I Also Talk About The Dark Side Of Business

I Also Talk About The Dark Side Of Business

I Also Talk About The Dark Side Of Business

Copyright © 2024 by Colleen Grissolimas

All rights reserved

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 : BLOOD AS AN OFFICIAL?

CHAPTER 2 : THE GODFATHERS OF THE POST-WAR

CHAPTER 3 : WHEN PEOPLE PRODUCE OR TRANSPORT GOODS

CHAPTER 4 : DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INTROVERTS AND EXTROVERTS

CHAPTER 5 : FAITH FOUND AGAIN

CHAPTER 1 : BLOOD AS AN OFFICIAL?

As for us, a certain French man commented that in every Vietnamese person there is a small mandarin (un petit mandarin). Through the ages, the dream of most Vietnamese youth has been to study well to pass high and become mandarins. The poem Moonlight in the Tea Garden is an expression of the Vietnamese dream. Marrying a princess as a concubine is winning the lottery.

Recently, after some tycoons bought private jets, showed off supercars, and dated long-legged couples, the business world gained attention and made an impression on young people. However, taking your parents' money to show off is still more comfortable than investing decades of effort into a business project. The best ideal is to use the power of descendants to be appointed manager of a state-owned corporation. Having both money and power.

The road is difficult

During the seminar, I talked about the 6 basic elements of all sustainable success in the marketplace: motivation, health, time, action, knowledge and luck. I talk more about the failures that will come, the will to keep going, and the constant innovations to maintain a competitive advantage. After that, a young person commented on why your success process is so tiring? Please show me a shortcut to get ahead. I replied that I heard that shortcuts are difficult here, so why don't you try knocking on the back door of the house you want to go to?

I also talk about the dark side of business: the daily pressures from all sides, the responsibilities to employees, the community and the ethical standards to create a lasting brand. These are burdens that can undermine personal health, family happiness, and life goals. Therefore, I completely sympathize with young people's choice of a more leisurely path after graduating; The best thing to do is to get a job in an office with lots of benefits.

Dream road

After 5 thousand years of human evolution, Darwin's law does not apply in Vietnam. A village or commune chief is still as powerful and prosperous as in feudal times more than a hundred years ago. Perhaps because of culture and tradition, people still have to cower like a worm when facing a mandarin, even a village mandarin. Different from the thinking of European and American peoples: your salary comes from my taxes, I am the owner, paying you salary to serve.

In 2007, I had the opportunity to go to the City Planning Department to sign a document to apply for a business license. It was scorching hot at noon and I wanted to go for a walk after a heavy meal to burn off the rice. Short pants and a t-shirt are a reasonable solution. When I got to the gate, two security guards wouldn't let me in. I asked the reason and was told that my way of dressing showed disrespect to the civil servants sitting in the cold room. After an argument of about 5 minutes, I had to retreat because the two guards' responses were very logical and firm. The most convincing is the threat to lock me up if I continue to argue.

Our world

Also during the conversation, I talked about a morning bus trip in Copenhagen in 1966. I stood next to Mr. Otto, Prime Minister of Denmark, because the bus was so crowded that there were no seats left. He was on his way to work every day and despite friendly greetings, none of the passengers had any intention of giving up their seat to the big mandarin. After hearing the story, a female student said it sounded like science fiction to her. You asked me, the world out there is already in the 21st century, right?

Because we are still living in the past, I understand that the next generation of Vietnamese intellectuals still consider becoming a mandarin as the path of choice. Being an entrepreneur is hard and takes too much time. Only a few stupid and reckless or poor and lonely people go down this road. I left, it was a hot afternoon, but on the horizon, dark clouds were already obscured. It will rain heavily this afternoon. An old song echoes loudly...

If the earthly heart still has the silk of king khanh minister, then the earthly road will be blown away by wind and rain... there will still be many, my dear...

Guerrilla tactics in the internet era

After the great victory at Dien Bien in 1954, guerrilla tactics took root in Vietnamese thinking and culture. Not only common in daily behavior, many Vietnamese businessmen consider this strategy to be the basis for company management.

Taking a cue from Sun Tzu's Art of War, successive generations have architected guerrilla tactics into a live and fight form based on the following characteristics.

First of all, guerrillas are usually small groups, so they must avoid direct confrontation with the enemy army. Focus on small battles, when there is a special advantage to attack quickly and retreat quickly. Thus, the guerrilla group must be dynamic, using many surprising tricks, relying on recklessness and creativity instead of large resources, wearing down the opponent until they become discouraged and give up.

Guerrilla business also consumes a lot of ink in the world of research on how to apply it in management, and books on guerrilla marketing flood the shops. Mr. Harv Eker himself became famous when he founded a school called Guerrilla Business School to teach thousands of young entrepreneurs about this strategy. He believes this is the best way to start a business as well as run small private businesses. The biggest advantage against competitors is to spend money very economically through clever business tactics and tricks to create great efficiency in operations.

