HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN VIETNAMESE STARTUPS: A CASE STUDY OF COC COC COMPANY

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ---GRADUATION THESIS Major: International Business Management HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN VIETNAMESE STARTUPS: A CASE STUDY OF COC COC COMPANY... the

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

-GRADUATION THESIS

Major: International Business Management

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

IN VIETNAMESE STARTUPS: A CASE STUDY

OF COC COC COMPANY

First I would like to send my most sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisorAssociate Professor Dr Nguyen Thu Thuy for her incredible expertise, gentlenessand kindness in instructing me throughout this difficult process Without her greatorientation and support, I would not have been able to complete this thesis Workingwith and learning from her has been one of the best privileges and inspiration I havehad in my student life, which played an important part in shaping my future dreamsand ambition.

Credits also go to my dear friends, Dang Quang Huy, Le Nguyen Ha An andNguyen Vinh Bao for great access to wonderful sources of research and references Icould not manage to find elsewhere

Also let me express my love to the most fun and helpful roommate in theworld, Tran Thi Phuong Thao, whose tolerance and kindness knew no bounds whenshe helped me out through such a busy and stressful time

I am also indebted to my program manager, Dr Nguyen Thuy Anh, myamazing classmates and lecturers for making my FTU memory priceless

And above all, my heart goes to the most wonderful blessing of my life: myfamily for all their unfailing listening, loving and caring who are desperate to havetheir child home but had to patiently wait until graduation thesis - my last mission iscompletely done This is the beginning of a new chapter we are going to go throughtogether

I am grateful to have you all in my life

Hoai Thuong

HR Human resource

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 Research objectives 3

1.3 Scope of the study 4

1.4 Methodology 4

1.5 Research structure 5

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Overview of human resource 6

2.1.1 Human resource definition 6

2.1.2 Origin and importance of human resource management 7

2.1.3 Challenges of human resource management 8

2.1.4 Human resource management core functions 10

2.2 Startup 19

2.2.1 Definition of startup 19

2.2.2 Characteristics of startups 20

2.3 Empirical findings about Human Resource at startups: 21

CHAPTER 3 OVERVIEW OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AMONG VIETNAMESE STARTUPS 23

3.1 Vietnamese startup environment 23

3.2 HR issues in startups 26

3.2.1 Attracting and retaining talents 27

3.2.2 Personality conflict 29

3.2.3 Talent management 29

CHAPTER 4 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE AT COC COC COMPANY 31

4.1 Introduction of the company 31

4.1.1 Establishment and development of Coc Coc 31

4.1.2 Business scope of Coc Coc 35

4.1.3 Organizational structure of Coc Coc 36

4.2.1 Setup of HUMAN RESOURCE department 43

4.2.2 Coc Coc’s HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT execution 44

4.3 Employee satisfaction survey 60

4.3.1 Results 60

4.3.2 Review and analysis: 66

4.4 Interview with Human Resource executives about Coc Coc’s HUMAN RESOURCE practices 67

CHAPTER 5 EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGMENT AT COC COC COMPANY 70

5.1 Evaluation 70

5.1.1 Strengths 70

5.1.2 Weaknesses 72

5.1.3 Opportunities 72

5.1.4 Challenges 73

5.2 Recommendations 73

CONCLUSION 79

REFERENCES 81 APPENDIX

Figure 2.1 Human resource strategic visioning and strategic planning 10

Figure 2.2 Traditional HR planning model 11

Figure 2.3 Integrated HR planning framework 11

Figure 2.4 Analysis of HR strengths and weaknesses 11

Figure 2.5 Areas of external environmental analysis 12

Figure 2.6 Selection process 14

Figure 2.7 Components of performance management 16

Figure 2.8 Continuum of Compensation Philosophies 17

Figure 3.1 Vietnam's startup landscape 24

Figure 3.2 Six startup acquisitions in Vietnam in 2016 25

Figure 4.1 Infographics of Coc Coc’s development 34

Figure 4.2 Coc Coc’s major customers 34

Figure 4.3 The growth of staff at Coc Coc 38

Figure 4.4 Coc Coc' s overall organizational structure 39

Figure 4.5 Setup of Coc Coc’s HR department 40

Figure 4.6 Recruitment process at Coc Coc 41

Figure 4.7 Gender components of respondents 56

Figure 4.8 Nationalities of respondents 56

Figure 4.9 Age groups of respondents 56

Figure 4.10 Age groups of respondents………61

Figure 4.11 O*net job analysis……….78

Table 2.1 Short- and long-term metrics for startup firms 21

Table 4.1 Coc Coc product portfolio 32

Table 4.2 Participation rates of the survey 57

Table 4.3 High satisfaction statements 58

Table 4.4 Low satisfaction statements 59

Table 4.5 Very low satisfaction statements 60

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The new evolving business environment under profound changes and soaringcompetition has pressurized worldwide organizations to focus intensely on thehuman factor Across from service to manufacturing and traditional sector, gone arethe days when employees have to shape themselves to fit into work system Instead,

it is firms and companies’ responsibility to create the best working environmentpossible for staff to bring out their best The fifth edition of RSM insight byErasmus Mundus university (Rotterdam) points out: “Understanding howworkplaces can be designed with people in mind should be of great interest to

organizations” Growing appreciation of how properly selected, trained and

rewarded workers can help a business step forward means Human ResourceManagement occupies more power than ever

All over the world vibrant HRM practices are maintaining and developing.Since 1973, out of the famous “People-Service-Profit” philosophy, FedExcorporation - top delivery company has applied cutting-edge technology to keeptrack of its employee satisfaction That system was invented based on an annualsurvey and a feedback action program Meanwhile, HRM at Twitter is stronglyengaged with creativity and leadership, keeping the company on Glassdoor’s list ofleading workplaces of the tech industry More innovatively, there even rises a trendfor companies to make an app exclusively for attracting, hiring and training newtalents It is no doubt that Human resource professionals have come to viewworkforce planning as part of strategic development that requires carefulconsideration as well as data and analytic tools to assist

Given its prime importance, how does the HRM landscape in Vietnam looklike? Except for MNCs which employ globally standardized HR frameworks andmodels from outside, namely Unilever, HSBC, Samsung, SONY,… HRM stillremains a function largely overlooked by top management executives elsewhere.Most of these business owners do not participate in formal management courses toequip themselves with full understanding of modern business administration Under

the title of “Common human resource practices in Vietnam SMEs”, a nation-wideresearch by the National center for information and forecast of social economypoints out: only few SMEs make long-term manpower planning As low as 25% ofall companies advertise job vacancies on mass media while slightly more than athird make recruitment evaluation The vast majority (85%) of companies producehuman resource forecast based on labor turnover rate, whereas only 15% refer totechnological advances, service demand and supply, capital scale,… for broaderperspectives In addition, assessment of labor shortage or surplus is also carried outsolely by individual department in proportion with current workload and totallywithout direct involvement of Human resource department In addition, humanresource executives in those companies do not come from a professional trainingbackground and also take on such irrelevant work as accounting and administration.Common HR tasks concern only hiring, maternity leave, insurance, timekeepingand other legal procedures, all of which are rarely done with a strategic approach.That explains why Vietnamese companies on average can only take advantage of40% of employees’ capability, as proclaimed by Chamber of Commerce andIndustry of Vietnam at the conference “HR leverage in improving businessperformance” on May 28th 2015.

