MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND INVESTMENT Development Strategy Institute DAO TRUONG THANH MAIN FACTORS AFFECTING COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN VINH PHUC PROVINCE Field : Economic development Code : 31 01 05 SUMMARY OF THE DOCTORAL THESIS ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT HANOI - 2019 The thesis is completed at: DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY INSTITUTE Instructors: Assoc Prof., Dr Le Xuan Ba Assoc Prof., Dr Vu Thanh Son Reviewer : Prof., Dr Ngo Thang Loi Reviewer 2: Assoc Prof., Dr Nguyen Chien Thang Reviewer 3: Assoc Prof., Dr Ngo Quang Minh The thesis is presented at the Doctoral Dissertation Council Development Strategy Institute At on date month 2019 Thesis can be found at: The National Library, Hanoi The Library of Development Strategy Institute, Ministry of Planning and Investment PREAMBLE Urgency of the topic: Today, international integration has become an indispensable, objective trend, taking place strongly in all areas of the social life, especially in the socio-economic development International integration creates large and rich markets and difficulties for businesses; Competitiveness needs to be stronger and more drastic, especially for small and medium enterprises Currently, small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province face many major challenges in business activities, especially in terms of product consumption and capital mobilization for development On the other hand, small and medium enterprises have many limitations: Quality and efficiency of production and business activities are still very low; less developed technology qualification; poor creative capacity, labor productivity; Cooperation, affiliation, joint venture between enterprises is still limited, weak, From requirements and demands of practice, research and assessment of the situation to propose solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province is a necessary task, which needs the support of the branches and levels from the central to local levels With the above view and approach, the researcher chooses the topic “Main factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in Vinh Phuc province” Objectives of the study - General objectives From the basis of theoretical research on competitiveness and practical basis, the main factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises, it is proposed solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province - Specific objectives + To develop a theoretical basis for competitiveness and factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises + To assess the current situation of competitiveness, analyze strengths, weaknesses, causes of weakness in competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province + To analyze the impact of factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province + To propose a system of solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province in the context of international integration Tasks - To implement the topic, the author will study and review the domestic and foreign study projects related to the topic, develop the study methods, determine the objectives and scope of study, identify questions of the topic - The author will analyze theoretical issues about competitiveness, competitive study models and factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises - The study aims to assess the status of competitiveness, affirm strengths, weaknesses, analyze the causes of weakness in the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province - The study will analyze and clarify factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province - After analyzing the situation, it is proposed solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province in the context of international integration through overcoming the negative impact of the factors Object and scope of the study: - Object: The main object is the factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province - Scope: + Space: Focusing on studying factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province + Time: Data and figures is collected in stage 2014-2018; solutions are proposed for Vinh Phuc province till 2025 + Content: The thesis focuses on studying the theoretical basis of competitiveness and factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises Assessing the situation of competitiveness, analyzing strengths, weaknesses, causes of weakness in competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province The thesis analyzes the impact of factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province In particular, the focus is on 10 factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province, including: (1) Enterprise management capacity; (2) Capacity of creating relationships; (3) Human resources of enterprises; (4) Financial capacity; (5) Marketing capability; (6) Logistics activities; (7) State policy; (8) Regional natural, economic, cultural and social conditions; (9) Scientific and technological progress; (10) International integration Methods of study Expert interview; Qualitative study; Quantitative study; Economic statistics; Contributions of the thesis: - About reasoning + The thesis provides the most basic and general contents about factors affecting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises at present + Systematize and clarify the theoretical issues and practical summaries of competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in the context of international integration + Determine that competitiveness is the internal resources and strengths that small and medium enterprises can maintain, improve the rankings of enterprises in each product and service industry in the market, in the locality in general and Vinh Phuc province in particular - About practicality + The thesis assesses the real situation of competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province on the basis of the criteria built comprehensively and specifically, points out the subjective and objective factors affecting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province + The thesis proposes views, orientations and identifies a system of synchronous solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province in the context of international integration + The study