Luận văn chiến lược phát triển sản phẩm công nghệ thông tin mới tại thị trường việt nam nghiên cứu Điển hình trường hợp dell emc

ABSTRACT This research, on the understanding of the importance of launching programs for new IT products in local market, is keen on comprehending demands of customers and marketing envi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The decision of pursuing MBA course is very important to me, especially for

my career development Thank you very much to all efforts that helps me proceeding smoothly through all the modules and reaching this final one The completion of this paper is emotionally appreciated by the support of all parties

Firstly, I would like to say thanks to all my lecturers and members of the HSB that provide me with constructive knowledge and support me with enthusiastic ideas Importantly, I would like to send my special thanks to Ass Pro Nguyen Viet Khoi with his constructive and enthusiastic advices, suggestions and supports during my researching

Furthermore, I also want to express my warm thanks to all the survey participants Thank you for all of you that allocated your schedule to give me your valuable ideas and opinions Without yours, the research value could not

ABSTRACT

This research, on the understanding of the importance of launching programs for new IT products in local market, is keen on comprehending demands of customers and marketing environment in the case of IT industry with the use

of IT products within the Vietnam context The level of exploiting IT products for information management including security and backup is thought to be low by which the space for IT providers is abundant In the specific case of Dell EMC Vietnam — the giant in backup and security IT product industry, the research gets the client-based information, marketing environment of Vietnam and potential of Dell EMC in launching new IT products to Vietnam market to propose empirical tactics in projecting

marketing mix plan

The paper attempts to comprehend components of marketing plan including

marketing environment through PESTEL, Five forces, competition analysis Marketing mix of 7Ps are mentioned as the core premise to formulate the conceptual framework including marketing offerings and efforts With the analysis of giving empirical observation and subjective meanings in project marketing mix plan, the paper is started with firstly the desk-based research through secondary data to develop the academic framework; secondly the small-scale survey with the participation of 30 enterprises in Vietnam market

as the empirical client-based information; and lastly after having the picture

of marketing environment, the author with her experiences and discussions with 5 IT managers to dig deep in each cause for meaningful recommendations In the current context of Vietnam, the generalization in launching new IT products should be focused on small and medium private and foreign-owned enterprises who have market scope of national-wide or

with imporl/exporVinternational dealing activilics Manufacturing and commercial, trading are two pointed focuses Although the focus is not

mainly involved the market life, the preference is on new businesses with short-lite market According to research findings, recommendations for

projecting marketing mix plan along with the mentioning of risk analysis is

proposed with the expectations of giving tactics for the successful launching

of new I'l’ products in the Vietnam market

in

CHAPTER 2 PROPOSING AND DEVELOPING STRATEGY FOR NEW IT PRODUCTS TO VIETNAM MARKET CASE STUDY OF DELL EMC 19

2.1, Research mehodology .0 c:ccscsesseeseessessseestesseeneessesnerreeneeernsnveeees LO

2.1.6 Ethical issues - 25

2.2.2 Meaningful factors when using I'T products - 29

2.2.3, Determinants in decision of IT products using 32

2.4, Interest/ intention and purpose of using IT products - 32

CIIAPTER 3 PROPOSAL SOME SOLUTION TO IMPLEMENT STRATIGY

OF DEVELOPING NEW T'T PRODUCTS FOR DELI EMC - 42

LIST OF FIGURES/ TABLES

Table 1.1 Marketing mix TPS is icsicsisisvsssvsssvovavsssisesesssssvssoussusssvscansepvonesvenursin

Table 1.2 Influencers for marketing in goods and service aspects

Table 2.1 Sample characteristics (N = 30)

Figure 1.1 Influencing factors of marketing plan

Figure 1.2 Five forces model in marketing perspective

Figure 1.3 Resource-based SWOT analysis

Figure:].4 BOG Miateins ss isvssscicssssiwsesssiwvewinvissicemasnssineavesrionnartvucsnaneavest

Figure 1.5 The conceptual framework

Figure 2.1: A progressive focusing model in qualitative research process

Figure 2.1 Purpose of using IT products

Figure 2.2 Purpose of using IT products as Business type

Figure 2.3, Purpose of using IT products as Business size

Figure 2.4 Purpose of using IT products as Business field

Figure 2.5.Purpose of using IT products as Market scope

Figure 2,6 Purpose of using IT products as Market life

Figure 2.8 SWOT analysis of Dell EMC

Figure 3.1 BCG matrix of Dell EMC

Figure 3.2 Risk analysis

vi

INTRODUCTION

1 Abstract

This research, on the understanding of the importance of launching programs for new IT products in local market, is keen on comprehending demands of customers and marketing environment in the case of IT industry with the use

of IT products within the Vietnam context The level of exploiting IT products for information management including security and backup is thought to be low by which the space for IT providers is abundant In the specific case of Dell EMC Vietnam — the giant in backup and security IT product industry, the research gets the client-based information, marketing environment of Vietnam and potential of Dell EMC in launching new IT products to Vietnam market to propose empirical tactics in projecting marketing mix plan

