Luận văn thạc sĩ Quản trị kinh doanh: Developing a digital transformation strategy for Thai Vietjet air period 2025-2030 = Xây dựng chiến lược chuyển đổi số cho Thai Vietjet air giai đoạn 2025-2030

Faced with the rapid development of digital technology and the rapid changes in the aviation industry, Thai Vietjet Air needs to be innovative in digital transformation to stay competiti

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH

PHAM TIEN HUNG

DEVELOPING A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

STRATEGY FOR THAI VIETJET AIR PERIOD 2025 — 2030

CHO THAI VIETJET AIR GIAI DOAN 2025 - 2030

LUAN VAN THAC Si QUAN TRI KINH DOANH

Hà Nội - 2024

PHAM TIEN HUNG

DEVELOPING A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY FOR THAI VIETJET AIR PERIOD 2025 — 2030

XÂY DUNG CHIEN LƯỢC CHUYEN DOI SO

CHO THAI VIETJET AIR GIAI DOAN 2025 - 2030

Chuyén nganh: Quan tri kinh doanh

Mã số: 8340101.01

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DAN KHOA HỌC: PGS.TS TRAN NGỌC CA

Hà Nội - 2024

I therefore certify that the aforementioned research findings are the result of

my personal research and study, and have never been published in another scientificwork or paper The materials and data given in the thesis have obvious provenanceand are validated

I am responsible in front of the Thesis Assessment Committee, Hanoi

School of Business, and the laws for above-mentioned declaration

I would like to begin by expressing my appreciation to the lecturers at the

Hanoi School of Business and Management (HSB) - Vietnam National Universityfor their assistance during my two years of education there

I'd also want to thank Associate Professor, PhD student, and Professor a

for personally guiding, commenting, and editing my thesis

Author

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TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION 0212 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENÏT Gà SH HH HH TH TH TH ng nà il IV.):)0219)3099))/9-)0HdđÝŸÝ 11

TABLES LIST ooo vi

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1.1 BackgrOundd - - «- s+ x kh TH HH HH HH Hà 1 I0 1 4

1.3 Research aim(s) and OJ€CfIV€S - G1 HH ng HH nề 5 1.4 Research 0ì (0 TA Ầ aAa 5

1.5 Research SCOD€ - ĩc HH HH TH TH HH TH HH 6 1.6 Research methodỌOE V - - << 4xx vn TH TH HH nh 6 ly 1o 7

1.8 Chapter SUIATV - G2118 88331118910 1199111 HH re 7 CHAPTER 2: LITEATURE REVIEƠW LH TH TH HH ng ng 8 2.1 Digital transÍOrTmatIOT << + +1 E1 EE1 1 11 93 1111 TH HH nh 8 2.1.1 D€ÍInItIOn - c1 TH HH HH 8 2.1.2 Role of digital transfOrmafIONI - - -c c1 11 SvErrrseeererereevee 10 2.2 Key technologies driving digital transformatIon - «+ +- «+ ++ss++++++ 14 2.2.1 Big data and anaÌyfICS ch TH TH ng 14 2.2.2 Artificial intelligence and machine learning « s«+-«+<s+++ 15 2.2.3 Internet of Things (LOT) 1n aV1AfIOT - 25c S1 net 16 2.2.4 Blockchain technology in airline ODerafIOIS - ««++-s<s+sss+ss2 17 2.2.5 Digital tit 0 3 18

2.2.6 Virtual Reality - - cv TH TH HH ng 19 2.3 Customer experience enhancement through digital channels - 20

2.4 Chapter SUMMALY ng ốc 23

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY - ‹ 24

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3.1 Research 8n 24

3.1.1 Secondary TeS€arCH - - < 1119111111 vn ng ng 24 3.1.2 Primary r€S€arCH - 4 11k Tnhh TH HH nh 25 3.1.3 Quantitative methO( - - - - c1 3121111211 111611 1111111181111 181111181111 gyv 25 3.1.4 Qualitative method - - - c 111211112511 111911 1118111118111 1 18111188111 re 25 3.2 Sample 0 26

KÝ 8»J i0 26

3.2.2 Participant n ồỏỐÕ 26

E660 T1 27

K89) i01 27

Su óa TT 29

3.4 Data collection procedure - - 5 - G1 11119911 91119 11 911 9v ng ng c 30 3.4.1 Stage Le 31

3.4.2 Stage 2 occcececccscesceseesecesecsscesecseceeceeeesecesececeseeeceseceeeeaeeeeeseceeeeeeeeeeeenees 31 Km na e 32

3.5 Data analysis DfOC€(UTC - G1911 TH nh TH nh ng ng 33 3.5.1 Secondary đafa - ch 33 kh h0) (0ï 1 33

3.5.3 FOCUS øfoup CISCUSSION - -.- 6 << + 11k vn Hy 34 3.6 Analytical framework 0n ố 35

3.7 Chapter SUMMALY 10777 36

CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESUL/TTS G5 1E ng ng ngư 37 4.1 Results of demographic information <5 5+2 + **+* + E£seeeeeeeeerss 38 4.1.1 Structure of customer paTLICIDATES - 5 c5 1 191v re, 38 4.1.2 Structure of employee DarfICIDATIS - 5 c5 +5 +1 Esereserseeerre 42 4.2 Research T€SUÏfS, - - 2s + 11g nh HH TH nh 44 4.2.1 Current state, challenges, and aspirations of Thai Vietjet Air 44

4.2.2 Solutions for elevating Thai Vietjet Air’s customer experience 67

4.3 DISCUSSION - SG SH HH HH re 71

4.4 Chapter SUITTTATV - 7G G0113 13011 90191 re 73

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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS - (cà ccc sec 74

5.1 Develop the digital transformation strategy for Thai Vietjet Air in the period

2025-2030 eeescssccessessceseeseceseceeesecececseceseesecsecseceseceeesecseeeseceeeeseceaeeaeceseseeeaeeneeegs 74

b0) 000/000 e 765.3 Limitations 1 ố 775.4 Implications 1 785.5 Recommendation for further studies - - 5 + + svssveeserseeeses 79REFERENCES - HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH ng 81

F33») 0511777 87

TABLES LIST Table 3.1 Names of secondary sources (self-structured) .-‹ -<<<<x+ss++ 24

Table 3.2 The employees’ participants’ profile information (survey data) 26

Table 3.3 The customer participants’ profile information (survey data) 27

Table 3.4 Mean score of Agreement level (Mohammed, 2016) - - 34

Table 4.1 Thai Vietjet Air’s SWOT analysis (Annual report of Vietjet, 2023) 45

Table 4.2 Vietnam Airlines’ SWOT analysis (Unilever, 2024) ‹ -++++ 46

Table 4.3 SWOT analysis of Air Asia (Strategy Story) :ceceseeseeseeeeeteeeeeeeeeeees 47 Table 4.4 Themes of customers’ opinions on digital service of Thai Vietjet Air 60

