Building a business strategy for the retail consulting division of vietmai solutions

i ii SUPERVISOR’S APPROVAL I hereby certify that this dissertation, submitted by Mr Tran Quoc Viet, conforms to acceptable standards and is fully adequate in scope and quality to fulfill the dissertation requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration _ Dr Bui Thanh Trang Date Supervisor iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT Firstly, my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Dr Bui Thanh Trang, for guiding and commenting on various document versions of mine with attention and care Secondly, I would like to thank Mr Tran Thanh Tung, CEO of Vietnam Market Intelligence Co., Ltd for giving useful remarks about the study’s quantitative questionnaire and guidelines during the execution of the study’s survey; Mr Le Phong Dinh and Mrs Bui Thi Hong Hai ậ my classmates ậ for reviewing my thesis and proposing corrections Thirdly, thanks also my staff at VIETMAI Solutions, especially Mr Pham Quang Vinh, Mr Nguyen Manh Tuong and Mrs Nguyen Ngoc Suong for helping me interview retailers and synthesize survey’s results Last but not least, I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude and acknowledgement towards my family, especially my mom, my dad and my grand-mother for being a constant source of love and moral support iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VIETMAI Solutions is an information technology company established and operating since 2006 with two main business areas, which are hardware reseller and software development The company's customers are mainly domestic customers and some are outsourcing oversea customers Activities of these two businesses in recent years have become stable and achieved high growth rates In 2009 and in 2010 the company achieved the ROE growth rates of 14.7 percent and 21.5 percent Beginning in 2010, recognizing the great potential of Vietnam's retail market, the company opened a new business area This business is retail consulting, starting with a POS software and an inventory management software to support retailers In 2010, though there were only two contracts with modest values, the business still showed a very positive signal for the future development In the business plan for the period 2011 - 2015, the company aims to penetrate stronger into the market To achieve this goal, the company needs to examine, analyze the market in details to develop an effective business strategy, and this is why the study is about The primary objective of the study is to analyze the external environment (markets, customers, products, competitors ) and the internal environment of the company to develop an appropriate business strategy for the retail consulting division The secondary objective of the study is to provide recommendations for revising the company’s corporate strategy based on findings from the analysis The study begins with an in-depth analysis of the external environment (including the macro environment, the Vietnam's retail market, the technology solutions market for retailers, customers and competitors) to identify opportunities and threats After analyzing, the study continues with an overview of current operational status and performance of the company Intensive internal environmental audits are carried out to identify strengths and weaknesses of the company Based on the analysis of the current situation, the study provides recommendations for revising the company’s mission and long-term objectives Alternative business strategies are evaluated to choose an appropriate strategy for the retail consulting division v Research results show that the market of technology solutions for retailers is really a potential and attractive market To penetrate this market, the company needs to focus on completing the current POS software and inventory management software in the direction of a differentiation strategy, and enhance marketing and sales activities to penetrate the market Target customers of the company are FMCG and fashion retailers because these customers are much more in needs of value creation solutions from the company Although this study only focused on the retail consulting division, the way the research is conducted and the results achieved will be a good basis for the company to carry out similar studies for other divisions in the future The study still has some limitations such as restrictions on data collection, detailed information about competitors