1.3.1 Household chemical 3

1.3.2 Oats 4

1.3.3 Others 4

1.4 Distribution Network 4

1.5 Basic Financial Data 4

CHAPTER 2: COMPANY STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHART 8

2.1 Tota Vietnam organizational structure 8

2.1.1 General Meeting of Shareholders 8

2.1.2 Board of Management 8

2.1.3 General Director 9

2.1.4 Sales Department 10

2.1.5 Marketing & Product 10

2.1.6 Human Resource 10

2.1.7 Legal & Im-Export 11

2.1.8 Finance 12

2.2 Internship Position 12

CHAPTER 3: ASSIGNED TASKS AND GOALS 13

3.1 The assigned tasks 13

3.2 The link between subject matter and the mission 14

3.3 The goals to reach 15

3.4 My contributions 15

3.5 Theoretical knowledge to be put in practice 16

4.1 Strategic analysis 17

4.1.1 PESEL 17

4.1.2 Porter’s Five Forces 20

4.1.3 Market analysis 22

4.1.4 SWOT 23

4.2 4P Strategy to introduce Paula’s Choice to Vietnam market 26

4.2.1 Product strategy 26

4.2.2 Price strategy 27

4.2.3 Promotion strategy 27

4.2.4 Place strategy 29

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 30

5.1 Achievement of the internship 30

5.2 Shortcomings of the internship 33

5.3 Recommendations 33

5.4 Conclusion 35

As a result of market economy transformation, Vietnam has reached remarkable achievement in economic, culture – society In the effort to develop the economy and global integration, the country has signed off or concluded multiple Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with many countries and organizations around the world and become an optimistic destination for FDI Local enterprises are also endowed with favorable business conditions for both import or export activities

Along with development of the economy, living standards of Vietnamese people improved significantly with increasing demand for high quality products, among which, health and beauty products and service take the first place

To grasp both favorable business conditions and the market demand opportunity, Tota Vietnam decided to expand its product category by partnering with Paula’s Choice Skincare to distribute its products in Vietnam As an exclusive distributor, Tota Vietnam will be fully in charge of Vietnam market in terms of developing the brand, sales revenue and market share This is a challenging yet optimistic opportunity for the company to develop its business scale and get closer to its ambitious business goals

As an intern, I was assigned to work in marketing team to not only support daily marketing activities but also work on study and research to develop market penetration strategy for Paula’s Choice brand During the internship, I was able to bring theoretical knowledge from my MBA course into practice at Tota Vietnam Besides, I had opportunity to study and gain knowledge and understanding of FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) industry, the market, the customers, and the operation structure of Tota Vietnam

Under the guidance of my academic supervisor and direct supervisor at Tota Vietnam, I have successfully complete my internship accomplish my research work I hope that the strategy, analysis and recommendations presented in this report will partially contribute to the successful launch of Paula’s Choice in Vietnam particularly, and the growth of Tota Vietnam generally

In the process of international market integration, Vietnam has reached off many trade agreements with different countries and organizations in the world Beside some challenges local SMEs have to cope with, there are many more opportunities for business growth such as: less trade barriers, favorable import/export tax and so on In this context, Tota Vietnam’s leadership decided to grab the opportunities with international trade and established the company

free-5 years ago The company was set-up by a group of young people who are well-experienced in FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) from big local corporations such as Tuong An, Vinamilk

or FDI company like Unilever

Tota Vietnam JSC (the company) is a trading firm that specializes in cosmetics, household chemical products and agro-products

Incorporated in 2015, Tota Vietnam aimed at importing high quality products from developed countries such as US, Korea, Japan… to distribute in Vietnam To expand the market, Tota Vietnam has built up strong partnership with a network of retailers including supermarkets, large-scale grocery stores, and dealerships In a long run, the company’s vision is to export agro-products of Vietnam to international markets such as China, US, and Europe