Table 4.5 Descriptive statistics of current state of Thai Vietjet Air (SPSS analysis) 61 Table 4.6 Descriptive statistics of challenges of Thai Vietjet Air (SPSS analysis) 62

Table 4.7 Descriptive statistics of future expectations (SPSS analysIs) 63

Table 4.8 Themes of interviewees’ responses on current state, challenges and aspirations of Thai Vietjet air (SPSS analyS1S) - Ăn ưeg 64 Table 4.9 Summary of the findings (Self-structured) - 55+ +-s<++ss+<ss2 66 Table 4.10 Themes of solutions for elevating Thai Vietjet Air’s customer experience and developing operational efficiency (self-structured]) -‹- «cs«cscsesee 67 Table 4.11 Themes of suggestions for improving Thai Vietjet Air’s digital transformation efforts (S€lf-SfUCfUT€C|) - Q.2 11v HH ng ngư 68 Table 4.12 Themes of suggestions for improving Thai Vietjet Air’s digital transformation efforts (self-structured) ccccesceseesseeseeseeeseeseeeseeseeeseceseeseenseeseenaes 69 Table 4.13 Solutions for elevating Thai Vietjet Air’s customer experience (self-S114 0111777 a7 70

Table 5.1 TOWS matrix (based on theory of Heiz Weirich, 1982) - - 74

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CHARTS LIST

Figure 2.1 Bibliometric map of digital transformation (Kraus et al., 2021) 10

Figure 3.1 Three stages of data collection procedure (self-structured) 31

Figure 3.2 Analytical framework (self-structured) - - se sesersrrsree 36

Figure 4.0 Road map of the research results (self-structured|) « s 38

Figure 4.1 Demographic information of gender (SPSS analys1s) -‹- - 39Figure 4.2 Demographic information of age (SPSS analysis) - «+ 39Figure 4.3 Frequency of flying with Thai Vietjet Air (SPSS analys1$) 40Figure 4.4 Purpose of travel (SPSS anaÏyS1S) - Ăn re 41Figure 4.5 Method of booking (SPSS analyS1S) - cà series 41Figure 4.6 Demographic information of gender (SPSS analys1s) 42

Figure 4.7 Demographic information of department (SPSS analys1S) 43 Figure 4.8 Job position (SPSS analysis) Án kg ng ry 43

Figure 4.9 Years of working at Thai Vietjet (SPSS analysis) ccccseesseeeseeeteeeees 44Figure 4.10 Overall satisfaction with Thai Vietjet Air’s service (SPSS analysis) 48Figure 4.11 The ease of booking the flight through digital platforms (website/mobileapp) (SPSS analysis) - -.- HH TH HH HH HH ng 49Figure 4.12 The check in process using digital kiosks or online check in (SPSS

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Figure 4.20 The importance of continuously improving Thai Vietjet Air’s digitalServices (SPSS analysis) - cv HT HH HH ky 57Figure 4.21 The interest of using more personalized digital services (e.g personalizedtravel recommendations, loyalty program updates) (SPSS analysis) - 58Figure 4.22 Recommendation of Thai Vietjet Air to others based on the experiencewith its digital services (SPSS anaÌyS1S) - sgk, 59

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1.1 Background

Rapidly evolving digital technology has transformed business models as well

as daily life around the world In recent years, the development of digitaltechnology has promoted businesses to keep up with this process Thedevelopments of digital technologies such as big data, AI (artificial intelligence),virtual reality, cloud technology, and other innovative platforms show that it isextremely necessary to realize the digital transformation in the entire economy and

businesses of the world The availability of internet has rapidly changed the world,

human’s lives and business habits; at the same time, it has brought the concept of

digitalization into human lives The changes in business habits, human lives, and

the world continues because internet and digital technologies constantly developafterward Therefore, Matt, Hess, and Benlian (2015) stated that business

organizations need to realize digital transformation and adapt to the processes in the

era of digital technology Digital transformation directly influences the mechanism

of decision making, the processes of production and design, and the provision of

services to customers, cost structures, finance, and organizational structures

Mitroulis and Kitsios (2019) emphasized that intense competition in a market and

increasing globalization make businesses to give radical decision makings and

transitions

Keeping up with the digital transformation trend of the world, the digitaltransformation of aviation industry is growing rapidly, driven by a wave oftechnological innovation and the need for improved customer experience Airlines,airports and related services are increasingly realizing the advantages of digitalapplication to compete in the global market Digital transformation brings changes

to increase business operations, customer experience and the formation of newbusiness As well as other sectors, if aviation industry wants to achieve long termsuccess in today’s age, it critically needs to have an effective digital transformation

strategy Thanks to digital technology, aviation companies can stay ahead of their

competitors and innovate to improve their existing business models Mizrak and

Akkartal (2023) asserted that digitalization transforms customers’ expectations overthe world According to Richards, Seidakhmetov, and Zhunussova (2020), thecompanies have to reevaluate and transform customers’ expectations by using andadapting to new products, tools and applications to improve customer interactionwith digitalization.

Competition in the airline industry is inherently fierce The development ofdigital technology makes the competition among different airlines and airlinerelated service companies become fiercer Henriette et al., (2016) stated that

innovations in technologies can transform the behaviors and use of organizations

During these years, the aviation industry has invested a huge amount of money andefforts for new digital technologies, including websites, mobile communications,self-serve equipment, software and other (Philip & George, 2003; Milkau & Bott,

2015) Such improvement promotes the rethinking of the organization that how to

improve its performance As a result, high-tech helps airlines to provide better

services to satisfy their customer and achieve greater value

Many airlines in the world today have partially implemented digital

transformation Philippine Airlines is one of the pioneer airlines in digital

transformation has used artificial intelligence (AI) to collect and analyze passenger

data to come up with more effective marketing strategies As a result, customerattention to Philippine Airlines has increased by more than 20% each year.Meanwhile, Air Canada uses machine learning and AT to train its virtual assistant toautomatically answer questions about fares or flight status The airline's efforts havebeen praised for creating a convenient connection between the airline and itspassengers Air New Zealand is testing a range of initiatives, including giving flightattendants wireless headsets that can translate customer requests in real time from

40 different languages Also applying AI technology on its website, Vietjet, hasused the robot Amy to answer passengers’ questions about booking tickets, checking

in, payment instructions, changing flight schedules, refunding tickets, etc Not only

serving passengers, Vietjet has also completely digitized the transportation of goods

using the Swift247 express delivery service combined with Grab technology cars

for same-day express speed

Businesses in general and aviation businesses in particular that are in the

process of digital transformation and that have achieved a certain amount ofdigitalization are faced with great risks if they cannot adapt their processes to therapidly developing technology and cannot achieve continuity Digitaltransformation can create both new opportunities and threats if the process of digital

transformation is not managed well Chanias, Myers and Hess (2019) stated that

new companies that can embrace the essence of the business in their digital

transformation journey can quickly outgrow their traditional competitors byapplying right strategies Thus, the process of digital transformation requires good

planning and strategic management Digital transformation requires comprehensive

analysis and strategic vision Both technology development and customer behavior

are changing rapidly So, aviation companies need to adopt a vision of an

innovative and flexible approach so that they can survive, progress and grow in themarket (Matt, Hess, & Benlian, 2015) In today’s world where globalization has

reached its peak, businesses that can determine the needs of consumers who are

hesitant about their needs and desires and the stack of information obtained in every

channel and that can offer the right solutions to these needs will be preferred in the

competition (Chanias, Myers & Hess, 2019)

