In this issue:

The 37th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

This magazine was first

published in March 2007. It is

digitally distributed among

my Vietnamese & Dutch

business & private associates.

Purpose: to keep you

informed about my activities

in Vietnam and overseas

This amazingly attractive and

energetic country has rapidly

conquered my soul. It is my

home away from home.

Loek Hopstaken

Pr o f . L oe k H o ps t ak en

Em a i l :

l o ek . h o ps t ak en @ gm a i l .

c om

C e l l : 0 9 0 8 8 8 9 4 5 0

May 25, 2015

9th year, no. 3

Value Proposition

& communicating it

1

2

Confucius decides

The Missing Subject

3

4

Boom!!! & Quality

Wittenborg UAS

Are your decisions

based on B&W?

5

6

7

Clients, services &

contact information

8

What is your

Value Proposition? As a customer with many suppliers, you scan the market,

request proposals, purchase with in mind: high quality, low price. Whats in your mind during the purchasing process? First, you have a need to fill, a problem to solve.

Second: the purchase must effectively fill your need, solve

your problem. For a good price. As a customer, you look

out for gain by relieving your short-term pain, with a long

-term bonus. You look around for the best value

proposition available.

As a supplier, you develop your business by understanding your customers needs & problems, to offer products & services with clear value propositions. You

focus your marketing & promotion efforts on convincing

your target customers that yours is the best value

proposition.

Obviously, you dont need to have an MBA under your belt to know this equation: its entrepreneurial Lesson No. 1 for anyone wishing to succeed in business.

Still, I see quite some entrepreneurs in Vietnam who only

work with half the equation. Many starters assume they

know what a customer needs. Then spend forever to find

one who fits their assumption. They learn: 1. keep identifying your target customers short-term pains & long-term gains. 2. to fill their needs, keep modifying your

offering.

THAT is marketing. Value proposition: a cleverly defined

Strive not to be a success, but

rather to be of value.

Albert Einstein

The 37th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

9th year, no. 3 2

Saigon, May 25, 2015

In business, we offer prospects & clients our value proposition. In other words, we want to show them

that investing in our product or service will add considerable value to their business and/or lives.

The formula for communicating our value proposition is simple:

[Your company] offers [defined products / services] to help [identified target customers]

[solve a problem] by [your particular product or service].

Your clients Pains & Gains In business-to-business the supplier aims, by delivering smart products & seervices, to relieve the customers pains, and to create gains for her or him by increasing efficiency, effectivenes, reputation and of course, profit.

Nothing new under the sun. Sure: this formula has been around for ages. Yet, in

promotional efforts sloppy marketers tend to mess it up. In any promotional pitch

however, online or in the elevator, it only works if all elements are in place.

If you need to reset the minds of your marketing & sales staff, tell them about the Value Proposition.

Use examples. Make sure they apply (& keep applying) the formula in full.

Two World Famous

Dutch Value Propositions

How to communicate your

Value Proposition

The moment a person realizes that reality has many faces,

he/she takes the first step on the road to wisdom.

My Value Proposition:

Loek Hopstaken offers

continued development of communication & organizational know-how & skills of a companys human capital & talent

to help the entrepreneur expand & sustain his/her business

by training, coaching & consulting managers & staff.

3 9th year, no. 3 The 37th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

A traditional Vietnamese Board Room: the General Director, having read reports & com-

ments from his inner circle of yes-men & yes-women, decidesand gives orders. No one objects. Those who are given the orders, execute them. If someone disagrees: dont tell. Orders = orders & boss = boss. The only exception may be the controller, perhaps the

Chief Accountant. But my experience is that she or he will quietly hand their boss their

calculations, with a serious frown on their forehead, or discretely whisper it in their

bosss ear. Result: decisions are made without having all relevant data on the table. With-out proper input or feedback from staff who know the ins-&-outs. At worst, based on the

decision makers gut feeling. At best, based on financial considerations only. With lack of risk management. Consequences? Well, Im sure youll have your own examples. Corporations are not democratic societies. In business we dont use majority votes; we ex-pect our leaders to make wise decisions. The best corporations run on meritocratic princi-

ples: their leaders consult the experts. The best leaders leave their ivory tower and con-

sult staff knowing the ins-&-outs. Remember Kaizen: go to gemba. Go to the shop floor.

But the next line: check with gembitsu is not enough. It was found you have to do more

than to check the tools. Ask your staff. The ones who make your product, deliver your ser-

vice. I know: not easy when you grow up in Asia, where so many leaders hate to admit

they dont know everything. Let alone, ask the expertstheir own staff. One told me doing this would cause his staff to lose respect for him. Staff tell me: if we

give critical comments, hell lose face, and he may fire me. Confucius legacy: stalemate.

How I know this? Interestingly, both the Vietnamese leaders AND their staff tend to tell

me more than they would ever tell each other. Indirect communication. General Director:

My staff should know this. Staff: My boss should know this. My role: diplomat-consultant. The direct-yet-polite outsider, paraphrasing the truth as seen in board rooms

& on shop floors. Wrapping well-founded, possibly fact-based criticism in positive terms.