1.1 Key facts

o Registered company name: Vietnam Tota International Joint Stock Company

o Abbreviated name: Tota Vietnam

o Head Office address: 117a, Dinh Cong street, Hoang Mai, Ha Noi, Vietnam

o Scope of Business Licensed: import and export cosmetics, household chemical products and agricultural products

o Experience: 4 years (Since 01 Jun 2015)

o Charter capital: 2 billion Vietnam dongs

1.2 Company mission, value and vision:

as a whole

o Integrity and Transparency – Tota Vietnam adheres to the highest ethical and corporate governance standards Employees of the company are requested to act with honesty and transparency They are also encouraged to comply with company’s regulations and rules

o Earth Choice: is a product line of Natures Organics, an Australian company that

specializes in producing household and personal care products from natural ingredients The company holds 90 products in different categories including personal care such as soap, body cleaner, shampoo and household In Vietnam, Tota Vietnam has been distributed household care products of this brand since 2016 through its retailer network

in the North Natures Organics household care products are declared to be ammonia and

ranges by distributing body care products of this brand through the same network

o Sumo: this is a chemical based household care brand by a Vietnamese company, Duong

Thanh Products of Sumo are made from ingredients that are proved to be safe for human’s health Its product ranges including glass cleanser, dishwashing liquid, soap and other types of cleansers With good quality and competitive price thanks to local production, this brand is now the number 2 in its product segment, following Gift brand Tota was appointed to be the exclusive distributor for this brand in the North of Vietnam (from Thanh Hoa) since 2015 when the company started

1.3.2 Oats

Among imported healthy agro-products, oat is the most looked for in Vietnam since few years ago Oat could be used as a great ingredient for meals, products from oat such as cookie and candy are also loved in Vietnam Besides, oatmeal is a fabulous natural organic skincare product Catching this trend, Tota Vietnam have partnered with a supplier in the US, Quaker Oat

to import raw oat, and then process packaging in Vietnam before distributing it to supermarkets and retailers all over the country After 4 years in Vietnam, Quaker oat brand has covered all supermarkets at all sizes in the Northern region

1.3.3 Others

Along with 2 key products mentioned above, Tota Vietnam currently also distributes other fast-moving consumer goods such as Ginseng candy from Korea, show gel from Australia However, these products only occupy a small part of its revenue

1.4 Distribution network

As a trading company, Tota Vietnam determined from its very first days that a strong partner network would play a vital role for its survival and success After over 4 years of operation, the company now has strong connection with most of retailers and supermarkets in the Northern region of Vietnam Its partner network includes but not limited to:

Vinmart; Thanh Do mart; Fivimart; Tmart; Lan Chi Mart; Intimex; Hapro mart; and other retailers and local supermarkets in all Northern provinces

1.5 Basic financial data

Table 1: Income statement of Tota Vietnam since incorporated (2015 – 2018)

Data source: Tota Vietnam Financial Department

Unit: Vietnam dong

Sales 5.319.530.070 12.957.648.090 15.196.544.890 28.354.166.289 Returns and Allowance (-159.585.902) (-388.729.443) (-759.827.245) (-1.417.708.314)

Total Expense 2.856.587.648 5.960.518.121 5.622.721.609 9.356.874.875

Net Income Before Tax (-356.408.515) 129.576.481 1.975.550.836 4.820.208.269 Income Tax Expense 0 25.915.296 395.110.167 964.041.654

Net Income (-356.408.515) 103.661.185 1.580.440.669 3.856.166.615

Figure 1: Tota Vietnam Business Growth 2015 – 2018 (Unit: Million VND) Data source: Tota Vietnam Financial Department

The chart shows how business of Tota Vietnam grew in the first 4 years of their operations The total revenue increased significantly every year, especially the exceptional growth in 2018 versus

2017 when the revenue was almost double compared to 2017 at 87% year on year growth Explained for this booming growth, the CEO of the company shared that it was because of 2 reasons: (1) The company expanded its product lines in 2018 including Korean candy and personal care products; (2) after 3 years in partnership with retail chains, they have succeeded in reaching a strategic partnership contract with some key customers such as Thanh Do Mart or Lan Chi mart, in which they became exclusive supplier of their product lines into these retail chain