The paper attempts to comprehend components of marketing plan including marketing environment through PESTEL, Five forces, competition analysis Marketing mix of 7Ps are mentioned as the core premise to formulate the conceptual framework including marketing offerings and efforts With the analysis of giving empirical observation and subjective meanings in project marketing mix plan, the paper is started with firstly the desk-based research through secondary data to develop the academic framework; secondly the small-scale survey with the participation of 30 enterprises in Vietnam market

as the empirical client-based information; and lastly after having the picture

of marketing environment, the author with her experiences and discussions with 5 IT managers to dig deep in each cause for meaningful recommendations In the current context of Vietnam, the generalization in

launching new IT products should be focused on small and medium private and foreign-owned enterprises who have market scope of national-wide or with import/export/international dealing activities Manufacturing and

commercial, trading arc two pointed focuses Although the focus is not

mainly involved the market life, the preference is on new businesses with short-life market According to research findings, recommendations for

projecting marketing mix plan along with the mentioning of risk analysis 1 proposed with the expectations of giving tactics for the successful launching

of new IT products in the Vietnam market

2 Research background

IT product and service management is attached the prominence in business

environment of today (Wan and Liang, 2012) Majerily of companies is

relying on computers and information technology systems to boost up the

efficiency in operating their business activities through the accurate and

sccure information management It brings up the role of IT product service

providers in harmonizing I'l’ services and business (Bon, Picper and Veen,

2005) In the information-driven world, when applying syslems or using IT

produvts to exploit the power of informauion, the ullimatc security and right

methods of management and backup are raised as the top concern

Viclnam is in the developmg phase where the application of IT and information management functions within enterprises is still poor Most of

Vietnamese companies, although have realized the increasing importance of

TT application in value creation chain, the investment and implementation are

lax due to the lacking of specialized knowledge or incomplete realization of

IT product availability According to the Vietnam E-commerce report 2013

(Ministry of Industry and ‘Irade), there has been approximately 18%

enterprises embedding ERP (Znterprises Resources Planning) software or

21% ones using SCM (Supply Chain Management) software in business

administration Regarding to security measures, solutions applied have not

been intense with measures of firewall (87%), anti-virus (84%) or hardware

(45%) Another point to contemplate is (hal majority of Viclnam enterprises

have no Research and Development department to focus on customers" information as sources for new products development The situation leads to

the own space of security about customer information of each marketers or salesman

Dell EMC — the US-based worldwide company — provides the complete

solutions for organizations securing and managing their information-driven

applications IJell HMC is the leading company in its business sector as the

most trustworthy information-secured partners

Due to the new emerging feature of Vietnam market and ils bight future in

development, the market is reckoned to be potential and more aggressive

when more and more international participants execute their expansion

siralegy As such, it is significant for Dell EMC’s success to have the right

diversification strategy including market expansion and business share

increase Following that direction, markeling mux is crucially important [or

promoting Dell EMC’s products with the initial imporlance of marketing

environment comprehension and the consistent adaptation of marketing mix

of 7Ps on the base of suitable marketing ollerinys and clTorts

Capturing the increasing importance of securing and managing an

information-driven business world, the research paper to explore the most

ctfective marketing strategy to develop IT products into market in Vietnam context one country in the early developed phase of applying information management-based systems Concretely, the topic is exemplified by the case

of Dell EMC Company: “Strategy of developing new IT products te the

Victnam market Case study of Dell EMC”

3 Research aim und vbjectives

‘The research paper to study possible methods to develop new ['T products in

Vietnam market, and the case that what Dell EMC should adjust its marketing

plan for adaptation Ultimately, the findings will give implications for IT

product providers in creating their promotion and launching campaigns [or reaching and acquiring higher business shares for clients

As for this aim, the key objectives are:

1 To define the importance of marketing plan to the success of companies and identify marketing methods being used

2 To explore the ideas of companies about IT products application

3 ‘To project marketing mix plan for launching new II’ products

4 To analyze issues that could be occurred when implementing the plan

4, Rationale of the research

Reinforcing the business efficiency is one of the ultimate purpose being

pursued by every company Internally, for right decisions, it is required for

the accuratc dala processing, securing and managing With the modem IT

products and the right I'l service management, the function will be settled

down The topic is chosen as

Firstly, information management function in Victnam context is still al low

level, except international big companies As such, the promotion of new IT

products in Vietnam, especially toward loval companies is needed deeper

investigation

Secondly, the use of right IT products supports the smoothness in operations

and rightness in decision making by which the bottom linc of business

performance will be brought up

Thirdly, this research could provide the new views for Vietnamese companies

about the application of [' products Also, it provides suggestions for using them

Fourthly, IT product providers, not only Dell EMC, could be benefited from

the research in the effort of planning ways to develop their products in Vietnam market

5 Research methodology

The research is gone with Pragmatism philosophy to ensure the observable

and subjective meanings Deduction approach is used to measure the

empirical meaning of the hypothesized research model which is resulted by

literature review, and with some elements of Induction to focus on unique features of IT products industry in observation and recommendations Data

scurees are combined by two of primary and secondary ‘The use of mixed

methods of both quantitative and qualitative data ensures the breadth and depth of analysis

Quantitative method

The use of quantitative method is to gain the clients’ responses regarding to

their preferences and habits in using and applying IT products in daily

operations ‘This is the important phase and mput information of any

markeling or new product launching plans since understanding new markets

and ils components’ expectations helps composing right tactics pinpointing

the general needs It is considered as the empirical source of information for

bringing up the realistic vicwpoints inside the launching plan

Sampling technique is favoured to probability with cluster sampling with

random samples Being the B2B-service, the target population of the research

is companics operating m Victnam market Particularly, managers including

IT and information management ones in local companies are the ideal choice The scope of this research is focused on the intense ideas of 30 enterprises

including 20 Vietnam and 10) intemational ones ‘The source of participants is

from the personal relationship of the researcher who have years of experience

in the industry

Qualitative method

Qualitative data will be obtained along with the attempt of collecting

quantitalive data from clients besides the investigation of marketing

environment and related theories Information aboul markeling environment and related theories is considered as secondary sources obtained from academic journals, books, articles, reports and statistical data etc which are

