Alliance Bridge

ALLIANCE BRIDGE Aiming for Success Volume 1, Issue 1

December 1, 2009

A New Path Vietnamese companies face many serious problem. One of them is the lack of sufficiently trained and experienced employees. If unaddressed, this will only worsen the situation. Since many students fresh from universities are not able to work in a professional environment, companies have to pay a vast of needs to invest lot of money and time to retrain new employees. This is because many universities do not teach how to apply theory to practical situations, or worse, just teach theory without practical applications. Therefore, students don’t have chance to apply what they have learnt from universities to real life. What is happening at Alliance is a typical model that helps both companies and students. Alliance offers students an opportunity to work in real life business to study new skills and to gain experience. At the same time, it is easier for the company to recruit the right workers. Reading and following the monthly newsletter, readers can understand more about our activities at Alliance. Dao Chi Kien

Website: www.intalli.com E-mail: [email protected] Tel: (84-8) 6657 1883

Address: 83/1 Pham Van Bach, 15 Ward, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Inside this issue: A NEW PATH

1

OPEN LETTER

2

WORK PLACEMENT PROGRAM

3 4

SAIGON NET EVENTS

-

The first newsletter This newsletter is the first edition of Alliance and was finished on December 1st, 2009. It is developed by Alliance’s associates with help from Board of Directors. The purpose is to provide information about associates’ activities at Alliance for internal and external readers.

Editors Group 1 Dao Chi Kien Le Thi Hang Vy Do Viet Phuong Ngo Huy Hoang Tran Thi Bao Tram Le Thi Tuyet Suong

-

NIGHT OF CONNECTION

5

ASOCIATES’ ACTIVITIES

6

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

7

INTERVIEW PARENTS TEACHER’S DAY

A MESSAGE TO GARCIA

8 9 1

ALLIANCE BRIDGE Aiming for Success Volume 1, Issue 1

December 1, 2009

Ho Chi Minh City, November 25, 2009 Dear Readers, We - the editors of the first newsletter - are students of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry, articulation program with Northcentral University (HUI-NCU) and have joined an internship program at Alliance. It is fortunate for us to become associates at Alliance. The reason we were invited for the internship is because we finished three years at HUI-NCU with

grade “A and B” for most subjects. We have studied hard and tried our best to get the highest results. Thanks to those reasons, Dr. Ngo-Anh Clement, one of HUI-NCU Professors, realized our abilities and wants to help us develop these abilities by giving a chance to work at his company - Alliance. With this newsletter, we have spent interesting time on working together, collecting information, and joining some events, from

November 1, 2009 onwards. It is a fascinating job that helps us become more active and mature. More than that, we have taken part in meaningful charity works for the society. Let’s take a look at this to know what we have done and how other associates work at Alliance. Best regards, Group 1

Photo: Associates at Alliance 2

ALLIANCE BRIDGE Aiming for Success Volume 1, Issue 1

Business fields • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Human Resource Management Communication Market Research Promotion Product Development Sales Relationship Management Finance Planning Quality Management Public Relations ICT Administration

Soft skills • • • • • • • • • • • •

Efficiency Study Skills Personal Grooming Team Communication Problem Solving Business Ethics Personal Communication Effective Meetings Organizational Design Mediation Commercial Communication Other topics, as deemed necessary by WP I/C and Alliance Management.

December 1, 2009

The difference between work placement program and other internship programs is about communication structure and working methods. First of all, most companies are using vertical communication structure which means ‘Boss is number one’. Alliance, in a different way, regards the students on its Work Placement Program as ‘associates’, not employees. With horizontal communication structure, everybody is on the same level and free to communicate ideas and suggestions. All ideas of associates are taken seriously by professors in contributing to the development of the company. Working in such an active environment, the students can bring into play their abilities to achieve goals. Secondly, students in other internship programs don’t have a lot of opportunities to do practical things, or to be more precise, most of them often do simple office work. Meanwhile, associates at Alliance, besides gaining experience by doing real work, are coached by experienced professors. It means that associates can get more knowledge about not only many business fields but also soft skills that are listed in the left column. Furthermore, all members are divided into groups with different projects with enable them to meet businessmen face business problems and learn how to deal with conflicts. Making decisions and taking responsibilities are important points focused by Alliance. Thanks to those experiences, associates will develop themselves and become more confident to achieve their future career goals. In this way, Alliance intends to support the next generation to become business leaders. We, who are joining this program, believe that this will come true soon. Dao Chi Kien

