Strategy of developing new IT products to the vietnam market case study of dell EMC

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 pote

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI KHOA QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH

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NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO

STRATEGY OF DEVELOPING NEW IT PRODUCTS TO THE VIETNAM MARKET CASE STUDY OF DELL EMC.

CHIẾN LƯỢC PHÁT TRIỂN SẢN PHẨM CÔNG NGHỆ THÔNG TIN MỚI TẠI THỊ TRƯỜNG VIỆT NAM NGHIÊN CỨU ĐIỂN

HÌNH TRƯỜNG HỢP DELL EMC

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH

HÀ NỘI - 2018

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI KHOA QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH

-

NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO

STRATEGY OF DEVELOPING NEW IT PRODUCTS TO THE VIETNAM MARKET CASE STUDY OF DELL EMC.

CHIẾN LƯỢC PHÁT TRIỂN SẢN PHẨM CÔNG NGHỆ THÔNG TIN MỚI TẠI THỊ TRƯỜNG VIỆT NAM NGHIÊN CỨU ĐIỂN

HÌNH TRƯỜNG HỢP DELL EMC

Chuyên ngành: Quản trị kinh doanh

Mã số: 60 34 01 02

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS.TS NGUYỄN VIỆT KHÔI

Hà Nội - 2018

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 import/export/international dealing activities 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-life 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 IT products in the Vietnam market

TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

LIST OF FIGURES/ TABLES vi

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 1 FUNDAMENTAL THEORY OF LAUCHING STRATEGY 7

1.1 Marketing plan and its roles 7

1.1.1 Marketing plan 7

1.1.2 The role of marketing plan 9

1.2 Models of marketing plan 10

1.2.1 Marketing mix of 7Ps 10

1.2.2 Porter‟s five forces 13

1.3 SWOT analysis 15

1.4 BCG matrix 16

1.4.1 Promotion in marketing 17

1.4.2 Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning (STP) 17

1.4.3 The conceptual framework 18

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

2.1 Research mehodology 19

2.1.1 Philosophy 19

2.1.2 Approach 20

2.1.3 Research method 21

2.1.4 Data collection 21

2.1.5 Data analysis framework 23

2.1.6 Ethical issues 25

2.1.7 Limitations of the research process 25

2.2 Data analysis and findings 25

2.2.1 Market analysis 25

2.2.2 Meaningful factors when using IT products 29

2.2.3 Determinants in decision of IT products using 32

2.4 Interest/ intention and purpose of using IT products 32

2.5 Dell EMC analysis 39

CHAPTER 3 PROPOSAL SOME SOLUTION TO IMPLEMENT STRATEGY OF DEVELOPING NEW IT PRODUCTS FOR DELL EMC 42

3.1 Marketing mix recommendations 42

3.1.1 Marketing objectives 42

3.1.2 Target clients 43

3.1.3 Marketing mix 43

3.1.4 Marketing effort control 46

3.1.5 Risk analysis 47

3.2 Implications for further researches 49

CONCLUSION 50

REFERENCE 51

APPENDIX 53

Appendix 1: Questionnaire 53

Appendix 2: Demographic information 56

Appendix 3: Reliability test 58

Appendix 4: Factor analysis 67

Appendix 5: Descriptive analysis 75

LIST OF FIGURES/ TABLES

Table 1.1 Marketing mix 7Ps 11

Table 1.2 Influencers for marketing in goods and service aspects 13

Table 2.1 Sample characteristics (N = 30) 28

Figure 1.1 Influencing factors of marketing plan 8

Figure 1.2 Five forces model in marketing perspective 14

Figure 1.3 Resource-based SWOT analysis 16

Figure 1.4 BCG matrix 17

Figure 1.5 The conceptual framework 18

Figure 2.1: A progressive focusing model in qualitative research process 24

Figure 2.1 Purpose of using IT products 33

Figure 2.2 Purpose of using IT products as Business type 34

Figure 2.3 Purpose of using IT products as Business size 35

Figure 2.4 Purpose of using IT products as Business field 36

Figure 2.5.Purpose of using IT products as Market scope 37

Figure 2.6 Purpose of using IT products as Market life 38

Figure 2.8 SWOT analysis of Dell EMC 39

Figure 3.1 BCG matrix of Dell EMC 44

Figure 3.2 Risk analysis 48

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 are 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 is 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) Majority of companies is relying on computers and information technology systems to boost up the efficiency in operating their business activities through the accurate and secure information management It brings up the role of IT product service providers in harmonizing IT services and business (Bon, Picper and Veen, 2005) In the information-driven world, when applying systems or using IT products to exploit the power of information, the ultimate security and right methods of management and backup are raised as the top concern

Vietnam is in the developing 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

