Low customer based brand equity of school of medicine liang state university

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMIC HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business

Duong Hoai An

LOW CUSTOMER – BASED BRAND EQUITY OF
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE – LIANG STATE UNIVERSITY

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2021


UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMIC HO CHI MINH CITY
International School of Business

Duong Hoai An

LOW CUSTOMER – BASED BRAND EQUITY OF
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE – LIANG STATE UNIVERSITY

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

SUPERVISOR: ASSOC. PROF. DR. NGUYEN THI MAI TRANG
Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2021


TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................. 1
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... 2
INTERVIEW INFORMATION ......................................................................................... 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................. 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. 3
1

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1
1.1

Organization History ............................................................................................... 1

1.2

LSU’s Vision and Mission ....................................................................................... 2

1.3

Organization Chart ................................................................................................. 2

1.4

Academic program .................................................................................................. 3

1.5

Schools ..................................................................................................................... 3

1.5.1 School of Medicine (SOM) ................................................................................. 3
1.5.2 School of Engineering (SOE) .............................................................................. 4
1.5.3 School of Humanities and Languages (SHL) ...................................................... 4
1.5.4 School of Biotechnology (SB) ............................................................................. 4
1.5.5 School of Business Administration and Economics (SBE) ................................. 4
1.6

Competitor Analysis of LSU – SOM ........................................................................ 5

1.7

Target Customer of LSU – SOM ........................................................................... 10

1.8

Scope of Thesis ...................................................................................................... 11

2

PROBLEM CONTEXT .............................................................................................. 12

3

SYMPTOM .................................................................................................................. 14
Symptom Identification..................................................................................................... 14

4

PROBLEM ................................................................................................................... 17


4.1

Problem identification ........................................................................................... 17

4.1.1 Intake Meetings and Orientation ....................................................................... 17

4.1.2 Problem mess..................................................................................................... 20
4.2

Potential problems: ............................................................................................... 21

4.2.1 Potential Problem 1. Lack of Inter-departmental Collaboration between LSU SOM and other functional departments ................................................................................. 22
4.2.2 Potential Problem 2. Low LSU - SOM’s Customer-Based Brand Equity
(CBBE)
4.3

24
Problem validation ................................................................................................ 28

4.3.1 Potential Problem 1. Lack of Inter-departmental Collaboration between LSU SOM and other functional departments ................................................................................. 28
4.3.2 Potential Problem 2. Low LSU – SOM’s Customer-Based Brand Equity
(CBBE)

29

4.3.3 Main problem .................................................................................................... 31
5

CAUSE VALIDATION............................................................................................... 35
5.1

Potential causes ..................................................................................................... 35

5.1.1 Potential Cause 1. Lack of Effective Integrated Marketing Communication
(IMC) Plan 35
5.1.2 Potential Cause 2. Negative Word of Mouth (WOM) and e-Word of Mouth (eWOM)

5.2

41
Cause validation .................................................................................................... 44

5.2.1 Potential Cause 1. Lack of Effective Integrated Marketing Communication
(IMC) Plan 44
5.2.2 Potential Cause 2. Negative Word of Mouth (WOM) and e-Word of Mouth (eWOM)

46

5.2.3 Cause – effect tree ............................................................................................. 47
6

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION .................................................................................... 49
6.1

LSU – SOM’s Brand Identity ................................................................................. 50

Vision and aim ............................................................................................................. 50


The signs, which make the brand recognizable ........................................................... 50
Core values ................................................................................................................... 51
Field of competence ..................................................................................................... 52
Training Program ......................................................................................................... 53
Key Area of Knowledge............................................................................................... 53
6.2

Step to Build Effective Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Plan .......... 53

6.3

Admission Stage..................................................................................................... 57

6.4

Nature of each Promotion Tool ............................................................................. 60

6.5

Alternative Solution 1. Creating an Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

Plan with Personal Selling, Advertising, Sale Promotion and Public Relation ........................ 62
6.6

Alternative Solution 2. Creating an Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

Plan with Social Media Marketing, Online Advertising and Public Relations ......................... 68
6.7

Justification of alternative solutions ..................................................................... 72

7

ACTION PLAN ........................................................................................................... 80

8

SUPPORTING INFORMATION .............................................................................. 84

Secondary data ...................................................................................................... 84

8.2

Primary data .......................................................................................................... 84