results of the thesis are the source of scientific information on small and medium-sized enterprises development for researchers, advisory agencies, policy makers, entrepreneurs in the whole country in general and Vinh Phuc in particular Structure of the thesis In addition to the Preamble, Conclusion, References, Appendixes, the thesis also has the following main contents: Chapter 1: Overview of study projects related to the topic Chapter 2: Basis of reasoning and models to study factors affecting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises Chapter 3: Actual impact of factors on competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province Chapter 4: Some solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF STUDY PROJECTS RELATED TO THE TOPIC 1.1 Study projects on competition and competitiveness 1.1.1 Projects on competition 1.1.2 Projects on competitiveness according to factors and competitiveness analysis model Competitiveness of enterprises is affected by two main groups of factors: Group of internal factors and Group of external factors The group of internal factors includes: Hardware (material factors necessary to create products and services of enterprises such as factories, machines, equipment, technology, ); Software (human resources and enterprise management system) The group of external factors includes: Market conditions related to the operation of enterprises, including domestic markets, regional and world markets; Legal environment related to business operations, including national, local (domestic) policies, laws and regulations and international law issues; Business relationship with partners: shippers, customers, local authorities, residential communities,… 1.1.3 Projects on the development status of small and medium enterprises in Vietnam 1.1.4 Projects on competition and competitiveness in Vietnam 1.2 The research on factors affecting the competitiveness of enterprises The studies have generalized the theoretical basis of competitiveness, improved competitiveness of enterprises The studies have deeply mentioned the main factors affecting competitiveness as well as assessing the status of competitiveness of enterprises The authors also set out criteria to assess the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises: based on management and financial revenue and profit The main factors affecting the competitiveness of businesses are now internal nature of enterprises such as resources, qualifications, science and technology, and the environment of policies and impacts of socio-cultural political economy 1.3 The study gap and the thesis issues - The study gap: The analysis shows that, until now, there are quite a lot of studies on the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in and outside the country However, it is limited, especially the doctoral theses that comprehensively assess the current situation of competitiveness, affirm strengths, weaknesses, analyze the causes of the weakness in competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province Previous studies have not really focused on analyzing and clarifying the effects of factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province At the same time, after analyzing the current situation, there have not been proposed synchronous solutions, focusing on improving the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province in the context of international integration through overcoming the negative impacts of factors These are the study gaps that the topic will solve in the next content - The thesis issues focused on solving: - About the model of factors affecting competitiveness of enterprises: The thesis inherits and approaches according to the Macro Environment Theory Model (PEST) for study in its thesis - Regarding the basic factors affecting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises included in the study are: Material factors needed to create products, goods and services of enterprises; Factors including human resources and management system of enterprises; Market conditions, social conditions related to business operations; The relationship between businesses and businesses, with relevant agencies; with customers, local and residential communities - The thesis will focus on studying factors affecting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province, giving a study model, this is an important and decisive factor to the development of enterprises in the context of market economy The thesis also needs to study, set out basic criteria to assess the competitiveness of enterprises and propose solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province in terms of current integration 1.4 Proposing the study model for the topic CHAPTER 2: BASIS OF REASONING AND MODELS TO STUDY FACTORS AFFECTING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES 2.1 Competition and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises 2.1.1 Characteristics and roles of small and medium enterprises 2.1.2 Competition and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises 2.2 Some competitive models of enterprises - PEST Model ((PEST macro environment theory) - Porter Model (Model of industry environment competition) - Value chain model (Theory of internal environment) - SWOT Model 2.3 Factors affecting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises - Enterprise management capacity - Capacity of creating relationships - Human resources of enterprises - Financial capacity - Marketing capacity - Logistics activities - Service organization capacity - Quality of goods and services of enterprises - Operational experience of enterprises - Corporate social responsibility - State policy - Regional natural, economic, cultural and social conditions - Scientific and technological progress - International integration Table 3.1 Expert interview results Agreement Factors Enterprise management capacity 15 Percentage % 100 Capacity of creating relationships 11 72.3 Human resources of enterprises 12 80.0 Financial capacity 13 86.7 Marketing capacity 13 86.7 Logistics activities 15 100 Service organization capacity 46.67 Quality of goods and services of enterprises 40.00 Operational experience of enterprises 33.33 Corporate social responsibility 46.67 State policy 14 93.3 Regional natural, economic, cultural and social conditions 60.0 Scientific and technological progress 13 86.7 