English for busines

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Management Reform Pays Off
A change in management and distribution has helped Ha Tien 1 Cement Company boost sales and return to good health
By Tan Duc
Ha Tien 1 Cement Company was facing severe problems in 1999 when its sales fell by 260,000 tons, the worst fall in 40 years. The downfall stunned the company, but that also helped it realize that its distribution system was outdated in a market with fierce competition and oversupply.
In this situation, Ha Tien 1 was forced to change its distribution method to maintain its position as the market leader in HCM City, the southeast and the south central region.
Renovation of distribution
With his experience from working with Sao Mai Cement (now Holcim Vietnam), Ha Tien 1 director Nguyen Ngoc Anh decided to close all sales branches, agents and retail network, and replace them with 15 distributors. The renovation helped Ha Tien 1 recover cement sales to nearly the 1998 level, doubling its sales last year.
Before 1999, Ha Tien 1'' s sales system, which was developed under the centrally planned economy, did not change much when the country embarked on a market economy. It had a sales branch in each province, in ad***ion to more than 50 agents and 20 retail outlets.

Ha Tien 1 Cement''s History
Ha Tien Cement Company was established on March 21, 1964, with two cement plants. The plant in Kien Luong (Kien Giang Province), now Ha Tien 2 Cement Company, produces clinker from limestone and clay mined at Com and Trau mountains. The plant in Thu Duc (now Ha Tien 1 Cement Company) produces cement from clinker supplied by the Kien Luong plant.
Ha Tien Cement''s initial design capacity is 240,000 tons of clinker and 300,000 tons of cement a year.
In 1993, Ha Tien Cement was split into two companies, Ha Tien 1 Cement in Thu Duc and Ha Tien 2 Cement in Kien Luong. Ha Tien 2 has raised the designed capacity to 1.3 million tons of clinker and 860,000 tons of cement a year. Ha Tien 1 has increased cement production to 2 million tons a year. The company is building a new cement plant with an annual capacity of 2 million tons in Binh Phuoc Province and a clinker grinding station with an annual capacity of 1 million tons in HCM City.

The bulky system was costly, as the company had to rent space for the branches and agents and cars for the branch heads, and pay water, power and telephone bills. Meanwhile, the branches were not active in marketing and just waited for customers. Such a sales system is only suitable in a business environment with little competition. When market con***ions changed, it cost the company dearly.
The replacement of the old distribution system with 15 distributors appears to narrow Ha Tien 1''s distribution channel, but the new network is really more extensive. The distributors are trading companies that have experience in cement and construction materials sales, and extensive wholesale and retail networks. Through them, the company can sell its product at more than 3,500 outlets.
"The renovation of the distribution system is not a change in form only, it is a move to adapt to the market economy," Anh says. The distributors'' profit is proportionate to their sales. So, they do not sit idle waiting for customers but seek markets. With their experience, they have a good understanding of the market and can offer flexible sale and payment methods that a State-owned company can do with dificulties.
For its part, Ha Tien 1 has set up its own trading section to seek orders for big projects and introduce the distributors to the project owners. This measure helps the distributors approach big projects, especially State-funded projects that private trading companies cannot approach easily. The trading section also offers customer-care services.
Management reform
Apart from distribution renovation, Ha Tien 1 has reformed management by delegating budgeting power to the heads of its units. Every year, they must submit to the director their annual budget plans. To be able to do this, they must figure out specific jobs to do during the year and the funds needed. After the budget is approved, the unit heads can carry out the jobs without having to ask for management approval.
The budgeting mechanism has freed management from daily chores to concentrate on strategic affairs.
The reform has paid off handsomely. Productivity over the past five years has increased 24.6%, sales 20.6%, profit 32%, tax payment 37.6%, and salaries 43.4% annually.


Trước mặt em anh là chàng hai lúa
Sau lưng em anh là chúa giang hồ
Trên đường đời anh sang bằng tất cả
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Five Decades Of A Trademark
After many ups and downs, KymDan is celebrating 50 years of operation with achievements in both the domestic and foreign markets
By Hoang Duy
Fifty years ago, Nguyen Van Dan, made the first KymDan product. It was a one-meter by two-meter white rubber foam mattress, then still a unique product in Vietnam. To shape the mattress, Dan had to produce a huge mold and the mold was heated inside a huge metal pot. The "fuel" Dan used to boil the pot is paddy husk. That was how the KymDan rubber mattress, now a popular trademark in Vietnam, started its life at 3 p.m. March 19, 1954.
A few hours after Dan "gave birth" to his product, his son, Nguyen Huu Tri, was born. Things have changed now: the old mold and paddy husk were no longer in use. KymDan has become one of Vietnam''s reliable trademarks and manufacturers with modern production facilities known to many Vietnamese nowadays; and Nguyen Huu Tri is at the helm of KymDan, replacing his father. "My father often told me that at my birth, he had been successful and rich," Tri says. "That has instilled in me a cherished dream of how to boost the growth of a trademark that was built by my father."
KymDan in a nutshell
- First KymDan product was made on March 19, 1954.
- In 1960, KymDan took the first step towards foreign market when KymDan
mattress was selected for an exhibition of Vietnamese products in Japan. - Nguyen Van Dan, KymDan''s founder, attended the event.
- On September 26, 1962, KymDan was granted Patent No. 831 by the former Saigon regime for the ventilation of its products.
- On February 10, 1984, KymDan was granted Patent No. 2669364 by the French authorities
- In 1993, it received a certificate (on an annual basis) of non-polluting and fire-resistant product by Germany''s committee for environmental protection, allowing use in Germany and the European Union.
- Since 1999, the KymDan trademark has been registered overseas. To date, registration has been conducted in 53 countries and territories.
- In 2003, KymDan received ISO 9001:2000 granted by AJA, UKAS, QUACERT.
- In 2003, KymDan received SA 8000 granted by QUACERT.
- In 2003, it was named a key industrial product by the HCM City government.
- In 2004, it received the WIPO 2003 by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a prize for a business with creativity and products highly regarded on the world market.
- Year of flotation: 1999.
- 2003 sales: VND300 billion. 2003 dividend: 36%.