9

8.1

10

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 87
APPENDIX .............................................................................................................. 89
10.1 APPENDIX A: Transcript of in-depth interview (Phase 1. Initial Understanding)
89
10.2 APPENDIX B: Transcript of in-depth interview (Phase 2 – Problem Deep Dive) 94
10.3 APPENDIX C: Transcript of in-depth interview (Phase 3 – Causes Deep Dive) . 99
10.4 APPENDIX D: Transcript of in-depth interview (Phase 4 – Solution Selection) 104
10.5 APPENDIX E: Key findings of qualitative research ........................................... 106


10.6 APPENDIX F. LIST OF ONLINE ARTICLE WRITTEN ABOUT THE CRISIS 2016
OF LSU – SOM ....................................................................................................................... 110
10.7 APPENDIX G. STUDENT INFORMATION SHEET – ADMISSION 2021 FOR
THE SURVEY AT HIGH SCHOOL ......................................................................................... 113


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. LSU’s Organization Chart (LSU Internal Report, 2020) ...................................... 3

Figure 2. Student Admission and Enrolment Result from 2013 to 2020 (LSU Internal
Report) ................................................................................................................................ 15
Figure 3. LSU – SOM’s Problem Mess (Summarized and designed by the Author, 2021)
............................................................................................................................................ 20
Figure 4. Preliminary Cause and Effect Tree (Summarized and designed by the Author,
2021) ................................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 6. Customer-Based Brand Equity pyramid (Keller 2008) ...................................... 30
Figure 5. Marketing Communication for Admission surveyed by first-year LSU - SOM
medical students (Enrolled in 2020) *TTS is Liang State School, which belongs to Liang
State University. ................................................................................................................. 33
Figure 7. Final Cause and Effect tree (Source: Proposed by the Author, 2021) ................ 47
Figure 8. Buyer-Readiness Stages (Source: Kotler, 2017) ................................................. 54
Figure 9. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Plan of Alternative Solution 1
(Proposed by the Author, 2021) ......................................................................................... 63
Figure 10 Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Plan of Alternative Solution 2... 68


LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. List of Medical Schools training Doctor of General Medicine in Vietnam
(Summarized by the Author, 2021) ...................................................................................... 7
Table 2. Competitors of LSU – SOM (Summarized by the Author, 2021) ......................... 9
Table 3. Target Customers of LSU – SOM (Summarized by the Author, 2021) ............... 10
Table 4. Number of student enrolment to LSU from 2015 to 2020 (LSU Internal Report,
2021) ................................................................................................................................... 11
Table 5. Current Financial Condition of LSU in 2018, 2019 and 2020 (Source: LSU Internal
Report, 2021) ...................................................................................................................... 13
Table 7. Survey on LSU – SOM’s Brand Awareness of prospective medical students in
Long An (Computed by the Author, 2021) ........................................................................ 26
Table 8. Survey on LSU – SOM’s Brand Awareness of prospective medical students in Ho
Chi Minh City (Computed by the Author, 2021) ............................................................... 27

Table 9. Promotion Tools and Forms (Kotler 2017) .......................................................... 36
Table 10. Evaluation of Influential Level for each Potential Cause (Prepared by the Author,
2021) ................................................................................................................................... 48
Table 11. LSU – SOM’s Medicine program (LSU Internal Report, 2020) ....................... 53
Table 12. LSU – SOM’s Admission Stages, Key Message and Key Activities (Proposed by
the Author, 2021) ................................................................................................................ 59
Table 13. Nature of each Promotion Tool (Kotler, 2017) .................................................. 61
Table 14. Alternative Solution 1: Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Plan with
Personal Selling, Advertising, Sale Promotion and Public Relation (Proposed by the
Author, 2021)...................................................................................................................... 67
Table 15. Alternative Solution 2. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Plan with
Social Media Marketing, Online Advertising and Public Relations (Proposed by the Author,
2021) ................................................................................................................................... 71
Table 16. Analysis of two Alternative Solutions (Prepared by the Author, 2021) ............ 72
Table 17. Comparison and Assessment Score for each Alternative Solution (Prepared by
the Author, 2021) ................................................................................................................ 75


