Early innovation can lead to success

Dang Phuoc Huong Thao, senior human resources manager Nestlé Vietnam

Innovation and creativity in human resources management is an essential part of Nestlé Vietnam’s innovation and creativity endeavours.

In the challenging economic landscape, where many businesses have had to downsize their workforce, we chose to maintain its employee welfare programmes, salaries, bonuses, work environment, and career development opportunities as a means of ensuring that employees can work with peace of mind and contribute in the long run.

Nestlé consistently invests as much as $500,000 annually in training activities to develop its employees, including advanced training courses aimed at enhancing their expertise, knowledge, and working skills.

The company also provides opportunities for employees to work at Nestlé’s offices abroad, enabling them to leverage their skills in more challenging environments and be ready to take on higher positions at Nestlé Vietnam upon their return. Additionally, we organise senior management classes with the participation of a significant number of Vietnamese employees.

We continuously strive to improve work efficiency and reduce time-consuming tasks for its employees. We also organise training programmes to enhance mental wellbeing, with the participation of experts who provide support in stress management. This helps our employees maintain good health and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

Vo Tri Thanh, director, Institute for Brand and Competitiveness Strategy

Never before has Vietnam faced such great development pressure as it does today. Previously, the state was considered to have the most important role in the innovation ecosystem. Yet, businesses are now considered the dominant factor.

Businesses play a central role in fulfilling development goals. It is necessary to have breakthrough policies to form and develop national enterprises and large-scale enterprises, with a leading role in key industries and sectors. Two essential keywords for understanding national businesses, leading businesses, and pioneering businesses are Vietnamese identity, culture, and impactful business philosophies.

For a decade, Vietnam has embraced innovation, striving to accompany and exceed global innovation growth instead of simply catching up. Moreover, the human factor, which includes interaction and emotion, is a noteworthy aspect of innovation and business development. Despite the unpredictable context, we remain optimistic about the creative initiative of Vietnamese businesses. Private initiatives, such as Nam Cau Kien Industrial Zone and FPT’s AI urban city in the south-central city of Quy Nhon, have been leading the way in policy for many years.

Vu Minh Khuong, associate professor Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

There are several major directions that can boost business innovation and drive growth. Firstly, businesses have to decide whether to catch up quickly or lead breakthroughs in specific areas. To grow effectively, businesses should consider three distinct levels of innovation.

Level 1, namely incremental innovation, includes researching areas that are new to businesses to play the game of innovation. Level 2 as breakout innovation, the focus is on uncovering new features that can boost product value and establish dominance in targeted sectors. At level 3, breakthrough innovation targets the utilisation of novel technologies in the industry to change the game.

The second direction to boost innovation is strategic response. To succeed, businesses must catch up with trends and stay ahead of the changing landscape. In particular, it is necessary to focus on effectiveness instead of just increasing efficiency, since this is the foundation for sustainable, long-term development and increasing social trust in businesses.

Thirdly, businesses should be proactive in identifying their weaknesses and focusing on improvement. Core weaknesses can stem from factors such as quality, price, product unique selling points, and brand value. According to our research, businesses that focus on improving vulnerabilities tend to make more advances in innovation

Additionally, the organisation’s innovation capacity also needs to be improved. The willingness of leaders to embrace innovation is essential for driving it throughout the organisation. Furthermore, innovation requires the collaboration and alignment of all departments.

It is also key to understand how to tap into the wealth of human knowledge and optimise tech advancements by promoting tech transfer activities and analysing and narrowing development gaps.

Last but not least, businesses must also be supported by policies to harness innovation’s advantages and mitigate risks.