During the economic downturn, many families decided that the prudent thing was to downsize their lives by purchasing smaller homes and vehicles, but most importantly, by simplifying their lives. Similarly, hotel companies also downsized, frequently letting staff go, which created additional pressure on remaining staff to hold the company and its underlying technology together.

Hanoi, April 2^nd, 2013 - TRG is delighted to announce that from 1^st April 2013, we have moved to our new office to downtown of Hanoi capital. The relocation by TRG moves our Hanoi office to Hoan Kiem district, a known CBD of Hanoi capital, where we believe to give better access and support to our clients as well as better working environment to our staff.

In our last two blog entries on top hotel industry trends (part 1, part 2), we outlined a number of factors that are shaping how the hospitality sector operates. Hoteliers in Vietnam are advised to “be alert to new opportunities during tough economic times by changing their business strategies and researching the market” ^(*) . We believe four areas should be tackled to tremendously improve the Vietnamese hotel sector’s performance.

According to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the total number of international tourists in 2012 reached 6,847,678, representing a 13.86% growth year on year. This year, the Vietnamese tourism industry “planned to welcome 7.2 million international visitors and 35 million domestic passengers, and is targeting a total revenue of VND190 trillion (equivalent to US$9.5 billion).” Not too long ago, we discussed some competitive criteria necessary for hospitality businesses to stay ahead in the game. Now we will zoom in on the hotel industry and take a closer look at trends in Vietnam and around the world.

In the previous 2 entries, we discussed what Governance, Risk and Compliance means and how to effectively deploy a GRC plan. But how do you know you are on the right track and what GRC software tools are available to help you?

In the previous post, we identified the key ideas and common misperceptions around a governance, risk and compliance framework. The executive management is in fact exerting the greatest pressure to improve GRC, followed by external regulators (KPMG, 2013). So what makes an effective GRC plan? Or what should organisations keep in mind to improve performance with GRC.

Corruptions, legal entanglements, business disruptions are some of the most prominent signs of poor governance, risk and compliance management (GRC) within an organisation. However, many companies are not fully aware of GRC, its importance, definition and best practices and would rather go with their hunch instead. This blog entry seeks to address the context for a governance, risk & compliance framework and what it really means.

For the key supermarket players in mature markets, the high street is becoming an avenue of opportunity to exploit evolving shopping habits. As more and more goods are purchased online, including a rising proportion of groceries, big-box out of town one-stop-shop formats are becoming increasingly undermined. Although this has been a defining retail trend for the last two decades, retailers may have overextended themselves. Not only do online channels compete effectively in non-food areas that larger stores were designed to support, but the rate of growth has become unpopular with communities and prompted planning issues with regulators. As a result, and certainly in the years preceding the economic downturn, retailers have placed renewed emphasis on convenience formats.

Consumers have become dissatisfied and angered after being frustrated by poor brand experiences, according to a study of 7,000 consumers across six countries by analytical and surveillance software supplier Verint.