EMBA Market Entry Plan for Vietnam: A Business School Strategy

Introduction

The following is a marketing plan for entering the Vietnamese higher education market. Several issues will be covered, including product and market analysis, external and internal analysis, and an action plan, followed by conclusions. In brief, the Vietnamese market presents considerable challenges for a business school seeking entry. While the country has a large population and rising wealth, the average Vietnamese citizen cannot afford tuition for Western-quality higher education. The actual addressable market — consisting of wealthy Vietnamese students who seek a Western business education but cannot readily study abroad — is relatively small. This report outlines the size of that market and the most effective strategies for reaching it.

Product Analysis: The Executive MBA Offering

The product being offered is higher education. The business school proposes to enter the Vietnamese market with several programmes of study. Two primary options exist for this market: a baccalaureate degree and an Executive MBA (EMBA). The EMBA has the strongest chance of success, because its target market consists of working professionals who have both the means and the motivation to invest in further education. The core target segment is Vietnamese professionals in their late twenties and early thirties, who hold progressive positions and wish to invest in their futures, but who are unable or unwilling to relocate to a Western country for study.

An MBA or Executive MBA programme offers experienced professionals an opportunity to reflect on best practices in business, synthesising their work experience with management theory (Roglio & Light, 2009). Because of their prior experience, EMBA students face lower barriers to academic success, and conventional predictors such as GMAT scores have limited correlation with outcomes in this cohort (Gropper, 2007), although some studies contest this finding (Siegert, 2010). EMBA programmes typically combine classroom instruction with distance learning, enabling greater scheduling flexibility (Desanctis & Sheppard, 2010). This attribute, if implemented effectively, would further reduce the barriers to enrolment for the Vietnamese market.

Students are motivated to pursue EMBA programmes by a range of factors. Research into students in Hong Kong found that most participants fund their own MBA and that the primary motivations include improving analytical ability, deepening business management knowledge, obtaining the qualification itself, and becoming more effective in their current roles (Thompson & Gui, 2000). Student satisfaction is shaped both by the quality of the degree content and by institutional factors, meaning that both dimensions must inform the marketing strategy (Grady, 2010). An additional product consideration is the international component. Vietnamese students are likely to seek an EMBA partly for exposure to Western business practices, and demand is expected to be higher for programmes with a strong international business element, particularly in light of recent economic stagnation in Vietnam (Tho, 2013). Incorporating an international component has been shown to yield positive outcomes for graduates at the cognitive, behavioural, and attitudinal levels (Schuster et al., 1998).

Hilgert (1995) found that EMBA students typically expect "life-changing" outcomes and broader perspectives on the world. This insight illuminates the key pain points the programme must address. The target market generally consists of individuals who have achieved success in their respective fields in Vietnam, but who — having come up without the benefit of formal Western business education — feel constrained when attempting to scale their businesses or pursue careers within multinational firms. Both Hilgert (1995) and Thompson & Gui (2000) point to the desire for broader management perspectives, including formal grounding in business theory and its practical application, as the central pain points that drive EMBA enrolment decisions.

Market Analysis: Vietnam's Higher Education Landscape

Understanding what students seek from an EMBA programme helps in course design and contextualises marketing through known pain points. However, a deeper understanding of the market itself is equally essential before committing to entry. Vietnam has a large population of approximately 95 million people, with two-thirds living in rural areas and a GDP per capita that, while low, is growing (CIA World Factbook, 2016). These figures are neither alarming nor particularly encouraging; they do not by themselves make a compelling case for Vietnam as an investment destination.

Vietnam's business environment presents real difficulties. The country is governed by a Communist administration that exercises strong control over commerce, and this is especially pronounced in the education sector. In 2012, Decree 73 was enacted, imposing strict requirements on foreign educational institutions operating in Vietnam. The minimum required investment is set at $15 million USD, and there is a mandated minimum cost per student of $7,500 USD. These provisions effectively cap the accessible market. Additionally, programmes must incorporate content developed in partnership with Vietnamese educational institutions — a requirement that is somewhat at odds with the very appeal of a Western EMBA, and which therefore reduces the product's attractiveness. There are also stipulations governing teacher-to-student ratios (ICEF, 2012).

Entrepreneurialism is strong in Vietnam, but bureaucracy is pervasive and corruption is a significant concern: Vietnam ranked 112th out of 168 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International, 2016). The government has, however, made notable investments in the national education system in recent years, resulting in competitive scores on international assessments (The Economist, 2013), though a high dropout rate remains a concern. These educational investments provide a reasonable baseline of literacy and numeracy, meaning that Vietnamese professionals entering EMBA programmes in their twenties and thirties are better prepared for the demands of postgraduate study.

Gender is another important market dimension. EMBA programmes offer particular value to women, who perform strongly on the programme's key expected outcomes — including broadened perspectives and cognitive flexibility (Hilgert, 1998). Female entrepreneurship is widely regarded as a driver of economic growth, unlocking the economic participation of a population segment that in many cultures remains excluded from opportunity (Kobeissi, 2010). Female entrepreneurs have been identified as especially significant to economic development in Vietnam specifically (Gerrard, Schoch & Cunningham, 2007). There is a clear market for female participation in an EMBA programme, though in a cultural context where female entrepreneurs may still be expected to fulfil traditional domestic roles, it is important to study what accommodations — such as flexible scheduling and childcare support — would be necessary to effectively reach this segment.

Psychographic considerations are also central to the marketing strategy. Swierczek and Thai (2003) studied Vietnamese SME owners and found that they were primarily motivated by achievement and the desire for challenge, rather than by career necessity or the pursuit of economic security. Tapping into these motivations will be critical to successfully marketing the programme to Vietnamese entrepreneurs and managers.

In terms of reaching the market, it is noteworthy that in the two major cities driving Vietnam's economy — Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) — Vietnam is a relatively educated and connected society. Approximately 40% of all Vietnamese access the internet daily, smartphone ownership is rising rapidly, and with 40% of the population under the age of 25, there is significant growth potential in targeting the upwardly mobile, digitally connected young entrepreneurial class (Davis, 2016).

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