However, the influence of these limitations to the results of the study was not high and can be eliminated when the company has more information during the strategy implementation process vi TABLE OF CONTENT TABLE OF CONTENT VI LIST OF FIGURES VIII LIST OF TABLES IX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS X CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 11 1.1 Rationale of the study 11 1.2 Problem statement 11 1.3 Objectives 12 1.4 Methodology 12 1.4.1 Research methodology 12 1.4.2 Conceptual framework of the study 12 1.5 Scope, assumptions and limitations 13 1.6 Structure of the study 14 CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 15 2.1 Strategy 15 2.2 Strategic management 16 2.3 Strategic analysis tools 17 2.3.1 SWOT analysis 17 2.3.2 PEST analysis 18 2.3.3 Porter’s five forces 19 2.3.4 Value chain analysis 21 2.4 Porter’s generic strategies 22 2.4.1 Cost leadership 23 2.4.2 Differentiation 24 2.4.3 Focus 24 CHAPTER EXTERNAL ANALYSIS 25 3.1 Environmental analysis 25 3.1.1 Political, governmental, and legal factors 25 3.1.2 Economic factors 26 3.1.3 Social, cultural, demographic and environmental factors 29 3.1.4 Technological factors 30 3.2 Retail sector in Vietnam 30 3.2.1 High potential 30 3.2.2 Foreign retailers 31 3.2.3 Challenges for domestic retailers 32 3.2.4 Trends 32 3.3 The market of technology solutions for retail sector 33 3.3.1 Products and services 33 3.3.2 Define the market 34 3.3.3 Market attractiveness 35 3.4 Customer analysis 37 3.4.1 Research design 37 3.4.2 Findings 39 3.5 Competitor analysis 47 3.6 Summary of opportunities and threats 48 vii CHAPTER INTERNAL ANALYSIS 50 4.1 Company overview 50 4.1.1 Overview 50 4.1.2 Vision and mission 50 4.1.3 Products and services 51 4.1.4 Target market 51 4.1.5 Organizational structure 51 4.1.6 Business performance 52 4.2 Corporate level analysis 53 4.2.2 Marketing audit 56 4.2.3 Finance / accounting audit 58 4.2.4 Production / operations audit 59 4.2.5 Research & development audit 62 4.2.6 Management information systems audit 63 4.3 Specific analysis for the retail consulting business 63 4.3.1 The team 63 4.3.2 Products 64 4.3.3 Pricing 64 4.3.4 Marketing and sales 64 4.4 Summary of strengths and weaknesses 64 CHAPTER STRATEGY FORMULATION 66 5.1 Revising corporate strategy 66 5.1.1 Redefining mission statement 66 5.1.2 Redefining and prioritizing long-term objectives 66 5.2 Business strategy for the retail consulting division 68 5.2.1 Mission and objectives 68 5.2.2 Key success factors 69 5.2.3 Strategic directions 69 5.2.4 Product strategy 70 5.2.5 Marketing strategy 74 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 75 6.1 Conclusions 75 6.2 Recommendations 76 6.2.1 Leadership 76 6.2.2 Structural design 77 6.2.3 Performance management 77 6.2.4 Information systems 78 6.2.5 Human resources 78 6.2.6 Finance 79 6.2.7 Linkage 79 6.2.8 External alliances 80 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) XII APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) XVI BIBLIOGRAPHY XX viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.4-1 Conceptual framework of the study 12 Figure 2.2-1 Strategic decision making process 16 Figure 2.3-1 PEST analysis 18 Figure 2.3-2 Porter's five forces diagram 19 Figure 2.3-3 Value chain analysis 21 Figure 2.4-1 Porter's generic strategies 22 Figure 3.3-1 Retail functionality 33 Figure 3.4-1 Sample distribution 37 Figure 3.4-2 Responses for the “inventory management” operation 39 Figure 3.4-3 Responses for the “touch-screen” operation 40 Figure 3.4-4 Responses for the “scanners and barcodes” operation 40 Figure 3.4-5 Responses for the “invoice printing” operation 40 Figure 3.4-6 Responses for the “daily sales management and reporting” operation 41 Figure 3.4-7 Responses for the “monthly sales management and reporting” operation 41 Figure 3.4-8 FMCG stores’ responses for the importance of retail operations 42 Figure 3.4-9 Fashion stores’ responses for the importance of retail operations 42 Figure 3.4-10 F&B stores’ responses for the importance of retail operations 43 Figure 3.4-11 Responses for the uses of softwares to modernize stores 43 Figure 3.4-12 Reasons to use technology (for those already used technology) 44 Figure 3.4-13 Reasons not using technology (for those not using technology) 44 Figure 3.4-14 Purchasing criteria of retailers 45 Figure 3.4-15 Factors that most impact purchase decision 45 Figure 3.4-16 Timing plan to modernize stores 46 Figure 3.4-17 Maximum acceptable investment levels 