accessed from online hbrary of the University, Google Scholar and

magazines

With the mix in use, strengths and weaknesses of single understanding could

be leveraged If just using quantitative data, broad ideas in terms of the use

and expectations about IT Products could be gained, however the deep

insighls regarding to why they are exploited could be dismissed Additionally,

multidimensional viewpoints could be formulated along with a greater

assortment of complementary views After acquiring the general picture about

IT products using preferences and habilL metaphors will be used in more

focused questions to 5 key I'l and IM managers whom the author has the very

good relationships Lo, to dig deep inside the truly implied motivators

The quantitative result will be analyzed through SPSS application Findings

are tested and measured through (1) reliability test to measure items’

consistency as a measurement sel; (2) factor analysis ta identify the appropriateness of item group; and (3) descriptive analysis to understand

related expressions and descriptions of all ideas collected

6 Research outline

The research is designed in 3 chapters as following:

Introduction

Chapter 1 — Fundamental theory of lauching strategy

Chapter 2 Proposing and developing strategy for new IT products to

Vielnam market Case study of Dell EMC

Chapter 3 — Proposal some solution to implement strategy of developing new

IT products for Dell EMC

Conclusion

CHAPTER 1 FUNDAMENTAL THEORY OF LAUCHING STRATEGY

The chapter gives the review of theories and concepts replying to the topic and the research objectives The marketing plan and its roles are mentioned with the intensive discussions of models of marketing plan and marketing environment Ultimately, the chapter is to find out key components in launching new products to market The chapter is the fundamental reasoning for the research value with research hypotheses and conceptual framework

1.1 Marketing plan and its roles

Marketing plan is important for the business operation at three levels of (1) business-unit; (2) product and (3) market Marketing plan is the integral part

of strategy planning in capturing specific market and marketing opportunities (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012, p 38) The proper marketing tactics helps offerings reaching customers by which the achievement of economic and business objectives is obtained

1.1.1 Marketing plan

Defined by Kotler and Keller (2006, p.43), marketing plan is “the central instrument for directing and coordinating the marketing effort’ Two accountabilities of marketing plan are strategic and tactical The strategic level requires the deep analysis of marketing environment so as to adapt market opportunities including proper identification of target markets/customers and appropriate values offered The analysis of marketing environment focuses on six elements of demographic, economic, technological, physical, social, cultural, political and legal which will help identifying key influencers affecting, modifying or shaping business decisions

(Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008, p.54) Also, the findings are key

inputs for solutions dealing with uncertainties (Wack, 1985).

From the marketing strategy, tactical marketing plan elucidates detailed

specifications such as offering functionalities, promotion campaigns, merchandising solutions, pricing strategies, sales and distribution channels and service included By those tactics, the gap between offerings and customers’ emotional expectations is reduced that raises purchasing actions

legal

environment

Figure 1.1 Influencing factors of marketing plan

Source: ‘Marketing Management’, Fig 1.6, p.27 (Kotler and Keller, 2006)

Marketing plan is, paralleling, impacted by key immediate factors including marketing intermediaries, suppliers, competitors and publics Marketing efforts, ultimately, are to approach target customers Along with the task of unveiling competitive market information, marketing efforts are also spared for building up the collaboration via positive relationships with marketing intermediaries — the ones develop, distribute and sell company’s offerings to customers This plot, on the other hand, helps improving the delivery/distribution network (Johnson et al., 2008; Kotler and Armstrong,

2012; Kotler and Keller, 2006), Generally, every single marketing effort is endeavouring to sell offerings to end-users/customers by the creation of beneficial values and customer satisfaction

Elementally, a marketing plan is constructed by eight main components of (1)

executive summary, (2) overview of current marketing situation, (3) chances

and challenges exploring; (4) identification of marketing objectives and related issues, (5) planning marketing strategies; (6) marketing implementation and action plans; (7) budgets planning and (8) controls (Kotler and Keller, 2006) These eight parts are composed based on the comprehension of marketplace and the rational use of methods and/or solutions that the company are pursuing to accomplish its marketing objectives (Wood, 2003) Not simply depict or analyse marketing environment, marketing plan contains tactical solutions and actions plans for executing programs and allocating budgets over the planning period (Lehmann and Winer, 2001) Marketing plan is fuelled by the outcomes of

analysis process to get intensive understanding of marketing opportunities,

target market selection, segments, strategies design, program development and marketing effort management (Kotler and Keller, 2006, p 27)

Marketing effectiveness is in the turn of marketing strategy into consistent actions and implementation methods in the implementation phase (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012, p 59) Marketing plan on the research work is to answer questions of what and why things must be gone by specific ways; meanwhile marketing implementation is critical reply to the queries of who, where, when and how (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012, p 54)

1.1.2 The role of marketing plan

Marketing plan owns the different roles according to which level to be examined — corporate, business and product/market At corporate level, it

provides core inputs about competitive degree and customers as per outcomes

of analysing marketing environment, competitiveness, propensities and

dynamics in external markets This is the practical source for planning

corporate strategy At business level, it specifies strategic development plan for each business unit so as to gain expected achievements in its future course Different marketing strategies will be produced at this level With specified marketing programs, marketing management and formulation sessions are

designed at a product/market level The success of the whole plan is relied on

the rationality and effectiveness of each action plan (Jain, 2009)