Table 18. Action Plan for Alternative Solution 1 (Proposed by the Author, 2021) ........... 83
Table 19. Qualitative Phase 1 – Initial Understanding ....................................................... 85
Table 20. Qualitative Phase 2 – Problem Identification ..................................................... 85
Table 21. Qualitative Phase 3 – Cause Validation ............................................................. 86
Table 22. Qualitative Phase 4 – Solution Development and Selection .............................. 86


INTERVIEW INFORMATION
Interview date

Organization

Interviewee Position

March 10th, 2021

School of

Mr. William Huynh – Vice Provost of

and April 28th, 2021

Administrators

Admission and Administrative

March 13th, 2021

Public Relation and

and April 28th, 2021

Admission Department

March 30th, 2021
and April 28th, 2021

Mr. Ha Thanh Tan

School of

Prof. Dr. Madison Nguyen – Vice

Administrators

Provost of Academic and Dean of

School of Medicine

School of Medicine
Hoang Thao Vy, first-year medical

May 7th, 2021

School of Medicine

student
Dang Truong Tien Phat, second – year
medical student

Topics discussed:
 Discuss about Liang State University – School of Medicine’s problem context
 Discuss about potential problem and main problems of the School
 Discuss about potentials causes and validate causes
 Discuss about alternative solutions


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Higher education is a unique industry that considers branding as important function
to create competitive advantage for universities. Better brand position definitely have
impact on their recruitment performance and brand plays important role in connecting a
higher educational institution with its prospective students, students and graduates.

According to Keller (2013), brand equity is the value that consumers associate with
a brand. There are two different approaches to the concept of brand equity: firm-based
brand equity (FBBE) and customer-based brand equity (CBBE). Whereas FBBE measures
the whole esteem of a brand as an isolated asset, the CBBE is utilized to depict the value
that brands create to customers.
This thesis applies Problem Solving in Organizations (PSO) process focuses on
identifying and solving the business problem of LSU - SOM based on a qualitative research
approach with the in-depth interview technique. The symptom of LSU – SOM related to
low number of students enrolled in the School from 2018 to 2020. From there, it laid
establishment for the advance investigation on possible problems of the existing symptom.
The literature review and the interview with the key School Administrators indicate
that Liang State University – School of Medicine (LSU – SOM)’s customer-based brand
equity is low and currently is at the bottom of the CBBE pyramid. In other words, for a
long time, the students and their parents are not aware of LSU – SOM brand and therefore,
the competitive advantages and the values of the School are not in students and parents
‘mind by effective marketing communication efforts. As a result, prospective students and
parents prefer to study in other medical schools rather than LSU – SOM.
After the main problem “Low Customer – Based Brand Equity” has been determined,
the main cause “Lack of Effective Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Plan” is
found based on the combination of literature review and in-depth interviews. At that point,
the alternative solution “Creating the IMC Plan with Personal Selling, Advertising, Sale
Promotion and Public Relations” is developed and chosen in order to solve main problem
of the School for better result in student enrolment.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to devote my most earnest and honest appreciation to Assoc.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thi Mai Trang for all of her valuable guidance in this final thesis. Without
her advice, orientation, dedication and sympathy, I cannot complete this thesis as

requirement in terms of structure, content and presentation up to the final round.

Secondly, I would like to send my gratitude to Dr. Doan Anh Tuan and Dr. Le Thi
Thanh Xuan for your guidance during the round of thesis proposal.

Thirdly, I would like to send my gratitude to Mr. William Huynh, Prof. Dr. Madison
Nguyen, Mr. Ha Thanh Tan and the medical students for having supporting me in the
interviews and back-and-forth exchange of information for last two months.

Next, I am thankful that ISB has allowed me with an astounding opportunity to apply
all of the knowledge that I have obtained at school to solve the real business problem. This
experience has set up a strong establishment for me in my career ahead.

Finally, I would like to cherish and express all of my love to my MBA TEAM with
Tu Van, My Chau, Brother Tho, Brother Huy and my friends in the MBA CLASS,
especially Brother Dai – Class Monitor for the constant support and motivation for me until
the last minute to complete this thesis. I wish all the best for all of you.

