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

This research, on the understanding of the importance of launching programsfor new IT products in local market, is keen on comprehending demands ofcustomers and marketing environment in

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

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

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 meproceeding smoothly through all the modules and reaching this final one Thecompletion of this paper is emotionally appreciated by the support of allparties

Firstly, I would like to say thanks to all my lecturers and members of the HSBthat provide me with constructive knowledge and support me withenthusiastic 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 surveyparticipants Thank you for all of you that allocated your schedule to give meyour valuable ideas and opinions Without yours, the research value could not

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

of IT products within the Vietnam context The level of exploiting IT productsfor information management including security and backup is thought to below by which the space for IT providers is abundant In the specific case ofDell EMC Vietnam – the giant in backup and security IT product industry, theresearch gets the client-based information, marketing environment of Vietnamand 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 includingmarketing environment through PESTEL, Five forces, competition analysis.Marketing mix of 7Ps are mentioned as the core premise to formulate theconceptual framework including marketing offerings and efforts With theanalysis of giving empirical observation and subjective meanings in projectmarketing mix plan, the paper is started with firstly the desk-based researchthrough secondary data to develop the academic framework; secondly thesmall-scale survey with the participation of 30 enterprises in Vietnam market

as the empirical client-based information; and lastly after having the picture ofmarketing environment, the author with her experiences and discussions with

5 IT managers to dig deep in each cause for meaningful recommendations Inthe current context of Vietnam, the generalization in launching new ITproducts should be focused on small and medium private and foreign-ownedenterprises who have market scope of national-wide or

ii

with import/export/international dealing activities Manufacturing andcommercial, trading are two pointed focuses Although the focus is not mainlyinvolved the market life, the preference is on new businesses with short-lifemarket According to research findings, recommendations for projectingmarketing mix plan along with the mentioning of risk analysis is proposedwith the expectations of giving tactics for the successful launching of new ITproducts 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

iv

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

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1 Abstract

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

of IT products within the Vietnam context The level of exploiting IT productsfor information management including security and backup is thought to below by which the space for IT providers is abundant In the specific case ofDell EMC Vietnam – the giant in backup and security IT product industry, theresearch gets the client-based information, marketing environment of Vietnamand 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 includingmarketing environment through PESTEL, Five forces, competition analysis.Marketing mix of 7Ps are mentioned as the core premise to formulate theconceptual framework including marketing offerings and efforts With theanalysis of giving empirical observation and subjective meanings in projectmarketing mix plan, the paper is started with firstly the desk-based researchthrough secondary data to develop the academic framework; secondly thesmall-scale survey with the participation of 30 enterprises in Vietnam market

as the empirical client-based information; and lastly after having the picture ofmarketing environment, the author with her experiences and discussions with

5 IT managers to dig deep in each cause for meaningful recommendations Inthe current context of Vietnam, the generalization in launching new ITproducts should be focused on small and medium private and foreign-ownedenterprises who have market scope of national-wide or withimport/export/international dealing activities Manufacturing and

commercial, trading are two pointed focuses Although the focus is not mainlyinvolved the market life, the preference is on new businesses with short-lifemarket According to research findings, recommendations for projectingmarketing mix plan along with the mentioning of risk analysis is proposedwith the expectations of giving tactics for the successful launching of new ITproducts in the Vietnam market.

2 Research background

IT product and service management is attached the prominence in businessenvironment of today (Wan and Liang, 2012) Majority of companies isrelying on computers and information technology systems to boost up theefficiency in operating their business activities through the accurate andsecure information management It brings up the role of IT product serviceproviders in harmonizing IT services and business (Bon, Picper and Veen,2005) In the information-driven world, when applying systems or using ITproducts to exploit the power of information, the ultimate security and rightmethods of management and backup are raised as the top concern

Vietnam is in the developing phase where the application of IT andinformation management functions within enterprises is still poor Most ofVietnamese companies, although have realized the increasing importance of

IT application in value creation chain, the investment and implementation arelax 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 or21% ones using SCM (Supply Chain Management) software in businessadministration Regarding to security measures, solutions applied have notbeen intense with measures of firewall (87%), anti-virus (84%) or hardware(45%) Another point to contemplate is that majority of Vietnam enterprises

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have no Research and Development department to focus on customers‟information as sources for new products development The situation leads tothe own space of security about customer information of each marketers orsalesman.

