According to research and statistics, up to 99% Vietnamese enterprises fail to apply or lack detailed guidelines in applying international management principles, which threatens their lasting prosperity. This results in innumerable management-related problems, such as the role conflict among member of the Executive Board; between the enterprise leader with the Executive Board; among strategy planners, accountants and other staff of the company.
The “Challenges for Administration” talk held by Vietnam Association of Corporate Directors (VACD) has brought a fresh perspective on enterprise management and the challenges of improving management skills.
The guest speakers included:
1. Colonel, Dr Nguyen Duc Thuan, Vice President of VACD, Director of Long Bien Corporation
2. Mr. Tran Van Lieng, General Director of Vinacacao Joint Stock Corporation
3. Mr. Teng Theng Dar, Founder of Asian Business Association
4. Mr. Tran Ngoc Anh, Chairman of Board of Members of Anh International Company Limited, President of Chief Sales and Marketing Officer (CSMO) club.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Thuan, Vice President of VACD, Director of Long Bien Corporation
Five challenges for enterprise management in Vietnam
According to Dr Nguyen Duc Thuan, enterprise management in Vietnam has to confront five huge challenges:
First, currently, there are more than 600,000 running enterprises. In other countries, a director is an occupation which needs specialised skills and knowledge, but in Vietnam, working as a director is rather spontaneous. Therefore, Vietnamese business leaders often lack the capacity to formulate business plans and strategies or identify the weakness and threats that burden the development of enterprises.
Second, risk management includes not only financial risks but also legal ones. Vietnamese enterprises should remember to consider various factors apart from profit.
Third, enterprise management needs talents and well-trained staff. Vietnam enterprises should focus more closely on finding and training talents to prevent brain drain.
Fourth, discipline in enterprises contributes to the success of enterprise management.
Fifth, in the context of economic integration and tax barrier being lifted, regional and international corporations have their own policies on preventing goods of other countries from flowing into their countries. We should devise a plan to seize opportunities in both local and global market.
“The most important thing is that enterprises can identify their own characteristics”
According to Mr.d Teng Theng Dar, there are three aspects that enterprises should consider: global context, their motivation, and what to do in that context.
We are living the era of free and fast connections. We can get access to anything on the Internet with simple clicks. Singaporean enterprises have the same access to knowledge and have to confront the same problems as Vietnamese ones. The only difference is the level of knowledge of what they are having to confront, which is the key to enterprise management.
Therefore, in Singapore, we not only teach business leaders management skills but also instruct them to understand and apply those skills. Nowadays, we can equally get access to everything. What makes difference is how clearly we identify our characteristics. A characteristic is a unique feature that we only have. For example, Vietnam is famous for rice, which is not popular in our country.
In business, everything is done based on trust. The lack of trust also creates a huge obstacle burdening the cooperation between enterprises. This sounds new but actually happens every day, not only in business deals but also in families. Only connections and information sharing, which prevail in the era we are living in, can help bolster this trust.
Moreover, the presence of VACD has created a foundation of trust for enterprises, which benefits Vietnam corporations, especially in the context of a thriving ASEAN. VACD has also coordinated with leading universities in Vietnam. I believe the Association would assist Vietnamese enterprises in the global integration process.
Additionally, the dramatic advancement of technology may become a burden for enterprises. In Singapore, during the financial era, we met a huge number of digital technology, artificial intelligence,… However, on the basis of trust, we can together solve these difficulties and strengthen ourselves. Asian Business Association is pleased to have cooperation opportunities with VACD to foster trust, share knowledge on science-technology and seek solutions for common challenges.