The 2014’s meeting between the Prime Minister and small and mediumbusiness leaders revealed a worrying fact about Vietnam economy: SMEs stillpredominantly account for 97.5% of all enterprises Typically, an enterprise inVietNam is an SME with 22 employees on average and 5 billion of registered capital.Since the startup wave in 2013, domestic economy has seen a boom in the number ofbusiness registrations, rising from 69,874 in 2012 (Ministry of planning andinvestment, 2013) to over twice as many in 2013 The uprising of the startupcommunity is one of the major factors that brought about FDI’s five-time increasebetween 2005 and 2013, according to Wall Street Journal Vietnamese startups aremainly tech-based with approximate consumption of E-commerce reaching $1 billion

in free market, as estimated by annual Government’s report Likewise, Techlist.asiasuggests that the number of startups in Vietnam is over 1400 as of 2015 and willcontinue to rise the coming years Top startup names in Vietnam include Foody.vn,

Tiki.vn, Sendo.vn, giaohangnhanh, vexere, , to name but a few In order for startups tosurvive the fact that 92% of them fail (Allmand Law, 2013), three criteria have to bemet: a good product in demand, a good team and smart spending.

As part of the SME-dominant economy where HR practice is still laggingbehind the world, how do these Vietnamese startups optimize limited humanresource to thrive? This still remains a question open for academic studies becausefew researchers have looked at this research area upon which an in-depth overviewand guidance for startup founders can be built Aiming to find out part of the abovequestion, the author chose to pick out a successful, representative startup company

to examine its HR formulation and implementation from beginning to present,which is Coc Coc Web Browser and Search Engine As a Vietnamese startup thatoffers web-browsing tool, online map and online advertising, Coc Coc went fromenormous financial difficulties, understaffing problem and low-profile status tobecoming the most successful Vietnamese startup in 2015, attracting $14 millionfrom a German media giant, only 2 years after establishment Therefore, the study

“Human resource management in Vietnamese startups: a case study of Coc Coc

company” will view Coc Coc story from a human resource perspective to see how

the company manage its people to achieve so much success Overall, the researchcontributes to current knowledge of HR concepts, HR functions, HR process putforth in a VIetnamese startup environmeFnt Coc Coc, as the selected organisation,will provide good insights and meaningful lessons for other existing and futuredomestic startups, informing them of costly HR mistakes

1.2 Research objectives

The thesis sets out to gain insights into and evaluate the HRM practices at CocCoc company since its early days till present in terms of all HRM aspects as arepresentative case study for Vietnamese startups All analyses are conducted withrespect to earlier research papers on HRM and startups towards two guidingresearch questions: “What is the HR strategy at Coc Coc?”, “What led Coc Coc toits HR success and failure?” and “What conclusions and lessons can be made aboutVietnamese startups in general?” Under these core research questions, five subquestions also need to be considered:

 How has Coc Coc adjusted its HR models and philosophy throughout theyears?

 How do Coc Coc ‘s employees currently satisfied with the company’s HRpractices?

 What is the greatest HR challenge that Coc Coc is facing at the moment?

 What are the internal and external factors that drive a startup’s HR practicesand HR success?

 What is the correlation between HR practices and a startup’s development?

1.3 Scope of the study

The research is scoped within the context of Vietnam’s startup environmentspanning from 2010 to present (May 2016) - the time frame considered to be theprime of startup wave in Vietnam And the object of this research is Coc Coclimited liability company, headquartered at 185, HITTC building, Giang Vo street,Dong Da district, Hanoi

1.4 Methodology

In order to investigate the research questions and fulfill research objectives,methodology is made up of qualitative approach The interview, questionnairedesign and data collection instrument are also used

 Collecting internal data: The researcher is granted access to the HRcommunication portal of the Coc Coc company where official HRdocuments are stored for employees’ reference Those kinds of documententail HR’s leave of absence policy, preliminary training for new hires,company’s monthly updated info and announcements, other relevantdocuments such as compensation plans and monthly outstanding employees

 Interview: The researcher arranged interview appointments with HRexecutives which lasted about half an hour each Those executives wereasked 6 planned questions and agreed to have their interviews recorded.After collecting information from the interviews, the researcher will analysethe data and compare with sufficient HRM literature and HRM theories tomake coherent arguments for this research

 Questionnaire: The research distributed the 40-question survey and gatheredresponses online from 70 randomly chosen employees of the Coc Coc startup(out of 424 employees at both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh offices) Thecompleted questionnaires will give various results from different categories

of people, and it is easy to analyse different attitudes for the same question

by analysing different respondents’ answers

Chapter 2: Literature review

In this part, widely known HRM definitions, theories, models and frameworksprior to the research are revisited

Chapter 3: Overview of human resource management among Vietnamese startupsThis chapter examine how Vietnamese startups manage their human resource

in general

Chapter 4: Human resource management practices at Coc Coc company

This chapter looks at how Coc Coc sets up, maintains and develops its HRMfunctions to meet with company’s goals and strategies

Chapter 5: Evaluation and recommendations for Human ResourceManagement at Coc Coc

The author will analyze and points out where Coc Coc needs to improve itscurrent HR performance

