ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH --------------------- JANG HYE JIN SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING LOTTE SHOPPING'S COMPETITIVENESS IN VIETNAM GIẢI PHÁP NÂNG CAO NĂNG LỰC CẠNH TRANH CỦA LOTTE SHOPPING TẠI VIỆT NAM LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH Hà Nội - 2024 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG QUẢN TRỊ VÀ KINH DOANH --------------------- JANG HYE JIN SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING LOTTE SHOPPING'S COMPETITIVENESS IN VIETNAM GIẢI PHÁP NÂNG CAO NĂNG LỰC CẠNH TRANH CỦA LOTTE SHOPPING TẠI VIỆT NAM Chuyên ngành: Quản trị kinh doanh Mã số: 8340101.01 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS. TẠ THỊ ĐÀO Hà Nội - 2024 DECLARATION The author confirms that the research outcome in the thesis is the result of author’s independent work during study and research period and it is not yet published in other’s research and article. The other’s research result and documentation (extraction, table, figure, formula, and other documents) used in the thesis are cited properly and the permission (if required) is given. The author is responsible in front of the Thesis Assessment Committee, Hanoi School of Business, and the laws for above-mentioned declaration.
Autumn, 2024 JAGN HYEJIN i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT For a long time, Vietnam has been recognized as a land of opportunity for me. With so many Korean companies going overseas, when my company confirmed my dispatch to Vietnam, the first thing I did was getting an opportunity to study at Vietnam's most prestigious school, Hanoi School of Business in Vietnam National University. I wanted to enrich my career by learning local cases at a Vietnamese school with reputable faculty, excellent alumni and friends and at this moment I feel that my choice was absolutely right. Above all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof.
TẠ THỊ ĐÀO for always encouraging me warmly and giving me a great strength not to give up on studying. There were many challenging situations in my academic career, but I have no doubt that I have completed this process entirely with her help. I express my sincere respect and gratitude to the Prof. HOÀNG ĐÌNH PHI and all the professors as well.
My best Vietnamese friend once said to me, "What can't kill you makes you even stronger." This sentence, which is also Nietzsche's words, supported me to consider my past life in Vietnam the most meaningful and valuable moment in my life. It was my first time living, working and studying abroad, but I am finding myself grown even one step further now. I would like to express all my gratitude to my global friends including especially two Mr. Lee brothers who gave me great strength so that I don't think I'm alone, and to my beloved father, JANG SEWOL, and my beloved mother, KIM SUNGJA, who always trust and support my decision.
Based on my relationship with Hanoi School of Business, I hope that I will continue to contribute to Vietnam in the future. Lastly, I would like to give a big encouragement to myself who did better than anyone else. Autumn, 2024 JANG HYEJIN (JASMINE) ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. ii LIST OF ABBREVIATION.
iii LIST OF TABLES. iv LIST OF FIGURES. Objective of Research. Scope of Research .16 CHAPTER 1: BASIC THEORIES ON RETAILER’S COMPETITIVENESS.
Retail Environment in Vietnam. Current Status of Market. Implications for Foreign Retailers in Vietnam .26 CHAPTER2: ANALYSIS OF LOTTE SHOPPING’S COMPETITIVENESS IN VIETNAM. Analysis of the Current Positioning of Lotte Shopping in Vietnam.
TAM SAM SOM. The Competitiveness of Lotte Shopping. Current Brand Security of Lotte Shopping in Vietnam. Key Findings on Competitiveness .53 CHAPTER 3: PROPOSAL SOULTIONS TO STRENTHEN LOTTE SHOPPING’S COMPETITIVENESS IN VIETNAM.
Brand Security Measures. Proposal of Core Strategic Planning .71 CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS .88 ii LIST OF ABBREVIATION CSR Corporate Social Responsibility DEA Data Envelopment Analysis EDAS Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution EFE External Factor Evaluation IFE Internal Factor Evaluation MCDM Multi-Criteria Decision-Making approach SAM Serviceable Addressable Market SF-AHP Spherical Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process SOEs State-Owned Enterprises SOM Serviceable Obtainable Market TAM Total Addressable Market iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. VRIO Framework (Barney, J. EFE Results from Author’s Analysis (2024).
IFE Results from Author’s Analysis (2024). TOWS Matix for Lotte Shopping in Vietnam from Author’s Analysis (2024). Competitive Matrix for Lotte Shopping from Author’s Analysis (2024). 41[LS1] iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.
5 Forces Model (Michael E. Market Share of Shopping malls in Vietnam. Vincom, AEON, Takashimaya, Lotte. TAM SAM SOM of Lotte Shopping in Vietnam from Author’s Analysis (2024).
Author’s Survey Results: What do you think about the current market competitiveness of Lotte Shopping Vietnam? (2024). Author’s Survey results: What do you think is the most important factor for Lotte Shopping to maintain or strengthen its competitiveness in Vietnam? (2024). Author’s Survey results: What areas do you think need improvement the most in Lotte Shopping in Vietnam? (2024). Thu Thiem Site in HCMC.
Integration of ESG and Sustainable Competitiveness of Business. Rationale Vietnam is now one of the fastest growing countries in the world beyond Southeast Asia. Vietnam's GDP growth rate reached 7 percent in 2019 (World Bank, 2019), and during the 2020-2021 global pandemic(IMF, 2020-2021), the country also experienced an unusual economic growth rate of around 3 percent (Asian Development Bank, 2022). Based on this growth, the middle-class population is also rapidly growing.