In parallel with the growth of total revenue, its gross profit also grew strongly over the years However, when it comes to net earnings, Tota Vietnam was at loss in its first year (2015) which could be understandable for a new established company due to set-up costs In 2016, although both revenue and gross profit hit 144% growth, its net income remained unexpectedly low of

total expenses are quite high reasonably due to newly set-up, the selling expenses were also considerably high which led to a very low net profit rate at 0,8% on total revenue

In 2017, when the revenue grew only 13% and gross profit grew 20%, Tota Vietnam’s net income increased tremendously at around 94% over 2016 and reach 1,6 billion Vietnam dongs There are few reasons behind this extra-ordinary growth: (1) as the volume got higher, the company successfully negotiated with supplier to get an average of 5% lower input price (2) Tota Vietnam also replaced transportation supplier who provided the service at a better rate to help lower selling cost (3) The board of Director and Administrative manager came to an agreement to implement few cost-saving campaigns in all areas of business operations to cut down the fixed cost

Last year, 2018 was the first year the company achieved all of its business KPIs, including the 2 most important ones: revenue and net income As explained earlier, thanks to the product line expanding and strategic partnership contract, the revenue increases exceptionally in 2018 Total expenses were controlled at a reasonable rate which is 33% over total revenue The company’s net profit reached 14% over total revenue and grew 144% year on year 2017

2.1 Tota Vietnam organizational structure (type of structure: functional structure)

Figure 2: Organizational chart of Tota Vietnam

2.2 Organizational structure explanation

2.2.1 General Meeting of Shareholders

General Meeting of Shareholders is the highest decision-making body of the company consisting of all shareholders An Annual General Meeting is called at least once per year in which the director(s) of the company present the annual report The right of shareholders to make decisions over Company matters is exercised at an appropriately convened General Meeting of Shareholders by those shareholders present or by their authorized representatives General Meeting of Shareholders will also elect members for the Board of Management of Tota Vietnam

2.2.2 Board of Management (BOM)

The Board of Management the highest decision-making authority of Tota Vietnam in terms of business operation It leads the company in keeping with the organization’s vision, mission, and strategic planning goals Basically, the Boards address the broader, mission-focused activities Duties of board include:

CEO BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

SALES MARKETING &

PRODUCT HR & ADMIN LEGAL & IM-EXPORT FINANCE

HANOI

AREA

OTHER NORTHERN

GENERAL ADMIN ACCOUNTING

FINANCE ANLALYST AND CONTROLLERGeneral Meeting of Shareholders

Approving major policies or procedures of the company

Making major decisions in business strategy and plan

Overseeing performance of the company in all aspects including financial KPIs, sales, market share and ect

Review strategies, plans, processes… proposed by the CEO and company’s leadership The BOM of Tota Vietnam includes 3 members: the chairman, 1 vice chairwoman and 1 member

of the board The chairman is appointed by the Board, and his primary role is to ensure that the board is effective in its task of setting and implementing the company’s direction

To act as the company’s leading representative who will involve in the presentation of the company’s aims and policies

To take the chair at general meetings and board meetings by deciding on the agenda; ensuring that the board receives accurate, timely and clear information;

To take a leading role in determining the structure of the BOM (size, number of members…)

To ensure effective communication with shareholders

2.2.3 General Director (CEO)

CEO of Tota Vietnam is responsible for implementing the board’s decisions and conducting daily managerial activities together with his management team He will make decisions on all issues relating to day-to-day business operations of the company; appoint, remove and dismiss personnel in the company; recruit employees and makes decisions on salary and allowances for employees of the company

The CEO and his management team, based on research, study and the Board’s direction will develop business strategies and plans for Tota Vietnam and present it to the BOM to get approval before execution The CEO is actually the link between the company and the BOM He has to keep the BOM updated and informed about the company’s performance as well as issues so that the board can make appropriate decisions for the organization

At times, he may need to ask the board for intervention or support to help him raise performance The vice chairman and board member may also support him by using their networks within the community and industry to support the work of the organization

2.2.4 Sales Department

like Tota Vietnam At Tota Vietnam, Sales Department is led by the Head of Sales, Mr Vo Hong Khanh Mr Khanh has over 10-year experience in sale management of FMCG industry Before Tota Vietnam, his latest position was areal sales manager of Tuong An, the number 1 cooking oil brand of Vietnam

