Marketing strategy for light weight steel truss system Vision truss in Vietnam construction field period 2006 to 2010

UNIVERSITE OUVERTE DE
HCMV
UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES
ECOLE DE COMMERCE SOLVAY
MMVCFB
PROGRAMME DE MAITRISE EN MANAGEMENT
VIETNAM-COMMUNAUTE FRANCAISE DE BELGIQUE


PHAM THANH PHUONG


MARKETING STRATEGY FOR
LIGHT WEIGHT STEEL TRUSS SYSTEM
“VISION TRUSS” IN VIETNAM
CONSTRUCTION FIELD – PERIOD 2006 – 2010


MASTER DEGREE THESIS IN MANAGEMENT
(MMVB 6)

Guidance Counselor:
Prof. Dr. LE TAN BUU


HO CHI MINH CITY
2007

This is my original work. Any data, result or quote in
the work is clearly identified



PHAM THANH PHUONG







I wish to express my deep gratitude to my advisor, Professor Le Tan Buu for his
useful guidance, suggestions and encouragement through out the research work.
His enthusiasm has helped me to be more confident in carrying out the research.

I also would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of the Professors &
Co-ordinators of Viet Nam – Belgium Master in Management Programe for
their teaching, assistance and supporting me in studying and fulfilling the
research.

I also would like to extend genuine thanks to my closed friends and MMVCFB6
classmates for their warm sentiment and sharing.

The last but the most wholehearted gratitude I wish to express my sincere thank
to my family, especially my wife and 2 sons for their loves, cares,
encouragement and supporting through out my life.

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After the 6
th
National Party Congress in 1986, we have confirmed the direction
correctly for our nation, and nowadays our Vietnam is on the way for
development to become a newly industrial country in 2020. Even there are some
restrict but we also got some achievements relatively in economic development.
In order to serve for the development of the country, the construction service will

occupy a part relatively to contribute into this development, but for the speed of
high growth the traditional materials will be replaced by the new ones with the
source for supply is more stable, and compatitive
price and it will bring more
profitable for the projects.

In the construction service, the building materials are very diversified and
abundant, they are made from a lot of different sources and especially to be
favourite that they have been made from the natural material source. But for the
speed of high development of the construction service at present about 20-30%
every year, those materials become expensive and the supply source is not stable,
that is the reason for appearance of a lot of new materials in the construction
service in which there is the Light Weight Steel Truss System for the roof of the
projects.

Due to a new product in the construction service therefore the contact with the
customers and penetration into the market has met a lot of difficulties, the writer
researches this topic with the desire to show a marketing solution more concretely
to take the products to customers more effectively.


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To stipulate the situation for use of materials for the roofing system of the
projects of Vietnam before from a lot of different materials, through that to
appraise the contribution of the system of Light Weight Steel Truss System for the
construction projects with the profits brought by it to the projects and customers.

To show a strategy for marketing in discovery and penetration into the market for
the roof of the construction works with materials made of Light Weight Steel

Truss System - Zincalume on the foundation for analysis of the situation for
construction in Vietnam. Beside that the writer also shows the solution for option
to the customers on the foundation for comparison of the materials characteristics,
expense, longevity of the work and the other strengths of the Light Weight Steel
Truss System - Vision Truss in comparison with the other products in the market
of Vietnam construction materials at present.

Some statistical data and analysis will help for the investors, the owners of project
see the trends that need to change at present in the building material service,
through that it is the basis for these units to have more the necessary information
to show the suitable decisions when collecting the materials for roof of their
projects.

To help for the customers to search deeper about the preeminent characters of
The Light Weight Steel Truss System made from Zincalume high tensile steel, for
the projects that can use this kind of materials, from that the customers have the
new vision and easy to receive, to collect the products for the purpose to take the

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Light Weight Steel Truss System to occupy the market share bigger in the
Vietnam construction market.


The Light Weight Steel Truss System - Vision Truss is made from the Zincalume
high tensile steel, the operations for contact and penetration into the roofing
market of the construction works in Vietnam of Vision Pioneer Construction
Company and planning the marketing strategy for this product in the period 2006
– 2010.

This topic is researched to show a marketing strategy for the products of Light
Weight Steel Truss System - Vision Truss of Vision Pioneer Construction
Company in the plan for penetration into the Vietnam construction market.

The scope for research concerning the kinds of the other products of the roofing
system of the projects, the investors, the enterprises in domestic participate for
design, consultation and execution of the construction works.