1.2 Models of marketing plan

1.2.1 Marketing mix of 7Ps

The expectations and requirements of customers are increasingly sophisticated by which product-specialized companies have to combine features of service marketing mix into marketing plans Theoretically, different from goods, service has four unique characteristics of (1) intangibility — offering quality is possible to be evaluated only after being consumed (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985; Van Riel, Lemmink and Ouwersloot, 2001), (2) heterogeneity — offering performance is always fluctuated since its inherence to people performance, purchase occasions, experience, etc (Parasuraman et al., 1985, Friedman & Smith, 1993), (3) simultaneity — due to the formulation of offering quality during the delivery stage, people find it difficult in recalling the quality judgment (Martin, 1999, Brodie, Whittome & Brush, 2009), and (4) perishability — since service could

be stored it has to be created on demands (Iacobucci, 1998) With those four features, if only relying on 4Ps of marketing mix (Product, Price, Place and Promotion), companies have missed out chances to serve, meet demands of

customers and make them satisfied Therefore, the inclination is to use 7Ps

with the supplement of 3 ‘service’ Ps — People, Physical evidence and Process (Booms & Bitner, 1981 as cited in Moorthi, 2002), According to the level of

expertise being embedded in the offerings that the combination of marketing

mix and relationship marketing is required The mixture is customer-oriented

based on flexible practices of product assortments/categories, designs, features and brand name (Lehtinen, 2011)

Service-scape is the noticeable concept inside the P of Physical evidence It pinpoints the important role of artificial surroundings in enhancing consumption settings (Bitner, 1992) Depending on which kinds of offerings, service-scape has its own significance in creating service experience, yet generally it covers both tangible features for example building, office, facilities and intangible cues such as design style, temperature, smell, etc (Hoffman and Turley, 2002), Service competences and quality could be implicitly considered through the first sight impression about physical evidence The more positive this impression, the larger chances that obstacles

to evaluate service quality will be dismissed (Bitner, 1992; Ezeh and Harris,

2007, Paninchukunnath, 2009) As a result, the intangibility could be reduced

Table 1.1 Marketing mix 7Ps

Product Offering scope, offering quality, offering level, service brand;

offering content; credit warranty; after-sales services Price Discount and commission, terms of payment, customer

perceived value; offering differentiation, match between brand name and price

Promotion | Advertisement, promotion, human promotion, public relation;

sales promotion Place Location; distribution channels, closeness; distribution scope

People Employees training, personal judge, explanation capability,

encouragement, appearance condition, working relationship;

attitude, job quit rate; recruitment Physical | Environment: indoor decoration, colour and arrangement,

evidence | equipment; tangible product

Process | Service decision; procedure, level of automation, employees’

level of judgment; guidance to the customers, service process, aller-sales services

Source: Adapted Marketing Mix 7Ps (Booms and Bitner, 1981 as cited in

Moorthi, 2002)

The two Ps of Process and People have the direct impact on how perceived

quality is formed Perceived quality is the outcome of the comparison process

between pre-purchase expectations and post-purchase evaluation based on

consumed experience (Friedman and Smith, 1993) Process contributes to the

formulation of service quality with outcome and process quality (Caruana, Money and Berthon, 2000) Controllably, process quality emphasizes the

efficiency and accurateness of ways oflerings being provided to customers

Due to the perishability feature, only when customers’ expectations and

demands are met is process assessed to be good Mentioning the P of Pouple,

employes service is the integral part of services which refers to what and how

services are offered (Grace and O’Cass, 2005), Human performance in service

soctor is performed through cmployces’ cxpertise level ol responsiveness, reliability and empathy (Backstrom & Johansson, 2006) As per the

heterogeneity, perceptions of customers about offering quality may be

ocewred when contacting with cmployces As such, variations in quality provided and perceived risks in purchasing could be reduced in case

employees are qualified and well-trained During the service delivery stage,

the interaction with employees could overcome constraints of inseparability

and significantly result in customer satisfaction (Martin, 1999).

Based on the branding viewpoint, influencers affect customers’ perceptions are deemed to be different between goods and services; yet in some extent, some are common to both (Grace and O’Cass, 2002) (See Figure 2.2) Service-scape, feelings, image of typical user, experience with brand, word- of-mouth and employees are reckoned as meaningful factors determining service-related purchasing decision of customers While feelings and self- congruence are the two unique dimensions in branded product buying

Table 1.2 Influencers for marketing in goods and service aspects

Branded product Core product/ service | Branded service

Self-image congruence | brand Employees

Image of user Word-of-mouth

communication

Source: Adapted ‘Brand associations: looking through the eves of the beholder’

(Grace and O’Cass, 2002)

Basically, as per the impact of social influence, customers often rely on word

of mouth to reduce perceived risks and uncertainties in association to purchase decisions (Murray, 1991) Word of mouth has been claimed to be in cohesion to satisfaction based consumption experiences However, word of mouth is the two-blade knife in case the vigorousness and responsiveness pinpointing customers’ complaints are not ensured (Mangold, Miller and Brockway, 1999)

1.2.2 Porter's five forces

Marketing environment is obliged to be analysed so as to reveal chances and challenges facing companies (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012) In the surrounding environment with the involvement of companies, suppliers,

13

marketing intermediaries, competitors and customers, the application of five forces model helps understanding strategic resources as ready input for successful marketing strategies or revealing attractive market segments (Kotler and Keller, 2006), Basically, depicting the industrial context, decisions about economic value creation is made and/or modified to gain long-term profits — strategic directions including tough competition, reshaping

or exploiting white space (Porter, 2008) The model in this advantage analyses five forces of (1) threat of new entrant; (2) bargaining power of suppliers; (3) bargaining power of buyers; (4) threat of substitute products or services and (5) rivalry among existing competitors,

In marketing, five forces model helps identifying whether the specific segment is attractive enough The segment is examined with five threats of (1) intense segment rivalry, (2) new entrants, (3) substitutes, (4) buyers’ growing bargaining power and (5) suppliers’ growing bargaining power (Kotler and

Figure 1.2 Five forces model in marketing perspective Source: ‘Marketing management’, Fig 11.1, p 342 (Kotler and Keller, 2006) Threat of mobility — ease of entry and hurdles of exit barriers reduce the

attractiveness of segments.

