Leadership key to business success in digital age

Nguyen Duc Thuan, CEO of TBS Group (Thai Binh Shoes), said the Internet of Things (IoT) was changing the business world, creating an important foundation based on databases that can be analysed to help make decisions and periodic adjustments.

“You need to find solutions that will lower production costs and prices in order to be more competitive,” he said. 

Leaders of companies must clearly define their business strategy, especially products and services on which they are focused, Thuan said, adding that productivity must be increased as well.

To choose the right path, businesses, especially small-and medium-sized enterprises SMEs, must identify their challenges before pursuing goals.

Leaders, investors and entrepreneurs should be willing to keep up with new business trends, he said, adding that enterprises need to change their traditional mindset to ensure efficiency.

Women’s roles

More than 70 percent of the delegates at the forum were women, according to the organiser, the HCM City Association for Women Executives and Entrepreneurs (HAWEE).

More than 31 percent of businesses in Vietnam are owned by women, according to a recent MasterCard study. 

When women participate in entrepreneurial pursuits, their companies are often smaller compared to men’s and in fields more prone to economic instability, the study found. 

Women are also more likely to own retail and wholesale businesses as opposed to manufacturing.

Because technology has become more critical for success, it is even more important for women to be involved in this male-dominant area and stay informed.

“We aim to offer practical tips and a can-do spirit as the ky takeaways for our participants,” said the organiser of the forum. 

The exponential growth of technology-enabled solutions has created unprecedented opportunities for an inclusive and sustainable economy across borders, according to HAWEE. 

SMEs and family-run businesses may initially feel vulnerable and wait for the next shoe to drop or for a tech-enabled disruptive model to take over their market. 

But, instead, they should learn how technology can help them build on their fundamental strengths of being agile, cost-effective and efficient, with enviable customer relationships.

More than 400 delegates from SMEs, family-run businesses and start-ups of Vietnam and regional countries attended the event.

The forum also discussed how data series could be analysed to learn new trends that could increase competitive advantages. Other topics included artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, blockchain, and social media and communication.