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Overview of human resource

2.1.1 Human resource definition

According to “Fundamentals of human resource management” (Dessler,2011), a company is made up of people formally assigned different roles to achieveorganizational goals Without the presence and contribution of those people, theorganization would not take shape and develop As such, human resource (HR)refers to the assets embedded in people’s skills, knowledge and motivation,contributing to the advancement and sustainability of the organizations they belong

to Tracing back to its century-long history, the term “human resource” was firstcoined by John.R.Comons in his 1893 book “The distribution of wealth” but theauthor did not dig deeper into it Then nearly 20 years later, around 1920s, “humanresource” was revisited as an acknowledged concept that workers can be regarded

as a kind of capital asset The first use of “human resource” as an academic termwas by economist E.Wight Bakke in one of his reports produced in 1958 Thefollowing years in the 19th century saw a continuing adoption and further study ofthis term, sometimes caused misunderstandings between the employers andemployees Also, among the four leading factors of production, namely land, labor,capital and enterprise, labor (human resource) is the least mobile of all which, underright conditions, improves with age and experience No other source has the sameadvantage That can explain why human resource is considered “the scarcest andmost vital productive resource that creates the largest and longest lasting value forthe organization.” (Business dictionary, 2016) Viewing human labor as a kind ofasset also gives rise to another considerable concern, that is people will be exploitedand abused as commodities would be To prevent the problem, ISO 9001 wasrevised in an attempt to redefine and communicate responsibilities to authorities.With reference to the usage of “human resource”, there is yet another philosophicaldispute Labor mobility means that labor can move from developing countries todeveloped ones, causing brain drain – a great loss to the economic growth of theless developed nations Therefore, with the help of United Nations over the years,

compensation, under the name of “foreign aid” have gone to developing nations toease labor crisis and fuel the training of remaining people (United Nations, 1994).

2.1.2 Origin and importance of human resource management

Given the essence and challenge of good people management in achievingbusiness success, HRM (Human resource management) has without doubts played avital and irreplaceable role in organizations throughout the world There is a widevariety of academic theories and models that backs the origin and development ofthis HRM practice, mostly in the field of psychology and social sciences

The dawn of HRM (Human resource management) dates back to as early asthe mid- 1920s (Arthur, 2004) when all the firing and hiring decisions were made

by the managers themselves Front office staffers handled the remaining related tasks Under the expansion of the responsibilities that managers had toshoulder, little time was left for them to oversee the employment process, whichwas later assigned for other workers Related tasks such as record keeping,government regulations were delegated to this group of people, which at the timewent by the name “Personnel”, or “Central Office” This department quickly grew

employee-in the number and scope of activities they organized to employee-include recreationalprograms, sports teams and regular company trips and hangouts However, thenewly formed department did not have enough organizational authority andcohesion to make decisions Therefore, the personnel function was not highlyregarded by management for their poor performance in the absence of formaltraining As the time went on, more complicated labor relations were in demand as aresult of the big unions rise in 1930s Personnel executives now also got involved incollective bargaining and arbitration The turning point for HRM’s history camewith the World War II when the other aspects of HR were introduced, taking HRM

to another level People in personnel department took on increasingly moresophisticated tasks like benefit planning, safety care, auditing, which also explainedwhy this function gained in importance Following the end of World War II,industrial advanced blossomed and the demand for highly qualified technicalworkers went up accordingly Training and educational opportunities were offeredmore often The massive and competitive hiring brought a rise in salary and

compensation package To effectively assess and monitor the performance ofemployees, personnel executives had to develop practical tools and build up anappraisal system from there In addition, workers had a more powerful voiceovertime, bringing the need for formalized relations program as well as practitionerswith more expertise From 1950s onwards, the concern for a fair treatment to allworkers grew stronger which intensified the pressure to develop uniform policiesand procedures Increasing power gradually built up for the Personnel departmentfor the consistency and organization they devised Later on, legalities were adopted

to handle the issues surrounding equal employment opportunities (EEO) As thebusiness world expanded across all boundaries, there came big acquisitions andmergers that required the incorporation of benefit plans The once known

“Personnel department” was then referred to as the Human resource department forits primary function of utilizing the workforce Since then, the roles andresponsibilities of the HR department have constantly expanded to entail even morecomplex issues soon to be assisted by professional electronic tools

Human resource management is critical to the achievement of organizationaleffectiveness The Human resource planning society conducted a survey whichreveals 65% of the responding companies see their HR team as crucial to developtheir human capital which drives the performance of their organizations, besidesother tangible capitals such as finance, information, and technologies HRMapparently plays an important part in analyzing a company’s competitiveenvironment and in correspondence design jobs for the successful implementation

of its strategies, as Snell and Bohland (2013) suggest

2.1.3 Challenges of human resource management

As the business world evolves, HR managers also have to deal with multiplepressing HR issues Snell and Bohland (2013) and Arthur (2004) point out the mostcommon challenges faced by HR practitioners as follows:

2.1.3.1 Timely and effective response to changes in the marketplace

In a highly competitive environment where adaption and innovation is the key,companies have to quickly seek for new markets and set up human resourcestructure in those places This process takes a lot of time and skillful strategic

planning Those companies that strive to survive and become top player have tobuild a culture that keeps moving all the time.

2.1.3.2 Globalization

Mathis, Jackson & Valentine (2014) indicate that internationalization ofbusiness means human resource management becomes more intricate and involvesdiverse groups of global workers: expatriate (a citizen of one country who isworking in a second country and employed by an organization headquartered in thefirst country.), host-country national citizen of one country who is working in thatcountry and employed by an organization headquartered in a second country) andlast but not least, third-country national (a citizen of one country who is working in

a second country and employed by an organization headquartered in a thirdcountry) In order to attract global talents, the HR managers have to overcome notonly political but also legal and cultural difficulties For example, the US imposes aquota for the number of high-skilled workers to be admitted into the country inorder to control illegal immigration and severe unemployment rate

2.1.3.3 Incorporation of technology in HRM practices

For the purpose of improving and administrative and operational efficiency,

HR professionals in many parts of the world have applied automation in storing data

of benefit designs, payroll and employee profiles However, smaller companieshave trouble harnessing web-based information system as the internalcommunication channel for their companies, which otherwise could have been acompetitive advantage: online chat, instant messaging, video conferencing Wiki,blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites have also provedexplosive in the modern HR era Fortunately, those tools are all free and accessible.Having said that, the tricky part is to establish responsible guide/code of conduct so

as to protect privacy and keep up the company’s reputation

2.1.3.4 Cost management, downsizing while optimizing productivity

As the business evolves, HR department has been put on mounting pressure toreduce costs and cut down on labor workers, especially under times of economicdownturn A great many other HR practices have to carried out: outsourcing,offshoring, furloughing It becomes more of a challenge than ever for HR managers

to offer lifetime guarantee jobs with compelling benefits The struggle is real forsmaller firms to compete with giants like Apple, Microsoft, IBM, etc That’s whythe race to attract highly qualified workers calls for not only money but alsocreativity and expertise from HR specialists

