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Human Resources for IT and E-commerce of Enterprises



Figure PL.2: Application rate of IT and e-commerce software of Vietnamese enterprises in 2011

Source: E-commerce Report, Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2011, page 65

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2. Human resources for IT and e-commerce of enterprises


The survey on e-commerce by the Ministry of Industry and Trade also showed that, compared to 2003 and 2004, the situation of IT and e-commerce training in enterprises has made much progress, both in terms of the number of enterprises implementing training as well as the proportion of training in the investment structure. If in 2004, training costs only accounted for an average of 12.3% of total IT costs of enterprises (calculated for hardware purchases, software installation and maintenance, system operation, training, e-commerce services, etc.) [9], then this rate in 2007 was raised to 20.5%. In 2004, up to 28.6% of surveyed enterprises said they did not conduct any form of IT training for employees, in 2007 this rate was only 17.1% [9]. It can be seen that enterprises are increasingly aware of the role of human resources in effectively exploiting IT - e-commerce applications and have appropriate investments in this factor.

With the advantage of saving costs and bringing immediate efficiency due to being closely linked to the job requirements of each employee, on-the-job training is still a popular choice (according to the survey results for 3 consecutive years from 2005 to 2007, the rate of enterprises applying this training method is always above or below 60%). However, the number of enterprises that systematically combine the "learning while doing" model with other training methods is increasing. Compared to 9% of enterprises that opened training classes and 31% of enterprises that sent employees to attend short-term IT courses in 2004, the figures of 12% and 38% in 2007 show an encouraging sign of the trend of intensive training in IT - e-commerce skills for employees in enterprises [4, page 121].

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's survey data on e-commerce, 39% of enterprises said they had arranged staff specializing in e-commerce, with an average of 2.7 people per enterprise, nearly double the figure of 1.5 people in 2006. However, the rate of enterprises with staff specializing in e-commerce did not change much in the next 3 years, showing that the increase in the average number of staff per unit was the result of increased investment in enterprises that had deployed e-commerce applications in previous years. This increase in resources is a sign that enterprises have begun to evaluate the effectiveness of e-commerce. The 2011 survey results also showed that the highest rate of staff specializing in e-commerce was in the IT, e-commerce and financial sectors, and the lowest in the construction and trade sectors.


Figure PL.3: Proportion of staff specializing in e-commerce of Vietnamese enterprises, 2011

Source: E-commerce Report, Ministry of Industry and Trade, 2011, page 63

3. Invest in business websites


With the view that the modern business trend in the world as well as in Vietnam requires every enterprise, regardless of the field or scale of the enterprise, to have its own website, the e-commerce report for the years 2010 and 2011 also sets a research goal on the current status of investment in websites of enterprises. The rate of enterprises with websites is an important indicator to evaluate the level of application of e-commerce in general and IM in particular. According to the survey results of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2011, in general, nationwide, about 30% of enterprises have websites. While the rate of enterprises with websites has not increased, the rate of 11% of enterprises that do not have websites but plan to build websites has even decreased compared to previous years. Both of these important rates have not increased, possibly due to the consequences of the global economic recession that has had a profound and comprehensive impact on Vietnamese enterprises. Enterprises have cut down to the maximum business costs, including new costs for advertising and in-depth investment, including website construction. Analyzing the rate of enterprises with websites by business sector, similar to previous years, it can be seen that the IT and e-commerce sectors are still pioneers in building websites to serve production and business activities with a rate of 72% of enterprises having websites. This rate in 2010 was 63%. [8]

The second group of enterprises with the highest website ownership rate is the group of enterprises operating in the fields of finance, banking and real estate with a rate of 45%. The high rate of financial and banking enterprises attaching importance to the application of IT and e-commerce in professional and technical activities, including providing customer support services via websites, has been a clear trend for many years. Meanwhile, many real estate enterprises have exploited the website tool well to introduce products. The high rate of enterprises in this group having websites reflects that trend.

