Talentnet Academy and SMU ExD launch NextGen for Vietnamese family business leaders

Developed in collaboration with SMU Business Families Institute, the programme brings together SMU’s expertise in executive education and family business with Talentnet’s deep understanding of Vietnam’s business and leadership landscape.

Vietnamese family businesses are entering a phase of ambitious growth. According to PwC’s 12^th Vietnam Family Business Survey, 31 per cent of leaders have set their sights on ‘quick and aggressive’ growth over the next two years - twice the rate recorded in 2023 and well above the global average.

But turning that ambition into reality requires a next generation (NextGen) capable of carrying forward and building on what earlier generations have created. In practice, training programmes specifically designed for next-generation leaders at Vietnamese private and family businesses remain limited.

Image courtesy of Talentnet Academy

Experience across Asia and internationally demonstrates that successful generational transition requires more than the transfer of ownership.

Long-term continuity depends on effective governance, shared values, leadership capability and the ability of families to steward their financial, human, social, political and intellectual capital across generations.

These are capabilities and frameworks that can be developed and applied, with appropriate adaptation, to help Vietnamese family businesses pursue growth while remaining strong and sustainable across generations.

“NextGen: Lead the Legacy, Shape the Future” has been jointly developed by Talentnet Academy and SMU Executive Development, in collaboration with SMU Business Families Institute.

The programme combines SMU’s regional expertise in executive development and family business with Talentnet’s more than two decades of experience in Vietnam’s HR consulting and management advisory landscape.

It has been specifically contextualised for the realities, opportunities and dynamics of Vietnamese family-owned and private enterprises.

Through a combination of academic insights, practical frameworks, peer learning and application to participants’ own family enterprises, the programme addresses four interconnected challenges: leading across generations; transforming the business in an era of technology and AI; strengthening family and business governance; and translating succession aspirations into practical action.

Participants will be supported to turn family conversations into clearer decision-making mechanisms and build a concrete action plan for their own business.

This regional perspective helps participants benchmark their own succession and legacy-preservation approaches against models taking shape across Asia.

The relationships formed throughout the programme - including within the participant cohort, with faculty and with fellow next-generation business leaders - are intended to create a valuable peer network that extends beyond the formal programme.

The programme is expected to launch in March 2027, with limited enrolment to ensure a high-quality learning experience for participating business leaders. Detailed information about the programme will soon be updated on Talentnet Academy’s official channels.

“We are not simply passing on a business. We are preparing a generation to take it forward,” said Tieu Yen Trinh, founder and CEO of Talentnet Group.

Mandy Tham, academic director, Business Families Institute, Singapore Management University said, “Prosperity rarely survives beyond three generations unless a family systemises its values and leadership principles for success, while periodically renewing that core tradition in ways relevant to each generation’s own context.”

Talentnet Group is a leading human resources and business consulting company in Vietnam, providing HR, payroll, talent management, and workforce solutions to businesses.

Founded in 2000, Singapore Management University is one of Singapore’s leading publicly funded autonomous universities, with strengths in business, accountancy, technology, economics, law, and the social sciences. SMU ranks among the top 5 Specialist Universities in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2027.

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