Threat of buyer power - buyer power and segment attractiveness are in inverse proportion Buyer power is intensified in case they are in high concentration, sensitiveness to price, products are less differentiated, switching costs are low, etc To protect market positions, the solutions are

focused on beneficial values and satisfied services offered

Threat of supplier power — if suppliers have power to increase selling prices and curb supplying quantities, segment attractiveness is vague Diversity in input sources is the solution to keep the balance in inputs

Threat of substitutes — the market with full of substitutions leads to the low

level of attractiveness since the competition would be tougher by which marginal profit is reduced

Threats of segment rivalry — The segment is not attractive if the market is (1) crowded with strong competitors; (2) stable or declining; (3) with high fixed cost; (4) with high exit barriers; (5) competitors’ large market share

1.3, SWOT analysis

To respond effectively to market opportunities, firms crucially have to build their own business capabilities or core competences (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990) Based on resource-based view, Barney (1991) confirms that once company has competitive advantages, it has capabilities to take advantage of environment opportunities and avoid threats

Threshold resources and competences helps companies surviving in the competitiveness, while competitive advantage gives them confident positions with outstanding performance Depending on internal forces, companies would follow the appropriate strategies to pose the unified direction of resources and competences including cost leadership, differentiation or focus

as Porter’s generic strategies (Juga, 1999) or price-based, hybrid,

differentiation and focused of Bowman’s competitive strategy (1996),

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Figure 1.3 Resource-based SWOT analysis Source: Adapted ‘Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage’, pp 99-120 (Barney, 1991) and ‘SWOT analysis from a resource-based view’, pp

54-68 (Valentin, 2001)

Resources-based SWOT gives the important attachment on the more perceptive, reliable and performable gut expressions Core competences or [sustainable] competitive advantage and weakness decide and are decided by environmental base i.e business chances and challenges (Valentin, 2001) Strengths and weaknesses of SWOT are revolved around product, human, financial, marketing, technological and organization aspects However, the rapid changes of external environment requires resource-based SWOT to be examined and re-created swiftly (Teece, Pisano & Shuen, 1997)

1.4 BCG matrix

Based on the analyses of marketing environment and competence of Dell EMC, market growth and market share could be estimated by which its IT Products could be priced/ positioned as being ‘dog’, ‘cash cow’, ‘star’ or ‘question’

Keller, 2003), For new market, the suitable sales promotions and consumer

promotion will gain the sales volume and reputation for the brand

1.4.2 Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning (STP)

STP is the path to understand customers, competitors and marketplace around companies The appropriate STP helps (i) identifying lucrative chances, (ii) concentrating on strong potential customer segments, (iii) estimating purchase intention; (iv) exploring new demands, (v) boosting up customer loyalty, and (vi) improving business performance (IBM, 2009), Strategically, the rational segmentation opens new conditions since STP process could explore dissatisfied and underserved groups — hints for companies to conduct expansion directions

(Yankelovich and Meer, 2006) In short, STP is the original cause for the “act of

designing the company’s offer and image so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in minds of target customers” (Ries and Trout, 1976)

With the assistance of Five forces model in identifying market segment attractiveness and resource-based SWOT, companies could rely on criteria such as size, growth rate, profitability, demand share, competitive intensity, customer/supplier pressures, company competence and capabilities, technology situation and so on to separate mass population into groups and create solutions to approach, serve and retain customers (Storbacka, 1997) 1.4.3 The conceptual framework

The conceptual framework for launching new IT products is relied on 7Ps with the focus on Promotion through the proper design of other six Ps The framework is built on the spirit of customer-orientation and relationship marketing: tactical marketing plan is to adapt clients’ demands, requirements and expectations about offering quality, Marketing offering is the base for planning marketing efforts and promotion of marketing offering is conducted through marketing efforts

CHAPTER 2 PROPOSING AND DEVELOPING STRATEGY FOR

NEW IT PRODUCTS TO VIETNAM MARKET CASE STUDY OF

DELL EMC 2.1, Research mehodology

| Philosophy

With four concepts of Positivism, Realism, Interpretivism and

2

Pragmatism, research philosophy assumes directions to view topics (Biggam,

2008; Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) Positivism considers social

realities being observable and independent out of the observer, by which they are possible measured by natural sciences and scientific methods through specific correlations (Denscombe, 2002; Gephart, 1999; Fisher, Buglear, Lowry, Mutch and Tansley, 2004; Levin, 1988) In the same tenet, Realism reckons the quite independence of objects toward human mind Through derivation process and realization of varieties in their interaction, social phenomenon could be captured (Dobson, 2002),

Contrarily, Interpretivism emphasizes on the understanding of differences between humans as social factors since reality is the mixture of the mind’s creation and observed context (Gephart, 1999), Interpretivist inclines to a different logic of procedures — (i) exploration of phenomenon’s nature; (ii) dealing with unstructured data; (iii) detailed investigation of cases; and (iv) meanings and functions of human actions (Bryman and Bell, 2007,

Nudzor, 2009)

Pragmatism is the practical and sensible philosophy since it orients to the results based on own socialized experiences and allows the methodological flexibility and adaptability (Cameron, 2011; Patton, 2002:

Saunders et al., 2009) Thus, it is free for the researcher to choose topics and

use outcomes in his own way (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998, p 30)

This research is pursued the Pragmatism with the reasons as below:

19

Firstly, the research paper to explore the method to launch IT products

to new market for Dell EMC based on external inputs from marketing environment, industrial surroundings, client information and_ internal capabilities, ie the topic is answered according to the observable phenomenon and subjective meanings

Second, this philosophy gives space for the author to apply varieties of data collection methods and interpretation options that multi-aspects of the plans are ensured

Lastly, Pragmatism advances scientific knowledge and provides

practical solutions (Henderson, 2011)

2.1.2 Approach

Deduction or Induction approach regulates the procedural framework (Remenyi, Williams, Money and Swartz, 1998) Deduction allows the prediction of phenomena with its occurrence to test theories developed; while induction suggests theoretical conclusions on experiments of real nature happenings (Saunders et al., 2009, pp.124-126)

Deduction is the common approach in theory-testing process with the initiation of literature reviewing to build up hypotheses (Bryman and Bell, 2007) Then, hypotheses will be tested through practical and empirical observation and modified if being incorrect or improper (Anderson, 2004), which means starting from general to specific By contrast, theories will be developed through research outcomes of many cases in inductive approach (Anderson, 2004), ie the general will be formulated from the specific

(Hackley, 2003)

This thesis is, according to market information and internal capabilities,

to explore ways to launch new IT product in Vietnam market for Dell EMC

under pressures of competition, external threats, clients’ responses and branding orientation, i.e from theories and understanding of marketing

20

principles, happenings in information management industry, it is to propose effective direction to win achievements in promotion Thus, there is no better choice than deduction to test the applicability of hypothesized model through information from clients, internal sources and secondary data, and parts of Induction to propose intensive tactics in theme of 7Ps marketing mix

2.1.3 Research method

Quantitative and qualitative are the two famous methods Quantitative

is, based on occurrence of phenomenon and its features, to explore, present, describe and examine relationships within data collection (Vaitkevicius & Kazokiene, 2013), while qualitative refers to the deep exploration based on the use of conceptualization meanings demonstrated through “quality” of words (Biggam, 2008, Saunders et al., 2009) Inductive approach is a systematic procedure for analysing qualitative data (Thomas, 2003)

Deeper understanding about a concerned topic will be gained when the triangulation method is used (Venkatesh, Brown and Bala, 2013) According to

Teddlie & Tashakkori (2009), the triangulation could pinpoint confirmatory and

exploratory research questions at the same time When Vietnam market is initially familiar to IT product using, exploratory qualitative helps exploring companies’ insights Then, quantitative research helps to know more population's a-priori specific relationships of marketing offerings and efforts Besides, mix methods provides firmer inferences since it could leverage pros and cons of the separate

two (Johnson and Tuner, 2003) Qualitative data could not give ideas on the

breadth of issues while quantitative could not gain the depth in understanding, Lastly, varieties of complementary views are taken with mix methods

2.1.4 Data collection

Data collection technique used is the mixed qualitative and quantitative understanding, which reinforce the validity and quality of research findings (Saunders et al., 2009)

Data sources

Primary data

It is the first-time collected data directly addressing to the research

purpose (Stevens, Loudon and Wrenn, 2002) Thus, it could casily be

controlled for the right use Observation and communication are the two common ways to get primary data (Stevens, Wrenn, Gherwood and Ruddick,

2006) ‘The research uses questionnaire-based survey as primary data It is

conducted through printed research and face-to-face discussion These

sources intensifies the rehability and validily of information

Secondary data

This is the existing information that was not collected for the aim of the

ruscarch (Stevens ot al., 2006) For the research value, sceondary dala is

mainly extracted from academic journals, books, peer-reviewed articles

which are assessed from online library of the University, Google Scholar and

so onc Secondary dala expose marketing environment facililaling the

applicability of the conceptual framework and ideas from Client-based information

Sampling technique

Sampling is an ideal choice to overcome time constraints and

requirements of quick results There are probability and non-probability

sampling (Saunders et al., 2009) Selecting from total population, yet probability based on specifically known criteria and non-probability chooses

respondents contingently

Basically, tending to probability sample in client-based survey, sampling

technique is the cluster sampling in which data could be gathered by types as

per its natural occurrence (Saunders et al., 2009, p.230) with random sample

by which the entirely random selection helps reducing the unfairness in

choosing participants (Biggam, 2008, p.88)

Sample characteristics

In order to ensure the quality of data analysis, the information should

be collected from an appropriate sample size Normally, minimum sample size is from 100 to 150, and ideally four or five times bigger than the number

of variables in the questionnaire (Hair, 1998; Norusis, 2005; Hoang and Chu, 2008) However, within the purpose of this research, client-based information

is the source of reference for bringing the empirical viewpoint inside the tactical marketing for product launching As such, the survey is planned to conduct with sample size of 30 clients including 20 Vietnamese companies and 10 foreign ones Participants are general managers and/or IT/IM managers and marketing ones Industry and business scope of companies are not counted providing that they have the demand of using IT products and services, Also, company scale is not taken into account

2.1.5 Data analysis framework

Questionnaire note is structured according to three groups of (1) general information (5 questions), (2) information of using IT products (2 questions) and (3) IT products using behaviour Group 3 is separated by 2 themes of marketing offerings and marketing efforts addressing research paper, objectives and conceptual framework Likert scale of 5 is used

re

Figure 2.1: A progressive focusing model in qualitative research process Source: ‘Progressive focusing and trustworthiness in qualitative research’,