Thai VietJet Air is a low-cost airline headquartered at BangkokSuvarnabhumi Airport It is a subsidiary of VietJet Air and was established as a

joint venture with Kan Air Chairman Somphong Sooksanguan VietJet Air reduced

its ownership in the airline to 9%, with Thai VietJet Aviation Company Limited

(52%) and International Investment Company Limited (39%) owning the majority

of shares in Thai VietJet Air The low-cost carrier (LCC) model, commonly known

as a low-cost carrier, began operations on 25 March 2015 with the Bangkok-Phuket

route Faced with the rapid development of digital technology and the rapid changes

in the aviation industry, Thai Vietjet Air needs to be innovative in digital

transformation to stay competitive Now, competitors in the aviation industry are

already embracing digital transformation Travelers demand seamless, digitallyorchestrated experiences from booking to inflight services These stress the need for

Thai Vietjet Air to adopt digital practices to enhance customer satisfaction and

operational efficiency and to have a strategy for digital transformation

From the statements above, this research with the title “Developing a DigitalTransformation Strategy for Thai Vietjet Air Period 2025-2030” is conducted todevelop a digital transformation strategy for the airline in the recommended time

period, on the purpose of improving its service, meeting customers’ expectations,

and achieving business efficiency

1.2 Motivation

Regarding research motivation, developing research skills is one of motives

driving the researcher to make this research Progress in acquiring capabilities inresearch activities is closely correlated with the development of critical thinking,

choice in problem-solving strategies and application in practice Moreover, doing a

research help effectively use different sources of information, processing,analyzing, synthesizing and interpreting data and proposing hypotheses and

alternative solutions Besides, when doing the research, the researcher not only have

a better understating of theories and concepts but also be able to relate them to

practice Furthermore, motivation to do research is not only related to theoretical or

practical knowledge but also feelings and remarkable discoveries that are veryimportant for the researcher as well as other students It is worth mentioning that theprocess of research activities fully reveals the personal interests and abilities ofstudents

In addition, completing the research is the condition for the researcher to get

graduation A master student not only wants to improve his/her knowledge in aparticular major and achieve in depth knowledge, but also he/she wants to get acertificate paper to prove that he/she has completed a training course in higher level

Doing the research is compulsory and important for the researcher The researcher

can have contributions to the understanding of science, as well as the contribution tothe development of the country Studying about a field helps develop new ideas

about the field The researcher can give new ideas showing his/her creativity in therelated field This can bring value for developing the field Because doing the

research and completing the training course, the researcher has opportunity to

contribute to the digital transformation

1.3 Research aim(s) and Objectives

This research aims to develop a digital transformation strategy for ThaiVietjet Air in the period of 2025-2030 Specifically, the research brings to a focus

of shedding light on the following objectives:

To find out current state, challenges and aspirations of Thai Vietjet Air;

To develop a digital transformation strategy for the Thai Vietjet Air in the

period 2025-2030

To suggest solutions to elevate Thai Vietjet Air’s customer experience

through digital touch points;

1.4 Research questions

Relying on the research aim and objectives, three research questions aredeployed as the following:

(1) What are current states, challenges, and aspirations of Thai Vietjet Air?

(2) What are solutions recommended for elevating Thai Vietjet Air’s

customer experience through digital touch points?

(3) How to develop a digital transformation strategy for the Thai Vietjet Air

in the period 2025-2030?

The survey is implemented for two subjects: customers and employees ofThai Viet Jet Air to respond three main research questions above So, the followingspecific questions are used to clarify three research questions:

For customers:

(a) What are the customers’ satisfaction with Thai Viet Jet Air’s service?

(b) How do you evaluate the current digital touchpoints of Thai Viet Jet?

(c) What do you expect in Thai Viet Jet’s digital service in the future?

For employees:

(a) Which digital technologies has Thai Viet Jet Air applied in its digital

other words, the research does not focus on other aspects except for these aspects,

for example, not focus on factors affecting digital transformation process ordifficulties in the process of making digital transformation, etc

Considering geographical boundaries, this research focuses on Thai Vietjet

Air’s operations network Thus, the study is conducted at Thai Vietjet Air’s officeswhere Thai Vietjet Air is available and at the lobby of Airport However, because oftime and workforce limited, this study just is surveyed in some convenient offices

of Thai Vietjet Air and around the lobby of the airport The time to conduct thesurvey is in July 2024

1.6 Research methodology

This research utilizes both secondary research and primary research In term

of primary research, a mixed research approach combining a quantitative andqualitative method is employed in this study to clarify the research questions Thequantitative and qualitative method is reasonable to be used in this study because

the researcher wants to analyze data generated from questionnaire and interview

group discussion Questionnaire and interview group discussion survey are carried

out with the participation of 40 employees from Commercial Department, Customer

Service Department, and ICT Department of Thai Vietjet Air; and 40 customerswho have used the service of the Thai Vietjet Air Referring to secondary research,the researcher searches for data available from internal documents of Thai VietjetAir and from credible online sources and uses qualitative method to analyze thedata Secondary data is about Thai Vietjet Air’s digital readiness with industrystandards such as Vietnam Airlines and Air Asia.

1.7 Thesis Structure

This thesis is divided into five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1- introduction presents research background, research aim and

objectives, research questions, scope of the research and methodology

Chapter 2- literature review presents some concept of digital transformationstrategy and frameworks of the research

Chapter 3- research methodology presents methods used to analyze data,

sample size, instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure

Chapter 4- findings presents the results of the researchChapter 5- conclusion and recommendations presents summary of the

research, limitations, implications, and some recommendations for further studies

1.8 Chapter summary

Through this chapter, some main contents are provided; those are the reasonsand motivation for choosing this thesis title Besides, the aims and objectives of thisthesis are employed to clarify the current state, challenges, and aspirations of ThaiVietjet Air, and find out solutions for elevating Thai Vietjet Air’s customerexperience through digital touch points and develop a digital transformationstrategy for Thai Vietjet Air in the period 2025-2030 A quantitative and qualitativemethods are used to respond to the research questions