International integration 10 66.7 Quantiy Source: Author's calculations The authors proposes a formal model to study the main factors affecting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises, including following ten components: 1- Enterprise management capacity 2- Capacity of creating relationships 3- Human resources of enterprises 4- Financial capacity 5- Marketing capacity 6- Logistics activities 7- State policy 11 8- Regional natural, economic, cultural and social conditions 9- Scientific and technological progress 10- International integration 3.2.2 Determining quantitative study model Based on the proposed study models, the results of qualitative study and expert interviews, discussing the model of preliminary study on factors affecting the competitiveness of SMEs in Vinh Phuc province The survey object is managers of enterprises, most of which are leaders of functional departments with the number of 316 people (accounting for 59.8%); deputy directors with 131 people (24.8%); Enterprise directors with 81 people (15.3%) The total number of surveys is 528 samples According to statistics in January 2018, Vinh Phuc has about 6,420 small and medium enterprises out of 6,619 total enterprises in the province, accounting for 97% of the total number of registered enterprises 3.2.3 Analysis exploring factors and affirmative factors - Evaluate the reliability of the scale; - Analyze EFA exploring factors - Analyze affirmative factors CFA 3.2.4 SEM linear structure equation model Hypothesis: H1: There is a correlation between Enterprise management capacity and competitiveness H2: There is a correlation between Capacity of creating relationships and competitiveness H3: There is a correlation between Human resources of enterprises and competitiveness H4: There is a correlation between Financial capacity and competitiveness H5: There is a correlation between Marketing capacity and competitiveness 12 H6: There is a correlation between Logistics activities and competitiveness H7: There is a correlation between State policy and competitiveness H8: There is a correlation between Regional conditions and competitiveness H9: There is a correlation between Scientific and technological progress and competitiveness H10: There is a correlation between International integration and competitiveness After considering the suitability of the model, the next issue of the study will evaluate the SEM analysis results Table 3.6 Results of 1st analysis of SEM linear structure model Correlation relationship between factors Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness < < < < < < < < < - Enterprise Relationships management HR Finance Marketing Logistics State policy Regional Scientific conditions and International Competitiveness < chnological integration Estimate S.E C.R P Standardized coefficient 0.225 0.126 0.146 0.210 0.249 0.121 0.129 0.070 0.117 0.050 0.046 0.044 0.041 0.050 0.043 0.054 0.042 0.046 4.524 2.751 3.312 5.126 4.981 2.824 2.406 1.656 2.524 0.000 0.006 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.005 0.016 0.098 0.012 0.204 0.135 0.155 0.230 0.255 0.139 0.115 0.075 0.116 0.069 0.043 1.600 0.110 0.075 Source: Author's calculations Results of 1st analysis of SEM model show that the two factors, namely, regional conditions and integration not have a clear relationship with the competitiveness These two factors are removed and carry out SEM for the second time 13 Table 3.7 Results of 2nd analysis of SEM linear structure model Correlation relationship between factors Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness Competitiveness < - Enterprise < - Relationships management HR < Finance < < - Marketing < - Logistics < - State policy < - Scientific Estimate S.E C.R P Standardized coefficient 0.228 0.141 0.137 0.218 0.272 0.121 0.139 0.129 0.050 0.045 0.044 0.041 0.049 0.043 0.053 0.046 4.609 3.119 3.124 5.344 5.539 2.819 2.629 2.805 0.000 0.002 0.002 0.000 0.000 0.005 0.009 0.005 0.209 0.151 0.147 0.240 0.280 0.140 0.125 0.129 and Source: Author's calculations 3.3 Analysis technological of survey results on the impact of factors on competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province 3.3.1 Enterprise management capacity 3.3.2 Capacity of creating relationships 3.3.3 Human resources of enterprises 3.3.4 Financial capacity 3.3.5 Marketing capacity 3.3.6 Logistics activities 3.3.7 State policy 3.3.8 Regional natural, economic, cultural and social conditions 3.3.9 Scientific and technological progress 3.3.10 International integration 3.3.11 Test the impact of factors on competitiveness of small and medium enterprises Through surveys and assessments and analysis of the effects of factors on competitiveness of SMEs in Vinh Phuc province, it can be affirmed: Group of internal factors (enterprise management capacity, capacity to create relationships, human resources, financial capacity, Marketing capacity, Logistics activities) has a great impact, plays an 14 important role in determining the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises The group of external factors (State policy, Regional natural, economic, cultural and social conditions, progr Scientific and technological progress, international integration) greatly affects competitiveness of enterprises, but their level of influence is more or less bound by the group of internal factors, because the subjective factors have a human role and the quality of human resources of enterprises 3.4 Current situation of competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province 3.4.1 Analyzing the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc through the criteria - Revenue and profit targets of enterprises - Target of profit ratio of enterprises - Comprehensive survey analysis of competitiveness 3.4.2 Overall assessment of the factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc 3.4.2.1 The positive side of the factors 3.4.2.2 The limitations of the impact factor About enterprise management capacity Regarding enterprise management capacity, the survey results show that the organizational management capacity of SMEs in Vinh Phuc province is surveyed at a medium level, this is reflected in the actual labor use efficiency Currently in the SMEs in Vinh Phuc province in particular and in Vietnam is still quite low and is also the factor with the lowest average rating among the studied factors The survey results also show that the