2.1.3.5 Utilizing diversity

Diversity is best defined as the differences among people concerning variousaspects including: race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure,organizational function, education, background and more (Greenberg, 2004) In acompany where individual perspectives differ, a one-size-fit-all solutions would nolonger work Therefore, the HR team have to take another approach to recruitment,compensation, training and performance assessment to make sure everyone is happyabout their working environment and give the company their best

2.1.4 Human resource management core functions

2.1.4.1 HR planning

“Strategic planning”, remarkably different from “strategic thinking”, is a goodstarting point to unfold HR planning, as Mintzberg (1994, p 108) mentions Assuch, HR planners play the roles of strategic programmers, communicators andcontrollers, analysists and catalysts A simplified model for HR strategic planningcan be demonstrated as below:

Figure 2.1 Human resource strategic visioning and strategic planning

Source: Mintzberg (1994)

HR planning, or manpower planning, a process undertaken by stakeholders, alllevels of management and employees is aimed at identifying then predicting currentand future status of HR capabilities to see where gaps, surpluses, poor utilizationand talent pool can be fixed or developed Surveys and focus groups along with linemanagers are powerful and imperative mechanisms As indicated above, HR planhas to be linked with business strategy and made user-friendly so different peoplecan easily refer to A traditional HR planning and an integrated HR planning

framework is based on the following models, which were come up with byTorrington, Taylor, & Hall (2010)

Figure 2.2 Traditional HR planning

model Source: Torrington, Taylor, &

Hall (2010)

Figure 2.3 Integrated HR planning framework Source: Torrington, Taylor, & Hall (2010)

The HR planning process can be broken down into 5 steps:

Step 1: Mission, vision and values: HR analysts link strategic planning withhuman resource based on purpose and scope of the organization, its long-termdirection to later find out workforce’s culture, demand and supply of employeescoupled with productivity and efficiency goals

Step 2: Environmental analysis: comprises two separate analyses, namelyinternal and external When it comes to internal analysis, the HR manager reflects

on the quantity and quality of human resource in terms of HR practices and theorganizational culture, as presented in figure 2.4:

Figure 2.4 Analysis of HR strengths and weaknesses

Source: Mathis, Jackson & Valentine (2014)

Regarding external analysis, analysts need to look at opportunities and threatsemerging from the outside factors Figure 1.5 features popular areas of externalenvironmental analysis:

Figure 2.5 Areas of external environmental analysis

Source: Mathis, Jackson & Valentine, 2014

Step 3: Formulating strategy: with regards to the previously discussedanalyzing technique, HR department will form corporate strategy to cater forgrowth and diversification Decisions are made whether to improve in-housecapabilities or outside, especially when some companies expand fast and far beyondtheir core businesses When mergers and acquisitions happen, as in the case of

Procter & Gamble and Gillette, VietinBank – PG Bank, Credit Saison và HDBank,

and SHB & Vinaconex-Viettel finance company, HR needs to assess thecompatibility of the two cultures and adjust accordingly to avoid potential problemsamong employees Next to corporate strategy is business strategy, which is a mix oflow-cost and differentiation strategy in order to step up productivity and outsourcehuman resource as well as enhance service orientation within the company

Step 4: Strategy implementation: HR has to reconcile supply and demand byimplementing multiple staffing options where they fit: overtime work, recallinglaid-off workers, temporary hiring, offshoring, restructuring, so on and so forth Step 5: Evaluation and assessment: This step uses the benchmarkingtechnique, meaning to compare the performance of the company with that of others,not necessarily a competitor In addition to this technique, human capital metricsand HR metrics are also indispensable tools to assess aspects of workforce and the

HR department itself

2.1.4.2 Recruitment

Recruitment has some strategic aspects as listed out below:

 Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO): when the organization needs to hire

a lot of employees quickly or they want to tap into another talent pools whenpast candidates are not a good fit for the position

 Internal labor market: Current workers of the companies are hired into level jobs and higher level jobs are filled from within However, theavailability of internal labor market varies from one industry to another andfrom one phase of economy to the next

entry- Regional and global market: global sourcing is no longer just for costreduction It also serves the purpose of finding attract more talents wherever

it may be, both for higher and lower-skill vacancies

 Branding: A top attractive working environment does not shine themselvesbut rather needs advertisement in this day and age in order to convinceworkers this is a desirable place to work Firms can promote their imagesthrough social networks, writing articles for industry publications

 Realistic Job Preview (RJP): inform the candidates of all undesirable anddesirable facts about the job to better prepare them for unpleasant surprises

 Survey: managers, new hires or even candidates who refused the offer aresurveyed to reveal if they are satisfied with the process and where theprocess can improve

 Recruiting metrics: statistics on various sources of the recruitment processare kept and analyzed Snell and Bohland (2013) introduce 4 crucial metrics:

 Quality of fill statistics:

Quality of Hire = (PR + HP + HR) / N PR= Average job performance rating of new hiresHP= % of new hires reaching acceptable productivitywith acceptable time frame

HR= % of new hires retained after one year N= number of indicators

 Time to fill: refers to the number of days when a job opening isapproved to the date a person is officially selected for the job

 Yield ratio: the percentage of applicants from a recruitment sourcethat make it to the next stage of the selection process

 Cost of recruitment:

SC/H = (AC + AF + RB + NC)/Hwhere

AC = advertising costs, total monthly expenditure

AF = agency fees, total for the month

RB = referral bonuses, total paid

NC = no-cost hires, walk-ins, nonprofit agencies,etc

H = total hires

2.1.4.3 Selection

By Snell and Bohland (2013)’s definition, selection is the process of choosingindividuals who have relevant qualifications to fill in the existing or projected jobopenings The utmost goal of selection is to maximize “hits” and minimize

“misses” Specifically, hits are precise predictions while misses are inaccurate ones.Selection always begin with job analysis, or job specification that includes KSAOfactors (Knowledge, skills, abilities, and other factors) The flow of selection iscomposed of 5 consecutive steps demonstrated below:

Figure 2.6 Selection process.

