Standardization versus Adaptation Strategy in International Marketing Mix - The case of KFC in Vietnamese market

Nowadays in global business environment, it is essential for multinational companies to choose suita-ble marketing strategies in order to adjust to local characteristics of the foreign markets. The purpose of this study is to examine the choice of standardization and adaptation strategies in the marketing mix implemented by KFC fast food in Vietnamese market, it also integrates consumers’ perception towards the case company’s marketing mix implementation. The study focuses on investigating main elements of the marketing mix, they are product, price, place/distribution and promotion. Vietnamese market was selected thanks to its potentials for business expansion and its cultural differences in comparison with western markets. Additionally, KFC chain was chosen as an intensive case study since it was the first fast food brand to enter Vietnamese market and is now the leading brand in fast food segment, the brand is also well-recognized for its unique offerings based on local responsiveness in each oversea market. The theoretical framework of this thesis was constructed based on the literature of standardization and adaptation strategy, the marketing mix and the influences of culture on international marketing. In addition, the main sources of data were collected through secondary data, focus group interview, and the researcher’s own observation The research findings were in line with the theoretical framework by proving that the choice between standardization and adaptation is not a polarized one, marketers should find a mean to balance their global strategy and local adaptation in accordance with environ-mental factors, cultural differences and consumer behaviors across markets. Accordingly, KFC has made significant adjustment to each element of its marketing mix in Vietnamese market while main-taining its signature cooking methods and western dining customs. However, the main findings reveal that the degree of localization in KFC’s marketing mix has exceeded that of standardization due to the big differences in culture and consumers’ preference between the home market and the foreign mar-ket, especially in fast food sector. This research contributes some insights towards the discussion of standardization and adaptation strategies in cross-cultural setting. Also, the case of KFC fast food in Vietnam provides valuable sug-gestions for multinational companies to expand business and achieve their strategic plans in Vietnam-ese marke

Inference on Riemannian Manifolds: Regression and Stochastic Differential Equations

Statistical inference for manifolds attracts much attention because of its power of working with more general forms of data or geometric objects. We study regression and stochastic differential equations on manifolds from the intrinsic point of view. Firstly, we are able to provide alternative parametrizations for data that lie on Lie group in the problem of fitting a regression model, by mapping this space intrinsically onto its Lie algebra, while we explore the behaviour of fitted values when this base point is chosen differently. Due to the nature of our data in the application of soft tissue artefacts, we employ two correlation structures, namely Matern and quasi-periodic correlation functions when using the generalized least squares, and show that some patterns of the residuals are removed. Secondly, we construct a generalization of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process on the cone of covariance matrices SP(n) endowed with two popular Riemannian metrics, namely Log-Euclidean (LE) and Affine-Invariant (AI) metrics. We show that the Riemannian Brownian motion on SP(n) has infinite explosion time as on the Euclidean space and establish the calculation for the horizontal lifts of smooth curves. Moreover, we provide Bayesian inference for discretely observed diffusion processes of covariance matrices associated with either the LE or the AI metrics, and present a novel diffusion bridge sampling method using guided proposals when equipping SP(n) with the AI metric. The estimation algorithms are illustrated with an application in finance, together with a goodness-of-fit test comparing models associated with different metrics. Furthermore, we explore the multivariate volatility models via simulation study, in which covariance matrices in the models are assumed to be unobservable

APPLICATION OF SELF–CLEANING TREATMENT ON COTTON AND PES/CO FABRIC USING TiO2 AND SiO2 COATING SYNTHESIZED BY SOL–GEL METHOD

The photocatalytic activity of TiO2–SiO2 coated and TiO2 coated on 100% cotton and PES/Co fabrics was investigated through the self–cleaning of red wine stains and coffee stains. It was shown that a TiO2 species could be produced at temperatures of 25 °C, 40 °C and 60 °C with acceptable photo–activity and TiO2–SiO2 nanocomposites were prepared by a sol–gel process at a low temperature. The discoloration of red wine and coffee led to CO2 evolution that was more efficient for TiO2–SiO2 coated cotton for samples than of TiO2 coated ones. The textile surface did not show any change after several consecutive light–induced discoloration cycles of a red wine stain and coffee stain. The structural properties of these nanocomposites were characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT–IR). The scanning electron microscope (SEM) photo showed that the TiO2–SiO2 layer is thicker than TiO2 layer on the cotton fabric and PES/Co fabric and the Ti–particles were always surrounded by amorphous SiO2 and never alone by themselves. The TiO2–SiO2 nanocomposites were coated onto cotton and PES/Co fabrics by a simple dip–pad–dry–cure process