Finding unique selling proposition of UH-HSB executive MBA program : M.A. Thesis: Business Administration

V IE T N A M N A T IO N A L U N IV E R S IT Y HANOI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS TA NGOC DIEP FINDING UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION OF UH-HSB EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAM M ajor: B usiness A d m in istratio n Code: MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS SUPERVISOR: ROGER FORD HANOI, 2004 TABLE OF CONTENTS A B STRA CT i TÓM TẮT ii A C K N O W LED G M EN TS iii TABLE OF C O NTEN TS iv LIST OF TABLES VII LIST OF IL L U S T R A T IO N S viii LIST OF A B B R E V IA T IO N S ix IN TRO D U C TIO N 1 R eason to choose this th e s is O bjective o f the re se a rc h Content o f the re sea rc h M ethodology Scale o f the re sea rc h .2 CHAPTER 1: A B O U T U N IQ U E SELLIN G PR O P O S IT IO N 1.1 W hat is Ư S P ? 1.2 Categories o f U S P 1.2.1 Low P ric e 1.2.2 H igh Q u ality 1.2.3 Superior S e rv ic e 1.2.4 Size/ S election .7 1.2.5 C onvenience 1.2.6 K now ledgeable, Recognized A uthority 1.2.7 C ustom ization/ Most O p tio n .9 1.2.8 S p e e d 1.2.9 Originality, First in M arketplace .10 1.2.10 Strongest G u aran tee 10 1.3 Benefit in developing U S P 11 1.4 How to identify U S P 14 1.5 Prom ote the U S P .16 C H A PTER 2: A PPLY M ARK ETIN G RESEA RCH IN FIN D IN G O U T USP 2.1 M arketing research 17 2.2 M arketing research process 17 2.3 A pply m arketing research to find out U S P 19 CHAPTER 3: FINDING USP OF UH-HSB EM BA P R O G R A M .21 3.1 About UH-HSB EMBA p rogram 21 3.2 SW OT an aly sis 23 3.2.1 S tren g th 23 3.2.2 W eakness 23 3.2.3 O ppo rtu n ity 24 3.2.4 T h re a t 24 3.3 C o m p etito rs 24 3.3.1 W ashington State U niversity 24 3.3.2 N orthcentral U niversity 26 3.3.3 A IT C V 27 3.3 RM IT V ietnam 27 3.3.5 C onclusion 29 3.4 C onsum er analysis 30 3.4.1 Who they are? .36 3.4.2 Their objective when doing M BA 36 3.4.3 The factors affect them to choose the U H-HSB EM BA program 36 3.4.4 Their perception after having UH-HSB EM BA program 37 3.4.5 The benefit o f the M B A 38 vi C H A PTER 4: R E C O M M E N D A T IO N 39 4.1 Some differentiations o f the program 39 4.2 The current slogan o f the p ro g ram .40 4.3 The USP o f the program 40 4.3.1 The best differentiation o f p ro g ram 40 4.3.2 USP o f the UH-HSB EM BA p ro g ram 41 4.4 How to deliver this USP to the custom ers 42 CO N C LU SIO N .44 A PPE N D IX 45 Appendix A 45 Appendix B 55 REFERENCES 56 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: Tuition Fee C o m p ariso n .24 Table 3.2: A dvantages and Disadvantages C o m p ariso n 29 viii LIST O F ILLUSTRATIONS in term o f their o rg an izatio n 31 Exhibit 3.2: Structure o f VEM BA in term o f their p o sitio n s 31 Exhibit 3.3: Structure o f VEM BA in term o f their o rg an izatio n 32 Exhibit 3.4: Structure o f VEM BA in term o f their p o sitio n s 32 Exhibit 3.5: Structure o f VEM BA in term o f their o rg an izatio n 33 Exhibit 3.6: Structure o f VEM BA in term o f their p o sitio n s 33 Exhibit 3.1: Structure o f VEM BA Exhibit 3.7: C om pare Structure o f V EM BA 1,2,3 in term o f their organization 34 Exhibit 3.8: C om pare Structure o f V EM BA 1,2,3 in term o f their positions 34 Exhibit 3.9: The w ay o f participants get inform ation about the program 35 IX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A ACSB: The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools o f Business AIT: Asian Institute o f Technology AITCV: Asian Institute o f Technology C enter in V ietnam CEO: C hief Executive Officers EMBA: Executive M aster o f Business Adm inistration GM AT: Graduate M anagem ent Admission Test GPA: G rade Point A verage G RE: G raduate Record Examination HSB: Hanoi school o f Business H UT: H anoi U niversity o f Technology IELTS: International English Language Testing System JV: Joint-V enture M BA : M aster o f Business Adm inistration NCU: N orthcentral University NEU: National Econom ics University NGOs: N on-G overnm ental Organizations RM IT: Royal M elbourne Institute o f Technology SOE: State Own Enterprise TO EFL: Test O f English as a Foreign Language UH: U niversity o f H awaii USP: U nique Selling Proposition VEM BA: V ietnam Executive M BA W OM : W ord o f M outh W