With my warmest personal regards,
Duong Hoai An


1

1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Organization History
The establishment of Liang State University (LSU) demonstrates the long-standing

desire of Mme. Maya Dang, President of Liang State Group (LSG) as well as the founding
members to provide students in Vietnam with an excellent learning environment. LSU is
allocated in a 503 acres’ area in Tan Duc E. City, Duc Hoa District, Long An Province.
LSU’s milestones:
 In October 2004, Liang State University started the construction of infrastructure,
internal roads, and utilities;
 In November 2006, LSU signed a design contract with Morris Architects of the US
to design Central Buildings, Department of Economics, Faculty of Engineering,
Media Building;
 In February 2010: LSU was appraised and permitted to open eight advanced
disciplines taught in English according to the requirements of Rice University in
the United States;
 In November of the same year, LSU was given the Decision to establish University
by the Deputy Prime Minister;
 Three months later, in February 2011, the Ministry of Education and Training
signed the Decision to approve Liang State University to open 8 tertiary training
disciplines;
 In October 2011: Opening ceremony of the first school year of LSU with School
of Business (SBE); School of Engineering (SOE) and School Humanities and
Languages (SHL);
 In October 2013 Opening the first year of the School of Medicine (SOM) and the
School of Biotechnology (SB) with the presence of 18 American professors.
Up to now, after 10 years of operating, in total more than 800 students have graduated
and are studying at LSU. Every year, LSU has provided to the labor workforce’s market
about 50 to 80 students with high quality and professional skills.


2

1.2 LSU’s Vision and Mission

LSU is the first private non-profit (Earned profit used to invest back to LSU and not
paying dividends to shareholders), a US-style Liberal art university. This curriculum is
designed by Rice University in the US and offers students a comprehensive background in
many aspects such as social science, humanities, and natural sciences before going into
specialization. At the liberal arts courses such as languages, culture, literature, civilizations,
history, mathematics, economics, management, leadership skills and communications,
mechanics, and chemistry, students will have the ability to self-study, adapt and improve
themselves in new environment during 25% of academic programs.
LSU's Vision is “Liang State University aspires to become a globally distinguished
educational institution, providing excellence in education while participating in the
advancement of knowledge through research and serving the people of Vietnam, Southeast
Asia, and the world.”
LSU’s Mission is “With an educational philosophy, standards, and practices based
on the American liberal arts model of higher education, Liang State University encourages
freedom of thought and expression and seeks to foster tolerance and respect for diversity
and dialogue.”
1.3 Organization Chart
LSU has a Board of Trustees who controls and supervises the Provost and three Vice
Provosts. In particular, each Vice Provost will take functional responsibility. To ensure the
quality of academic programs, LSU has the Board of Academics with excellent professors
in Vietnam and the U.S.


3

The organization chart of LSU as follow:

Figure 1. LSU’s Organization Chart (LSU Internal Report, 2020)

1.4 Academic program

Lifelong learning is highly valued at LSU. Upon graduation, students will be able to
continually equip themselves and enhance knowledge for professional and social
development. Therefore, they will be actively engaged in opportunities with any
professional positions. LSU students are encouraged to think independently, while also
developing discipline, persistence, creativity, integrity and taking responsibility for the
community (Source: LSU’s Website 2020).
1.5 Schools
LSU has 05 Schools:
1.5.1 School of Medicine (SOM)
SOM is the first private medical School in Vietnam with the bilingual training
program of general medicine (in English and Vietnamese).
LSU - Doctor of Medicine program designed to create and develop a diverse
generation of outstanding health and medical professionals committed to an educational


4

philosophy, standards, and practices based on American and Global Health Sciences and
Arts models.
SOM’s slogan: “American Medical Sciences, Hải Thượng Medical Ethics.”
*This thesis focus on applying the PSO to Liang State University – School of Medicine
(LSU – SOM)
1.5.2 School of Engineering (SOE)
SOE is training bachelors of Computer Science. For that purpose, SOE focuses on
training high-quality human resources to lead the trend of data science and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) during continuous innovation of the telecommunications industry.
SOE’s slogan: “Companion with the Industrial Evolution 4.0”.
1.5.3 School of Humanities and Languages (SHL)
SHL aspires to become a Center for Languages and Culture Studies based on training
young, talented and highly – educated generations to contribute to the innovation of

teaching in Vietnam. In addition, SHL equip students with knowledge, skills and
necessary cultural experiences to live, work and implement innovation in global English
– speaking environment.
SHL’s slogan: “Expanding New Horizon”.
1.5.4 School of Biotechnology (SB)
SBE provides society is training bachelors of Biotechnology for students to
understand, develop and apply the knowledge, create valuable products from
biotechnology.
SB’s slogan: “Nurturing Global Citizen”
1.5.5 School of Business Administration and Economics (SBE)
SBE focuses on training bachelor of International Business and Business
Administration with professional skills, business ethics, social responsibility and mastering
on basic knowledge of economic, management, social and humanities. Since then, students
with specialized skills can work in various types of businesses in Vietnam market economy
and international trade integration.
SBE’s slogan: “Training Successful Entrepreneurs.”