Some comparisons between the kinds of materials for making the roof of the
projects from the sources of the different materials, from the traditional materials
to modern ones, with the origin from in domestic and overseas.



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Basing on the knowledge harvested from the university program, the program for
training Vietnamese – Belgium Master in Management.

Basing on the working experience in the construction service for over 10 years of
the writer and the positions spent in the work such as a sales, marketing and
management in the construction companies or trading building materials.

Basing on the data of the magazines specialty for construction, the results for
research of the companies for specialty in building materials, quoted the
documents concerned, collecting the information in internal and external service
to make the basis for argument in implementation of this thesis.


The thesis is divided into 4 key chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 : Theory basis for marketing strategy

Chapter 2 : General introduction of Vision Pioneer Construction Company.

Chapter 3 : Analysis of the opportunity of Vision Truss in Vietnam

Chapter 4 : Marketing strategy of Vision Truss in period 2006 - 2010


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The term strategy with the origin from the Greek language with two words of
“Stratos” – that means the army, or group and “agos” – Leading, controlling. The
strategy is used the first time in the military to show the big plans, long term
shown on the basis to believe firmly what the enemy can do and what the enemy
can not do. Normally the people understand that strategy is science and arts for
military command, to be applied for making the general plan and carried out the
campaigns with the big scale.

From the decade 60 of the century XX, the strategy is applied into the field of
business and the term “Business strategy” was born. However the conception of
the business strategy is also developed gradually following the time and the
people also contact with it following a lot of different ways.

Following the traditional way for contact then
“The strategy is the definition of
the basic aims for long term of the enterprise and implementation of the program
for action together with the distribution of the necessary forces to get the
confirmed aims”.
We can also understand that: The strategy is the approach that
the enterprise uses for orientation of the future for reaching and remaining the
development.

In difference with the conception above, Mintzberg contacted the strategy
following the new ways, he considered that “The strategy is a sample in the flow
of the decisions and programs for action”. Thus to his mind the strategy has the
origin from any location, where the people have ability to study and the power

source to support it, indeed the strategy of the enterprises is the combination

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between the intent and sudden mutation. Mintzberg shown the model of the
periods for strategy as follows:








Even how the way to contact then the nature of the business strategy is still the
draft of the future imagine of the company in the region for operation and ability
for discovery. Following this understanding way then the term of the business
strategy is used following three most universal meanings:

1.

Definition of the basic aim in long term of enterprise.

2.

To show the programs of general action.

3.

To select the plans for action, to deploy for distribution of the
resources for implementation of that aim.

The strategy is a set of the aims and policies as well as the essential plan to get
those aims, it shows clearly what the companies are or will be implementing
business operations and the company would or will belong into what business
field.
Intended
strategy
With conditions
Feasibility
Unreal conditions

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At present for management of the strategy is implemented at a lot of different
levels in an organization, but for the business units, there are three strategic
levels that are usually applied as:



This is a pattern of the decisions in a company, it determines and shows clearly
the purpose, the aims of the company, to define the business operations that the
company follows, to make the basic policies and plans to get the aims of the
company.

In an organization with the diversified extent and level, the strategy of the
company is usually applied for whole factory.

The strategy of the company stipulated for verification of the business operations

that in which the company will compete and distribute the power sources between
those business operations.



The Strategic Business Unit is planned for definition of the selection of products
or the concrete form of the market for the business operation respectively in the
internality of the company and it defines how the company competes with a

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business operation in same location that has known of the company itself between
its competitors.

The strategic business units of the enterprise defines the way of each business
unit will try to complete its aim to contribute the completion of the aim for the
grade of company. If the company is the single service then the strategic business
unit can be considered as the strategy of the grade of company.



To concentrate for support into the arrangement of the strategy of company and
concentration into the working strategy, the business fields.

Even in any level, the strategies also observe the basic process as follows:

Grade of company
- Environmental analysis.
- Definition of the responsibility and
aim
- Analysis for option of strategy.
- Implementation
- Control

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The need of human is the manner for shortcoming that should be satisfied at first.
Those are what the human need such as foodstuff, clothes, housing … for

Grade of business
- Environmental analysis.
- Definition of the responsibility
and aim
- Analysis for option of strategy.
- Implementation
- Control
- Environment anal
y
sis.
Information
Information
- Environmental analysis.
- Definition of the responsibility
and aim
- Analysis for option of strategy.
- Implementation
- Control
- Environment anal
y
sis.