I completely agree about the effectiveness of guerrilla tactics in many business cases; especially when we are young and trying to survive. But when the manager's thinking is limited by a guerrilla vision, the business can only become a small trader, even if it is successful in making money for individuals and families; Nothing impressive when compared to the seniors who are leading on the world's big and small playgrounds.

The weakness of guerrilla business is the reverse of the factors that give power to this tactic.

Because they think they are small and have to avoid competitors, guerrilla entrepreneurs are often shy when going to the big sea to compete directly in an unfamiliar environment. Recently, many businesses have planned to venture into new markets like my consultant (through the plan to list on the US stock exchange, using M&A leverage and international management) but in the end they cringed. again at the last moment like a guerrilla who did not want to leave the locality where he had stuck to his base. The banyan tree at the top of the village is still tall and green.

Another weakness is unbalanced dynamics. Because they are so dynamic, guerrilla entrepreneurs take advantage of new opportunities and do not hesitate to make many scattered investments. Unlike a deep and long-term development strategy when going to the big sea, in this case, guerrillas often think these opportunities are easy to implement, quick attacks and quick withdrawals, without many risks. Of course, everyone can clearly see the consequences of the scattered investments of many Vietnamese businesses, large and small, especially when stock and real estate prices turn around.

Guerrilla thinking also gives rise to a culture of ambiguity, non-transparency and can contain many deceptions. Because they rely on the element of surprise and need to carefully hide their strength and intentions, tourism businesses use a lot of disguise, making full disclosure a problem for partners and customers. goods and staff. It is difficult for anyone to predict the thoughts of the owners or managers regarding the ultimate goal or behind-the-scenes arrangements.

In tactics, the life of a guerrilla also depends greatly on the level of trust in teammates, partners and close relationships. That's why guerrilla businesses often use nepotism, because they don't trust outsiders enough to use talent, don't do business clearly with strangers, and consider relationships with officials to be a more important spine. products, customers, or development plans.

At worst, guerrilla thinking is a common defense when causing administrative and ethical mistakes. The convenient reason given is that because I am small and weak, I am allowed to use unorthodox moves, also known as heresy. The end justifies the means is a saying of opportunists.

Many foreign investors have complained about these short-term tricks of Vietnamese businessmen and are also quite common personalities in China. The spectacularly attractive initial impression is always followed by monstrous and dangerous moves. I often buy Vietnamese cashew candy to give to friends when leaving the country. Even with the top brands, the layer of cashews on the top is always large, even and clean compared to the layer of cashews behind, which are black, small, broken and contain more sugar. After trying 7 or 8 brands to find a consistent quality product, I gave up. Exports from Vietnam or China often have this bad reputation among buyers, from clothes and shoes to furniture or food. It makes partners feel that no Vietnamese businessman wants to do business honestly and long-term.

The war against France and America has been in history for more than 30 years and young people around the world don't even know what I'm talking about when it comes to the Vietnam War. An American graduate student asked me if Vietnam is located near Iran and Iraq? An Indian saleswoman, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in history, said that Vietnam had allied with Japan to fight the US and Germany in a certain world war during the Middle Ages. These are not two isolated cases. When outside the intellectual community, even 99.99% of the world's people do not know anything about Vietnam's geography or history. For them, Vietnam has no influence to discuss or remind, from political economy to culture and social imprints. It seems that only Vietnamese people are reminded and haunted every day by a distant victory like the Greek battle of Troy or Hannibal's siege of Rome.

While Asian business leaders are busy making global plans like South Korea's Samsung in electronics or China's Hua Wei in telecommunications equipment or Indonesia's Djarum in cigarettes or Singapore's Shangri La in customers grit; grit; Vietnam's largest businesses consider deforestation and rubber planting in Laos to be the most important goals in the next 10 years. Just like when the French first came to Indochina more than 120 years ago.

When will we leave the jungle of our minds?

Industry will change after the storm

I sincerely apologize to everyone attending the video conference on November 13, 2011. Because the attendance was so large that it exceeded expectations, our transmission line broke down and caused many interruptions. A friend commented that we acted like the bureaucrats that Alan always ridiculed. The stick you hit on your back is always a lesson in humility.

We have recorded the content of the talk and the questions answered. The talk was published on tuanvietnam of vietnamnet newspaper.

THE INDUSTRY WILL VARIATE AFTER THE STORM

Recently, a government-licensed expert solemnly predicted that the government's current policies will solve Vietnam's macroeconomic difficulties such as inflation, exchange rates, bad bank debt, Overspending, FDI... at most, before the second quarter of 2012. Many of my friends listened, opened champagne, sang the national anthem and waited. After all, 7 or 8 months is just a short period of time in a business's life.

Of course, I don't make any money in analysis and commentary, so I haven't sung that optimistically yet. I thought June 2012 could be the focus of the economic storm in the year of the Dragon. The simple reason, according to a normal estimate of a rural businessman, is that when the money supply continues to increase because it is necessary to stimulate demand to save banks and super projects, when the habit of letting trash be swept under the carpet to cover up cannot be abandoned, and when the outside world is unstable due to public and private debt... the above problems still exist and worsen. In short, if we keep doing what we are doing, we will continue to reap the rewards we are getting. Really, the economy is like a computer, garbage in, garbage out.