CHAPTER 2: LITEATURE REVIEW

2.1 Digital transformation

2.1.1 Definition

Digital transformation is a concept born in the era of the internet boom,

becoming popular recently, describing the application of digital technology to all

aspects of the business If effective, this activity will completely change the way abusiness operates, increase collaboration efficiency, optimize work performance

and bring value to customers However, it is difficult to have a clear and specific

definition of digital transformation, because the process of applying digital

transformation will be different in different fields Many authors have givendifferent definitions of digital transformation According to Walter (2023), digitaltransformation is a holistic and comprehensive change involving the application of

digital technology to all aspects of life and society, reshaping the way we live, work

and relate to each other

Fitzgerald et al., (2014) provided an understandable definition that digitaltransformation is related to using new digital technologies such as mobiletechnology, social media, embedded devices, and analytics, etc to make majorimprovements on business including new business models, streamlined operations,

and enhanced customer experiences Westerman et al., (2011) gave a same

definition that digital transformation is the use of technology to radically improveperformance or reach of businesses So, using digital technologies is helpful tochange business models, creating new opportunities, revenue and value At this

level of transformation, digital applications will open up new forms of innovation

and creativity in an entire field instead of just upgrading and supporting traditional

methods It is the realignment of new investment in technology and business models

to more effectively engage digital customers at every touch point in the customerexperience lifecycle (Solis et al., 2014) Martin (2008, p.130) stated that “digital

transformation is the use of information and communication technology, not when

trivial automation is performed, but in the case where fundamentally new

capabilities are created in business, public government, and in the lives of peopleand society’ It is a “consistent networking of all economic sectors and an adaption

of actors to new circumstances of the digital economy” (Bondar et al., 2017) Liu et

al., (2011, p.1728) defined digital transformation as an organizationaltransformation that integrates digital technologies and business processes in adigital economy” “Digital transformation comprises the changes associated with

the application of digital technology in all aspects of human society” (Stolterman et

al, 2004, p.689) Hinings et al., (2018, p.53) defined that “digital transformation is

the combined effects of several digital innovations bringing about novel actors,

structures, practices, values, and beliefs that change, threaten, replace, orcomplement existing rules of the game within organizations, industries, fields, andecosystems”

Digital transformation is different from the term digitization Digital

transformation is related to changes arising from the appearance and development

of digital technologies; whilst digitization is related to the conversion ofinformation from analog to digital form and the automation of the processes through

information technologies (Hess et al., 2016) Singh and Hess (2017) explained

transformation containing the understandability to take the required actions when

organizations face new technologies; it is not to be confused with simple change

As an objective process, whether we like it or not, digital transformation isstill happening, it is an inevitable trend of today's era Life is constantly moving andchanging People are also constantly changing and adapting, otherwise they will beleft behind However, digital transformation is a diverse process, there is no path

and no common model for all Therefore, each organization and individual needs to

determine their own roadmap, suitable for their thinking, awareness, level and work

We can digitalize immediately by transforming our thinking and awareness, thengradually transforming our way of living, working and production methods based

on digital technologies Digital transformation not only affects organizations or

businesses but also affects other groups of subjects such as customers, partners,

human resources, distribution channels, etc On that basis, in addition to increasing

productivity and reducing costs, digital transformation also opens up newdevelopment spaces, creating new values beyond the traditional values inherent inhealthcare, education, production labor, and consumption Currently, digitaltransformation is being widely applied in many areas of life.

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Figure 2.1 Bibliometric map of digital transformation (Kraus et al., 2021)

2.1.2 Role of digital transformation

Digital transformation is very important in many fields There are severalimportant roles of digital transformation in business Firstly, digital transformationhelps connect and shorten the distance between departments in the enterprise When

applying digital transformation, the information connection between departments and

divisions in the enterprise is connected to a unified technology system platform.Applying technology in digital transformation will help businesses break down the

"wall" separating departments thanks to the multi-dimensional, multi-functionalconnection platform between departments From there, digital transformation helps

10

businesses improve all internal operations, work is deployed smoothly, less dependent

on resources because most of the work has been automated and semi-automated

Second, digital transformation promotes efficiency in business management

This helps business owners to be completely proactive in monitoring reports andevaluating the production and business activities of the enterprise In addition, allinformation and digitization of business activities are shown transparently and indetail with clear numbers, and overcome the risks of hidden costs and black funds

to optimize revenue effectively

Third, digital transformation helps optimize employee productivity Digital

transformation will help businesses maximize the working capacity of employees inthe company For low value-added tasks, the system can automatically performwithout the business having to spend money on employee salaries, while also

helping employees have more time to improve their expertise, skills, and perform

other important tasks Digital transformation also helps managers easily evaluate the

quality of each employee’s work through the reporting data received at the end ofthe day, week, month, or quarter

Fourth, digital transformation helps increase product quality It is undeniable

that digital transformation helps businesses continuously create high-quality

products, limiting errors thanks to production lines applying modern technology At

the same time, employees also have more time to improve, enhance their expertise,research to improve and optimize the value and quality of products Lastly, digitaltransformation helps improve the competitiveness of enterprises If enterprises own

a digital platform, they will be able to deploy and operate their enterpriseseffectively, accurately and with quality Digital management and operationsolutions will increase the efficiency and accuracy of business decisions At thesame time, digital transformation also helps enterprises improve _ theircompetitiveness with other enterprises in quickly interacting with customers,

customer care and service policies, etc This once again affirms the role of digital

transformation for enterprises in the 4.0 era At the same time, it shows that theapplication of digital technology enhances the competitiveness of enterprises

11

Next, customer behavior preferences are moving towards digital

transformation They are shifting to online purchases And digital touchpoints play

important roles in customers’ purchasing journey, both online and offline sales(Kannan & Li, 2017) New search and social media tools help customers becomemore informed, more connected, more empowered, and more active (Lamberton &Stephen, 2016) Digital technologies boost customers to co create value bydesigning and customizing products, perform last-mile distribution activities, andhelp other customers by sharing product reviews (Beckers, van Doorn, & Verhoef,

2018) Smartphones are important in customer behavior in digital age (Gensler,

Neslin & Verhoef, 2017) Smartphones facilitate showrooming behavior, thepractice of examining merchandise offline, and buying products online (Gensler,Neslin & Verhoef, 2017) Customers strongly rely on apps and new AI technologies

to implement their purchasing behavior Consequently, using new digital

technologies become new norm and defy traditional business rules If companies

can not adapt to these changes, the companies will be less attractive to customers

In general, since world wide web appeared, series of accompanying

technologies also appeared and promote e-commerce After that, when technology

is advanced, there is appearance of series of emerging digital technologies, such as

big data; AI, Blockchain, IoT, and robotics, which positively influence business

operations and service (Cheng, Chiang, & Storey, 2012; Ng & Wakenshaw, 2017).Perhaps, not each technology tool is as powerful as expected, the wide entrance ofnew digital technologies clearly signals the need for firms to transform theirbusiness digitally Furthermore, new digital technologies influence cost structure ofcompanies through replacing costlier humans during service delivery with the help

of robots or virtual agents or optimizing logistic streams and reducing supply chaincosts through using AI and blockchain The appearance of new digital technologiesmakes competition among businesses become dramatically Digital transformation

is often used when the industry is highly competitive with startups and disruptive

competitors While the airline industry is not as competitive as other industries due

12

to high barriers to entry, if an airline wants to disrupt the market and stay ahead ofits competitors, digital transformation is the strategy that the airline should follow.