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existence. These demands are not made by the society or the persons doing
marketing that they generate from the instinctive psychology of the human.



That is the form of the human need at the deeper level, more concrete. The wants
is formed basing on the factors of the culture, religion, school, family and even

the enterprise. Thus the wants also generates from the psychology of the human
but it has the consciousness. The wants of the human usually is more diversified
in comparison with the demand.
Marketing should commence from the requests, wants of the human.


The demands are the wants of the products concretely that has the calculation to
ability and readiness to buy them. The wants will become the demands when
having the purchase.

The company must measures not only for the quantity of the persons who want to
buy the products that the more importance is the quantity of the persons who have
ability and ready to buy them.

Marketing not to make the needs, but it can affect the wants. Marketing affects to
the demands by making the suitable, interesting, convenient products … for the
aimed customers.


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The products are any thing what are launched to the market to satisfy the
demands and wants of the customers. The concept of the products in marketing
including even the material products and immaterial products.


The exchange is the behavior to receive what to want from a persons and hand to
the another. The change is one of four solutions that the human use to have the
products. For remaining three solutions are self–production, arrogation and
bagging from the other people.

The market including the customers who have the needs or the wants unsatisfied,
have ability and ready to participate for exchange to satisfy those demands or
wants. The market of a company includes even the governmental class and other
public…


The customers are the personalities or organizations that the enterprises are
aiming the marketing effect to. Those are the personalities or organizations who
have the condition to issue the decision for purchase.


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The consumers including the personalities, households use or consume the
products.



Marketing is an English term with the black meaning ‘making the market’. This
term is used officially for the first time in 1902 in Michigan University in the
USA. Although the marketing operation has been implemented so long but
nobody has the concept or definition what it is, to the years at the first of 20
th

century, the most basic concepts for marketing have been mentioned by every
one; such as Hamilton Academy of the USA defined about the marketing
operation as follows: “Marketing is the economic operation in which the
commodity is taken to the consumers by the manufacturer”. For a simple

definition of the marketing operation at that period, but spending the period for
formation and development, the content of the marketing operation is more
complete and abundant. Nowadays marketing has become a part that can not be
shortcoming of the enterprises, especially in the competitive economy at the level
for global violation as present.

Since the birth to the years of 30 of the 20
th
century, the traditional marketing is
considered as passive marketing, it means that the marketing operation is only
limited in the business field, the commodity was produced already and the
marketing operation is just for the purpose to speed up the consumption of that
ready-had commodity so quickly with the purpose to get the highest profit.

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Every thing has changed since after the world war two, this period due to the
reconstruction of the exhausted economies in the war, the business operation
developed quickly, the economic situation of the world with more changes,
further more the application of the scientific achievements in the war into the
economic development to make the technology has changed constantly, this lead
the commodity, products of all kinds were launched out more and the grade is
more diversified and abundant, the cost price is lowered but the quality hasn’t
ceased enhancement in comparison with before, also due to the strong
development of the transportation therefore the distance about the geographic
aspect of the countries seemed to be shortened to lead to the market for
expansion day by day, and thus the customers will have more comparisons and
selections when deciding to buy some product, this period the competition

becomes more severely, the customers become fastidious and have the demand
much higher in comparison with before. It is very this matter to make the
consumption of commodity not to be easy as before, and for that in order to
consume the produced commodity that the people should research to find out the
solutions to apply in order to bring back the higher effect. On the basis of
traditional marketing that “selling what we have”, now, marketing has had the
changes of the view of point and the way for implementation, that the people do
not only sell what they have more that now they have ‘sold what the customers
need’. The modern Marketing is more completed, it considers that the market is
the most important knot of the period for reproduction of commodity, thus the
modern marketing includes the operations and calculations concretely about the

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aims, the strategic intents before production of commodity to the operations for
consumption of the products and service after sales.



Following is some views of point and concepts of modern marketing of the
organizations, associations and the researchers of marketing in the world to be
accepted and propagated:

- Following CIM (UK’s Chartered Institute of Marketing) then Marketing is
the aware administration process, forecast and satisfaction of the demand
of customers effectively and profitably.

- Following AMA (American Marketing Association, 1985): Marketing is the
process for planning and implementation of the creativeness, pricing,
proceeding and distribution of the ideals, commodity and service to make
the exchange and satisfaction of the aims of personality and organization.