Fig 2, pp 825 (Sinkovics and Alfoldi, 2012)

The final goal is to, according to findings of quantitative data, interpret and find out main clients’ insights, then in combining to secondary information

of marketing environment and marketing objective, to launch IT Products to new market for Dell EMC, ie qualitative information is the expected finish However, the analysis process of qualitative data is not straightforward and requires the iterative approach to comprehend themes (Biggam, 2008, p.236, Sinkovics & Alfoldi, 2012) As per the Figure 3.1, from task 4 to 6, the main involvement is the data collection, description and group in form of themes as the fundamental base to interpret them to valuable output

There are many software packages providing measurement test of data

collection such as SAS, BMDP, S-PLUS or Excel However, the research

selects SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) for analysing the quantitative data It is the software controlling and checking research data by which statistical results are produced scientifically and accurately as the trust

premise to interpret, evaluate issues and formulate solutions Although SPSS

is not the most advanced technique, it is recognized as the most common technique in data analysis (Muijs, 2011) Practically, SPSS 22.0 will be employed to conduct reliability test, factor analysis and descriptive analysis 2.1.6, Ethical issues

The research commits to follow strictly ethical issues regulated by the

University Questionnaire-based data is collected as per respondents’ permissions with high respect of their personal information There are no obligations for participants to join the survey All questions are composed to

be completed without the involvement of anonymousness Data collected is used solely for the studying purpose and kept confidentially with no intention

to libel reputation of any parties Besides, secondary data is extracted from

open sources and/or proper purchasing

2.1.7 Limitations of the research process

The use of both primary and secondary sources of data may involve the

subjectiveness of the researcher in analysis

Using random sampling, some bias would appear in the survey since the differences in day, time and especially the mood of recipients at the responding time Thus, data received, somehow, depicts the momentary nature

Marketing environment is revealed mainly from the analysis of secondary sources of data, as such it is unavoidable that the picture is relied

on the viewpoints of many other authors

Time and cost constraints may affect the effectiveness of proposals mentioned

2.2 Data analysis and findings

2.2.1 Market analysis

a Macro-environment

Demographic/Economic environment

Victnam is the young population country (approximately 65% under 30) with the rapid speed of urbanization enhancing the attractiveness of

market Vietnam is one of the fastest growing countries in Southeast Asia Economics is with the positive trend of GDP from USS 31.2 billion (2001) to

US$ 123,961 billion (2012) In 2012, the results were inflation +6.81%, CPI

19.21%; average interest rate 8.44% (2003/13), unemployment rate 2.52%

(1998-2002)

Poliical legal environmenL

Vietnam government has spent a great deal of efforts to improve

business environment with tax preferences and accelerated administrative procedures Since the non-synchronous legal system, the swift changing of

law codes, companies are in need of good inlormation systems

1echnological/ Physical environment

Tnfrastructue has been invested hardly ta allract new investments

including transportation system, internet network Technologies development

is still the top topic of Vietnam government especially high technologies

Social’ Culiural environment

Vietnamese are younger and more knowledgeable with higher

confidence in consumption (Nielsen, 2012) There has been the rise in

disposable income from US$ 902 (1990) to US$2,392 (2010) (Ruromonitor,

2011) Population is growing rapidly with the increasing middle class (Breu, Salsberg, and Ila, 2010) This is one of the great sources of consumers,

In short, with effort of Government and the development of the country, new entries to market is alleged to be increased at good rate in future

This will create chances for Dell EMC with the larger client basket as well as

the diversity in management tools.

b Micro-environment

Most of the IT software in Vietnam market is from toreign companies Due to the limited technologies and capabilities, Vietnamese companies are

merely the authorized distributors or importers with the main service provided

of guaranteeing, installing and guiding the using Besides, the knowledge and

specialized ideas about specific IT products along with their supplementary

package have still not been intensive Particularly, IT functions in companies

are with the main responsibilities of making purchase of IT equipment,

manipulating or fixing IT problems without much strategic involvement in

business operations

Additionally, due to the intense financial requirement, information

management programs have still nol beon invested in companies, even some

intemational ones Switching cost from one product to another is quite high

for large systems; as well as companies devoid knowledge to make decisions

to change

However, the realization of IT products’ importance has been

reinforced during the past decade with the initiatives in investing Marketing environment reveals opportunities for Tell EMC to provide its offerings to

clients imcluding (1) larger basket of new companies both local and

international, (2) requircments to have better programs to store and control

business activities, especially customer database; (3) new trends of social media im maintaining relationships with external stakeholders asking for

higher security in protecting and sharing information, and (4) trends of

gaining the high professionalism

Client-based information

Primary data is collected, firstly, through questionnaire-based survey

with the sample of 30 clients including 20 Vietnamese companies and 10

inlomational onvs.

