FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF
SMALLAND MEDIUM-SIZED AQUACULTURE
ENTERPRISES IN THE NORTH VIETNAM

___________________________

A DISSERTATION
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School
Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines
in Collaboration with
Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

___________________________

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Business Administration

___________________________

By
PHAN THI MAI HUONG (DIANA)
December 2013
i


APPROVAL SHEET

The Dissertation of

PHAN THI MAI HUONG

entitled
FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL AND
MEDIUM SIZED AQUACULTURE ENTERPRISES IN THE
NORTH OF VIETNAM
Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
A program offered by Southern Luzon State University,
Republic of the Philippines in collaboration with
Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
has been approved by Oral Examination Committee

MELCHOR MELO O. PLACINO, PhD
Expert

CONRADO L. ABRAHAM, PhD
Expert

EDWIN P. BERNAL, DBA
Expert

ALICE T. VALERIO, PhD
External Panel

WALBERTO A. MACARAAN, EdD
Chairman
Endorsed by:

Recommended by:

CECILIA N. GASCON, PhD

Adviser

APOLONIA A. ESPINOSA, PhD
Dean

Accepted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Business Administration

_____________________
Date

WALBERTO A. MACARAAN, EdD
Vice President for Academic Affairs
ii


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

iii


ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my utmost sincere thanks to the Management
Board of the Southern Luzon State University, Thai Nguyen Universityand the
teachersof the two universities who helped me facilitate the learning process
throughout my study.
I would like to express my sincere and profoundgratitude to Dr. Cecilia
N. Gascon, my enthusiastic adviser, who provided me with dedicated
guidance, encouragement, andspent time in orienting me during this research.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Board of Directors of
Aquaculture Enterprises in HaiPhong, QuangNinh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh,
NinhBinh, ThanhHoa Province who provided me withdata through the
surveyquestionnaire.
I sincerely thank the Board of the Universityof Laborand Social Affairs
(ULSA), colleagues in ULSA, and classmates in DBA who gave assistance
enthusiastically and shared experiences that helped me to complete this
thesis.
Finally, I would like to send this as a gift to my family whose
enthusiasm and encouragement helped me to complete this dissertation.

PhanThi Mai Huong

DEDICATION

iv


This piece of work is
heartfully dedicated
to
My Family & Friends

PTMH

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
v



TITLE PAGE ………………………………………………………………..

i

APPROVAL SHEET ……………………………………………………….

ii

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ………………………………………..

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT …………………………………………………..

iv

DEDICATION ………………………………………………………………

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………..

vi

LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………………….

viii

LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………...


x

ABBREVIATIONS ………………………………………………………….

xi

LIST OF APPENDICES …………………………………………………...

xii

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………

xiii

CHAPTER
I

II

III

INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………

1

Background of the Study …………………………………..

1

Statement of the Problem ………………………………….


4

Objectives of the Study …………………………………….

6

Hypothesis of the Study ……………………………………

7

Significance of the Study …………………………………..

7

Scope and Limitations of the Study ………………………

8

Definition of Terms ………………………………………….

8

REVIEW OF LITERATURE ……………………………….

12

Concept of Competition ………………………………...

12


Competitiveness Among Firms ………………………..

13

Porter’s 5 Forces Model ………………………………..

14

David Aker’s Model ……………………………………..

16

METHODOLOGY
Locale of the Study …………………………………………

28

Research Procedures ………………………………………

28

Data Gathering Procedure …………………………………

29

vi


Population ………………………………………………..


30

Research Instrument ……………………………………

31

Sources of Data …………………………………………….

32

Statistical Analysis ………………………………………….

32

IV

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ………………………….

36

V

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATION
Summary…………….………………………………………

73

Conclusions …………………………………………………


74

Recommendations …………………………………………

75

REFERENCES ………………………...…………………………………..

81

APPENDICES ……………………………………………………………...

83

CURRICULUM VITAE …………………………………………………….