Dan came up with the idea of making mattresses from natural rubber when he was working in Labbé, a French-owned factory producing foam slippers. It took him time and effort to fine-tune the rubber foam mattresses. The secret lies with the bee-nest structure of the mattress, which increases the surface area and the ventilation through tiny holes. Dan''s first success laid the foundations of a diverse mattress industry. He named his product KymDan: in Vietnamese, Kym is the short form of ky nghe mousse (the mattress industry), and Dan means da nganh (diverse).
Before 1975, the year of Vietnam''s reunification, KymDan products monopolized southern Vietnam. Dan thought of the need to protect his invention, and registered for a copyright in 1962. After settling in France, he continued to improve the product to raise its durability. KymDan was licensed by France''s committee of invention in 1984.
The product has been improved by Dan''s son. But, as a chemist graduating from the former Saigon University of Sciences, Tri''s research is based on professional chemical knowledge. Not discouraged by years of stagnation under a planned economy that forced KymDan to halt production, Tri kept his eye on the future. "I strongly believed that my effort wouldn''t be fruitless because one day the standard of living would rise and consumers would seek comfort. That would be KymDan''s opportunity," he says.
KymDan''s revival
Tri''s belief proved right when Vietnam shifted to a market economy. Then a staff member of the HCM City Union of Rubber Enterprises, where the labor force was facing joblessness because there were no longer orders from the military, Tri persuaded his corporate executives to re-introduce the production of KymDan rubber mattresses. In 1989, the first year of their return, sales reached VND500 million. Sales doubled every year afterwards. The KymDan trademark revived.
But it was the next decade that witnessed the swift return of KymDan. In 1999, KymDan went public and sales were boosted to VND100 billion just one year later. KymDan''s products began to go beyond Vietnam''s borders. "The inheritance and development of the trademark has put great responsibility on my shoulders, both in research and management," Tri says. "The share flotation makes business more dynamic. We find it easy and self-reliant to decide business plans that a director couldn''t do in a short time during a planned economy."
The new economic opportunity allowed Nguyen Huu Tri to breathe new life into the KymDan trademark. Results of years of research conducted by both the father and the son were put into practice. The durability of products has been raised from five years to 10 years and 20 years. Technically, the smell of natural rubber that is sensitive to some users is replaced, using suitable treatment which also raises durability.
"However, my personal success in research is only part of the picture," Tri says. "The success is made possible also with effective management of the trademark and business. KymDan''s ups and downs have given me a belief in our workforce''s contribution and customers'' confidence."
What Tri says is testified by the income of KymDan''s workforce. Before 1989, the average monthly income of a KymDan staff was about VND500,000. This figure soared to VND2 million only one year after the flotation, and to VND3.5 million last year, not including bonuses. "Our goal is to create a product that enables consumers to enjoy product quality and reasonable prices, and workers to be rich thanks to their contribution. I believe it will be the right path that ensures KymDan''s sustainable development."
Now the joint stock company Saigon-KymDan has a 800-strong workforce. Production will rise by 30% to 50% when the extension of its factory is complete. The extension will specialize in producing exports. Last year, KymDan''s export sales were VND30 billion, and it projects the figure to soar to at least VND100 billion a year during 2004-2005.
KymDan''s export markets
The direct channel
- This channel is applicable in countries that have the following factors:
- The market has high demand for natural rubber foam mattresses
- KymDan has talented and reliable officers who can develop, operate and manage the distribution network
- KymDan has a good command of local culture, habits and buying behaviors.
This channel is being used in France, Germany and Australia.
The indirect channel via general sole agent
The channel is applicable where there are barriers in culture, habits and customs of the foreign countries, and human resources and the financial factor is not guaranteed.
Through trade shows or overseas fairs, KymDan makes contacts with sizable distributors to sign sole agent contracts. This channel is being used effectively in Japan and China.

Before 1975, despite KymDan''s monopoly on the domestic market, its exports were limited. After the 1999 flotation, the company took steps to expand its export markets. "We are now strong enough to develop and maintain domestic and export markets," Tri says. "For the immediate future, KymDan will focus on target markets such as the European Union, the U.S., Japan and Australia. We will have separate policies for the vast market of China after 2005."
To boost exports, KymDan has implemented a plan to open companies in Germany, Australia and France. As KymDan''s shareholding arms, these companies are responsible for market development. KymDan''s agent network in Russia,
Japan and the U.S. were set up last year. The KymDan trademark has been registered in 52 countries.
Using natural materials that are safe to humans and the environment, KymDan has quickly gained fame in developed countries. So far, KymDan natural rubber mattresses are still a unique product which has not been tapped by other producers on the world scale. Recently, KymDan was recommended to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for a prize for a business with creativity and products highly regarded on the world market. The recommendation has been approved in principle and the ceremony is scheduled for April 21 in Hanoi.
"KymDan is no longer in the period of seeking suitable products or production," Tri says. "We will continue to introduce new technology to raise productivity and rationalize materials for better product quality and economic efficiency. We will have appropriate and timely policies for the development of every market. All this is to make KymDan a Vietnamese trademark known to the world."


Trước mặt em anh là chàng hai lúa
Sau lưng em anh là chúa giang hồ
Trên đường đời anh sang bằng tất cả
Trên đường tình anh gục ngã dưới chân em

I think you should change this topic to : English in business
Thanks .

Lonelymanus