According to Statista, Vietnam's middle-class population recorded the highest growth rate in Southeast Asia, with an average annual growth rate of 10.1 percent from 2016 to 2021 (Statista, 2016-2021). The increase in national income and the expansion of the middle class are having a particularly positive impact on the development of the Vietnamese retail industry (McKinsey & Company, 2021). The retail market in Vietnam still accounts for 75% of the traditional market and 25% of the modern distribution channel, which is due to the urbanization rate of 41.7% which is relatively low compared to the size of the economy among the 10 ASEAN countries as of 2022 (Euromonitor International, 2022). The retail industry recorded high growth rates of 33% in 2008, 24% in 2009, and 30% in 2010, and is leading the development of the Vietnamese economy with an average annual growth of about 8% from 2011 to 2022 (Asian Development Bank, 2022).
According to Vietnam's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the retail industry accounts for 15% of Vietnam's GDP, creating about 5.4 million jobs annually and accounting for 10% of Vietnam's total working population (AT Kearney, 2014). This is because positive conditions have been created for the development of the retail industry in recent years due to rapid economic growth, increasing urbanization rates, increasing per capita income, expanding the middle class, gentrification and westernization of consumption patterns. In addition, this remarkable growth in the retail sector is especially supported by the efforts of the Vietnamese government. The Vietnamese government focused 1 on opening the distribution market through its membership in the WTO in 2007, and in 2010, it legally institutionalized the 'complete opening of Vietnamese wholesale and retail distribution by foreign companies'.
Such institutional reforms at the government level and the growth of the domestic market have established themselves as attractive investment markets for foreign investors. As a result, there is currently fierce competition between local and foreign Vietnamese companies, such as Big C, Metro, and Aeon in the Vietnamese retail market. In addition, large foreign retail companies, such as Walmart and Carrefour, are planning to enter the Vietnamese market in the future (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, 2011). In July 2023, Lotte Group, South Korea's largest retail company, opened Vietnam's largest complex in Hanoi with a total floor area of 363,636 m², setting a new touchstone for the development of the Vietnamese retail market.
Korea has discovered the great growth potential of the Vietnamese retail market and continues to enter Vietnam with the goal of becoming a 'post-China market'. Starting with Lotte Mart's entry into the Vietnamese retail industry in 2007, Shinsegae and CJ Home Shopping are also expected to enter the Vietnamese market (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, 2015). While Korea's retail market is saturated, Vietnam does not have many strong competitors at the moment, as it decided to allow 100 percent foreign independent investment in January 2009 and fully open Vietnamese wholesale and retail distribution to foreign companies in January 2010. Therefore, Vietnam is still an untapped market, which is very attractive to Korean investors.
Recently, Korea has been making great efforts to improve relations with ASEAN countries, especially Southeast Asian countries. Among them, Vietnam is a country with cultural similarities with Korea and is very valuable as a bridgehead for entering other Southeast Asian markets as well as alternative markets in China. In addition, it is expected to create great synergy through cooperation with Korean manufacturers that have already entered the market such as Samsung. 2 Meanwhile, Korean retail companies had many restrictions on actively entering the market even after the government's open policy, as local companies lobbied the government to restrict foreign distributors from entering the market, and the infrastructure related to the distribution industry was relatively insufficient.
However, with the successful opening of Lotte Group's large-scale projects in this situation, various large Korean companies are expected to invest more actively and advance into the Vietnamese market in the future. With Korean companies expected to actively enter the Vietnamese retail market in the future, Lotte Shopping can be evaluated as the only Korean company that has successfully entered the Vietnamese market under various regulations and restrictions. Lotte Shopping's survival in the Vietnamese market is likely to be determined by how it can improve its competitiveness in the current situation. In addition, the success of Lotte Shopping, a leading Korean company in the Vietnamese market, is expected to have a great impact on many Korean companies that will enter the Vietnamese market in the future.
Meanwhile, Korean companies' research on the Vietnamese retail industry has just begun, and there are not many research results on how to strengthen the competitiveness of Korean companies, especially those that have already entered the Vietnamese market. Therefore, this paper aims to help Korean companies that are considering entering Vietnam effectively advance into Vietnam by analyzing the successes and limitations that Lotte Shopping is currently achieving in the Vietnamese market and studying ways to achieve better performance by strengthening its competitiveness. Literature review There are not many existing studies on solutions to improve the competitiveness of foreign companies in the Vietnamese retail market. This is because despite Vietnam's attractive growth potential, there are not many cases where foreign companies have actually successfully settled down due to the limitations and inefficiencies of various policy regulations and administrative systems (World Bank Group, 2020).
For this reason, I will first look at some key 3 theoretical frameworks regarding the competitiveness of companies and strategies to promote them in conducting this study as basic reference materials, and then look at existing studies on the competitiveness of foreign companies in the Vietnamese retail market. For the theoretical framework, I could look at the following existing studies. First of all, to explain the competitive advantage, I have to mention the classical theory. In particular, Michael E.
Porter is well-known for his great contributions in the fields of competitive strategies and management (Porter, M. Porter proposed the theory of 'general competitive strategies' in 1985. According to Porter, a company's position in an industry determines whether it is more profitable or less than the industry average, and long-term excess profitability depends on its sustainable competitive advantage. It is largely divided into two forms: cost leadership and differentiation.
Depending on the range of activities a company performs to achieve this advantage, there are three general strategies: cost advantage, differentiation, and focus. The centralization strategy is again divided into cost centralization and differentiation.