Photo: A class at Alliance coached by Dr. Clement

3

ALLIANCE BRIDGE Aiming for Success Volume 1, Issue 1

December 1, 2009

Night of Connections Success is the fruit of taking good using of opportunities, and these are generated by business relationship. Building, maintaining and expanding associations with people are necessary to establish long-term, mutually beneficial relationships. Therefore, how and where can a new corporation or any young man or woman find and establish new links to the world of commerce? Let’s look at what Saigon Net events can bring to novices. “Amazing” –that is how we would like to call the meeting point at the Cage by Saigon Net Events. After the party, we still feel happy because we had a good opportunity to meet a lot of people, especially business men and women. They are very confident, dynamic, and knowledgeable. Now, this gives us many opportunities to develop the relationships with people in different areas such as marketing, designing, human resource management and so on.

Photo: Associates with Mr. De Lange at Meeting Point

It was the first time we joined a meeting like that, so we were a little bit shy and nervous when arriving at the event. We saw a group of people talking, and we realized it would be hard to communicate with someone when he or she is talking with others. However, everything changed at the time the show began. All invited guests had equal chance to win a 3-daystaying at a Luxury Resort Spa price from La Perla International Living (A US$ 700 value!). The other lucky draw prize was a free dinner at New World hotel for two people. All you needed to do was putting your business cards in the box as a draw. Mr. Thomas de Lange chose the lucky draw randomly. This was really interesting because all of us were palpitating while Mr. De Lange was calling the name of winners. 4

ALLIANCE BRIDGE Aiming for Success After that, people were free to talk together. Now, it was a chance for us to meet interesting people, to promote Alliance, and also to expand our personal networks. We walked around the Cage and talked with many people. I – one of the editors – The author of this article Vietnamese-American lawyer who has developed a law company in Vietnam. I also met a girl who is an expert in marketing in the Vietnam market. We talked about ourselves, our businesses and other things. My friends also rushed in the crowd to talk and make friends. Most of them were friendly and willing to share information with us. What made this event unforgettable for us was spending time with two special people, Mr. Thomas de Lange, Founder of Saigon Net Events and Geert Stroucken - the speaker of this evening. Mr. Stroucken taught us a valuable lesson about the use of colors in marketing and promotion. There is far more to this than one would think. It contributes to business success. So interesting! Then, we happily talked with Mr. De Lange and gave him his favorite candy, ‘Wine Gums’. How happy we were! After the event, we were in high spirits. We now know how to develop relationships with business people. One thing for sure is that people know about our company and our product as well. This kind of event also offers a good of opportunity to promote Alliance. Now we are looking forward to the upcoming events. Le Thi Tuyet Suong

December 2009

Upcoming Events

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

Fri

Sat

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30 Website: http://www.saigonnetevents.com

Events

Organizers

CON-BUILD VIETNAM 2009

VI TRADE EXPO HCMC

2009

Wine, Chocolate and Sax L UVERLY

BUBBLY CHRISTMAS

DINNER PARTY

Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center MMI & Hadifa Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center Vietnam National Trade Fair & Advertising Company Villa FB Nina Social Ballroom at the Caravelle BBGV

& DISCO

Terry Fox run in HCMC Banking Viet Nam 2009 9th Annual Amcham Scholarship Award Ceremony

TBA CanCham InterContinental Hotel Banking Vietnam

Majestic Hotel AmCham

Date

Time

Dec 1

7:00 am

Dec 2

7:00 am

Dec 3

6:00 pm

Dec 4

7:00 am

Dec 6

7:00 am

Dec 9

7:00 am

Dec 12

9:00 am 5

ALLIANCE BRIDGE Aiming for Success Volume 1, Issue 1

December 1, 2009

POSITIONING As the first team of Alliance, we worked hard on the ‘positioning project’. Before, we learned the theory, and by outlining the project and research we gained experience. Dr Clement and Professor Loek Hopstaken taught and coached us. Then, the most interesting activity in this project was, to carry out the interview to find the best image for positioning Alliance on the market. We also defined Alliance’s potential customers. We had to go out in hot days. However, we found a lot of interesting information by interviewing potential customers and friends. As associates, we also became closer and united, with this extracurricular activity. We are now reviewing and finalizing the positioning project report. Tran Thi Bao Tram