46 Figure 4.2-1 Basic process flow of the hardware reseller division 59 Figure 4.2-2 Basic process flow of the software development division 60 Figure 4.2-3 Basic process flow of the consulting division 60 Figure 5.2-1 Retail value chain 71 Figure 5.2-2 Value chain of retail consulting division and potential sources of uniqueness 72 Figure 6.2-1 New organizational structure 77 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 2.3-1 SWOT analysis 17 Table 3.1-1 Per capita income (unit: USD / year) 28 Table 3.1-2 Consumer income and spending of Vietnam (unit: million USD) 28 Table 3.1-3 Unemployment rates 29 Table 3.2-1 Retail sales of Vietnam (unit: billion USD) 31 Table 3.5-1 Competitors classified based on product approach 47 Table 4.1-1 Business performance by years (unit: million VND) 52 Table 4.1-2 Detailed net revenue structure (unit: million VND) 53 x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CIO Chief Information Officer CRM Customer relationship management CTO Chief Technical Officer ERP Enterprise resource planning F&B Food and beverage FMCG Fast moving consumer goods FDI Foreign direct investment GSO General Statistics Office HR Human resource IMF International Monetary Fund IT Information technology MoIT Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade MoIC Ministry of Information and Communications POS Point of sales QA/QC Quality assurance/Quality control R&D Research and development ROE Return on equity SCM Supply chain management SME Small and medium enterprises WTO World Trade Organization 77 6.2.2 Structural design The chosen strategy is consistent with the basic structure of the company However, for the strategy to be implemented successfully it is necessary to have some adjustments in the overall company’s structure The structure must be adjusted so that it supports the requirements of the strategy These requirements include the ability of innovation, R&D and new product development; excellent sales and marketing activities; good product quality; strong human resource contributions through low turnover and high motivation; exceptional customer services To fulfill these requirements, the company needs to build separate and specialized departments such as R&D department, sales department, marketing department and human resources department Figure 6.2-1 New organizational structure Director Finance & acc Hardware division HR R&D Software division Marketing & sales MIS Consulting division For the retail consulting division, its basic structure remains unchanged Key personnel include one project manager, two consultants, two deployment engineers and two customer support employees Its marketing and sales activities will be done by the marketing and sales division and there should be specific training for salesmen about the products and services of the retail consulting division Regarding to the collaboration among the departments, the company needs to keep the subunits of organizational structure more open and flexible It needs to ease the walls or boundaries that separate subunits from one another to enable faster flows of information and thus enhancing the company’s responsiveness to environmental changes and customer needs 6.2.3 Performance management Goals and objectives of the division must be set specifically The division needs to determine clearly critical success factors These factors will faithfully reflect the performance of the di- 78 vision A balanced score card system will be used to evaluate performance of the strategy Activities and performance results are monitored and compared with the objectives This information will help managers to identify the gaps quickly so that corrective initiatives can be carried out on time The company’s policies emphasize the reward of meeting or exceeding standards The company has performance evaluation sessions twice a year for each employee The performance measurement contains both quantitative aspects and qualitative judgments made by superiors Employees are informed of their performance, usually in the form of both formal feedback from the superior, as well as informal comments throughout the given time period Superiors will guide the career paths and steps of their subordinates to ensure that all employees know how to best implement the company’s strategy (Pitts & Lei, 2005) This performance management system will help employees feel that their efforts are recognized and rewarded 6.2.4 Information systems The company needs to deploy a customized CRM