5

1.6 Competitor Analysis of LSU – SOM
There are currently 29 medical schools in Vietnam training the Doctor of General Medicine
(6 years of training) approved by the Ministry of Education (MoET):
+ Among them, there are 10 private medical schools and 19 public medical schools;
+ Strategic regions that LSU – SOM should focus for the admission includes 06 provinces
in 04 regions: Central Highlands (Đắk Lắk), Southeastern (Ho Chi Minh City) and
Southwestern and Mekong River Delta (Cần Thơ, Hậu Giang, Long An, Trà Vinh).


6

Region

North Central
Coast

No.

Province

1

Thanh Hoá

2

Nghệ An

3

Thừa Thiên Huế

South Central
Coast

Central
Highlands

Đà Nẵng

6
7

Quảng Nam

8
9

Đắk Lắk

10
11
12
Southeastern

13

Ho Chi Minh
City

Đại học Y Khoa Vinh

x

2010

Đại học Y Dược - Đại học Huế

x

1957

Cần Thơ

x

1994

Khoa Y Dược - Đại học Đà Nẵng

x

2008

Đại học Kỹ thuật Y Dược Đà
Nẵng

x

1963

Đại học Phan Châu Trinh
Đại học Tây Nguyên
Đại học Buôn Ma Thuột
Khoa Y - Đại học Quốc gia
TP.HCM
Đại học Y Dược TP.HCM
Đại học Y khoa Phạm Ngọc
Thạch
Đại học Nguyễn Tất Thành

Đại học Quốc tế Hồng Bàng

14
15
16

x

Đại học Dân lập Duy Tân

4
5

Phân hiệu Đại học Y Hà Nội

Year of
Approved
Training
by MoET
2014

Medical School training Doctor
of General Medicine (6 years of Private Public
training)

Đại học Y Dược Cần Thơ
Đại học Nam Cần Thơ

Tuition
(Dong)

15.730.000/year
1.380.000/month/
student
9,700,000/year
32.000.000/semester (5
months)
Approximately less than
7,500,000/semester
24,500,000/year

x

1977
2014

80,000,000/year
Double tuition for
international students
12,000,000/year
20,000,000/semester

x

2009

60,000,000/year

x

1945

68,000,000/year

x

1989

28 – 32,000,000/year

x

2018

x

2019

26,000,000/semester
91,000,000/semester
110,000,000/semester
for bilingual medicine
program
20,000,000/year
28,000,000/semester

x

2007

x

x
x

1979
2018


7

Southwestern
and Mekong
River Delta
Northeastern
Region

17

Hậu Giang

18

Đại học Võ Trường Toản

x

2011

Long An

Liang State University

x

2013

19

Trà Vinh

Đại học Trà Vinh

20

Thái Nguyên

21
22
23
Red River Delta

Hà Nội

24
25
26
27

Hải Dương

28
29

Hải Phịng
Thái Bình
Total

Đại học Y Dược - Đại học Thái
Ngun
Khoa Y Dược - Đại học Quốc
Gia Hà Nội
Đại học Y Hà Nội
Đại học Kinh doanh và Công
nghệ Hà Nội
Học viện Y Dược học cổ truyền
Việt Nam
Đại học Đại Nam
Học viện Quân Y
Đại học Kỹ thuật Y tế Hải
Dương
Đại học Y Dược Hải Phịng
Đại học Y Dược Thái Bình

x

2006

x

1968

14,300,000/year

x

2020

60,000,000/year

x

1902

387,000/credit

2015

30,000,000/semester

2005

14,300,000/year

2007
1949

95,000,000/year
Full scholarship funded

x

1960

476,000/credit

x
x
19

1979
1968

1,430,000/month
14,300,000/year

x
x
x

10

29,450,000/semester
150,000,000/year for
bilingual medical
program
Approximately
20,000,000/year