In aviation industry, digital transformation offers various benefits that can

significantly enhance operations, improve workers’ productivity and overallefficiency Specifically, the application of digital transformation improves safety(Kabashkin, Misnews, & Zervina, 2023) Aviation companies can use digitaltechnologies such as IoT, AI, and AR in collaboration to improve safety by

monitoring aircraft health in real time, predicting maintenance needs, and

improving air traffic management Besides, digital transformation with the use of

VR and AR can provide pilots, repair and maintenance personnel, and cabin crew

professional training By applying these digital technologies, there is no need for

actual equipment because everything happens virtually This optimizes the processand ensures safety Moreover, efficiency of aviation service is improved through

applying digital transformation Kanani (2023) stated that digital technologies and

tools streamline many aviation operations; so, it helps reduce manual tasks andprinted work instructions Therefore, aviation employees can be able to perform

their tasks and duties with less effort and faster Being service providers in aviation

industry, the aviation service providers consider customers as the central element

Thus, airline companies would like to focus on seamless customer experience

Digital technologies such as facial recognition, chatbots, biometric bad dropt offtechnologies, etc are used to simplify the processes and promote customerexperience

Except for benefits of digital transformation in aviation industry above,

Kanani (2023) states that digital transformation is useful in faster boarding It iseasy to understand that passengers always feel uncomfortable when they have toarrive hours in advance before the flight to wait in queues to pass the baggage andsecurity checks As a results, fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, etc are digital

technologies which are used at airports to help passengers save time and speed up

the boarding process Furthermore, digital transformation helps faster booking andpayments Nowadays, most of people use smartphones; so, mobile apps are

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considered the best way to book flight tickets Today, mobile apps provide live1nformation about flights, tickers, etc In addition, these apps also hold an electronic

version of the boarding pass and assist in payments Digital technology is also used

to optimize performance Aircraft may experience a dip in performance aftersometime The manual analysis process is complicated and takes time because youmay have to remove all its parts before reaching the part with issue In such ascenario, digital twins is very helpful Digital twins can create a digital version ofthe aircraft that can help in testing and performance optimization

All in all, using digital technologies combining data driven strategies to

implement digital transformation brings many benefits for aviation industry,including services, operations, and customer experiences Moving towards digitaltransformation leads to rapid evolution in aviation industry

2.2 Key technologies driving digital transformation

Digital transformation marks a radical rethinking of how organizations use

technology, people, and processes to fundamentally change business performance.Today, there are several digital technologies available for digital transformation in

different fields, including aviation industry

2.2.1 Big data and analytics

According to Ahamed (2022), Big Data Analytics is understood as the

process of analyzing and processing large, diverse and complex data sets to discoveruseful and valuable information for organizations and businesses Abdulsamie and AI-Azab (2021), the data in this process comes from many different sources, includingstructured and unstructured data, from sources such as computer systems, sensors,websites, social networks, and many other sources Thus, big data is the involvement ofmachine learning, algorithms, and data mining on the purpose of extracting valueinformation and decisions (Ates, Bostanci, & Guzel, 2020) In aviation industry, vastquantities of data is collected and the data is rapidly increasing Aviation companies

use big data analytics to improve decision making across the value chain, from

measuring product performance to assessing the impact of weather on the supply

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chain and how it might influence downstream operations (Abdulsamie & Al-Azab,

2021)

Although big data analytics is useful for aviation industry, there are

challenges that aviation companies need to pay attention to obtain efficiency inusing big data analytics in aviation services and operations Before analyzing bigdata, it is necessary to address fundamental architecture of the data Configurations

of data are not always directly transferrable; and legacy systems may no longer besupported (Abdulsamie & Al-Azab, 2021) Therefore, it is difficult to translate input

data into value Moreover, the translation of input data into value requires skills that

are not traditionally related to aviation The ownership of data can be a challengefor using data analytics to improve services

Beside challenges of using big data analytics, it brings opportunities At first,accurate, relevant, and insightful data imparts knowledge It helps facilitate decision

making in real time and enable improvements across all stages of the product

lifecycle Opportunities exist where data from real conditions can generate a virtualrepresentation, analyse alternative scenarios quickly, and improve awareness of

multi-disciplinary design decisions In the long term, big data and machine learning

can be used to react to events where new requests are dynamically scheduled to

support real-time support and services to customers

2.2.2 Artificial intelligence and machine learning

AI means artificial intelligence which simulates human thoughts andknowledge acquisition processes for machines, especially computer systems(Gbadegeshin et al., 2021) Artificial neural networks and deep learning AI are

rapidly evolving Valavanidis (2023) stated that AI can process large amounts of

data much faster and make more accurate predictions than humans can

The sheer volume of data generated every day is daunting for researchers, AIuses machine learning to take that data and quickly turn it into actionable

information (Kabashkin, Misnews, & Zervina, 2023) However, using AI is very

expensive when processing the large amounts of data that AI programming requires

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Explainability will be an obstacle to using AI in areas that operate under strictregulatory requirements.

In aviation industry, safety is one of the key requirements Stoop and Kahan

(2005) presented that aviation is the safest mode of transportation, as it requires thehighest level of safety standards and risk management The validation process formachine intelligence is rigorous, so not all initial attempts are successful AI hasbeen proven to operate safely; to be interoperable with existing systems; to supporthuman-centric systems; and to be adopted through a smooth and stable transition in

a globally harmonized manner The key to safe AI adoption is to establish a

human-machine coexistence environment, where the human-machine becomes an assistant,supporting humans, rather than a potential adversary

While early automation provided assistance for simple and repetitive tasks,today AI is expected to provide further capabilities by learning and mimicking

human behaviors AI is assisting human tasks and, in some cases, even performing

them This is made possible by data, which is the fuel for AI Whether it is forindividual flights or systems, the aviation industry has been collecting standardized

data to create and develop centralized, streamlined, and globally accessible

information exchange systems The industry has been working hard to build the

foundation for AI, and with open data sharing, AI can change the way we make

decisions

AI technology is being used by airlines to improve everything from efficientscheduling, to creating different scenarios of disruptions that could delay or cancel

flights including, weather conditions, predicting when planes will land, and how

much fuel each flight will burn

2.2.3 Internet of Things (IoT) in aviation

IoT refers to a network of smart devices and technologies that facilitatecommunication between devices and the cloud as well as between devices (Ismail,

2019) IoT helps to achieve great efficiencies through digitizing assets (Tripathy &

Anuradha, 2017) In addition, IoT helps assess overall equipment effectiveness of

an organization in real time, which is often used as a measure of supply chain

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capability (Salam, Mohamed, & Wagdy, 2023) Nowadays, many companies useoff the shelf IoT devices such as RFID to provide operational prognostics, monitor

in process performance, avoid bottlenecks, and provide information on assemblies

Thus, it can help avoid complex and time-consuming removal

In aviation industry, the application of IoT devices is limited to VIPcustomers and managed on a separate system, aims to avoid connection issuesoccurring to other safety critical systems (Karkus, Karsigil, & Polat, 2019).Moreover, it needs to have further developments to achieve efficiencies of IoT