system dedicated to the management of retail clients All information about the customers will be stored in this system A helpdesk system should be also set up to record and manage requests and feedbacks from customers A separate section in the company's website will be dedicated for the retail consulting In this section, there will be detailed information about solutions and values offered by the company to the retailers A retail client can contact the company or send requests and feedbacks via this website, and all information will be recorded in the email system and helpdesk system The current wiki system and project management system of the company need to be reviewed and adapted to support the implementation of the new strategy 6.2.5 Human resources To support the implementation of the business strategy, new human resources are required as follows: Resources Sales executive Quantity Responsibilities Responsible for sales activities for the retail consulting division 79 Marketing executive Responsible for marketing activities for the retail consulting division Customer support executive Responsible for the help desk and customer support service Solution consultants Responsible for analyzing customer needs to design and offers solutions to the customers In the initial stage, there is no need to recruit new personnel for the HR, R&D and MIS departments The activities of these departments have been existing in the company, but previously there was no separation in structure and specialization In the new organizational structure, these activities have been split into separate departments, with personnel are of the current employees of the company The personnel will be directed to develop the required skills, or if necessary they will have additional training organized by the company The sales staff should be trained carefully to understand thoroughly current products and services that the company offers to retailers The company should also train them about the retailing business and technology solutions that can be applied for retailers Moreover, the training should ensure a professional working manner for the sales staff when working with customers 6.2.6 Finance The company must have a detailed plan for financing arrangements to support the implementation of the business strategy Risks must be recognized and controlled to ensure the financial viability of the company 6.2.7 Linkage The business strategy should be broadly communicated within the company to make sure that it is clearly recognized and implemented in the whole company to achieve the synergy effect It is not enough to manage one, two or a few strategies supporting factors To achieve a successful strategy implementation, all the company's activities need to be linked closely together to ensure that all organizational resources are heading in the same direction There should be coordination and support among departments and divisions towards the overall goals 80 6.2.8 External alliances The company needs to create networks of alliances to access to the distinctive competences and skills of alliance partners It needs to have a strategic partnership with a foreign partner renowned in the field of retail solutions to enhance its position and differentiation The company also needs to cooperate with local hardware suppliers in the country to strengthen its competitive strength and to reduce the bargaining power of the suppliers Recommendations for further studies Although the main goal of this study is to build a business strategy for the retail consulting division, its research results have given many suggestions for revision of the company’s corporate strategy Furthermore, the way the research is carried out, the results obtained and the way the business strategy is formulated will be the basis of reference and guidelines for building business strategies for other divisions, specifically the hardware reseller division and the software development division This study is funded by VIETMAI Solutions Co , Ltd Some of the content and results of this study will be part of the business strategy of the company Ho Chi Minh City, March 2011 Tran Quoc Viet Director of VIETMAI Solutions Co., Ltd xii Appendix QUESTIONNAIRE (English version) This questionnaire is used to study the needs and the use of technology to modernize and improve the competitive advantages of retailers RETAIL INFORMATION 1) Your store is: (select 01 of the following options) ฀ grocery store ฀ convenience store ฀ fashion