Table 1. List of Medical Schools training Doctor of General Medicine in Vietnam (Summarized by the Author, 2021)

8

 The competitors of LSU – SOM includes 11 medical schools in Central Highlands, Southeastern, Southwestern and Mekong
Delta. Among these:
+ There are only two (02) medical schools training the bilingual medicine program including Liang State University – School
of Medicine and Hong Bang International University (Ho Chi Minh City)
+ HIU has the highest tuition for medicine program whereas LSU - SOM play at the second position
+ HIU, Nam Can Tho University (DNC), Nguyen Tat Thanh University (NLSU) have not had the medical students
graduation
+ LSU – SOM, HIU, DNCM, Vo Truong Toan University have the lowest passing score to medicine program.


9

Region

Central
Highlands

No.

1
2

Province

Medical School training
Doctor of General Medicine (6
years of training)

Long An

Liang State University- School
of Medicine

Đắk Lắk

3
4
5
Southeastern

Southwestern
and Mekong
River Delta

Ho Chi
Minh City

Đại học Tây Nguyên
Đại học Buôn Ma Thuột
Khoa Y - Đại học Quốc gia
TP.HCM
Đại học Y Dược TP.HCM

Private

Public

27.05

x

1945

68,000,000/year

x

1989

28 – 32,000,000/year
26,000,000/semester
91,000,000/semester
110,000,000/semester
for bilingual medicine
program
20,000,000/year
28,000,000/semester
29,450,000/semester
Approximately
20,000,000/year

26.7
HCMC:
23.5
Provinces:
24.65
23

28.45
HCMC:
26.35
Provinces:
27.5
24

x

2019

Total

x

1979
2018
2011

x

2006

x
x

Đại học Trà Vinh
5

26.15
23

23.95

Đại học Quốc tế Hồng Bàng

Trà Vinh

23
21

60,000,000/year

7

11

22

2009

2018

Hậu Giang

21

x

x

x

Đại học Y Dược Cần Thơ
Đại học Nam Cần Thơ
Đại học Võ Trường Toản

Passing
Score in
2020

1977
2014

Đại học Nguyễn Tất Thành

Cần Thơ

Passing
Score in
2019

x

2013

6

8

9
10

Tuition
(Dong)
150,000,000/year
bilingual medicine
program
12,000,000/year
20,000,000/semester

x

Đại học Y khoa Phạm Ngọc
Thạch

Year of
Approved
Training
by MoET

6

Table 2. Competitors of LSU – SOM (Summarized by the Author, 2021)

22
24.3
21
21

26.95
22
22

22.2

25.2


10

1.7 Target Customer of LSU – SOM

1

Target
Customer

2
3
4

Age
Occupation
Income

5

Insights

Students and parents who want to study medicine program in Vietnam
Parent (who influence the decision of studying
Student
medicine)
16 – 22 years old
40 – 55 years old
Business, Medical Doctor, etc.
40 - 60 million dong per month or above
- From the high school for the gifted and top high school in
the city, provinces
- Strong and excellent in Maths, Biology, Chemistry,
- Knowledgeable parents whose life is oriented towards
English, Physics
in fields such as business, health, research, etc.
- Want to study abroad and in the top universities
- Hobbies: travel, restaurant, hotel, real estate, health,
- Want to have scholarship to study
economy, finance, stock, news, etc.
- Have a modern, extroverted lifestyle, want and study in
- Planning to send their children d to study abroad and at
an English-Speaking environment.
high-quality universities
- Study hard, like to participate in academic competitions.
- Interested in the international learning environment.
- Hobbies in medicine, research, English, international
academic competitions.

Table 3. Target Customers of LSU – SOM (Summarized by the Author, 2021)

11

1.8 Scope of Thesis
Because 75.3% of the total student number of LSU are medical students, this thesis
focuses mainly on Liang State University - School of Medicine (LSU - SOM) with the
major Doctor of General Medicine program (6-year medical training program). LSU –
SOM are competing with 11 medical schools in 06 provinces and 04 regions including
Central Highlands (Đắk Lắk), Southeastern (Ho Chi Minh City) and Southwestern and
Mekong River Delta (Cần Thơ, Hậu Giang, Long An, Trà Vinh).