Dell EMC – the US-based worldwide company – provides the completesolutions for organizations securing and managing their information-drivenapplications Dell EMC is the leading company in its business sector as themost trustworthy information-secured partners

Due to the new emerging feature of Vietnam market and its bright future indevelopment, the market is reckoned to be potential and more aggressivewhen more and more international participants execute their expansionstrategy As such, it is significant for Dell EMC‟s success to have the rightdiversification strategy including market expansion and business shareincrease Following that direction, marketing mix is crucially important forpromoting Dell EMC‟s products with the initial importance of marketingenvironment 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 aninformation-driven business world, the research paper to explore the mosteffective marketing strategy to develop IT products into market in Vietnamcontext – one country in the early developed phase of applying informationmanagement-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 inVietnam market; and the case that what Dell EMC should adjust its marketingplan 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 companiesand 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 beingpursued by every company Internally, for right decisions, it is required forthe accurate data processing, securing and managing With the modern ITproducts and the right IT service management, the function will be settleddown The topic is chosen as:

Firstly, information management function in Vietnam context is still at lowlevel, except international big companies As such, the promotion of new ITproducts in Vietnam, especially toward local companies is needed deeperinvestigation

Secondly, the use of right IT products supports the smoothness in operationsand rightness in decision making by which the bottom line of businessperformance will be brought up

Thirdly, this research could provide the new views for Vietnamese companiesabout the application of IT products Also, it provides suggestions for usingthem

Fourthly, IT product providers, not only Dell EMC, could be benefited fromthe research in the effort of planning ways to develop their products inVietnam market

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5 Research methodology

The research is gone with Pragmatism philosophy to ensure the observableand subjective meanings Deduction approach is used to measure theempirical meaning of the hypothesized research model which is resulted byliterature review; and with some elements of Induction to focus on uniquefeatures of IT products industry in observation and recommendations Datasources are combined by two of primary and secondary The use of mixedmethods of both quantitative and qualitative data ensures the breadth anddepth of analysis

Quantitative method

The use of quantitative method is to gain the clients‟ responses regarding totheir preferences and habits in using and applying IT products in dailyoperations This is the important phase and input information of anymarketing or new product launching plans since understanding new marketsand its components‟ expectations helps composing right tactics pinpointingthe general needs It is considered as the empirical source of information forbringing up the realistic viewpoints inside the launching plan

Sampling technique is favoured to probability with cluster sampling withrandom 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 enterprisesincluding 20 Vietnam and 10 international ones The source of participants isfrom 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 collectingquantitative data from clients besides the investigation of marketing

environment and related theories Information about marketing environmentand related theories is considered as secondary sources obtained fromacademic journals, books, articles, reports and statistical data etc which areaccessed from online library of the University, Google Scholar andmagazines.

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 useand expectations about IT Products could be gained; however the deepinsights regarding to why they are exploited could be dismissed Additionally,multi-dimensional viewpoints could be formulated along with a greaterassortment of complementary views After acquiring the general picture about

IT products using preferences and habit, metaphors will be used in morefocused questions to 5 key IT and IM managers whom the author has the verygood 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 theappropriateness of item group; and (3) descriptive analysis to understandrelated 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