I think that the storm in the year of the Dragon is gathering intensity and the impact of the storm will only be visible at the end of 2012. If the storm comes, these are the industries that will have to change and deform fundamentally.

Real estate

Prices will have to fall according to the gravity of two market factors: people's income and the amount of secondary speculation. People with plenty of money have already bought houses, poor people will become poorer with inflation, speculators will not have much idle money left... real estate business will go through a recession cycle like in Europe and America in recent years. . Unemployed workers will return to their hometowns to make a living or stay temporarily, and the demand for rental housing will also decrease seriously. The commercial, office and resort segments will also be under negative pressure from the sluggish economy.

Honestly, socially this is a positive change. Consumers will have the opportunity to buy their dream house at a more affordable price and the situation of speculation and real estate brokering to make quick money will be greatly reduced. Idle money will be invested in more effective segments for the economy.

Bank

With the support of the state to avoid social instability, bank shareholders will be safe with their investment capital. More shotgun marriages will happen, but the overall picture will not change much. Putting a few sick brothers together with a healthy brother can make the virus spread worse, but bad debt cannot disappear like a magic trick. Local governance will encounter many unresolvable problems due to lack of experience and capital; Therefore, foreign banks will be invited to become strategic shareholders as well as acquire private units as a springboard for the market development program.

In the long term, cooperation with foreign partners will bring big changes not only in terms of marketing and after-sales for customers; but through day-to-day operations, the new management group will pressure for charter changes and government control; making the credit industry operating apparatus essential for national finance more modern and effective.

Stock

With the storm, stocks will bottom out at the end of 2012. This is the time for investors who still have money to recover the losses of the past few years. But a true recovery to a new century must last more than 2 years. Meanwhile, securities companies and investment funds will have to introduce more innovative and effective financial products. The government must also allow activities that they have traditionally considered a form of gambling. I want to talk about foreign exchange and raw materials contracts, as well as short selling.

With the expansion from an operating basis, Vietnam's bonds and financial contracts will reappear in the international market, bringing much-needed new capital to domestic businesses.

Gold Silver Jewelry

With the policy of contributing capital from the people through gold and dollar channels, the government will arrest those who still do business or store these two products. Many private gold shops will be closed because pure jewelry transactions alone will not bring enough profits and customers. However, with an international market price of approximately $2,500 an ounce at the end of 2012 according to predictions of many gold experts, illegal activities will cause many fluctuations in exchange rates, inflation and bad debts. Ultimately, the government will face the choice of either returning to a strict North Korean-style command economy, or reopening and letting the market regulate itself.

Stork Relationship

This is a very positive business and accounts for a large proportion of underground GDP. Because money is earned quite easily, without investment or risk, people who follow this business model are large-spending residents and regular customers of entertainment, tourism and branded goods establishments. . They are also an investment group with a lot of idle money and make many important investments in many industries. Their contribution to the economy is often greater than estimated.

However, when funding from foreign countries decreases, projects and budgets must decline due to lack of foreign exchange. A decline of about 20% will make many small brokers unemployed and cause difficulties for the industry serving the giants. Continuous promotions or shared purchases will turn Vietnam into a paradise for Chinese, Taiwanese, Singaporean and Korean tourists.

On the same level, industries related to the above five business areas will be negatively affected. The construction and materials industry will decline along with real estate; Financial industries will invest less in new technology and equipment, causing negative impacts on domestic IT; Banning gold and dollars will create a general sense of instability for import and export establishments.

Meanwhile, the least affected industries are healthcare, education, energy, minerals, agricultural and seafood products and essential consumer products.

In fact, the storm in the year of the Dragon will not change the living standards of the majority of people much. Most had to tighten their belts more carefully because of recession and inflation; But after many crises and wars over the past decades, survival skills have been honed to turn Vietnamese people into superheroes in terms of endurance.

However, in this case, I hope I am wrong and the Vietnamese economy will run smoothly with double-digit GDP growth as government experts have resolved". If so, this is a miracle, contrary to all the laws of nature that I have learned. Because we Vietnamese people probably need to pray for a miracle at the 25th hour.

Long story of restructuring

I never said a truly free market is always right; But I believe that the free market will always be the ultimate winner. Because it is the only and most authentic representative of the consumer.

The noun restructuring (TCT) is being abused a lot these days. Economic Corporation, Education Corporation, Mechanism Corporation, Human Resources Corporation, Policy Corporation, Banking Corporation, Traffic Corporation, Securities Corporation, Budget Corporation... there is only one method missing that I want to know is the Corporation of wife and children or TCT is my neighbor. Everyone, from government-licensed experts to motorbike taxi drivers, talk about inflation, exchange rates, gold, interest rates, real estate and... TCT, instead of robbing, raping, killing, tycoons, and criminals. long...like a habit during your golden days?

I talked about gold 3 years ago, and other trivial things like inflation, exchange rates, FDI, bank liquidity a long time ago. And my thoughts have not changed to correct or say anything more. I also talked about the