Source: Noe (2004)

For the screening process, companies now tend to use résumé scanningsoftware to save time Video résumé are sometimes accepted and internetchecks/phone screening are becoming more popular Most large companies allow

online application straight from LinkedIn to fill job openings much faster Interview

is another major part of selection that can take place in several different ways:nondirective interview (invented by Carl Rogers), structured interview, situationalinterview, behavioral description interview – BDI (since 1970s) by industrialpsychologists, panel and sequential interview, phone-computer-video interview

2.1.4.4 Training and development

- Training: training contents for new entrants broadly cover organizational skills from basic to more advanced, technical level such as:communication, product knowledge, occupational safety, managerial skills, sales,customer relations, IT (Purcell and Boxall, 2002) The trend is for e-learning toreplace classroom classes E-learning peaked in 1977 (Arthur, 2004) The AmericanSociety for Training and Development (ASTD) recommends 20% of e-training and65% of classroom training Training falls into two categories: directed and non-directed Directed training teaches employees to perform a specific task or learn anew skill in three common formats: self-directed, information and simulation,elaborated by visual arts like PowerPoint, video and presentations, all requiringfeedbacks, reinforcement and practice Meanwhile, non-directed training equipsstaff with skills and knowledge to become more invested in their organization In aopen work environment employees are encouraged to learn business operations,various tasks which is very beneficial for the company when it shifts direction orstart starts stockpiling openings After all training needs effectiveness evaluationthrough questionnaires, knowledge review and observation

cross Development: career development involves mentoring and successionplanning Candidates for mentoring program are chosen on the basis of theirpotentials and the KSAO factors (mentioned in 2.1.3.3) Formal mentoring programlasts for a year in general, which can help attract and retain talented employees,improve productivity and generate more contribution to the company As forsuccession planning, it relies on a range of metrics early on One key measure is tofigure out the reduced costs of turnover, second is the correlation betweensuccession plan and follow-up performance and profitability To make databasetracking easier, succession planning components are made available electronically

to staff members, so called intranet system Another tool in development design is

Engineering Company in 1950s)

2.1.4.5 Performance management

An effective performance management system has to meet these criteria:

• Clarify organizational expectation

• Update employees with performance data

• Accurately identify achievements and failures

• Document records of individual performance

Performance management is a circular process that calls for a system ofadministrative tools to effectively structure the communication between managersand their employees, while giving them the motivation to push their boundaries foreven greater productivity Components of performance management are described

in the chart below:

Figure 2.7 Components of performance management

Source: Mathis, Jackson & Valentine (2014)

However, HR can encounter challenges due to cultural disparities Forexample, Chinese and Japanese workers do not really have the habit of giving direct

or negative feedbacks to colleagues of seniority and age Using degree feedback in this case would be counter-productive A large-scale studyspanning 207 companies of 22 industries shows higher growth in revenues,employment net income, share price in performance-based cultures than those in

multisource/360-companies with other cultures Types of performance information are trait-based,behavioral-based and results-based.

2.1.4.6 Compensation

Primary objectives of compensation is to attract qualified candidates, maintain

a favorable competitive position, foster working morale and reduce turnover.According to Mathis, Jackson & Valentine (2014) compensation is practiced innumerous ways: base pay, variable pay, benefits Most compensation fallssomewhere in between these two extreme philosophies given on the chart thatfollows:

Because employers spend a large amount ofmoney on compensation, it is necessary thatexpenditures be evaluated to determineeffectiveness Compensation metrics should bekept track annually for year to year comparison

to find out the relationship betweencompensation and revenues, profit,productivity, etc in the same correspondingtime Compensation is more strategic than it isprocedural so upper management need to step

in to review employee performance andestablish compensation policy along with the

HR unit Moreover, HR unit is mainlyconcerned with developing salary structureswithout doing actual payroll processing, alabor-intensive responsibility to be outsourced

On top of that, compensation system design is fraught with impending issues suchas: equity, external equity, internal equity in compensation, pay secrecy andstatistical analysis, to name but a few Pay system must adhere to governmentconstraints while maintaining competitive, which can be driven by “meet themarket”, “lag the market” or “lead the market” strategy Next to base pay is variablepay linked to individual, group/team and organizational incentives

Figure 2.8 Continuum of

Compensation Philosophies.

Source: Mathis, Jackson &Valentine,

2014

Because of the growing recognition that employees are earning more rights atthe workplace, it has become a more difficult challenge than ever to strike a balancebetween employee rights and employer security Technology gives employeesleaving the company the opportunity to steal valuable company secrets with them.This is where workplace monitoring, employer investigations come in HR policies,procedures and rules strongly affect employee rights and disciplines Therefore,coordination between the HR unit and operating managers is fundamental in issuingeffective HR formalities An employee handbook is an excellent tool in gainingemployee trust and communicating workplace culture, benefits, safety issues as well

as disciplines (Mathis, Jackson & Valentine, 2014) A major matter of concernabout HR practices is how to control employee absenteeism which can either bevoluntary or involuntary and stems from many physical and mental reasons Inorder to reduce the consequences of intense absenteeism, the organization shouldrecord attendances and employ specific formula as recommended by USDepartment of Labor:

Number of person-days lost through jobs absence during period

(Average number of employees ) ×(Number of work days) ×100

2.1.4.8 Organizational culture

HR practices unequivocally influence in part how the company can promoteshared values among the workforce HR professionals have to identify and classifydifferent religions and backgrounds to bring individuals together in a cooperative,empathetic setting Mindful considerations also need to be made in all aspects of

HR policies to create, sustain and change organizational cultures, from pay systems

to performance management, from recruitment and selection to training anddevelopment Incorporation of organizational culture and HR proves to reinforceperformance, especially when creativity is very much alive in the culture When itcomes to embarking upon new businesses or amending products or services,organizational culture is a distinct competitive advantage Take Netflix, a companywith unique organizational culture that has been wildly successful for example

2.2 Startup

2.2.1 Definition of startup

The definition of “startup” has been going through considerable debate andfew definitions have been acknowledged in formal documents or textbooks as theterm was first discussed by Forbes Magazine on August 15th 1976 Then the morespecific term “startup company” arrived one year later in a Business Week article

on 5th September 1977 However, not until the 21st century did it make a globalphenomenon and gain wider recognition thanks to the enormous publicity ofWikipedia, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Uber, to name but a few US SmallAdministration identifies startup as an "business that is typically technologyoriented and has high growth potential" On the other hand, Steve Blank and BobDorf, in “The Startup Owner's Manual: The Step-By-Step Guide” (2012) see startup

as an "organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model."