These developments are interoperability between new and legacy systems,

managing data capacity, and layers of security to support various interfaceopportunities Every industry majorly focuses on security and preventing hacking

So, this is a key challenge of IoT devices Moreover, it is necessary to considerother challenges such as updates, certification, and reconfiguration

Aviation industry can apply many IoT devices to develop aviation services

such as putting sensors into passenger seats; measuring the performance of productsand factories; personalizing environmental conditions, and supporting semi-

autonomous pilot operations through wearables The first step on optimizing the

utilization and effectiveness of IoT is to connect the assets Organization uses real

time data to repdict and plan maintenance requirements, reduce time, manage

utilization and simulate scenarios to enhance overall equipment effectiveness(Allerin, 2024) Connecting workstations to products and processes can have aprofound effect on quality, enhance operator capability and create a flexible,

dynamic work area Smart tooling links machine and operator via interactive tablets

or augmented reality headsets Laser positioning and labelling, combined with smartfixturing can ensure processes are completed correctly with improved quality

2.2.4 Blockchain technology in airline operations

Blockchain is simply understood as a technology that helps encode all data

into different blocks, and at the same time connects them to form a long chain

(Dong, Abbas, Li, & Kamruzzaman, 2023) In case there is new information, it will

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be saved in the new block and connected to the old block, to form a new chain.

Thanks to that, old information in Blockchain technology is not lost

The advantage of Blockchain is that this information is not only located on a

single server, but it can be backed up and distributed completely automaticallythrough many different servers connected to the Blockchain system, helpingeveryone to view and check their transaction information easily and safely (IBM,

2024) This helps businesses to minimize situations such as fraud, helping to ensure

transparency, clarity and a high level of information security

Blockchain is not easily tampered with because blocks, which are packets of

data, are attached before and after a transaction This innovative way of storingrecords is already known and used for currencies, loyalty programs, accounting and

auditing Blockchain also has significant potential in the airline industry

While the aviation industry is embracing a lot of advanced technology and

will continue to do so, there are still some issues that are outdated and unreliable

For example, pilots record their flight times with pen and paper or via digitalspreadsheets These logs are not secure and lack real-time authenticity, which can

lead to inaccurate timing

Blockchain can provide a reliable way to store data and conduct transactions

to ensure that data cannot be tampered with This concept can also be applied to

many other aspects of aviation such as aircraft maintenance, passenger records,flight permits, occupational certifications, and financial transactions As such,blockchain can provide a safe and secure way to handle and use the variouspermanent digital records that the aviation industry requires

Block chain can be used in some aspects of aviation industry such as securityand identity, electronic licensing, air transport, aviation authorities, ticketing andloyalty management programs, financial transactions

2.2.5 Digital twin

Digital twins are virtual models of a service, process or product Digital

twins are used to predict behavior and properties Throughout the life cycle of the

service, process, and product, data from the physical world is collected processed,

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and compared against the digital twin, continually verifying the model and enablingdiagnosis and pre-emptive action to be taken in the physical world.

Digital Twins integrate artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and

software analytics with data to create a living digital simulation model that updatesand changes as physical objects change A digital twin continuously learns andupdates from multiple sources to describe its near-real-time state, operating

condition, or location This learning system, which learns from itself, uses data

sensors that convey various aspects of its operating condition, such as from human

experts, such as engineers with deep and relevant domain knowledge, from other

similar machines, from fleets of similar machines, and from larger systems and its

operating environment A digital twin also incorporates historical operating data

into its digital model

The challenge of using digital twin is the involvement of multiple

stakeholders in products and processes The accuracy and consistency of data is a

basic thing for the validity of a digital twin In order to overcome challenges, it isnecessary to have a greater coordination of practices and standards as well as

flexibility of data architecture to support future requirements

A digital twin is a dynamic object, increasing in sophistication and fidelity

throughout the life of a product Establishing how data is collected, joined and

analysed requires an overarching architecture A digital twin is enabled by, and cansupport, other critical digital technologies, including IOT devices and big dataanalytics For example, aggregating data, identifying outliers and linking this back

to in-service components or early-life failed parts can help deliver improved routecause analysis to determine specific recalls as opposed to whole batch products Asdata sets are established and real-world measurements are used to validate simulatedcapability, the fidelity of information and the certainty with which new designs can

be verified will tend to more virtual certification

2.2.6 Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) can be understood as a simulated 3D environment,

allowing users to explore and interact with the surrounding virtual environment in a

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way that approximates reality (Vargas & Mostacera, 2023) This environment 1sperceived by the user's senses, through devices such as helmets, headphones, and

virtual reality glasses Virtual reality can be used in training pilots (Dymora, Kowal,

& Mazurek, 2021) Virtual Reality flight simulation will make pilot training moreefficient, practical and safer yet affordable compared to traditional pilot training.Dymora, Kowal, and Mazurek, (2021) stated that the Virtual Reality (VR) pilot

training simulator will show the cockpit of an aircraft, which is then mounted on a

hexapod platform that allows part of the aircraft on top to move six degrees Video

screens are then installed, allowing pilots to look out over the landscape or runway

During pilot training, flight simulators allow students to interact with a real aircraftcockpit (Robert, Jorge, & Michael, 2023) This solution saves fuel as well as wearand tear on the aircraft and engines, simulating dangerous situations and incidentsthat the aircraft encounters without endangering any students

Current technology uses VR headsets or simulators that simulate the user’s

physical presence in a virtual environment (Bohil, Owen, Alicea, & Jeong, 2009) Butthe device that VR pilot training is most significantly improving is known as a haptic

system (also known as ‘force feedback’ in gaming and military training applications),

which is capable of transmitting vibrations and other sensations to the user

The advancements in virtual reality technology are evidenced by the Air

Force using it as part of their pilot training system, and the positive results it hashad on those suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (Rothbaun, etal., 2016) The technology is also being used as an alternative to instructional videos

at private pilot schools Recently, the chief instructor pilot for an Australian aviation

company worked with a manufacturing studio to create a VR flight experience that

taught students the basics of flying using smartphones and mobile virtual realityheadsets

2.3 Customer experience enhancement through digital channels

Applying digital technologies in all fields of business change the way

companies operate and basically alter the way the companies interact with their

customers It is vital for companies to recognize and adapt to these shifts so that

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they can keep up with rapid evolvement Digital era brings a period ofunprecedented change in the world of customer experience management The nature

of transformation is to seamlessly integrate digital channels into customerinteractions (Kearl, 2024) Transformation started with basic customer interactions.Online order and electronic customer support are simple processes of early stages ofthe transformation When technology has developed, the digital interactions becomemore complex and effective Today, the customer journey is completely digitized,from initial engagement to post purchase support (Lahadcni, Zulkifli, & Sekar,