Collecting suggestions & solutions to realize concrete improvements.

Confucius & Decision Making in Vietnam

I am not a product of my circumstances.

I am a product of my decisions.

Stephen Covey

4 9th year, no. 3 The 37th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

Once I asked my students: What subject, not included in the curricu-

lum, would you really like to study? After a group discussion a Thai stu-

dent said: Learning how to think. She then summarized their discus-

sion: Because we dont know how to structure our thinking process we

often end up confused and have to

start all over again. We all feel we

waste lots of time thinking. I sug-gested philosophy. No, thats way too abstract. Too complicated. Not

practical at all. I said that some phi-losophy may help you organize &

sharpen your thinking. Another student said: I had philosophy as a subject. The teacher covered at least a dozen philosophers. By the time we did our exam, the whole class was

confused. All we need is thinking know-how. How about Logic? Critical Thinking?, I asked. To my surprise most students full-heartedly agreed. So later that semester we

squeezed in a Logic 101 class, aimed at developing their observation & thinking skills. A

missing subject in education. (Included in my management development programs.)

The Missing Subject

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap

but by the seeds that you plant. Robert Louis Stevenson

A delicious BBQ-beef-tasting lunch, a

treat organized by my good friend & in-

ventor Mr. Ngoc. Hosted by another good

friend, Mr. Chn, farmer in Binh Duong.

Knowing how to think empowers you far beyond those

who know only what to think.

Neil de Grasse Tyson

DDU IBA Graduates 2006. Left to right: Linh Chu (Vietnam),

Eew (Thailand), Rachael (Cameroun), Caroline (Singapore;

Sr. Staff), Deniz (Turkey), Valentin (Belarus). This class also

included students from Nepal, Indonesia & China.

The 37th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

9th year, no. 3 5

People like watching explosions. Beautiful ones, like fireworks (ooooh!!! aaah!!!), or destructive ones,

as in action movies. In both cases we can sit back & relax: we are safe. What few know, is that

explosions mark the beginnings of quality management.

Not long after the invention of fireworks, rulers realized you can also use them as explosives to kill

enemies. They ordered them from the same manufacturer. However, in those days explosives were

not always reliable. They could blast too

soon and kill the buyer. As rulers dont want to get killed & hate wasting

money, they found a solution. Get a solid

guarantee from the manufacturer that

the product will not detonate before it is

properly deployed.

Hence, the birth of quality control with

inspections & audits, quality certificates,

quality standards, ISO & TQM.

To this day, across the planet Defense &

War Ministriesthe first to embrace & develop quality control, later quality

managementare very keen on those guarantees. They employ many well-trained quality assessors whose job it is to make sure explosives dont go BOOM! in their bosss backyard.

My favorite definition of quality is from the man who wrote one of the most influential handbooks on

quality management, Dr. Joseph Juran. However, his definition of quality has a Zen-like beauty &

simplicity: quality = fit for use. Fit: the product meets the users demand for smooth, easy, safe and lasting use. It meets the standards as set by the customer & the industry: it qualifies. Quality is not:

its ok as long as customers dont notice the lack of it, or complain.

Unfortunately, increasing numbers of customers do notice, and dont hesitate to complain. Managers who become aware of a complaint know that customers whose complaint isnt handled properly, may tell dozens of others about the bad product, or service. Those who care for their reputation take

immediate action, if the complaint reaches their desk. Complaints mostly arrive at the front office.

But: many frontline staff refuse to accept a complaint. Complaining is regarded as rude; the complaining customer makes you lose face. Frontliners solve this by denial. Instead, they blame otherssuppliers, colleagues, the system, policy, internet or even the customer. From banks & supermarkets to hotels & restaurants, from government agencies to airlines & airports. This attitude

drives customers crazy.

But quality management is about more than complaint handling & customer service. Juran introduced quality planning as a concept: a proactive approach to product design, now regarded as a norm for ISO-9001 certification. Think ahead is the motto: plan your product design, process,

production and distribution in such a way, that whenever something goes wrong, you can trace back

the root cause and apply a remedy. Quality in Vietnam: lots of room for improvement.

Boom! in the backyard & Quality Control

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase

perfection we can catch excellence. Vince Lombardi

The 37th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

9th year, no. 3 6

The Netherlands increased its share of institutions in a global ranking of universities who enjoys the

most respect and admiration from leading academics around the world.

The results of the Times Higher Education (THE) World Reputation Rankings show the Netherlands,

together with Australia and France, has 5 institutes in the top 100 last year it had 4 institutes in the top 100. The list is dominated by the so-called super league universities in the United States and

Britain which combined have 55 institutes in the top 100, followed by Germany who has 6. The top 3

universities on the list are: Harvard University in the US, followed by the University of Cambridge

and the University of Oxford which are both in the UK.

The Netherlands however holds its own with 5 institutes in the top 100 which makes it one of the top

3 most prestigious countries in Europe when it comes to institutes of higher education.

And in the Netherlands Wittenborg University is one of the most international institutes in the

country by boasting more than 60 different nationalities among staff and students punching way above its size.