To extend the limits of what a startup can do, Paul Graham-founder of YCombinator, the 1000-startup incubator later added that "A startup is a companydesigned to grow fast Being newly founded does not in itself make a company astartup The only essential thing is growth Startup is an integral part ofentrepreneurship

2.2.2 Characteristics of startups

Neil Blumenthal, cofounder and co-CEO of Warby Parker stated that a startup

is geared towards a problem where the solution is not good enough and success isnot guaranteed (Forbes, 2016) The startup is oftentimes come up with by one ortwo founders and followed by a team hired to work out the solution According toDan Walter, president and CEO of Pay for Performance Consulting, the beginningsize of a startup is around 5 or 6 people, then quickly expands to 25 people whenthe internal staff are fully occupied and external hiring is necessary A startupreaches to the point of a 50-75 staff members when people are allocated intospecific positions The corporate state of a startup is obvious when there are 125-

200 people in the staff and 500-1000 members of staff is the range that belongs to astartup with fully established rules and organizational structure A startup’s sizepartly indicates the stage it is passing through

A typical startup tends to follow one out of nine business models that best fittheir industry, niche and capability: Become the middle man – a model invented byWarby Parker in 2010); become a marketplace, The Subscription Model,Customized Everything, On-Demand Model, The Modernized Direct Sales Model,Freemium Model, Reverse Auction and Virtual Good Model

A study done by PwC by Google Australia in 2013 points out the fouressences of being a tech-startup First of all, technology has to be the heart ofservice provided Second, human resource invested in the product has to be utilized

to the best so the business can expand quickly Third the solution the companysupports has to be disruptive enough to create a new supply chain or networkdistinct from the existing ones And last but not least, revenues must not exceed $5million a year

Startups rarely survive without the grand phenomenon of accelerators profit) and incubators (non-profit), programs that help bring products into themarket Though remarkably different, both provide mentoring, educational andtechnical assistance According to Baird, Bowles, and Lall (2013); Caley, Helen(2013), short-term and long-term metrics to measure startups’ performance are asfollows:

(for-Short-term (around 9 months on average) Long-term (from 3-7 years)

 Operational status (operating, closed,

acquired)

 Number of financial investments

Number of investors

 Size of financial investments

 Number of customers gained

 Sales or revenue

 Number of employees

 Rate of return to investors

 Stock prices (if applicable)

Table 2.1 Short- and long-term metrics for startup firms

Source: Dempwolf, Auer, & D’Ippolito, 2014

2.3 Empirical findings about Human Resource at startups:

The number of empirical studies about startups in general and studies aboutHRM practices at startups is relatively small

HRM steps up innovativeness at startups

A startup cannot stand out from the crowd without the innovation factor.Laursen and Foss (2003) establishes a direct theoretical and empirical link betweenHRM practices and innovation outcomes, typically in the form of product or processinnovation Barron (1987); Hornsby and Kuratko, (1990) all acknowledged atheoretical and empirical link between HRM practices and innovation outcome.Visionary HRM promotes decentralization of problem solving towards a more open,out of the box discoveries If HRM takes innovation into the core of organizationalstructure formulation and encourages everyone to get involved in the innovationactivity, they will learn rewarding experience that pays forward breakthrough futurepossibilities

HRM in startups are less formal

Startups in their early stage as small organizations have a tendency to operate

in an informal and inflexible fashion than sizable ones These patterns are found out

to echo in HRM practices as well Smaller and newly established companies are lesslikely to implement sophisticated and formal HR procedures due to limited financialsupplies/foresight (Hill and Stewart, 1999), or it could result from underestimation

of HR issues by business owners (Golhar and Deshpande, 1997)

Training is less available in startups and small firms

Storey, (2004) and Storey, Westhead (1997) came up with this conclusion andidentified the underlying reasons for this shortcoming First and foremost,employers/managers/startups founders fail to appreciate the values of training in theearly phase of their business and second, training is not on top of the priority for itsunaffordable expenses for those small businesses Kotey, Sheridan (2001) lateradded that training is conducted along with informality and external training is notprofessionally followed by employee performance evaluations

CHAPTER 3 OVERVIEW OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

AMONG VIETNAMESE STARTUPS 3.1 Vietnamese startup environment

Although Vat Gia-a shopping site known as the very Vietnamese startup cameinto being as further back as 2004, the peak time of Vietnamese startup emergencedid not really happen until 2013 with the unforgettable triumph of Flappy Bird ofwhich creator used to earn $50,000 a day Vietnamnews reveals that the majority ofVietnamese startups join the tech industry E-commerce value is expected to reach

$10 billion in the next few years Following Nguyen Ha Dong ‘s uniquephenomenon, many other startups in the country has taken advantage of the fast-growing economy and massive penetration of smartphone on the internet market aswell as the government greenlight to make their debut According to Internet LiveStats, Vietnam’s population in 2014 was 92.5 million 40 million people access theInternet 28 million are active on social media That is a hugely potential market forstartups to fill Techlist.asia reveals the total number of startups in Vietnam hasreach 1.400 and will continue to rise in the next few years, exceeded only bySingaporean and Indonesian ecosystem in South East Asia In an attempt to “fosterscientific research, improve and advance the use of technology, encouragecreativity, and ignite technology business for the purpose of improving theeconomy”, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has drafted a new set of rules toease foreign venture capital funds in Vietnam (Thanh Nien news, 2016) Thegovernment aims to see at least 5.000 tech firms in 2020 Moreover, the Ministry ofScience and Technology and the government have gone hand in hand to facilitatethe growth of Vietnamese startups On June 4th, 2013, the ecosystem of innovationand technology called “Silicon Valley Ecosystem” was launched to bring innovativeand entrepreneurial spirit in from an American tested model in Silicon Valley,California with opportunities for young startups to seek business coaching, fundingand accelerators Many startup investors, incubator and accelerators have penetratedVietnamese market, namely Japan's CyberAgent Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures,the newly launched CLAS Expara Startup, the US-based 500 startup, FPT corp,IDG Ventures Vietnam, Captii Ventures and most recently, US embassy Tony

Blinken, the US Deputy Secretary of State, US has already invested $1.5 billion andthe figure is promised to increase after the TPP is finalized In fact, Vietnam alongwith Indonesia is top two startup investors’ destination, according to Eddie Thai,founder of 500 startup

Figure 3.1 Vietnam's startup landscape

Source: Deal Street Asia.

