Vietnam Gold Star Award (VGSA) is a good award; however, the award becoming highly objective requires two mechanisms which are: reports prepared more carefully and feedback mechanism from enterprises added to allow enterprises to mark themselves. The affirmation comes from Dr Nguyen Minh Phong, Hanoi Institute for Economic Research, Member of VGSA Assessment Mission in 2010.Thu Huyen reports.
As a member of the Assessment Board, how do you evaluate VGSA assessment activities?
It must be said that VGSA has been held so well as one of the reputable awards evaluating and ranking enterprises, and creating an official, honourable stage for enterprises. Assessment quality receives high consensus. Besides, the award also gives information to management, research officers and even enterprises to consult and compare, as well as supplement their knowledge about corporate related issues of building, organization and development. However, in my opinion, VGSA assessment activity this year hasn’t covered all types of businesses, just limited in certain leading enterprises. For the past years, participating enterprises didn’t have their reports audited, but it was based on parties’ honesty. Assessment activities were also conducted pretty quickly, mainly based on consideration, listening, but not a thorough assessment and evaluation on enterprises’ operation.
You have said that assessment activities were conducted pretty quickly and not thoroughly into enterprises’ actual operation, haven’t you?
Enterprises have many indicators to evaluate their operation, including productivity, profit, capital and re-investment, development potential, technology, salary, organizational structure, management capacity, corporate culture and market share, and environmental protection.
I think there should be thorough reports on enterprises’ focuses, which will be directly assessed to reduce time. Both quantitative and qualitative criteria should be given to enterprises’ reports, upon which assessment will be made on documents as well as practice.
Are all enterprises concerned about the transparency and objectiveness of VGSA assessment activities?
The assessment mission has many members who are economists, consultants, or reporters. However, assessment quality depends much on the chairman. He must be knowledgeable, experienced in management of large enterprises and reputable, capable of investigating participating enterprises. They must also have his own opinion, not assess based on enterprises’ reports or reputation but on thorough discussion about enterprises’ opinion of training, future strategy, technology, administrative organization, risk prevention, structural organization, deep assessment on enterprises’ operation, have no discrimination between private or public enterprises and not be impressed by enterprises’ infrastructure and appearance. Director Ho Minh Hoang, Hoang Thach Construction and Investment Company, last year’s chairman, played such a good role. Viglacera was a big business with large headquarters but were denied by the chairman due to badly prepared reports, while Te Thap Ba Giang, a small one was honoured for their actual operation but not appearance.
Assessment activities become objective and transparent, which requires, beside evaluation indicators, adequate assessment, a feedback mechanism from enterprises. If they do not agree with the assessment board, they can give their feedback to the organizational board for re-assessment, which ensures democracy and objectiveness, while direct weeding out can influence the award’s reputation and fairness. Enterprises should be allowed to mark themselves against such criteria, which if they find unreasonable, they can propose to higher levels to be assessed by another mission or make reports.
In the current hard economic context, what change or adjustment should be made in the award’s assessment activities?
First, there should be adjustment in export growth rate and market share growth. Attention should be paid to development strategy in medium time, especially restructuring development in depth but not in width with varied industries. Bad debts should be considered a new criterion, since it is a measure for enterprises’ actual efficiency. In addition, development strategy and potential should be added. Assessment should be made based on such practical conditions.
How do you advise enterprises which want to participate in the award in the coming time?
VGSA should be considered a necessary certificate to take part in Vietnam enterprises’ operation, and internationally, through media means, will come to other enterprises. Businesses should pay attention to internal management, especially loss, risk management, technology and development direction. When joining, the businesses should have a team who are responsible for preparing better reports to meet the award’s requirements. Finally, they should attentively collect comments from the assessment mission to draw out their own lessons. Additionally, enterprises should also keep in touch with reporters to communicate the results they gain from the award.
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