2024) Customer journey from traditional customer interaction to digital customer

interaction is remarkable, with the shift from a product —centric to a customercentric approach

The enhancement of customer experience can be implemented throughdigital channels such as personalization, omnichannel engagement, real time feedback,

mobile and social media channels and technologies, AI and machine learning, and

automation-self service solutions- chatbots (Rane, 2023) Text analytics and speechanalytics are two AI powered analytics that help companies understand their customers

The companies can analyze big data to gain insights into customer behavior, customer

preferences and customer expectations This understanding enables the companies to

adjust their products and services to match with individual customers’ specific needs,

bringing a personalized experience that was once thought impossible

Omnichannel customer engagement is another aspect that digital transformationhelps improve customer experience Customers have opportunities to interact withbrands through touchpoints on social media, websites, and mobile apps Based ondigital technologies, companies are able to provide seamless and cohesive experience

Real time feedback is one digital channel of digital transformation thatmakes customer feedback more actionable and accessible (Kearl 2024) Withcustomer feedback platforms and real time analytics, companies can collect, analyze

and act upon customers’ opinions efficiently and quickly Based on real time

analytics and customer feedback platforms, companies immediately adjust itsservices and products to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty

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Customer experience is enhanced through mobile and social media channelsand technologies Kearl (2024) stated that smartphones, social media, and mobile

technology play a crucial role in digitizing customer experience Today, customers

would like to engage with companies through digital channels and touchpoints.Thus, companies can advertise their services and products and interact withcustomers in real time providing support and gathering feedback

AI and machine learning is also popularly used in today to understand

customers better, provide faster resolutions, speed up analysis, and personalize the

experience Chatbots and virtual assistants, powered by AI, are now common on

websites and apps, providing instant support to customers These technologies havealso enabled businesses to automate many aspects of the customer journey, frompersonalized product recommendations to predictive customer service

Automation is one form of digital transformation in increasing customer

engagement Automation in customer service is known in many forms such as

automated email sequences, smart call back solutions, AI chat bots, and speechanalytics (Huseynli, 2022) With AI solutions, many problems related to customer

service are handled Self service solutions are another form of digital transformation

in customer service which include online knowledge bases, interactive FAQs, and

customer portals where customers can resolve problems without needing to contact

with a customer service staff

Through digital channels, personalization is enhanced and customerengagement is facilitated The integration of digital technologies in customerexperience strategies help companies understand their customer better and muchdeeper This understanding results in creating meaningful interactions andpromoting connection between the companies and their customers Enhancedpersonalization not only enhances customers’ experiences but also build customers’loyalty It is easy to understand that customers have trend to return to the company

that satisfies their needs and provides relevant and personalized experiences

As well as other sectors, customers of aviation industry would like to engage

seamless experiences in services Digital transformation helps companies possible

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to provide seamless omnichannel experience for customers, ensuring consistencyacross various customer touchpoints (Massi, Piancatelli, & Vocino, 2023) Whether

customers interact with the companies via websites, mobile apps, social media, etc,

digital transformation enables the companies to deliver cohesive and integratedexperience The seamless experience is very important in digital age becausecustomers want to switch among various digital channels smoothly As a result, inorder to provide seamless omnichannel experience, companies have to effectivelyintegrate digital technologies in customer service This means all digital channels

are connected and data is shared seamlessly, and capturing the right customer

experience metrics at the right time

Companies that advance digital transformation in the contact center byleveraging automations, Al-powered technologies, and self-service solutions are betterequipped to provide customers with 24/7 support, reduce wait times, and improve

overall customer satisfaction (Vky, 2023) Better yet, these tools allow businesses to

scale their customer service operations without a corresponding increase in humanstaff, making them a cost-effective solution for managing customer interactions

In general, digital transformation definitely helps improve the efficiency of

the whole operations of Airline firms The airline firms can improve its customer

service through applying digital technologies; from that, customers are satisfied

with the service and operations of the air firms As a result, Thai Vietjet air isextremely necessary to apply digital technologies to develop its customerexperience and operational efficiency

2.4 Chapter summary

Through this chapter, some concepts of digital transformation are deeply

defined and analyzed Those are its definition, role of digital transformation, andkey technologies driving digital transformation Furthermore, some literaturereviews about customer experience enhancement through digital channels are

provided in this chapter

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research design

The purposes of this research are to find out current state, challenges and

aspirations of Thai Vietjet Air; recommend solutions for elevating Thai Vietjet

Air’s customer experience through digital touch points; and develop a digital

transformation strategy for Thai Vietjet Air in the period 2025-2030 Therefore,secondary and primary research approach combining qualitative and quantitative

methods are employed in this study to respond to three research questions

3.1.1 Secondary research

The secondary research approach is used in this study because the researcher

wants to find out current state, challenges and aspirations of Thai Vietjet Air fromsecondary sources such as internal document, official websites, and online journals

Specifically, the researcher finds operations and history of Thai Vietjet Air; and

based on that, to conduct SWOT analysis of Thai Vietjet Air The researcher alsofinds SWOT analysis of other airlines such as Vietnam Airlines and Air Asia; then,having comparison of digital readiness of between Thai Vietjet Air and Vietnam

Airlines and Air Asia A qualitative descriptive method is used to compare digital

readiness between Thai Vietjet Air and Vietnam Airlines and Air Asia

The names of secondary sources are described as the following table:

Table 3.1 Names of secondary sources (self-structured)

Author Title Year Source

Annual Vietjet: 2023 |

https://ir.vietjetair.com/File_Upload/financial-report Annual information/annual-https://ir.vietjetair.com/File_Upload/financial-reports-root/annual-

information/annual-reports-root/annual-report 2023 information/annual-reports-root/annual-reports/Vietjet - BCTN 2023 (EN).pdf

Unilever SWOT 2024

3.1.2 Primary research

Primary research is used to find out current state, challenges and aspirations

of Thai Vietjet Air, recommend solutions for elevating Thai Vietjet Air’s customerexperience through digital touch points, and develop a digital transformationstrategy for Thai Vietjet Air in the period 2025-2030 The research data is takenfrom 40 employees of the Commercial Department, Customer Service Department,and ICT Department and 40 customers through questionnaire and interview Aftercollecting data from questionnaire and interview, the researcher uses both

qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze data

3.1.3 Quantitative method

Quantitative method is employed in this study to analyze data generated fromquestionnaire According to Maxwell (2012), the quantitative method as a systematicexamination based on statistical data collection Furthermore, the quantitative research

data may come through surveys, questionnaires, and so on, and the outcomes of data

analysis may take the shape of a number The quantitative research has quite highgeneralizability, reliability and representativeness of quantitative research results With

the quantitative method, the researcher takes less time to create the survey process,

technology can be used to conduct this survey research In addition, the quantitative

method is objective because the data can be explained by statistical analysis based on

mathematical principles; so, the quantitative method is considered quite scientific andreasonable Furthermore, the analysis process is faster The researcher can use software

to help analyze and process large data at the same time quickly and accurately, while alsoreducing the possibility of errors due to the processing process