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CHAPTER 1 FUNDAMENTAL THEORY OF LAUCHING STRATEGY

The chapter gives the review of theories and concepts replying to the topicand the research objectives The marketing plan and its roles are mentionedwith the intensive discussions of models of marketing plan and marketingenvironment Ultimately, the chapter is to find out key components inlaunching new products to market The chapter is the fundamental reasoningfor 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 helpsofferings reaching customers by which the achievement of economic andbusiness 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 strategiclevel requires the deep analysis of marketing environment so as to adaptmarket opportunities including proper identification of targetmarkets/customers and appropriate values offered The analysis of marketingenvironment focuses on six elements of demographic, economic,technological, physical, social, cultural, political and legal which will helpidentifying key influencers affecting, modifying or shaping business decisions(Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2008, p.54) Also, the findings are keyinputs for solutions dealing with uncertainties (Wack, 1985)

From the marketing strategy, tactical marketing plan elucidates detailedspecifications such as offering functionalities, promotion campaigns,merchandising solutions, pricing strategies, sales and distribution channelsand service included By those tactics, the gap between offerings andcustomers‟ 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,

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2012; Kotler and Keller, 2006) Generally, every single marketing effort isendeavouring to sell offerings to end-users/customers by the creation ofbeneficial 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) chancesand challenges exploring; (4) identification of marketing objectives andrelated issues; (5) planning marketing strategies; (6) marketingimplementation and action plans; (7) budgets planning and (8) controls(Kotler and Keller, 2006) These eight parts are composed based on thecomprehension of marketplace and the rational use of methods and/orsolutions that the company are pursuing to accomplish its marketingobjectives (Wood, 2003) Not simply depict or analyse marketingenvironment, marketing plan contains tactical solutions and actions plans forexecuting programs and allocating budgets over the planning period(Lehmann and Winer, 2001) Marketing plan is fuelled by the outcomes ofanalysis process to get intensive understanding of marketing opportunities,target market selection, segments, strategies design, program developmentand marketing effort management (Kotler and Keller, 2006, p 27)

Marketing effectiveness is in the turn of marketing strategy into consistentactions and implementation methods in the implementation phase (Kotler andArmstrong, 2012, p 59) Marketing plan on the research work is to answerquestions of what and why things must be gone by specific ways; meanwhilemarketing implementation is critical reply to the queries of who, where, whenand 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 beexamined – corporate, business and product/market At corporate level, itprovides core inputs about competitive degree and customers as per outcomes

of analysing marketing environment, competitiveness, propensities anddynamics in external markets This is the practical source for planningcorporate strategy At business level, it specifies strategic development planfor each business unit so as to gain expected achievements in its future course.Different marketing strategies will be produced at this level With specifiedmarketing programs, marketing management and formulation sessions aredesigned at a product/market level The success of the whole plan is relied onthe 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 servicemarketing mix into marketing plans Theoretically, different from goods, servicehas 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 – offeringperformance 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 duringthe delivery stage, people find it difficult in recalling the quality judgment(Martin, 1999; Brodie, Whittome & Brush, 2009); and (4) perishability – sinceservice could be stored it has to be created on demands (Iacobucci, 1998) Withthose four features, if only relying on 4Ps of marketing mix (Product, Price,Place and Promotion), companies have missed out chances to serve, meetdemands of customers and make them satisfied Therefore, the inclination is touse 7Ps with the supplement of 3 „service‟ Ps – People, Physical evidence andProcess (Booms & Bitner, 1981 as cited in Moorthi, 2002) According to thelevel of

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expertise being embedded in the offerings that the combination of marketingmix and relationship marketing is required The mixture is customer-orientedbased 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 Itpinpoints the important role of artificial surroundings in enhancingconsumption settings (Bitner, 1992) Depending on which kinds of offerings,service-scape has its own significance in creating service experience; yetgenerally 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 beimplicitly considered through the first sight impression about physicalevidence 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 servicesPrice Discount and commission; terms of payment; customer

perceived value; offering differentiation; match between brandname and price

Promotion Advertisement; promotion; human promotion; public relation;