Photo: Survey in Vo Thi Sau High School

ASSOCIATES’ ACTIVITIES BUSINESS PLAN Making a business plan is essential for running a business. For Alliance, based on our developed business plan, the Board of Directors and the staff will be able to focus on the business goals and objectives for the next three years. The process for developing a business plan is sophisticated and takes a long time to complete. Normally, a business plan includes an executive summary, a company background, marketing plan, operational plan, financial plan, and a competition strategy. For the marketing plan, we surveyed students of several high schools such as Duy Tan, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, and Tran Dai Nghia in order to know what the customers want. Another important part that interests the readers’ concern are mission and strategy. In particular, the strategy during three years at Alliance when it starts its pilot project in Ho Chi Minh City. In the second year, it will expand market share in HCMC, but also in other provinces. In the third year, Alliance intends to penetrate the markets in large cities such as Ha Noi, Da Nang, Can Tho, and Vung Tau. Besides strategy, the company mission is to become one of the first most efficient Preparatory Program for International Study in Vietnam. Le Thi Hang Vy

6

ALLIANCE BRIDGE Aiming for Success EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Ms. Trang, one of the associates at Alliance, joined an extracurricular program in Quang Ngai province. It was a charity event which was organized by Linh Quang group to help victims of the recent storm. The Central area is often the victim of natural disaster. The storm caused serious damage. One area that suffered badly was Quang Ngai. Most people were confronted with difficulties, for instance lack of food and habitat. Therefore, Linh Quang Group decided to go to Quang Ngai and helped them overcome this situation. The trip lasted from October 29 to November 1st, 2009. The first day, it took nearly 17 hours from HCMC to get to Quang Ngai. During this day, the group found it very hard to arrive in Nghia Ha town, as the road is narrow, and needed to be fixed. That’s why her group had to find a town near Nghia Ha to deliver their succor goods. However, the authorities in this town did not allow them to do that. Finally, they could solve the problem and reached Nghia Ha town. At 6am on November 31, the group started to move to Nghia Ha town. They delivered goods including food, clothes and medicine to victims. It took them from 8am till 3pm. Unfortunately, when they were distributing goods in primary school, it rained heavily three times and everyone got wet. After finishing their work, they took a rest at a motel until 7pm. The very next day, they arNguyen Thi Hong Ngan

Trang’s emotion Although four days are not long, this really helped Trang understand the full size and impact of the situation on the citizens of Quang Ngai. I really sympathize with people who live in the Central area in general and Quang Ngai province in particular. From the bottom of my heart, I hope that people can go back to normal life as soon as possible without worrying about home and food. Especially, that children can return to school quickly in order to catch up with their classes. I also wish that there will be many people donating money to support the recovery of the people’s lives.

INTERVIEW PARENTS The Work Placement Program seems to be a strange program to both associates and their parents. To know more about parents’ opinion, we had the pleasure to interview Ms. Thu, mother of Ngan. She shared with us her feelings when Hong Ngan took part in this program. Ms. Phuong (Reporter): Why did you allow your daughter to work at Alliance? Ms Thu: Actually, I did not only allow, but am also happy for my daughter. It is a very good opportunity for her because she can practice and apply what she has studied at school in a real job. Ms. Phuong: After two weeks, have you seen any changes from her? Ms Thu: Hmm, I clearly see some remarkable changes. She works harder, has positive attitude and grows up. For example, the meeting point event she joined last week helps her to be more confident. Ms. Phuong: Do you want to say something to Alliance? Ms Thu: Yes. Firstly, I want to say thanks to all professors. With their enthusiasm, the students are able to learn useful lessons from them. Secondly, I want to remind all associates that they will have to work very hard to meet the professors’ requirements. Finally, I hope that Alliance will succeed in the near future. Ms. Phuong: Thank you very much Do Viet Phuong