3.1.4 Qualitative method

Qualitative method is utilized in this study to analyze data generated frominterview and secondary source The qualitative research is defined by Creswell(2013) as a scientific approach for collecting non-numerical data This indicates that

qualitative research is concerned with the conceptions, perceptions, qualities,

attitudes, and descriptions of the participants Furthermore, qualitative study mightexplain why and how particular events occur The qualitative research helps clarify

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factors about the behavior and attitudes of research subjects It helps discover

effective information quickly Procedure time of the qualitative research method is

usually shorter and costs less

3.2 Sample

3.2.1 Population

The population of the research includes total employees of the CommercialDepartment, Customer Service Department, and ICT Department who are working

at Thai Vietjet Air, directly interact with customers, and has duty to apply digital

technologies in operations and services of Thai Vietjet Air Moreover, customers

of Thai Vietjet Air who have used the digital service of the Air are chosen becausethey directly use the service of the Air and can give their ideas about the digitalservice

3.2.2 Participants

At first, the researcher purposively chooses 40 employees from the

population to participate in the study The employees’ profile information isdescribed as the following table:

Table 3.2 The employees’ participants’ profile information (survey data)

N=40Category Item Frequency Percentage

Commercial 14 Department 35.00

Department Customer Service | 16

Department 40.00

ICT Department 10 25.00

Manager 11 77.50 Supervisor 12 30.00

Job position Leader 9 22.50

Staff 8 20.00

Male 21 52.50 Gender Female 19 47.50

Years of working | 3-5 years 23 57.50

at Thai Vietjet Air | 6-10 years 8 20.00

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>ll years 9 22.50

Furthermore, the researcher randomly selects 40 customers of Thai VietjetAir to understand about their opinions about Thai Vietjet Air’s service through

applying digital transformation in its service These customers can use Thai Vietjet

Air’s service for one time, or many times They have different jobs, from students

to office workers, factory workers, teachers, business persons, etc; and belong todifferent age groups Their profile is described as the following table:

Table 3.3 The customer participants’ profile information (survey data)

Number of times One time 13 32.50

using Thai Vietjet 2-3 times 15 37.50

Air’s service > 3 times 12 30.00

3.3 Instruments

Two research specific methods used in this study are questionnaire and

interview focus group discussion These two methods are used to make clear about

three research questions

3.3.1 Questionnaire

Questionnaire is used in this study because of several advantages As

mentioned by Wilson and McLean (1994), questionnaires are widely used because

they are a useful tool for researchers to obtain survey data, may be applied without

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the researcher being present at the survey implementation process, and are oftenused to directly review the results Moreover, Nunan (1999) indicates that the

primary advantages of questionnaires are cost savings, the ability for multiple

people to answer questions at the same time, the ease with which information can begathered in a wide variety of fields, and the participants’ willingness to share theirdata since their personal information would be concealed

In this research, there are two questionnaire versions, one for the employeeparticipants and another one for the customer participants (see Appendix A and B)

The survey questionnaire version for the employee participants is adapted from the

studies of Shiwakoti et al., (2022) and distributed to 40 employees of CommercialDepartment, Customer Service Department, and ICT Department to shed light onthe current state, challenges and aspiration of Thai Vietjet Air The questionnaire

version for the customer participants is self-structured and distributed to 40

customers to shed light on their ideas about the digital service of Thai Vietjet Air

The researcher employs open and closed questions for the questionnaire versionfor customers, and Likert scale items for the questionnaire version for employee

At first, the questionnaire version for the employee participants is divided

into two parts Part A encompass five multiple choice questions stating the

participants’ demographic information such as their gender, age, job position, years

of working at Thai Vietjet Air, etc The researcher has the complete freedom to

enforce and execute any direction of the participants’ thoughts, which surprisingly

supports the study in conducting deeper analysis

Part B is about the current state, challenges, and aspiration of Thai Vietjet

Air The participants are required to respond their answers in part B based on the

Likert points from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)

Specifically, part B has 16 items stating current state; challenges; andaspiration Thai Vietjet Air The questionnaire is written in both English and

Vietnamese The participants are advised to use Vietnamese to answer the

questions

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Second, the questionnaire version for the customer participants is alsodivided into two parts: Part A and Part B Part A includes five questions about theparticipants’ demographic information such as gender, age group, frequency offlying with Thai Vietjet Air, purpose of travel and preferred method of booking.Part B has 20 items stating their ideas on current service of Thai Vietjet throughusing digital transformation in customer service and business operations Thequestionnaire is written in both English and Vietnamese The participants areadvised to use Vietnamese to answer the questions

After drafting the survey questionnaire, the researcher asks his supervisor for the

comment The questionnaire is revised after receiving the comment from the supervisor

Before officially distributing two questionnaires to the participants

(customers and employees), the researcher makes a pilot questionnaire to 10employees of Customer Service Department who do not belong to the sample pool

to check the appropriateness of the questionnaire, and 10 customers who do not

belong to the sample pool of customer participants Based on the result of the pilotquestionnaire, the researcher adjusts to make the questionnaire appropriate; and then

officially distribute to the participants

3.3.2 Interview

The researcher employs interview focus group discussion to get more

understanding of the current state, challenges and aspirations of Thai Vietjet Air and

recommended solutions for elevating Thai Vietjet Air’s customer experience

through digital touch points According to Eeuwijk and Angehrn (2017), focusgroup discussion is free and open discussion among respondents which results inthe generation of new ideas that can be very useful for decision making Themoderator can bring any changes in order to better facilitate the discussion duringthe group discussion This dynamism allows better results in terms of informationderived by a focus group Expressions other than those in verbal form such as

gestures and stimulated activities can provide researcher with useful insights

In this research, the researcher purposively selects 15 participants from

Commercial Department, Customer Service Department, and ICT Department,

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which include managers, supervisors, leaders, and staffs to take part in theinterview These 15 participants are divided into three groups of five participants.

Each group consists of one manager, one supervisors, one leader, and two staffs

The researcher randomly 10 customers to take part in focus group discussion.These 10 customers are equally divided into two groups

There are three separated parts in the focus group discussion The greetingpart is the first part, which presents the introduction of the interviewees themselves.Main questions are put in the second part, aiming to make clear the current state,

challenges and aspirations of Thai Vietjet Air and recommended solutions for elevating

Thai Vietjet Air’s customer experience through digital touch points Number of mainquestions included in two interview versions (one for customers and another foremployees) in the second part is nine; and the content of questions are about the currentstate, challenges and aspirations of Thai Vietjet Air and recommended solutions forelevating Thai Vietjet Air’s customer experience through digital touch points The finalpart is to close the interview The interview questions are presented in Appendix C

and D

3.4 Data collection procedure

Data collection procedure is carried out in three stages, which is illustrated as

figure 3.1 below

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