— not considered to 5 — most considered This sub-group is designed as referred to theories and model of marketing mix 7Ps with brand-orientation Specifically, group 1 provides information of demographic questions including business type, business size, business field, business market and

market life with the details as table 2.1

Table 2.1 Sample characteristics (N = 30)

Description Frequency | Percentage

2.2.2 Meaningful factors when using IT products

Marketing offerings (MO)

By exploiting Cronbach Alpha, collected data has confirmed important factors being meaningful in the consideration of using IT products as per

client perception MO is measured through three constructs of product, price and service provided

Product is measured through (1) functionalities, (2) perceived value: (3)

monctary guarantce for quality offered: (4) service distinction/expertisc and (5) warranty period Cronbach @ = 760) confirmed the appropriateness of

variables in measuring Product (Appendix 3)

Price is depicted by (1) price; (2) payment methods and (3)

discount/promotion With @ = 837, these three variables reckon their

suilabilily in measuring Price (Appendix 3)

Service provided is constructed by (1) convenience of service provided,

(2) empathy toward clients* specific cases, (3) strong commitment to clients,

(4) prompt and swill responsiveness tw clients: and (5) Profession capabililics

and behaviour of employees With the extremely high # = 914, service

provided is best described through those five constructs (Appendix 3)

A difference in the approachmg way compared lo the traditional

marketing mix of 4Ps, the core in marketing offerings are focused on three

componcnis of produels, price and service provided The reliability test confirms the importance of product quality with its fimetionalities and all

overall monetary guarantee It is understandable that the cautiousness and

unfamiliarity m use of IT products make companics consider about the point

Besides, the face-value of monetary guarantee, service provided complimentarily is important in evoking the use based on the emotion of risk

sharing and problem free of companies ‘lhe finding is suitable with modem

marketing theories when product fumetionalities become the core and

considered as the threshold for further markeling tactics Without the right

marketing offerings, regardless of any kinds of marketing efforts, outcomes

are impossibly achieved Additionally, amid the difficulties of economic

situation, budgets [or operations are curbed lo reduce operating costs, the

30

investing for IT application without the [ront-cye bencfits or obviously cash-

on ones is often not in the concern list Therefore, to attack Vietnam companies, only when Dell EMC could commit for the monetary back if no

benafits could be sccn on the base of outstanding products, and importantly good bargained promotion in terms of price reduction, success will come

Marketing efforts (ME)

ME is expressed via five constructs of (1) promotion, (2) employee

services, (3) branding and (4) networks Cronbach a is continuously believed

to use to measure the appropriateness of ME constructs

Promotion in ME does not refer to price reduction, but it is fuelled by

C1} articles about company (Public relations), (2) recommendation from

acquaintances (word-ol-mouth), and (3) information from ad channels

(advertising) With Cronbach alpha =810, these three constructs are suitable

in the measurement (Appendix 3)

Employee service relers to (1) employce prescnlaHon and

professionalism, (2) constructive advice and suggestions from employees; (3)

customer-[tiendly employees and (4) the expert of employees in handling

complaints With the high Cronhach Alpha — 830, these variahles confirm their impact on employee service offered (Appendix 3)

Branding/Corporate image mentions (1) company experience and size;

(2) nationality of the company and (3) company reputation Cronbach alpha = 757 ensures the appropriateness of these 3 variables in depicting this

construct (Appendix 3)

Network construct in this aims is measured through the membership

status of lhe company in prestigious associations

As the hitch for making MO familiar to clients, ME is come from the

efforts of both controllable sources and non-controllable ones In case the controllable ME is performed well through informalion developd ta remlurce

3k

the belief and trust from clients, the perfect employee services with

constructive and prompt advice and suggestions, the un-controllable one

including Word-of-mouth and external articles could be resulted positively The participation into prestigious associations is also the hint for not only opening business circles but gaining favourable recommendations

2.2.3 Determinants in decision of IT products using

Factor analysis is used to, once again, verify the appropriateness of

meaningful factors, importantly explores the most important determinants in each variable when using IT products as per client perspective

Regarding to MO, findings confirm the highest importance of ‘Monetary guarantee of quality offered’ and ‘Perceived value of benefits and quality bringing’ with factor loading of 913 and 911 respectively (product), the discount/promotion offered (898) (price), and good service provided by qualified employees (.851) (service provided complementarily with products) (Appendix 4)

In term of ME, clients highlights the key roles of articles about companies in form of advices or recommendations from experts (899) (Promotion), employees’ expertise level in handling complaints (.928) and for purchase persuasion, constructive advices and suggestions from employees (.754) (employee services), and reputation and experience of suppliers/ providers (.885) (branding/ corporate image) (Appendix 4)

For launching products in Vietnam market, Dell EMC should corporate with specialists to gain the first attention and initial trust from clients, on the other hand the integrated marketing communication emphasizing the global leading position

of Dell EMC and the expertise of teams of employees, technicians, engineers, etc, This is the point Dell EMC should give prominent importance

2.4, Interest/ intention and purpose of using IT products

Concerning the interest/intention of using IT products and information management service, there are a half of respondents showing their current use

32

and another half (50%) expressing the plan in applying the new software to manage information The two most primary purposes of using IT products are (1) smooth out business activities and (2) mainly serve for customer service activities (30%) (Figure 4.1),

capture the new management trend in the world ENED 16.7%

mainly serving for customer service activities [EEE 20.0%

manage large amount of information in and out [ij 6.7%

produce timely and promptly reports for

market

Regarding to business type, private companies mainly use IT products for customer service activities (35.3%) Foreign-owned company is the largest group using IT software to produce timely and promptly reports (10.0%) The finding persuades that the initial target clients should be private and foreign- own groups (Figure 2.1)

33

capture the new management trend in [J 23%

produce timely and promptly reports 10!

for management purposes Wm cos

{ smooth out business activities in je

‘smooth out business activities in general

‘produce timely and promptly reports for management

‘manage large amount of information in and out

surmainly serving for customer service activities

‘capture the new management trend in the world

Figure 2.2 Purpose of using IT products as Business type

Source: Appendix 5

In terms of business size, ‘smooth out business activities’ catches up

attention from rather small and medium-sized companies (approximately

40%) while larger companies are paying notice on timely and prompt reports (40%), large amount of information management (50%) and customer selling activities (40%) Small and medium companies are the first focus group (Figure 2.2),