Another sector with a high and stable website rate is agriculture, forestry and fishery. It can be inferred that enterprises in this sector have a high orientation towards integration and export, so they attach great importance to building websites to introduce their image and products. In 2011, up to 37% of enterprises in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector had websites and 11% of enterprises had plans to build websites. These rates in 2010 were 32% and 21% [9]. Thus, the economic recession has almost no impact on the e-commerce application of enterprises in this sector. There may be a close correlation between these rates.


with a high growth rate of about 28% of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover in 2011 compared to 2010. Notably, the rate of 28% of enterprises in the trade, wholesale and retail business group having a website is quite low. In terms of relative position over the years of investigation, the rate of having a website of this group of enterprises has always been in a low average position. From that, it can be concluded that enterprises in the distribution sector in Vietnam in general have not kept pace with modern technology and management levels. This may be a factor that makes the cost of distributing goods and services still high.

While the percentage of enterprises with websites in 2011 did not change much compared to previous years, the quality of websites increased. First, the frequency survey showed that enterprises invested more in updating information on their websites. The percentage of enterprises updating their websites daily, weekly and monthly was 65%, 23% and 10% respectively. Overall, the update frequency in 2011 was better than in previous years.

The survey on the status of updating websites of enterprises in 2011 also showed that there was no clear difference between the size of enterprises and the frequency of updating websites. Meanwhile, there was a clear difference in updating websites between enterprises in the two major economic centers of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and other localities.

Second, the survey of website content according to the criteria of introducing businesses, introducing products, allowing online ordering and allowing online payment shows a clear improvement. The rate of websites with functions higher than the function of introducing businesses and products such as online ordering and payment functions has increased significantly. In 2011, up to 32% of websites had online ordering functions compared to 20% in 2010. The rate of websites with online payment functions was 7%, more than double the rate of 3% in 2010 [7, pages 72-77]

Thus, it can be assessed that, although the rates are still low, Vietnamese enterprises have gradually become aware of the importance of IT and e-commerce in general.


APPENDIX 2

INTERVIEW GUIDELINES FOR ENTERPRISES

(Section for in-depth personal interviews on investment awareness and orientation)for IM)

Dear Sir or Madam,

We are part of the research group of the National Economics University on the topic of “perception and application of IM in small and medium enterprises in Vietnam”. The purpose of the topic is to study and provide the necessary theoretical framework for the application of IM in the specific conditions of Vietnamese enterprises, so the truthful information you provide will be very valuable to us. We sincerely hope that you will take some time to answer the following questions. This information will only be used for research purposes and will be kept completely confidential. We sincerely thank you!

Question 1:

In your opinion, what applications can the Internet have in the production and business activities of enterprises?

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(PROBE) Are there any other possibilities? For example, does it help in the process of finding and evaluating business partners?

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(PROBE) Can it be used for other purposes in business activities, such as can the Internet be applied to business marketing activities and how?

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(PROBE) Besides the benefits, does the Internet bring any disadvantages to businesses?

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Question 2:

Now we would like to ask you to share a little bit about IM, also known as Electronic Marketing, e-Marketing or Online Marketing.

Tell me, when I say these phrases, what do you think of?

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(PROBE) Anything else?

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Question 3:

According to you, what specific activities does an IM business do? (Probe: Anything else?)

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Question 4:

In your opinion, what kind of business is suitable for online marketing?

Have products suitable for online sales

Have a business model suitable for online sales

No stores or no ability to create own distribution system

Less able to operate and compete in the real environment, or operate in the real environment ineffectively (for example, few customers, unable to compete with strong competitors...)

Dynamic, with a vision of new modern trends, adapting to changes in human social behavior

Have customers who like and are used to working with computers and networks

Other opinions and/or further explanation of each idea

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Question 4.M: (ask those who chose the first option)

According to you, what kind of businesses or products need to do IM? What kind of businesses or products do not need it?

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(PROBE) Is there any business that sells tangible products that can only operate on the Internet to ensure success? Why?

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(PROBE) How can and should online sales be conducted by businesses? What physical products can be sold online?

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Question 5:

In your opinion, what can IM do for a business? (What benefits can a business that applies IM get from it)

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Question 6:

In your opinion, what does a business need and prepare to do IM?

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Question 7:

When does a business need to perform IM activities?

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Sentence 8:

In your opinion, if a company conducts IM activities, which department of that company is responsible for and manages these activities?

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Question 9:

Does a business have to outsource all IM activities?

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