SU: W ashington State University INTRODUCTION R e a s o n to c h o o s e t h is thesis: M ost business executives would have heard the term U nique Selling Proposition (U SP) talked about, often when the subject o f sales or m arketing comes up Very few understand what it really is, what its significance is on your ability to sell, and most important, how to create one It’s tricky and not som ething you learn overnight, but it is critical to the success o f your business U niversity o f H awaii cooperated with Hanoi School o f Business to offer Executive M BA in Vietnam A fter intakes, there are initiatives from both ends to enhance the quality o f the program by localizing its content, draw ing in more regional faculty, bringing in experts from the industry and also the expansion o f the program in Vietnam B ut since this program is m ore o f a profit based initiative, much o f its success depends on the m arketing strategy w hich the school adopts O ne o f the ways o f doing this is by identifying the U nique Selling Proposition o f the program But USP itself is not sufficient to m arket a program which has far longer impact in the profile o f student and his or her career So the question, what else value factors is a potential student w anting to confirm before he decides to join the program To answ er the question in order to find out the U SP o f the program is not easy From the interesting o f the U SP definition, the challenging situation o f the UH-HSB program , I decision to choose the thesis “Finding the U nique Selling Proposition o f the UH-H SB EM BA program ” O b j e c t iv e o f th e r e se a r c h : From the research about the current situation o f the U H -H SB EM BA program, - - the com petitors and the custom ers, find out the differentiations o f the program in order to show out the U SP o f the UH-HSB EM BA program C o n t e n t o f t h e r e s e a r c h - Study about the current situation o f the U H -H SB EM BA program, analyses the Strength, W eakness, Opportunities, Threats - Study about the competitors: analyses about their advantages and disadvantages com pare from the UH-HSB EM BA program - Study about the custom ers: Analyses the objectives when they MBA, the factors affect them to choose the UH-HSB M BA program, their perception about the program - Show out the differentiations o f the UH-HSB EM B A program - The w ay to im prove the differentiation becom es U SP o f the EMBA program s M e t h o d o lo g y : In this research, I use qualitative m arketing research Through the questionnaire, I get inform ation form the V EM BA participants (about 70 people) I have tw o ways to get inform ation: To give out the questionnaire to the participants and having direct interview with some o f them Besides that, I collect the information about the UH-HSB EMBA program through w ebsite o f the program and the data which the program supports C om bine w ith the data from the internet about the m arket and com petitors, I analyses the situation o f the UH-HSB EM BA program and its competitors I had use the com parison method base on the collective data about the UH-SB EM BA program and its com petitors, its customers S c a le o f th e r e s e a r c h : W ith the lim ited practical knowledge and the time o f internship, so the research only focuses in the Hanoi M arket In Hanoi, the EM BA program is not new but now, there are not program to stand out So, the way to make the USP o f the UH-HSB EM BA program concentrates to attractive the custom ers, and the way -2 - to give the b e lie f m ust take a long time M y thesis w ill have m uch m istakes and I hope to get the com m ents from the Faculty and the School mates -3 - ... ACSB: The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools o f Business AIT: Asian Institute o f Technology AITCV: Asian Institute o f Technology C enter in V ietnam CEO: C hief Executive Officers EMBA:... EMBA: Executive M aster o f Business Adm inistration GM AT: Graduate M anagem ent Admission Test GPA: G rade Point A verage G RE: G raduate Record Examination HSB: Hanoi school o f Business H UT:... RM IT: Royal M elbourne Institute o f Technology SOE: State Own Enterprise TO EFL: Test O f English as a Foreign Language UH: U niversity o f H awaii USP: U nique Selling Proposition VEM BA: V