Digital transformation in management, either change or be eliminated from the game

Forced to change with the trend

This morning (September 30), Dan Tri newspaper organized a discussion on "Digital transformation in governance - ESG implementation experience from financial sector enterprises". This discussion is a satellite event of the Vietnam ESG Forum 2025 with the theme " Science and technology and driving force for sustainable development".

Mr. Tuan Nhan - CEO of Vietcap Securities Joint Stock Company - said that in a fast-growing market like Vietnam, investing in digital transformation helps businesses change comprehensively, become more dynamic, more flexible, and have advantages in adapting to new processes and products.

He also revealed that he had many internal discussions and agreed on the point of view: "Either change, or be eliminated from the game." Businesses are forced to change to adapt.

According to him, in the next 5 years, the market will enter a restructuring and screening phase. Only businesses that truly transform digitally and apply new technology can survive and develop. That is the reason why Vietcap identifies digital transformation as a top priority.

Mr. Pham Hong Hai - General Director of Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (OCB ) - said that the starting point of this bank is small scale. If it wants to make a difference with the market, OCB must use the driving force of speed. Digital transformation is a very good solution to the problem of speed of the bank.

Overall assessment, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Trung - Principal of Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City - said that when businesses successfully transform digitally, customers will have a better experience. Customers will also be the best advertisers for businesses, helping businesses expand market share, save costs and optimize profits. Thus, digital transformation will bring sustainable profits.

Mr. Trung also stated that in the banking industry, digital transformation is no longer a slogan but has been implemented for many years. In the next 3 years, all changes will be very rapid. If banks do not set higher goals, they will fall behind.

Pressure from customers is an advantage.

Talking about the process of digital transformation, OCB's General Director admitted that the advantage is the pressure from customers. Young people want everything to be fast, available immediately and the experience must be great, if OCB cannot provide a solution, it will not be able to compete. Current technology solutions in Vietnam are available, diverse and low cost, businesses can choose.

Regarding difficulties, Mr. Hai thinks that businesses in general and banks in particular will have to stumble a lot in the process of digital transformation. First is not knowing what you want, how to fit it with the bank's strategy. Second is wanting everything, "seeing what digital transformation the neighbor has, I want to bring it all into my platform".

Another difficulty is the human resource problem. Human resources in technology are quite abundant, but human resources that understand technology and business are very rare. People who understand business do not know technology and vice versa. Therefore, businesses need to train a team that is both proficient in technology and knowledgeable in business.

Finally, it is the mindset, perspective and culture of the leader and the staff. Normally, people are afraid of change, and any change is seen as risky. To solve this, OCB creates many small groups, so that employees can easily gain decision-making authority during the digital transformation process.

Double-digit monthly growth thanks to digital transformation

Agreeing with the opinion of OCB representative, Mr. Tuan Nhan - CEO of Vietcap - said that one of the biggest challenges of the digital transformation process is the difference in management thinking. There is often a large gap between business thinking and technology thinking and it is important that both sides agree and look in the same direction.

Besides, cost is also a big barrier. For banks like OCB or enterprises with capitalization of billions of USD, digital transformation is just a project in the plan and they have enough resources to implement. But for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), this is an extremely difficult problem.

In reality, an application serving 10,000 customers or 10 million customers still requires the same team and infrastructure. However, if serving only 10,000 customers, it does not achieve efficiency at scale, the transaction volume is not large enough to offset the costs.

Therefore, it is very difficult for SMEs to raise capital for the initial investment in capital expenditure. Because in the end, they still have to consider the risks and benefits: When will they recover the large amount of money? This is the biggest challenge for small and medium enterprises.

However, Mr. Tuan Nhan commented that the benefits of digital transformation are very clear. At Vietcap, when investing in this process, the business has recorded strong growth: The number of application users increased rapidly, the scale of transactions expanded, and the number of newly opened accounts also increased dramatically. Overall, the KPI indicators all maintained double-digit growth every month.

Another difference is speed. In the past, it took a company 3 to 6 months to bring a new product to market, but now it takes 1-4 weeks. Technology used to be a barrier, but now it has become a driving force, allowing businesses to continuously test and implement new ideas. In particular, the application of big data has completely changed the way we approach customers.

If it was previously difficult to exploit user behavior, now it is possible to analyze in detail: How much time customers spend on a page, which products are popular, which services are of interest. From there, businesses can personalize the experience, build detailed profiles and customize products and services for each segment, creating suitable solutions.

Mr. Tuan Nhan believes that digital transformation is not a story of 1 or 2 years, but a continuous journey. Businesses are forced to develop and innovate constantly to adapt. Therefore, this work is never boring, because there are always new things to discover , test and deploy.

The Vietnam ESG Forum is an annual event initiated and organized by Dan Tri newspaper to connect parties to share messages and inspire ESG implementation towards sustainable development. The Vietnam ESG Forum 2025 has the theme "Science and technology and driving force for sustainable development".

After its launch, the Vietnam ESG Forum has received many positive responses from the community and experts to promote and develop ESG standards in business operations of enterprises.

The highlight of the Vietnam ESG Forum is the Vietnam ESG Awards - honoring units that effectively implement ESG. Interested businesses and organizations can register to participate in the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 here.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/chuyen-doi-so-trong-quan-tri-hoac-thay-doi-hoac-bi-loai-khoi-cuoc-choi-20250930100910650.htm