The burgeoning Vietnam startup scene also has drawn the attention ofGoogle’s CEO, Pichai Sundar, who just announced during his visit to Vietnam inlate 2015 that Google will initiate a training program for 1.400 Vietnamese ITengineers to help boost domestic ‘s startups to the world’s e-commerce standards(Deal Street Asia, 2016) The figure below gives a look into the startup landscape inVietnam as of 2016 Thanks to the favorable conditions and strong support from thegovernment and overseas alike, many startups are flourishing speedily, some even

on their ways to expand across ASEAN Typical successes are Topica Education,Foody, and Clever Ads Especially last year, in 2015, the startup communitywitnessed 67 new investments, which accounts for a staggering 30% percent rise intotal investment value compared with 2014 Back to 2011 there were only 10 deals.The following illustration gives an overall look of the 6 highlighted startupacquisitions and some side statistics in Vietnam in 2016

Figure 3.2 Six startup acquisitions in Vietnam in 2016

Source: Topica Founder Institute

“Startups are small businesses which play a crucial role in the economy”, saidthe deputy prime minister in meeting with startups early August 2015 However, thestartup scene in Vietnam has also met with significant challenges in multiple areas:funding, legal framework, competition, human resource and market place Reportsproduced by Business Support Association (BSA) show that 3 out of 10 startupswould die young in the first 2 years of market place entry Half of the remainderswould disappear in the next 3 years

Legal framework:

Although the government have shown obvious support for the startup growth

in Vietnam, legality takes a longer time to modify Unlike in South Korea orSingapore where business owners can fill out electronic forms, perform onlinepayments and earn investment certificates in a matter of days, Vietnam stillmaintains complicated, time consuming and bureaucratic administrative procedures,which can take anywhere between 3 or 6 months Additionally, foreign investorshave to waste more time on the legal process because of the distinction betweendomestic and foreign funding organizations, according to Nguyen Manh Dung, head

of CyberAgent Ventures, a Japanese venture that has financed 15 Vietnamesestartups between 2009 and 2015 That explains why numerous Vietnamese startupschose to do their business registry outside of Vietnam to benefit from the supportivepolicies Although the Deputy PM called on relevant authorities to update theinformation platform and upgrade the government portal, newly born startups stillhave a hard time getting their documents ready for investment The State CapitalInvestment Corporation also tend to prefer established firms to startups Amongstartups, IT and technology startups have more privilege because they attract moreattention from the government and investors, who believe technology is the newboom for the economy and it is easier to evaluate tech business models Startups inagriculture, environment and education are sometimes left behind and havedifficulties catching up or merely surviving Survival is extremely important forbrand new startups, particularly in their beginning years Furthermore, Vietnamstays at the 90th position in the World Bank’s ease of business rankings The number

of new business shutdowns is just as dramatic as that of business registration Noclear pattern has been revealed For example, more than seventy thousandcompanies pause their businesses each year although more than eighty-seventhousand firms start their businesses

Poorly-established venture networks

Mr Csaba Bundik, vice-chairman of Central & Eastern European Chamber ofCommerce Vietnam points out a major weakness in the funding conditionVietnamese startups tend to face There are very few business angels to lendfinancial support to startups, not because they are uninterested in the business ideasand their potentials, but because they find the rigid legislation rather off-putting.Several legal amendments in July 2015 were made to reduce red tape, however,Vietnamese startup environment has not been given the conditions they deserve

3.2 HR issues in startups

Building a good team has always remained a tough challenge for the companyowner, even more so for the young and inexperienced startup founders When itcomes to human resource management, bigger firms have a chance to fix theirmistakes with more available budget, as opposed to startups that have not taken

shape At those newly born organization, a single misfit means from 25% to 50% ofstaff encounter real challenges Top common hiring mistakes that startups oftenhave to deal with are:

 Hiring an acquaintance: that might be a friend, old colleague, relative or thefounder’s own children A husband might get his wife to run his businesswith him, full-time or part-time, for instance Friends and family are tempted

to think they should be given special privilege, which is where the conflictusually begins

 Some startup founders are compassionate with troubled, deprived people andsee that as a good reason to hire them However, doing that does not help thebusiness to grow Instead, the owners should consider passionate, determinedand strong-willed people who are committed to building the business furtherthrough all thick and thin

 Hiring without fully understanding the depths and insights of that position,

or hiring with the hope to just clear up the mess That is not a recommendedstrategy and does not bring added value to the business

 Hiring to take over duties that the founders can do but dislike That is acostly mistake and does not fit a startup’s characteristics

While all startups have some form of HR, even if it is formal, the majority ofstartups, either because they cannot afford it or are not willing to, do not have an in-house human resource specialist to handle those task Organizations with over 50employees are more likely to consider establishing official HR department It isundeniable that early human resource strategies have great influences on thebusiness performance of startups Lack of formality and a sense of firm regulation

in the company sometimes is a put-off to the candidates because of the startups’well-known uncertain future

3.2.1 Attracting and retaining talents

In the absence of a HR specialist, most of the hiring procedure, includingscreening, selecting and interview have to be carried out by the founders himself

He is the one who directly assesses his candidate and decides if that one is qualified

to get onboard He is also in charge of designing a package for that candidate to

orient and attract him/her It is typical for startup founders to carry allresponsibilities on their own shoulders in the early years of a startups Manyfounders, under high pressure and distracted by various other responsibilities do nothave time to thoroughly and professionally go through this Some companies evenstart to keep employment contract 2 years it business was registered Lack offormality is an indicator of the company’s unprofessional manner that manycandidates find undesirable because their labor rights might not be protected incourt in case labor abuse and fraud occurs Competitive compensation is anotherbenefit that startups find hard to provide when they are experimenting with theirbusiness models, busy seeking investors while survival still lasts Drawing people towork long-term and provide tangible returns for the organization takes more thanjust compensation, still Factors like startup’s reputation and frequency of mediacoverage do give a startup a competitive edge when it comes to recruiting inVietnam Newly founded startups that are given early in mass media are oftenassociated with prestige and potentials, which is appealing to fresh graduates andstartup wannabes wishing to learn more about the startup world and achieve thesame success someday Information about a startup is less accessible thanestablished companies, therefore, media coverage gives the candidates a overviewand impression of the company they are considering Many startups, however, donot have the opportunity to repeat their names in newspaper and social networks Injob sites like timviecnhanh.com and vieclam.24h.com.vn, well known startups likeFoody and Lozi vastly outnumber other startups in terms of views for the same jobopenings at the same period of time.