116

LIST OF TABLES

vii


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

iii


TABLE


PAGE

LIST OF FIGURES

ix


FIGURE

PAGE

1

Map of the 6 Coastal Provinces in North Vietnam

31

2

Competitiveness in Terms of Financial Capability by
Province

37

Number of Aquaculture Enterprises Assessed Management
Capability at High Level

41


Number of Aquaculture Enterprises Having High Rate in
Intangible Assets

42

Number of Aquaculture Enterprises Rated High in Human
Resource

51

6

Revenue Growth of Aquaculture Enterprises by Province

53

7

Domestic Market Share (in %) by Province

63

3

4

5

ABBREVIATIONS


x


ADB

Asian Development Bank

AFTA

ASEAN Free-Trade Area

APEC

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

ASEAN

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

ASEM

Asia-Europe Meeting

BAT

Vietnam- America Bilateral Trade Agreement

CCI

Current Competitiveness Index


EU

European Union

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization

GCI

Growth Competitiveness Index

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GNP

Gross National Product

KSF

Key Sucess Factors

IMF

International Monetary Fund

ISO


International Organization for Standardization

NAIC

National Association of Investors Corporation

ROF

Rate of fund

ROS

Rate of sales

SPSS

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

UN

United Nations

VASEP

Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers

VCCI

Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry


WB

World Bank

WEF

World Economic Forum

LIST OF APPENDICES

xi


APPENDIX

PAGE

1

Survey Questionnaire

84

2

Competitiveness of Each Province

88


3

Anova Analysis

95

4

Post Hoc Tests

98

5

KSF Competitor Ranking 6 Provinces of Northern
Vietnam in Aquaculture Sector

106

Statistics Descriptive of Each Questions

107

6
`

ABSTRACT

xii



ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to express my utmost sincere thanks to the Management
Board of the Southern Luzon State University, Thai Nguyen Universityand the
teachersof the two universities who helped me facilitate the learning process
throughout my study.
I would like to express my sincere and profoundgratitude to Dr. Cecilia
N. Gascon, my enthusiastic adviser, who provided me with dedicated
guidance, encouragement, andspent time in orienting me during this research.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Board of Directors of
Aquaculture Enterprises in HaiPhong, QuangNinh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh,
NinhBinh, ThanhHoa Province who provided me withdata through the
surveyquestionnaire.
I sincerely thank the Board of the Universityof Laborand Social Affairs
(ULSA), colleagues in ULSA, and classmates in DBA who gave assistance
enthusiastically and shared experiences that helped me to complete this
thesis.
Finally, I would like to send this as a gift to my family whose
enthusiasm and encouragement helped me to complete this dissertation.

PhanThi Mai Huong

DEDICATION

iv


ACKNOWLEDGMENT


I would like to express my utmost sincere thanks to the Management
Board of the Southern Luzon State University, Thai Nguyen Universityand the
teachersof the two universities who helped me facilitate the learning process
throughout my study.
I would like to express my sincere and profoundgratitude to Dr. Cecilia
N. Gascon, my enthusiastic adviser, who provided me with dedicated
guidance, encouragement, andspent time in orienting me during this research.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Board of Directors of
Aquaculture Enterprises in HaiPhong, QuangNinh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh,
NinhBinh, ThanhHoa Province who provided me withdata through the
surveyquestionnaire.
I sincerely thank the Board of the Universityof Laborand Social Affairs
(ULSA), colleagues in ULSA, and classmates in DBA who gave assistance
enthusiastically and shared experiences that helped me to complete this
thesis.
Finally, I would like to send this as a gift to my family whose
enthusiasm and encouragement helped me to complete this dissertation.

PhanThi Mai Huong

DEDICATION

iv


Finally, this study found out that there were identified gaps on profile
such as organizational structure and company culture ; autonomy research &
development and financial management ; knowledge transfer

impacting


responsiveness and absorptive capacity; competitive advantage affecting
production capacity and product design ; and government policies focusing
more on the enhancement of the Central Management Unit ; hence, all the
identified gaps are recommended for capacity enhancement among the local
suppliers of Canon Vietnam.

xv