Times Higher Education partnered with Elsevier to disseminate the Academic Reputation Survey on

which the results are based. Questionnaires, which asked participants to nominate up to 10 of the

best institutions in their field of expertise, were completed by 10 000 academics selected to give a sta-

tistically representative sample of global scholars. Responses from more than 140 countries were re-

ceived.

THEs ranking editor, Phil Baty, wrote in a special supplement to the magazine, that a strong repu-tation helps universities to attract global talent and funding; attracting global talent and cash (in turn) help to sustain strong reputations. A strong reputation not only indicates current success but also drives future fortune. It helps uni-versities to draw in investment and raise philanthropic funds. Perhaps most importantly, it helps

attract the best students and scholars. So there is a great deal riding on these data, it is essential that the research underpinning the results is robust.

Source: www.timeshighereduction.co.uk

If you hear a voice within you say, You cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.

Vincent Van Gogh

The Netherlands in Top 3 Higher Education

The 37th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

9th year, no. 3 7

When I first saw the book Fifty Shades of Grey, I had no clue about its contents. My first thought:

sure, between black & white there are many shades of grey. Have you ever met the proverbial Black

& White-thinker? They always remind me of the ancient Roman emperors, who after a fight in the Colosseum put their thumb up to save a gladiators life, and down, to end it. Of course we make many decisions where the choice between go and no go is easy. However, you will recognize those deci-sion processes where doubt creeps in. You have to decide, people are looking at you, expecting your

final word on the matter. Only, you are not convinced of a simple yes or no. A little voice inside your

head keeps asking: Are you fully aware of the consequences? Perhaps you consider collecting more da-

ta. Analyze deeper. Consult experts.

There may be time pressure. When you are an entrepreneur, you know whatever you decide, you may

be making the wrong decision. You may lose big money. You may lose face. Or not. What to do? Decid-

ing makes you accountable for the consequences. Obviously, all you need to do is to face those conse-

quences. Right decision: be glad you made it. Bad decision: contain the damage. Learn from it. No, I didnt read the book, or see the movie. Now Im aware of its contents: not my cup of tea. Yet, liv-ing Life confirms it all the time: reality has many facets, some are white, some black. In between,

many shades. Not only grey. Sometimes, all the colors of the rainbow, like in Keukenhof, Holland.

Are your decisions based on black & white?

A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not

preserved, except in memory. LLAP (= Live Long And Prosper) Leonard Nimoys final tweet (Feb. 23, 2015)

8 9th year, no. 3

In Vietnam: a.o. business field

Tan Thuan IPC Industrial development HCMC University of Technology intern. MBA program RMIT (HCMC campus) Pro Comm (faculty) Royal Business School Courses & seminars Int. Business & Law Academy (IBLA) Training & consultancy Vietnam Airlines (RBS; ISM) International airline Vietnam Singapore I.P. (SPECTRA) Industrial park Petronas (SPECTRA) Chemical factory Petronas Carigali (PACE) Oil & gas Nike (Tae Kwang Vina) (SPECTRA) Shoe factory Le & Associates Training & consultancy Sacombank (Training House) Training & consultancy Ministry of L.I.S.A. (RBS) Civil Servants SONY Vietnam (RBS) Consumer electronics CapitaLand Vietnam (SPECTRA) Real estate Institute for Potential Leaders / PACE Courses & seminars Dalat Hasfarm (Agrivina) Pot plants, cut flowers Hoanggia Media Group Key to Success TV Show Fresh Green Earth Hi-tech agriculture Unique Design Interior Design/archit. ERC Institute Vietnam Business school Schoeller Bleckmann Vietnam Oilfield Equipment Robert Bosch Vietnam (PACE) Electronics De Heus Vietnam Animal feed Control Union Vietnam (SPECTRA) Quality inspections Centre for Tropical Med.Oxford Uni. Clinical research Khue Van Academy Courses & seminars CARE Vietnam (AIT) NGO Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Training & consultancy HCMC Finance & Investment Cy (AIT) Investments Academy of Finance MBA (Un. of Gloucester) ITEQ Vietnam Mono-parts/assemblies Vietnam Breweries Ltd (Heineken) Brewery In The Netherlands, a.o.

ING Bank Financial services Philips Electronics Heineken Brewery Yamaha Musical instruments Damen Shipyards Ship repair wharfs

The 37th Dutch Vietnam Management Supporter

Loek Hopstakens Clients

There is no shame

in not knowing.

The problem arises

when irrational

thought and

attendant

behavior fill the

vacuum left by

ignorance.

Neil de Grasse Tyson

Do or do not.

There is no try.

Yoda

The DVM Supporter is published by

Prof. Loek Hopstaken

Email: loek.hopstaken@gmail.com

Cell Vietnam: (84) 090 888 9450

Cell The Netherlands: 06 510 97328 Assistant: Ms. Vo Ngoc Lien Huong

Email: jane.hopstaken@gmail.com

Cell: (84) 090 888 9451

Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/loekhopstaken

Wisdoms

Knock all the

gurus off your altar

and replace them

with a picture of

you.

Jeff Brown

Forgive others,

not because

they deserve

forgiveness, but

because you

deserve peace. Jonathan

Lockwood Huie