- Following Groroos (1990): Marketing is the operations for establishment,
remaining and reinforcement for long term the relations with the customers
profitably to satisfy the aim of the parties. This is implemented by the
change between the parties and satisfy the promised things.

- Following Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong, 1994 – Marketing is the
proceeding through that the personalities and groups can get the demands

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and wants by creativeness and exchange of the products and value
between the parties.

- Following William J. Stanton, Michael J. Etzel, Bruce J. Walker, 1994 –
Marketing is a system of the business operations for design to plan, price,
proceed and distribute the products to satisfy the desire of the aimed
markets for reaching the aims of the organization.

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The Light Weight Steel Truss System is introduced in the market in 1976, the
Zincalume high tensile steel was developed after many years for research to
enhance the longevity of the traditional steel coated age. By mixing aluminum
with zinc to make an alloy to use for plating metal, the researchers of Blue Scope
Steel Company (Australia) found out the solution to enhance the ability for anti-
erosion of the steel for many times. The ability for anti-corrosion of Zincalume
high tensile steel is higher than Zinc coated steel of four times and for many times
in comparison with mild steel steel.

The coated layers component of Zincalume high tensile steel includes 55%
aluminum, 43.5% zinc and 1.5% silicon, the structure of the coated layer is
demonstrated as following picture:

The Zincalume high tensile steel is coated a layer 25 micron thick on each
surface of the steel plate with the weight of the galvanized layer in totality of 150
g/m2.

The Zincalume high tensile steel with the strength of lightness, activeness and
durability, the intensity of the mild steel of 30% to make an advantage for the rate
ZAL
Zn
Al
Si
Alloy layer

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of weight is the exceeding factor in comparison with all normal other building
materials, this has the meaning that the Light Weight Steel Truss System will be
executed much easier to decrease the expense during the construction.

During the use the customers can be peaceful that Zincalume high tensile steel is
produced following the standards with the highest quality, to use the most
advanced production technologies, these standards and orientations of quality of
Blue Scope Steel to ensure the produced products with the high belief as well as
the solutions for use of these products such as application for the Light Weight
Steel Truss System VISION TRUSS.

The Zincalume high tensile steel is used successfully in a lot of the design for
structure of steel in nearly 30 years ago, it has been proved through the time
because it is designed for existence in the conditions of the most severe climate.
Indeed the Blue Scope Steel Company has followed the quality of this product

under the climate condition at the locations for experiment outdoor globally
during over 3 decades ago.

The coated layer of aluminum/zinc alloy of Zincalume high tensile steel to
protect for steel and make the exceeding quality following two main ways as
follows:

- Firstly following
the guarded effect,
the atmosphere is always wet and
existent the separated salt therefore the aluminum oxide membrane AL
2
O
3

is formed so durably, to cover whole the surface of aluminum, to make

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durability of aluminum layer, at that time the aluminum membrane protects
the steel by guarded effect.

- Secondly following the
electrification principle
: The zinc in the component
of the galvanized layer in the atmosphere that is always wet there are the
salts for separation of zinc to sacrifice to separate the steel and change it
into catode, it means to make inertness of the steel, this has the very
important meaning because the edges or the places of the galvanized layer
are scraped or the cut edge when executing (this has always occurred in
the construction), to expose the steel, but it is not still eroded in the

environmental condition.

For principle, the erosive level belongs to the coated layer of materials and
environment of that products for existence. There are three universal solutions
used to appraise the ability for anti-erosion as well as the longevity of the
products. These solutions are:

- Experiment in the laboratory.
- Environmental effect outdoor with the samples assembled in the concrete
environment.
- The experience for application actually, based on the recognition of the
working ability of the different products used in the works.



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The said chart summarizes the result of some programs for experiment outdoor. It
forecasts the desired longevity of the galvanized steel (the weight of the
galvanized layer of 270 g/m2) and the Zincalume high tensile steel of (AZ 150),
both have the same thickness of coated layer.

Basing on the experiment result of 11 samples of Blue Scope Steel, the
Zincalume high tensile steel has always kept better then the galvanized steel in
all environments from the severe sea to rural environment. The forecasted
longevity of Zincalume high tensile steel is about 100 years or more, outdoor in
the severe sea environment where the Zincalume high tensile steel exists about
20 years, this result has still escaped far in comparison with the galvanized steel
in the similar environment.

AZ150
Z275
AZ150 / Z275
55%Al-Zn Coated Steel versus Galvanized Steel
Severe Marine Mild Marine Industrial Marine Rural
Expected Life
AZ150
Z275