IT 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 Trade), there has been approximately 18% enterprises embedding ERP (Enterprises 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 that majority of Vietnam 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 Dell EMC 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 its bright future in development, the market is reckoned to be potential and more aggressive when more and more international participants execute their expansion strategy 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, marketing mix is crucially important for promoting Dell EMC‟s products with the initial importance of marketing environment comprehension and the consistent adaptation of marketing mix

of 7Ps on the base of suitable marketing offerings and efforts

Capturing the increasing importance of securing and managing an information-driven business world, the research paper to explore the most effective 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 to the

Vietnam market Case study of Dell EMC”

3 Research aim and objectives

The research paper to study possible methods to develop new IT 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 for 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 IT 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 accurate data processing, securing and managing With the modern IT products and the right IT service management, the function will be settled down The topic is chosen as:

Firstly, information management function in Vietnam context is still at low level, except international big companies As such, the promotion of new IT products in Vietnam, especially toward local 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 line of business performance will be brought up

Thirdly, this research could provide the new views for Vietnamese companies about the application of IT 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 sources 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 input information of any marketing or new product launching plans since understanding new markets and its components‟ expectations helps composing right tactics pinpointing the general needs It is considered as the empirical source of information for bringing up the realistic viewpoints 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 companies operating in Vietnam 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 international 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 quantitative data from clients besides the investigation of marketing

environment and related theories Information about marketing 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 library 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 insights regarding to why they are exploited could be dismissed Additionally, multi-dimensional viewpoints could be formulated along with a greater assortment of complementary views After acquiring the general picture about

IT products using preferences and habit, metaphors will be used in more focused questions to 5 key IT and IM managers whom the author has the very good relationships to, 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 set; (2) factor analysis to 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 Vietnam 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

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

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

evidence

Environment: indoor decoration, colour and arrangement; equipment; tangible product

Process Service decision; procedure; level of automation; employees‟

level of judgment; guidance to the customers; service process; after-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 offerings 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 People, employee 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 sector is performed through employees‟ expertise level of responsiveness, reliability and empathy (Backstrom & Johansson, 2006) As per the heterogeneity, perceptions of customers about offering quality may be occurred when contacting with employees 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

BOTH Branded product

Feelings

Self-image congruence

Core product/ service Experience with brand

Image of user

Branded service

Service-scape Employees Word-of-mouth communication

Source: Adapted ‘Brand associations: looking through the eyes 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,

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 Keller, 2006; Porter, 1985)

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)

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‟

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

Figure 1.5 The conceptual framework

Networks

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

DELL EMC 2.1 Research mehodology

2.1.1 Philosophy

With four concepts of Positivism, Realism, Interpretivism and 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:

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, i.e 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); i.e 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

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 easily 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 reliability and validity of information

Secondary data

This is the existing information that was not collected for the aim of the research (Stevens et al., 2006) For the research value, secondary data is mainly extracted from academic journals, books, peer-reviewed articles … which are assessed from online library of the University, Google Scholar and

so one Secondary data expose marketing environment facilitating 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

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, i.e 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

Vietnam 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 US$ 31.2 billion (2001) to US$ 123,961 billion (2012) In 2012, the results were inflation +6.81%; CPI +9.21%; average interest rate 8.44% (2003/13); unemployment rate 2.52% (1998-2002)

Political/ legal environment

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 information systems

Technological/ Physical environment

Infrastructure has been invested hardly to attract new investments including transportation system, internet network Technologies development

is still the top topic of Vietnam government especially high technologies

Social/ Cultural 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) (Euromonitor, 2011) Population is growing rapidly with the increasing middle class (Breu, Salsberg, and Ha, 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 foreign 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 not been invested in companies, even some international 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 Dell EMC to provide its offerings to clients including (1) larger basket of new companies both local and international; (2) requirements to have better programs to store and control business activities, especially customer database; (3) new trends of social media in 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 international ones

Table 2.1 Sample characteristics (N = 30)

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)

monetary guarantee for quality offered; (4) service distinction/expertise and

(5) warranty period Cronbach α = 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 α = 837, these three variables reckon their

suitability 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 swift responsiveness to clients; and (5) Profession capabilities

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

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

A difference in the approaching way compared to the traditional marketing mix of 4Ps, the core in marketing offerings are focused on three components of products, price and service provided The reliability test confirms the importance of product quality with its functionalities and all overall monetary guarantee It is understandable that the cautiousness and unfamiliarity in use of IT products make companies 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 The finding is suitable with modern marketing theories when product functionalities become the core and considered as the threshold for further marketing 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 for operations are curbed to reduce operating costs; the

investing for IT application without the front-eye benefits or obviously

cash-on cash-ones is often not in the ccash-oncern list Therefore, to attack Vietnam companies, only when Dell EMC could commit for the monetary back if no benefits could be seen 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 α 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

(1) articles about company (Public relations); (2) recommendation from acquaintances (word-of-mouth); and (3) information from ad channels

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

in the measurement (Appendix 3)

Employee service refers to (1) employee presentation and

professionalism; (2) constructive advice and suggestions from employees; (3) customer-friendly employees and (4) the expert of employees in handling

complaints With the high Cronbach Alpha = 830, these variables 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 the 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 information developd to reinforce

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