Table 4. Number of student enrolment to LSU from 2015 to 2020 (LSU Internal
Report, 2021)
No
School/Year
1 School of Medicine (LSU - SOM)
School of Business Administration &
2
Economics (SBE)
School of Humanities and Languages
3
(SHL)
4 School of Biotechnology (SB)
5 School of Engineering (SOE)
Total Number of Student Enrolled in LSU

2015 2016
147
81

2017

23

2018
64

2019
31

2020
36

Total
382

0

0

9

20

19

7

55

1

0

7

9

12

4

33

7
0
155

0
0
81

2
3
44

8
1
102

1
9

76

3
3
55

21
16
507

The participants of this thesis include:
+ School Administrators: Vice Provost of Administrative and Admission, Vice
Provost of Academic;
+ Dean of LSU – SOM;
+ Administrative Office of SOM;
+ Director of Public Relation (PR) and Admission Department;
+ 01 first-year medical students major in General Medicine enrolled in 2020;
+ 01 second-year medical students major in General Medicine enrolled in 2019 and
currently doing clinical clerkship at hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City;
+ High-schools students in Ho Chi Minh City (12 schools) and in Long An (27
schools) do the survey.


12

2

PROBLEM CONTEXT
Established in 2013 and after 08 years of operation with 02 medical class graduated in

2019 and 2020, the enrolment result has been disappointed despite of the large investment
to LSU - SOM. After the communication crisis in 2016 regarding the change in tuition and
scholarship policy of LSU – SOM, the number of student enrolled to LSU - SOM has
dramatically dropped down and kept declining from 2018 up to 2020.
LSU – SOM has many competitive advantages the medicine-teaching program such as:
 The bilingual English – Vietnamese program and curriculum ensures the basic
framework regulated by the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) and refers
to the curriculum of medicine program, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA;
 The clinical clerkship is available in major and prestigious hospitals in Ho Chi Minh
City;
 LSU – SOM sends students for summer clerkship in the USA and Asian countries
in prestigious hospital and medical centers such as St. Mary Medical Center
(Indiana), University of Maryland Medical Center (Maryland), Hermann Memorial
Hospital (Texas), Christ Hospital (Illinois), Yonsei School of Medicine (Korea);
 LSU – SOM is the only university in Vietnam currently teaching and preparing
students for the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination – USMLE)
Step 1 and 2;
 LSU – SOM sends students in research and scientific reports at conferences and
workshops in Vietnam and abroad;
 The faculty of LSU – SOM are from University of Medicine, Pharmacy of Ho Chi
Minh City Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine and other prestigious medical
universities in Vietnam and abroad;
 The tuition and scholarship policy is stable and LSU – SOM is committed to keep
the tuition unchanged in the whole medicine program course;
 Compared to other private medical schools, LSU – SOM has two class of medical
students are graduated with full-employment or do the residency in prestigious
hospitals, which proved the teaching quality of the School;
Despite these competitive advantages of the Schools, the enrolment result has been
a nightmare and put a question mark on the survival of the School in the near future.
Besides, the negative and long-lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic at the current

time is threatening the dream of students and parents in studying medicine therefore
lower the demand in studying medicine of the students.


13

In term of financial status of the School, according to the internal report of LSU to
Ministry of Education (MoET), LSU has been suffering the loss since 2018 up to 2020:

Table 5. Current Financial Condition of LSU in 2018, 2019 and 2020 (Source:
LSU Internal Report, 2021)
Total legal income of LSU per year (2018-2019-2020)

No.
1

2

3

4

Item
Income from tuition fee and
other fees
Income from research
studies
Budget from the
Government
Sponsored by Liang State

Group and others
Total

2018 (dong)

2019 (dong)

2020 (dong)

41.090.000.000

47.306.397.970

47.166.346.898

580.000.000

518.850.000

432.650.000

(None)

(None)

(None)

23.360.000.000

37.692.209.300

37.304.856.100

65.030.000.000

85.517.457.270

84.903.853.089

LSU is suffering the loss from 23 up to 37 billion VND since 2018. The main reason
for the loss is the large investment on LSU – SOM’s facilities, equipment, hospital contracts
and salary for faculty and staff. During this period up to now, Liang State Group has been
sponsoring for the operation activities of LSU – SOM. The tuition for medicine program is
150,000,000 dong/year (one hundred and fifty million dong) is not enough to cover the
School’s expenses. At the end, the School will go bankruptcy or in other case, it will be
closed or might be taken into acquisition.