Sales department of Tota Vietnam is accountable to all sales related matters, including expanding the market, maintain and strengthening the relations with the company’s customers and deliver sales volume KPI Sales team will work closely with the marketing team in trade marketing to support sales push at the points of sales

Currently, the sales department is divided into 2 team led by 2 team leaders One team is in charge of all customer accounts in Hanoi such as Thanh Do, T-Mart, Lan Chi Mart, VinMart and others The other sales team takes care of customer accounts in other provinces in the North Both teams have to travel frequently to visit their customers at least 1 – 2 per week to ensure timely support and discussion

2.2.5 Marketing and Product

The Marketing department of Tota is led by an experienced marketing leader in food industry, Ms Mai Thuy Anh Ms Anh joined Tota Vietnam from Vinamilk, the number 1 player

in milk industry of Vietnam Marketing team key responsibilities including 2 parts:

(1) Promote the product brands that company carrying through multiple marketing activities With an allocated budget, Marketing team will develop marketing plans to help achieve brand KPIs and support sales team in deliver sales target These marketing plans have to align with sales plan and are usually presented to the CEO to obtain his approval before execution The marketing team also conducts trade marketing which is marketing at points of sales to enhance product presence Regarding to this activity, the marketing team work and coordinate closely with the retailers

(2) Product portfolio development: Besides promoting existing products, marketing has the responsibility to develop a wide range and effective product portfolio The team will collect market information to understand the demand and the trend of new products And then, they will make new product launch proposal to obtain approval of the management before developing a detailed plan to introduce a new product to the market

2.2.6 Human Resource and Administration

HR team and Admin team HR team is in charge of recruiting, training, and C&B (Compensation and Benefit) The Department has responsibility to fill in any vacancy in the company as required

by department leaders with approval of the CEO A vacancy will be filled through a full process

of recruitment, including job posting, interviewing, assessment, offering, and orientation The HR team is also accountable for people development through training programs They start with building a competency set for company’s employees And then, training courses will be designed around these competencies to ensure all employees’ capability and behavior will meet company’s requirement Some courses will be in-housed trainings, but some others such as leadership skill, presentation basics, sales skills…are usually conducted by an outsourced expert that HR team invites and pay

Last but not least, the HR team is responsible for all C&B activities and policies This could include payroll, insurance and taxes (for employees), annual leave management, variable pay policy (bonus) and others The team also works with each department leader to develop KPIs for all staffs and conduct mid-year performance assessment and Year-end performance assessment This performance assessment will be reflected in variable pay and promotion for employees The Administration (Admin) team has only 2 members and one of them is the receptionist of the company The Admin team is responsible for all office supplies and facility management They also assist general management tasks in the company such as pool cars and driveres arrangement, staff travel booking and arrangement

2.2.7 Legal & Im-Export Department

As a small-sized company, this team has only one member and report directly to the CEO This person is in charge of all legal related issues, icluding preparing and process import-export precedure, review legal document, contracts, agreements He also assists the the sales team and the CEO in negotiating with partners and suppliers Besides, as a legal expert, he provide legal advice to others team to ensure all activities in the company complied with governmet law, for instant: advertising regulation advice to marketing team, lay-off regulation to HR team and so on

2.2.8 Finance

Like any other company, Finance team of Tota Vietnam is in charge of all financial transactions and indexes They have accounting team who are responsible for recording and reporting the cash flow transactions of a company This team has some key roles and responsibilities,

financial controls The team will also work on tax and invoicing for the company

Within the Finance department, the Financial Analyst and Controller has 2 key tasks:

(1) Forecasting revenue and profit based on sales plan; analyzing financial data to provide leadership an overall picture of financial status of the company; budget plan management to ensure all department spend within budget and/or deliver financial KPIs

(2) Develop procedures, processes for the company operations and implement such as Information Lifecycle management Following the process implementation, this team will conduct periodic audit, training and action plan to ensure the company’s procedures and processed are compiled strictly