shop ฀ eatery ฀ restaurant BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE 2) You are carrying the following management activities: (select one or more of the following options) ฀ inventory management (inflow / outflow / stocking) ฀ sales using touch-screen POS ฀ sales using barcodes and scanners ฀ invoice printing for customers ฀ daily revenue and expenditure management / sales reporting ฀ monthly sales reporting ฀ remote management via Internet ฀ management of multiple stores ฀ other: 3) Please evaluate the importance of the following operations for you (1 Most important) inventory management (inflow / outflow / stocking) sales using touch-screen POS sales using barcodes and scanners invoice printing for customers daily revenue and expenditure management / sales reporting monthly sales reporting remote management via Internet xiii management of multiple stores other: NEEDS 4) This question survey about the needs to modernize stores Please mark your level of agreement on the statements below (1-Strongly disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Neutral, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly agree) You want to manage the inventory (inflow / outflow / stocking) effectively by using softwares You want to make sales using touch-screen POS You want to make sales using barcodes and scanners You want to be able to print invoices for customers You want to manage daily revenue and expenditure by using softwares You want to view reports about sales performance of your store You want to remote management via the Internet You want to manage multiple stores by using softwares MOTIVATIONS 5) This question surveys about reasons that you use technology products (if any) Please mark your level of agreement on the statements below (1-Strongly disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Neutral, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly agree) To help management become more easily and quickly To help reduce management costs To help enhance the productivity of your work To help modernize and enhance the professional level of your store To help bring conveniences for customers (other:ầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầ ) xiv 6) This question surveys about reasons that you have not used any technology product (if you have not used any) Please mark your level of agreement on the statements below (1Strongly disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Neutral, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly agree) Have no need because of the small scale of the store Think that the investment cost is too expensive Not believe in the effectiveness of the technology investment Do not know how technology investment may help There is no body advises or introduces to me about the solutions Have tried but found no effectiveness (other:ầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầ ) BRAND AWARENESS 7) This question surveys about technology products that you have known or used Please mark (x) technology products that you have known or used in the list of products below Know Use Microsoft Dynamics NAV POS software Intuit Quickbook POS software Blogic POS software Retail Pro POS software Ly Phu Vinh POS software Vietnamese POS software (named:ầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầ ) Another software (named:ầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầ ) PURCHASE DECISION 8) Please evaluate the importance of criteria you would use when purchasing a product (1 Most important) reputation of the company xv price quality professionalism of the salesman right product knowledge about the product of the salesman 9) Please evaluate the importance of the factors that have the most impact on your decision to choose a certain supplier (1 Most important) advertisements on TV advertisements on newspaper word of mouth information in the Internet introducing information from the supplier information from specialized magazines well-known supplier PLANNING 10) Have you planned to modernize your store management activities? (select one or more of the following options) ฀ in next 01 month ฀ in next 06 month ฀ this year ฀ next year ฀ no 11) You will not invest of the investment cost exceeds: (select 01 of the following options) ฀ 10 mil ฀ 15 mil ฀ 20 mil ฀ 30 mil ฀ 50 mil ฀ not a concern Thank you for your cooperation xvi Appendix QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese version) B ng cơu h i nƠy đ c dùng đ kh o sát nhu c u vƠ tình hình