Take HotTab, a startup specializing in Point-Of-Sales (POS) technology forexample Sanjeev, the founder, said when HotTab’s journey began in 2014, thecompany suffered enormously from inability to acquire good candidates SanjeeveSakpota, the Nepali founder had to resort to hiring from his own social circles asstartups partners In the first two years, all hires came from the acquaintances’references which turned out to be under-qualified in the end and those employeeseither quit too soon or were dismissed for their incompetency Startups in general

have to struggle with hiring and firing smart Those that have a good team areundoubtedly good at keeping up employee motivation

3.2.2 Personality conflict

There are many sources of startup personality conflict that usually arise instartups and accounts for 62% of startup failures (Funders and Founders, 2016) It isthe uncertainty that reigns the startup sometimes when the business idea is goingunder experiment Clashing ideas coupled with differences in personalities cancause personality problem among the team members Early phase of a startup iswhen the leadership and common philosophy are not fully formed If co-foundersare not settled in their conflicts, it is hard for a startup to make progress How tosolve a problem, which alternative to choose, which strategy to execute can besubjects of a startup conflicts Handyman, a furniture design startup is a primeexample of the implications resulting from startup conflict (Trang Lam, 2016).Khanh, a co-founder partnered up with an acquaintance in the design industry whopossesses enough expertise to make the products The collaboration was short-livedbecause one founder was deemed to be inefficient the other The problem can come

up because members differ on their values and visions which eventually led them toend up in a dysfunctional relationship A startup in its beginning is burdened with alot of task and duties building the business from zero: from developing ideas,developing products, sales, to reaching out to investors Given such toughness,startups are more likely to fail under the conflicts that occur among the members

3.2.3 Talent management

Planning and execution of talent management is of crucial importance and also

is seen as a time-consuming process for Vietnamese startups that make or break thecompanies Some of the common talent management mistakes that startups oftenmake can be listed below:

Unofficial, inconsistent compensation packages

Employees are always interested to know how their compensation packageslook like, what bonuses they get for good performance, how the payments arescheduled They take the job not only because, however, in some startups, founders

do not offer solid, documented, well-delivered compensation plans, which makesthe employees demotivated

Inconsistent hiring

Sometimes placed in a situation in which talents are hard to attract andmaintain, startups founders hire people in a rush, those whose commitment toquality is not in line with the company’s expectations It is a must that foundersreflect on the company’s values and objectives to hire the right candidates

Lack of performance goals and performance assessment

Many startups people build their startups with very little or no background inhuman resource management That’s why some fall into the trap of not settingspecific, measurable, achievable and relevant goals (SMART) to their employees torefer to Insufficient communication of proper goals between founders and teammembers makes it harder to track and measure individual performance and creates anegative impact on the people’s morale and work ethics

Little to none talent development program

Developing employees’ skills are often underestimated in Vietnamese startupsfor concern about the cost If the founders and senior employees in the startup take aserious interest in transferring the skill set and knowledge onto junior workers andbring them along to attend meetings, conference and training sessions outside oroffer them access to free sources online, the company is at a disadvantage of nothaving their new employees engaged and effective enough That is when the hiring

of those employees is not put to best use while the cost is unavoidable

CHAPTER 4 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE AT COC

COC COMPANY 4.1 Introduction of the company

4.1.1 Establishment and development of Coc Coc

Coc Coc began its journey as a Vietnamese tech startup founded in 2010 bythree software engineers while they were bachelor students at Moscow universitywith the vision to create a purely Vietnamese web browser and search engine madeand developed by Vietnamese, who know their own language best As stated in thecompany’s capacity profile, Coc Coc ‘s mission is to bring advanced technology toVietnam Internet Industry and change the landscape of domestic advertisementrealm Coc Coc manifests collaboration between top Russian developers andVietnamese talents In April 2013, Coc Coc’s search engine: http://coccoc.com/ wasintroduced By integrating usefully customized features into the products to make itfriendly to Vietnamese internet users, Coc Coc has seen significant achievementsand is on its way to gradually expand its market place and continually improve forbetter service September 2014, Coc Coc is trusted by 4.7 million monthly users.May 2013, the Company launched a Coc Coc web browser which is designedspecially for Vietnamese September 2014, Coc Coc browser is used by 12 millionusers, became one in Top2 most popular browser in Vietnam The Company bringstogether a team of world class with working experiences in the top environments:Google, Intel, Facebook, Yandex, Standford, Cambridge, Moscow State University,etc To the present, the Company has invested USD20 million into technologicalprojects By 2017, this investment is expected to reac1h USD100 million

Statistical analysis done by Internet ComScorre (USA) shows that within 2years, Coc Coc has defeated Microsoft and Mozilla web browsers to become thesecond most popular browser in Vietnam, after Google Chrome Another analysiscompany from UK, SimilarWeb also came up with similar result

To be more specific, latest statistics from Google Keyword Planner as of June

2015, total numbers of search inquiries about Coc Coc reached 554.700, surpassingthat of Google (450.880) and Firefox (249.950) Coc Coc internet browser attracted

17 million users within only 2 years since its debut So far this emerging browser

has garnered 121.000 downloads/day, 40% of which originate from search engines.Coc Coc’s extensive market research has enabled this company to step up thecompetition with such a household prominent browser in the world as Google Theresearch into local users’ preferences have been translated into valuable, muchwanted functions and above all, intended just for Vietnamese users Those aresupported access to Facebook, built-in fast IDM download capacity, auto spellingcheck and tone marks while typing in Besides, users also can look up places, artsand movies, online measurement conversion, Math and Chemistry problem solving,

so on and so forth

As a technology startup specializing in Internet-related services and products,including online advertising technologies, mobile application and traffic exchangesystem in addition to the principal search engine and Coc Coc internet browser, thiscompany derives its main source of income from selling innovative and low-costads service to small individual and corporate businesses mainly in Hanoi and HoChi Minh city, helping them to promote their advertising campaigns Details ofproducts can be found in the following table:

Name of product Milestones/Achievements Outstanding features

Coc Coc search engine:

• Largest database of Vietnamese websites in Vietnam

• Over 2.1 billion websites, especially domains ending with “.vn”

and “.com.vn”

• Twice time bigger than Google’s database about Vietnamese website

• Largest database

• Understanding Vietnamese Language

• Online math &

chemistry solving

• Location database has over 500.000 addresses, and updated regularly

• Nearby location suggestion

• Celebrities search

Coc Coc Internet browser • Top 2 Most popular

browsers in Vietnam

• The fastest-growing browser in Vietnam

• 4 million users/ day

 Add tone marks in Vietnamese text

 Spellcheck and suggest correction

 Finding media content

 Find & download media content

 Pin video to top

 Download 8 times faster

Name of product Milestones/Achievements Outstanding features

 Save and renew download process

 Access Facebook

 English-Vietnamese dictionary included

 Web contacts Taka Taka

( http://takataka.coccoc.com )

A free-of-charge traffic exchange

service that allows its partner to

advertise articles on other partners’

of operation.

 Easy to join and back out

 Easy to measure effectiveness and adjust accordingly

A map application made

specifically for local Vietnamese

users to spot locations quickly with

Help advertisers target more specific customers in terms of geography, real time bidding technology and simplified project moderating tools with multiple payment methods

Table 4.1 Coc Coc product portfolio (compiled by the author from the Coc Coc ‘s

company portfolio 2015)