sales promotionPlace Location; distribution channels; closeness; distribution scopePeople Employees: training, personal judge, explanation capability,

encouragement, appearance condition, working relationship;

attitude; job quit rate; recruitmentPhysical 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;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 perceivedquality is formed Perceived quality is the outcome of the comparison processbetween pre-purchase expectations and post-purchase evaluation based onconsumed experience (Friedman and Smith, 1993) Process contributes to theformulation of service quality with outcome and process quality (Caruana,Money and Berthon, 2000) Controllably, process quality emphasizes theefficiency and accurateness of ways offerings being provided to customers.Due to the perishability feature, only when customers‟ expectations anddemands 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 howservices are offered (Grace and O‟Cass, 2005) Human performance inservice sector is performed through employees‟ expertise level ofresponsiveness, reliability and empathy (Backstrom & Johansson, 2006) Asper the heterogeneity, perceptions of customers about offering quality may beoccurred when contacting with employees As such, variations in qualityprovided and perceived risks in purchasing could be reduced in caseemployees are qualified and well-trained During the service delivery stage,the interaction with employees could overcome constraints of inseparabilityand significantly result in customer satisfaction (Martin, 1999)

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Based on the branding viewpoint, influencers affect customers‟ perceptionsare 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 determiningservice-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 Core product/ service Branded service

Image of user 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 topurchase decisions (Murray, 1991) Word of mouth has been claimed to be incohesion to satisfaction based consumption experiences However, word ofmouth is the two-blade knife in case the vigorousness and responsivenesspinpointing customers‟ complaints are not ensured (Mangold, Miller andBrockway, 1999)

1.2.2 Porter’s five forces

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

marketing intermediaries, competitors and customers, the application of fiveforces model helps understanding strategic resources as ready input forsuccessful 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 gainlong-term profits – strategic directions including tough competition, reshaping

or exploiting white space (Porter, 2008) The model in this advantage analysesfive 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 specificsegment is attractive enough The segment is examined with five threats of (1)intense segment rivalry, (2) new entrants, (3) substitutes, (4) buyers‟ growingbargaining power and (5) suppliers‟ growing bargaining power (Kotler andKeller, 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

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Threat of buyer power - buyer power and segment attractiveness are ininverse proportion Buyer power is intensified in case they are in highconcentration, sensitiveness to price; products are less differentiated;switching costs are low, etc To protect market positions, the solutions arefocused on beneficial values and satisfied services offered.

Threat of supplier power – if suppliers have power to increase selling pricesand curb supplying quantities, segment attractiveness is vague Diversity ininput sources is the solution to keep the balance in inputs

Threat of substitutes – the market with full of substitutions leads to the lowlevel of attractiveness since the competition would be tougher by whichmarginal 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 fixedcost; (4) with high exit barriers; (5) competitors‟ large market share

1.3 SWOT analysis

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

Threshold resources and competences helps companies surviving in thecompetitiveness, while competitive advantage gives them confident positionswith outstanding performance Depending on internal forces, companieswould follow the appropriate strategies to pose the unified direction ofresources 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 moreperceptive, reliable and performable gut expressions Core competences or[sustainable] competitive advantage and weakness decide and are decided byenvironmental 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, therapid changes of external environment requires resource-based SWOT to beexamined 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 Productscould be priced/ positioned as being „dog‟, „cash cow‟, „star‟ or „question‟

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1.4.2 Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning (STP)

STP is the path to understand customers, competitors and marketplace aroundcompanies The appropriate STP helps (i) identifying lucrative chances; (ii)concentrating on strong potential customer segments; (iii) estimating purchaseintention; (iv) exploring new demands; (v) boosting up customer loyalty; and (vi)improving business performance (IBM, 2009) Strategically, the rationalsegmentation opens new conditions since STP process could explore dissatisfiedand 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.