s d ng công ngh đ hi n đ i hóa, nơng cao l i th c nh tranh c a nhƠ bán l THỌNG TIN NHÀ BÁN L 1) C a hƠng c a b n lƠ: (ch n 01 l a ch n sau) ฀ c a hƠng t p hóa ฀ c a hƠng ti n l i ฀ c a hƠng th i trang ฀ quán n ฀ nhà hàng NGHI P V VÀ T M QUAN TR NG 2) B n th c hi n nh ng ho t đ ng qu n lý sau: (ch n m t ho c nhi u s l a ch n sau) ฀ qu n lý kho (nh p hƠng / xu t hƠng / ki m tra t n kho) ฀ bán hƠng thông qua mƠn hình c m ng ฀ bán hƠng thông qua máy quét vƠ mƣ v ch ฀ in hóa đ n bán hƠng cho ng i mua hƠng ฀ qu n lý thu chi / t ng k t bán hƠng ngƠy ฀ xem báo cáo tình hình ho t đ ng tháng ฀ remote management via Internet ฀ management of multiple stores ฀ khác: 3) B n hƣy đánh giá m c đ quan tr ng c a nghi p v sau đ i v i b n (1 Quan tr ng nh t) qu n lý kho (nh p hƠng / xu t hƠng / ki m tra t n kho) bán hƠng thông qua mƠn hình c m ng bán hàng thông qua máy quét vƠ mƣ v ch in hóa đ n bán hƠng cho ng i mua hƠng qu n lý thu chi / t ng k t bán hƠng ngƠy xem báo cáo tình hình ho t đ ng tháng xvii remote management via Internet management of multiple stores khác: NHU C U 4) Cơu h i nƠy kh o sát v nhu c u hi n đ i hóa c a hƠng B n hƣy đánh d u m c đ đ ng ý c a b n v phát bi u d i đơy (1-R t không đ ng ý, 2-Không đ ng ý, 3-Trung l p, 4- ng ý, 5-R t đ ng ý) You want to qu n lý kho (nh p hƠng / xu t hƠng / ki m tra t n kho) b ng ph n m m cho hi u qu h n You want to bán hƠng thông qua mƠn hình c m ng You want to bán hƠng thông qua máy quét vƠ mƣ v ch You want to có th in hóa đ n cho khách mua hƠng You want to có th qu n lý thu chi ngƠy b ng ph n m m You want to xem báo cáo v tình hình ho t đ ng c a c a hàng You want to remote management via Internet You want to có th management of multiple stores b ng ph n m m NG L C 5) Cơu h i nƠy kh o sát v lý b n s d ng s n ph m công ngh (n u có) B n hƣy đánh d u m c đ đ ng ý c a b n v phát bi u d Không đ ng ý, 3-Trung l p, 4- i đơy (1-R t không đ ng ý, 2- ng ý, 5-R t đ ng ý) Giúp cho vi c qu n lý tr nên d dƠng vƠ nhanh chóng Giúp gi m chi phí qu n lý Giúp nâng cao hi u qu công vi c Giúp hi n đ i hóa, nơng t m c a c a hƠng 5 em l i s ti n l i cho khách hƠng (khác:ầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầ ) xviii 6) Cơu h i nƠy kh o sát v lý b n ch a s d ng s n ph m công ngh (n u b n ch a s a d ng) B n hƣy đánh d u m c đ đ ng ý c a b n v phát bi u d i đơy (1-R t không đ ng ý, 2-Không đ ng ý, 3-Trung l p, 4- ng ý, 5-R t đ ng ý) Ch a có nhu c u quy mô c a hƠng nh Ngh r ng chi phí đ u t t n Ch a tin vƠo hi u qu c a vi c đ u t vƠo công ngh Ch a bi t vi c đ u t vƠo công ngh s giúp đ 5 ƣ s d ng th nh ng th y không / ch a hi u qu (khác:ầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầ ) Ch a đ c nh ng c t v n / gi i thi u v gi i pháp NH N BI T V TH NG HI U 7) Cơu h i nƠy kh o sát v s n ph m công ngh b n bi t ho c s d ng B n hƣy đánh d u (x) s n ph m công ngh b n bi t ho c s d ng danh sách s n ph m d i đơy Bi t S d ng Ph n m m bán hƠng Microsoft Dynamics NAV Ph n m m bán hƠng Intuit Quickbook Ph n m m bán hƠng Blogic Ph n m m bán hƠng Retail Pro Ph n m m bán hƠng Lý Phú Vinh Ph n m m bán hƠng Vi t Nam (tên:ầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầ ) Ph n m m khác (tên:ầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầầ ) QUY T NH MUA HÀNG 8) B n hƣy đánh giá m c đ quan tr ng c a tiêu chí b n đ t mua m t s n ph m (1 Quan tr ng nh t) xix danh ti ng c a công ty giá ch t l ng tính chuyên nghi p c a ng i bán hƠng s n ph m ki n th c c a ng i bán hƠng v s n ph m 9) B n hƣy đánh giá m c đ quan tr ng c a y u t tác đ ng nhi u nh t đ n quy t đ nh ch n nhƠ cung c p c a b n (1 Quan tr ng nh t) qu ng cáo TV qu ng cáo báo truy n mi ng thông tin Internet thông tin gi i thi u t nhƠ cung c p thông tin t t p chí chuyên ngƠnh nhƠ cung c p n i ti ng K HO CH 10) B n có k ho ch hi n đ i hóa qu n lý c a hƠng c a b n hay không? 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Business Analysis Butterworth-Heinemann ... potential and trends of Vietnam's retail market  To understand clearly the market of technology solutions for retailers  To analyze the current status of the company and of the retail consulting business. .. recognizing the great potential of Vietnam's retail market, the company opened a new business area This business is retail consulting, starting with a POS software and an inventory management software... has diplomatic relations with other 178 countries and 224 economic and trade organizations It was also the Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the host of several important