Photo: Ms. Thu

7

ALLIANCE BRIDGE Aiming for Success Volume 1, Issue 1

December 1, 2009

November 20, 2009 is a special day for all teachers in Vietnam. We - Alliance’s associates - were very happy to express our deep gratitude to all professors on Teacher's Day. All of us were very pleased to send the best wishes as well as bunches of beautiful flowers as a gift to all professors. It really became an unforgettable day. All of Alliance’s staff gathered and had a small party with a lot of exciting activities. Some people arranged tables and chairs and the others helped Ms. Natasha - Dr Clement’s wife - cook different dishes such as soup, bread with tuna salad, and roast pork. Thanks to this opportunity, we learnt how to cook new meals and improved our cooking skills. This was the most interesting activities. We spent more than one hour for preparing, and then we enjoyed the party. Everyone agreed the food was very delicious. Whereas we were eating and drinking together, we also talked about our working process and exchanged information with our professors. It was the time we could share our feelings with each other. Through these conversations, we understood more and became closer. Moreover, Prof. Loek Hopstaken shared with us some good experience about “business etiquette”. One thing we should take seriously is that whenever we go to a foreign country, we should search information about body language in order to behave in the right way to fit with different cultures. A few kids living near our company were invited to join the party. They are very cute and kind–hearted; they helped us take some photos. We are very grateful to our professors for giving good opportunities for us to broaden our knowledge and get experience. We more and more respect them due to their kindnesses. They have great ideas to help poor kids living around the company. The professors plan to open a free English class for them. We hope that we have an opportunity to contribute our abilities to society with this meaningful activity. Teacher’s day, a day for gratefulness, appreciation to persons who sow the seeds of knowledge, nurture and develop the talents for our nation. With all their contribution, in one day, it seems not to be long enough to express all our admiration to our professors, as it serves to remind everyone of his responsibility, something profound they need to do.

Photo: Professors and associates in Teacher’s Day at Alliance

Do Viet Phuong 8

ALLIANCE BRIDGE Aiming for Success Volume 1, Issue 1

December 1, 2009

A MESSAGE to GARCIA On a dark and narrow road, it is hard to figure out what is waiting ahead. With ordinary people, their life seems to be filled with many trivial things. They will ask themselves several questions before continuing on that road. However, with a man of ideal, a person who dares to take and challenge destiny, he will be ready and willing to continue on that road and gain honor in doing so. Rowan is that man; he taught us a lesson, an ideal of life, a philosophy of our existences in this world, an example of responsibility for society and community. Rowan is the main character in “A Message to Garcia” which was written by Elbert Hubbard in 1889. The story is about the journey of Rowan who brings an extremely important message to General Garcia. When being given the mission assigned from President Mc. Kinley, Rowan didn’t ask anything related to his duty. He just tried his best to complete his job: he had to deliver the message to Garcia, a leader who was somewhere in the mountain of Cuba. Nobody knew where exactly Gacia lived and no mail or telegraph message could reach him. It was a very tough mission. During his trip, in four days he landed by

night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, and in three weeks came out on the other side of the Island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and delivered his letter to Garcia. What a responsible man! Rowan is model employee not only in the past but also in today’s world. All employers want to recruit such an employee like him because he has all the good characteristics that everyone should have and could learn form him. Rowan is a

responsible, independent, attentive, cooperative and organized person. Concentrating on the result is what he is concerned about. Since then, the youth should be educated as adults who

always complete and comply with their duties as soon as possible. What Rowan did makes us think about a famous saying of John F. Kennedy “Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country.” This book has only a few pages; however, deeply inside the simple story, it has a big lesson for the youth to follow and to live in the right way. Each existence in this world has a reason; and to make the reason become truly meaningful, everyone should have a positive attitude about life, work, and themselves. Rowan could choose a normal life to live, or become a person with the qualities of an immortal hero. He chose the way that everyone hesitated to go. He chose the mission that no one knew how to finish. He went and did the mission without asking anything; silently, he made the commitment with full responsibility. He sets an example the young generation should admire and can learn from. Through this story, we learn a lesson about responsibility that we have never cared before. We hope that everybody will change the way they live and work for the society. We personally are ready now. “Where is Garcia?” Ngo Huy Hoang

Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country John F. Kennedy 9