Branding Networks

Figure 1.5 The conceptual framework

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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 andPragmatism, research philosophy assumes directions to view topics (Biggam,2008; Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009) Positivism considers socialrealities being observable and independent out of the observer, by which theyare possible measured by natural sciences and scientific methods throughspecific correlations (Denscombe, 2002; Gephart, 1999; Fisher, Buglear,Lowry, Mutch and Tansley, 2004; Levin, 1988) In the same tenet, Realismreckons the quite independence of objects toward human mind Throughderivation process and realization of varieties in their interaction, socialphenomenon could be captured (Dobson, 2002)

Contrarily, Interpretivism emphasizes on the understanding ofdifferences between humans as social factors since reality is the mixture ofthe mind‟s creation and observed context (Gephart, 1999) Interpretivistinclines to a different logic of procedures – (i) exploration of phenomenon‟snature; (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 tothe results based on own socialized experiences and allows themethodological flexibility and adaptability (Cameron, 2011; Patton, 2002;Saunders et al., 2009) Thus, it is free for the researcher to choose topics anduse outcomes in his own way (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998, p 30)

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

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

to new market for Dell EMC based on external inputs from marketingenvironment, industrial surroundings, client information and internalcapabilities, i.e the topic is answered according to the observablephenomenon and subjective meanings

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

Lastly, Pragmatism advances scientific knowledge and providespractical solutions (Henderson, 2011)

2.1.2 Approach

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

Deduction is the common approach in theory-testing process with theinitiation of literature reviewing to build up hypotheses (Bryman and Bell,2007) Then, hypotheses will be tested through practical and empiricalobservation and modified if being incorrect or improper (Anderson, 2004),which means starting from general to specific By contrast, theories will bedeveloped 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 EMCunder pressures of competition, external threats, clients‟ responses andbranding orientation, i.e from theories and understanding of marketing

principles, happenings in information management industry, it is to proposeeffective direction to win achievements in promotion Thus, there is no betterchoice than deduction to test the applicability of hypothesized model throughinformation from clients, internal sources and secondary data, and parts ofInduction 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 onthe use of conceptualization meanings demonstrated through “quality” ofwords (Biggam, 2008; Saunders et al., 2009) Inductive approach is asystematic 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 quantitativeunderstanding, which reinforce the validity and quality of research findings(Saunders et al., 2009)

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This is the existing information that was not collected for the aim of theresearch (Stevens et al., 2006) For the research value, secondary data ismainly 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 theapplicability of the conceptual framework and ideas from Client-basedinformation

Sampling technique

Sampling is an ideal choice to overcome time constraints andrequirements of quick results There are probability and non-probabilitysampling (Saunders et al., 2009) Selecting from total population; yetprobability based on specifically known criteria and non-probability choosesrespondents contingently

Basically, tending to probability sample in client-based survey, samplingtechnique is the cluster sampling in which data could be gathered by types asper its natural occurrence (Saunders et al., 2009, p.230) with random sample

by which the entirely random selection helps reducing the unfairness inchoosing participants (Biggam, 2008, p.88)

Sample characteristics

In order to ensure the quality of data analysis, the information should becollected from an appropriate sample size Normally, minimum sample size isfrom 100 to 150, and ideally four or five times bigger than the number ofvariables 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 thetactical marketing for product launching As such, the survey is planned toconduct with sample size of 30 clients including 20 Vietnamese companiesand 10 foreign ones Participants are general managers and/or IT/IMmanagers and marketing ones Industry and business scope of companies arenot counted providing that they have the demand of using IT products andservices 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 (2questions) and (3) IT products using behaviour Group 3 is separated by 2themes of marketing offerings and marketing efforts addressing researchpaper, objectives and conceptual framework Likert scale of 5 is used

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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, interpretand find out main clients‟ insights; then in combining to secondary information

of marketing environment and marketing objective, to launch IT Products to newmarket for Dell EMC, i.e qualitative information is the expected finish.However, the analysis process of qualitative data is not straightforward andrequires 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 maininvolvement is the data collection, description and group in form of themes asthe fundamental base to interpret them to valuable output