2.3 Internship position

I was accepted to join Tota Vietnam as an Assistant Marketing Manager for a 4-month internship period, specializing new product launch My main duty is to work with marketing team and sales team to conduct market research, customer study and develop strategy for new product launch I report directly to the CEO on my projects due to its strategic level Therefore, my direct supervisor is the CEO, Mr Nguyen Bang Tong

Tota Vietnam as a whole is a friendly and dynamic working environment The young leadership team has been able to build a team with full of energy , accountable individuals and with transparent manners I was facilitated at the most by all teams to accomplish my tasks at the company as well as research and study about the company to complete this assisgnment Marketing team of Tota Vietnam has 6 members including myself and the Marketing manager Team-work spirit is a character that the marketing manager encouraged the most among the team Therefore, all members in the team are very supportive, cooperative and always work towards joint achievements for the team in particularly and the company generally

Although my main task is to work on new product launch projects, I also spent time to support other marketing jobs to gain more experience and learn more about the nature of this business which would be very helpful for my assignment For my new product launch projects, i went for market visits with the help of sales team, I conducted end-user customer survey with the support

of marketing team and learn about new product with the support of leadership I also work with the Marketing manager closely regarding launch strategy and plan to receive her ideas and input before come up with a final proposal to be presented to the CEO

3.1 The assigned tasks

My internship period at Tota Vietnam started from May 1st 2019 until Sep 1st 2019 During this time, I joined marketing team as an Assistant Marketing Manager My key responsibility is

to work on new product launch projects which include the following key tasks:

New product study: to work with partners/brands to understand the brand itself, product features, the options available and its potential of growth

Conducting market research: to understand the market size, the channels, the segments Customer study: to understand customer needs, behaviors and define customer journey for respective products

Competitor research and monitoring: to define key competitors, their products, the activities they conducted to approach the market, pricing strategies and other details

Beside the main responsibility, I was also assigned to support the marketing manager in daily tasks and plan building to get to know more about the company, customers, partners and market

I also joined marketing team in market visits to meet our retailer partners and supervise trade marketing activities And especially, I support the CEO in meeting and negotiating with new partners to discover potential products for the company

With all above-mentioned tasks, I discussed with my direct supervisor at the company, the CEO

to build the following schedule for my 4-month internship:

From May 1 st to May 5 th (1 st week): Get to know about the company

Study the company’s profile, its history and organizational structure

Learn about its product & services

Understand its customers, partners and suppliers’ profile

From May 6 th

to May 31 th

: get involved deeply in the jobs

Support marketing manager in month plan and budget management

Travel with sales team for market visits, meet end-user customers, retailer partners

Work with marketing team to develop plan for ‘‘Thank you party’’ for all retailer partners Prepare company credentials and meet new potential suppliers with the CEO and marketing manager, learn about their products

From Jun 1 st to Jun 30 th : own the jobs and kick-off projects

Support marketing manager in Quarter 3 marketing and budget plan

Organize the mid-year ‘Thank you party’ event

Pick-up new products to study in details for launching

Conduct market research to understand market size, the channels, the segments to join Define target customers, understand their profile, behaviors through surveys

Define and study key rivals in the segments

From Jul 1 st

to Jul 31 th

: present analysis and proposals

Support marketing manager in Q3 marketing calendar execution

Deep analysis and new product launch strategy proposals

Revise proposal and obtain approval from CEO

Develop new product launch plan in detail with the support and input of marketing team and sales team

From August 1 st to August 31th: execute the plans

Continue supporting marketing manager in daily task management of the team

Work with related teams for execution of new product launch plan

Work with marketing team to develop promotion plan, prepare sales materials, trade plan…

3.2 The link between subject matter and the mission

The above-mentioned mission assigned to me is well-suited to the subject matter that I have chosen for a number of reasons

Firstly, working closely with the marketing team and sales team allow me to have more opportunities to understand the market, the customers, the partners and the rivals through their market activities Understanding of these key factors in business will help me define the challenges and opportunities to launch a new product in FMGC industry