There are many software packages providing measurement test of datacollection such as SAS, BMDP, S-PLUS or Excel However, the researchselects SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) for analysing thequantitative data It is the software controlling and checking research data bywhich 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 commontechnique in data analysis (Muijs, 2011) Practically, SPSS 22.0 will beemployed to conduct reliability test, factor analysis and descriptive analysis

2.1.6 Ethical issues

The research commits to follow strictly ethical issues regulated by theUniversity Questionnaire-based data is collected as per respondents‟permissions with high respect of their personal information There are noobligations for participants to join the survey All questions are composed to

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

to libel reputation of any parties Besides, secondary data is extracted fromopen 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 thesubjectiveness of the researcher in analysis

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

Marketing environment is revealed mainly from the analysis ofsecondary 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 proposalsmentioned

2.2 Data analysis and findings

2.2.1 Market analysis

a Macro-environment

Demographic/Economic environment

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Vietnam is the young population country (approximately 65% under30) with the rapid speed of urbanization enhancing the attractiveness ofmarket 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 improvebusiness environment with tax preferences and accelerated administrativeprocedures Since the non-synchronous legal system, the swift changing oflaw codes, companies are in need of good information systems

Technological/ Physical environment

Infrastructure has been invested hardly to attract new investmentsincluding 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 higherconfidence in consumption (Nielsen, 2012) There has been the rise indisposable 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 Thiswill create chances for Dell EMC with the larger client basket as well as thediversity 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 aremerely the authorized distributors or importers with the main service provided

of guaranteeing, installing and guiding the using Besides, the knowledge andspecialized ideas about specific IT products along with their supplementarypackage have still not been intensive Particularly, IT functions in companiesare with the main responsibilities of making purchase of IT equipment,manipulating or fixing IT problems without much strategic involvement inbusiness operations

Additionally, due to the intense financial requirement, informationmanagement programs have still not been invested in companies, even someinternational ones Switching cost from one product to another is quite highfor large systems; as well as companies devoid knowledge to make decisions

to change

However, the realization of IT products‟ importance has beenreinforced during the past decade with the initiatives in investing Marketingenvironment reveals opportunities for Dell EMC to provide its offerings toclients including (1) larger basket of new companies both local andinternational; (2) requirements to have better programs to store and controlbusiness activities, especially customer database; (3) new trends of socialmedia in maintaining relationships with external stakeholders asking forhigher security in protecting and sharing information; and (4) trends ofgaining the high professionalism

Client-based information

Primary data is collected, firstly, through questionnaire-based surveywith the sample of 30 clients including 20 Vietnamese companies and 10international ones

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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 importantfactors being meaningful in the consideration of using IT products as per

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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 traditionalmarketing mix of 4Ps, the core in marketing offerings are focused on threecomponents of products, price and service provided The reliability testconfirms the importance of product quality with its functionalities and alloverall monetary guarantee It is understandable that the cautiousness andunfamiliarity in use of IT products make companies consider about the point.Besides, the face-value of monetary guarantee, service providedcomplimentarily is important in evoking the use based on the emotion of risksharing and problem free of companies The finding is suitable with modernmarketing theories when product functionalities become the core andconsidered as the threshold for further marketing tactics Without the rightmarketing offerings, regardless of any kinds of marketing efforts, outcomesare impossibly achieved Additionally, amid the difficulties of economicsituation, 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 Vietnamcompanies, only when Dell EMC could commit for the monetary back if nobenefits could be seen on the base of outstanding products; and importantlygood bargained promotion in terms of price reduction, success will come

Marketing efforts (ME)

ME is expressed via five constructs of (1) promotion, (2) employeeservices, (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 fromacquaintances (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 theefforts of both controllable sources and non-controllable ones In case thecontrollable ME is performed well through information developd to reinforce

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