Secondly, in a market entry strategy for any new product, the initial marketing or promotion strategy play a vital role for its success in a new market By supporting the marketing manager with marketing strategy and planning, I get used to with approaches and methodology to build a marketing strategy for a product in Vietnam market

Thirdly, working directly with the CEO allows me to understand the strategic direction of the company, its internal strengths and weaknesses which are especially important for a strategy to bring a new product into the market The opportunities to work with him and the partners also provide me more information of products and its potential of growth which helps in defining target customers and a growth path for the selected product in my strategy proposal

come up with selecting Paula’s Choice, a skincare brand from the US with a huge potential for growth in Vietnam

3.3 The goals to reach

The goals that I need to reach during my internship period at Tota Vietnam are as followed: Have a general concept about sales and marketing activities the linkage amongst departments

in small and medium enterprises

Get to know business nature, sales and marketing approaches, processes in FMCG industry

Be able to build a marketing strategy and plan for the company, manage marketing budget Know how to conduct surveys and market research, how to collect data and analyze it Have general understanding of cosmetic and skincare product market in Vietnam

Understand the general process to introduce a new product and develop market entry strategy for it based on strategy analysis

3.4 My contribution the company

Before joining Tota Vietnam, I had intensive experience as a marketing leader in a global established company with standardized processes I also had chance to participate in many training courses to improve soft skills and competencies Therefore, I believe that I will be able to contribute to Tota Vietnam in several aspects as follow:

Contributing in completing the standard working processes: Tota Vietnam is a young

company, many working processes and procedures are yet to be in place As the company leadership has an ambition to grow the business much bigger than what it is now, working processes have to be standardized to avoid unexpected risks due to poor coordination and planning when the business scale becomes bigger

Sharing marketing expertise and experience to marketing team: as I will work closely with

the marketing team, I have plan to share with the team my own experience in developing marketing plans and strategies in big corporations as well as updated knowledge that I had chance

to access to This will not only help improve employee’s performance but also get them prepared for bigger projects that may come in the future when the business grows

Helping in improving employee’s soft skills: since I have participated in many soft skill

training courses with available materials, I also intent to conduct several small training courses to help improve some soft skills for Tota employees such as presentation, crucial conversation

Last but not least, contributing new ideas: As a ‘newbie’ and with knowledge obtained from

AMI courses, I will be able to look at any problems in the company with a new perspective to provide new input and ideas, especially for new projects This would help the leadership of Tota Vietnam experiment new approaches in solving the business problems

3.5 Theoretical knowledge to be put in practice

All theoretical subjects in the AMI course is useful in one way or the other way to my current job and the intern position’s assignment Each subject offered me different knowledge and skills to solve respective problems at work Among those, following are the subjects which contribute the most to my assignment during my internship at Tota Vietnam:

Table 2: MBA subjects and its usefulness

1 Business

Strategy

As my report subject is to build a strategy to launch a new brand in Vietnam, this subject is the most critical knowledge for me The Business Strategy guided me to conduct strategic analysis for a company, identify the key issues of the organization and define the key roles of people (stakeholders) in a strategy The course also introduced the tools to analyze each layer in the business environment Those tools are actually the framework to apply such as PESTEL to analyze Macro-environment, Porter’s Five Force to analyze industry and sector, VRIO and SWOT to analyze internal environment of the organization All those analyses will support to build an effective strategy for the company

3 Marketing Knowledge from Marketing subject contributed significantly into my

assignment since my strategy is developed based on 4Ps model Marketing provided me necessary knowledge and tools to analyze and select an appropriate distribution channel for the new product (Place); set a market accepted but profitable Price; select right Products for this

7 International

Contract Law

The course help us understand the important differences between international and domestic commercial contracts as well as the usual model contracts of international standards (issued by ICC and other organizations) which could be applied for any Vietnamese businesses working with international companies

The course also provides possible “pitfalls” in international commercial contracts to cope with and how to prevent and resolve disputes relating

to international commercial contracts

Last but not least, for any companies who deal with international companies, intercultural communication and differences between legal systems is extremely important to notice to avoid misunderstanding in dealing with international commercial contracts