majority of management positions (Director and Deputy Director, Leaders of departments) of SMEs in Vinh Phuc province have relatively high educational level, most of which have a university degree or higher with a specialized training subject Although the knowledge and management skills of most managers of SMEs in Vinh Phuc province have 15 not met the requirements of the international economic integration process, the cause may be due to the characteristics of the managers are limited in time so it is difficult to promptly update new knowledge and skills It is also from the lack of knowledge and management skills of managers of SMEs in Vinh Phuc province that the management of brand, investment management, human resource management and marketing management is not really methodical and outdated, leading to the management capacity has not met the requirements of international economic integration About capacity of creating relationships Research results also show that the ability of SMEs to participate in research with other enterprises in the industry is not highly appreciated While the ability to link is an important factor to survive and develop as well as to increase competitiveness in the current market economy, the reality of Vietnamese enterprises shows that the ability to link and match Cooperation between enterprises in general is still limited Until now, the mentality of "one boat alone" is still deeply ingrained in the subconscious of many business owners Business managers not want to share business activities or benefits with others About human resources Regarding the human resources of SMEs, the survey results show that the quality of human resources does not meet the needs of enterprises in the province According to statistics, by 2018, Vinh Phuc province has more than 150,000 employees working in enterprises, of which, labor in industrial parks is about 81,000 people However, female workers account for more than 70%; unskilled workers over 52%; 12% of workers with university and college qualifications The human resources of the province are weakest, especially in terms of foreign language and informatics, the recruitment is also evaluated to be inadequate, has not built a standard process to recruit talents and retain talents for the province ¬ Situation analysis results have shown that the quality of human resources of small 16 and medium enterprises in general has not met the requirements; the proportion of female workers and unskilled workers is too high in enterprises, workers with university and college degrees are too low; The foreign language and informatics level of workers has not met requirements in the period of integration and technology development About financial capacity The survey results of the project show that the financial capacity of the participating SMEs is assessed at an average level Due to the influence of firm size, SMEs' access to capital in general and SMEs in Vinh Phuc province have many limitations There are many reasons why the mobilization of shareholder capital of SMEs in Vinh Phuc province has many limitations Subjectively, not all businesses can meet the conditions to mobilize capital through the issuance of shares and bonds Objectively, the stock market has been fluctuating, liquidity is low, so mobilizing this capital source for SMEs is not easy It is also the reason why most SMEs still rely on loans and consider it as the only source of capital to ensure businesses operate instead of mobilizing shareholder capital Real page analysis has shown that the ability of businesses to access capital sources is limited to ensure business development About marketing and logistics capabilities At present, most SMEs in Vinh Phuc not have a specialized marketing department, but they have a lack of specialized knowledge on business marketing management, so the solution of these enterprises is to hire them external communication service provider For logistics activities, the majority of logistics service providers in Vinh Phuc province are private enterprises and most of them are small-scale, limited in capital, technology and manpower, often only from 10 to 20 employees with service quality are still limited The research results show that the activities of customs clearance, other paperwork, customer consultation, packaging, marking of logistics service providers only basically meet requirements of 17 SMEs in Vinh Phuc province, but not really satisfied, contribute and increase the competitiveness of these enterprises About scientific and technological progress Due to the small scale, limited financial capacity, corporate governance and access to technology, it is not easy for SMEs to apply scientific and technological advances to production and business activities Many SMEs in Vinh Phuc province are no exception when facing many challenges that require not only large capital investment but also efforts to change the level of corporate governance, ready to welcome the public wave New technology and turn it into a driving force, benefiting ourselves In fact, only about 10% of SMEs are able to access 4.0 technology The reason is that the level of science and technology and management of enterprises is still low, not operating in a chain, there is no association, resources are limited, and even, many businesses have not Understand the nature of the 4th industrial revolution, so it does not see the relevance of technology trends to its industry and sector, is not ready for capacity to access technology, so it does not turn around get a business organization model to catch up with the new trend That is the reason why most of the evaluation criteria on the impact of scientific and technological advances on the competitiveness of SMEs in Vinh Phuc province are only assessed at a low level About international integration The international economic integration in general and the implementation of FTAs in particular will bring great opportunities for economic development, trade, investment of the Vietnamese economy in general and a positive factor to improve Competitiveness of SMEs in Vinh Phuc province in particular However, in order to take advantage of incentives in FTAs, SMEs in Vinh Phuc province need to meet the requirements and high standards of goods quality, under pressure to comply with the provisions on defense birth, environment, labor and technological processes This is both an opportunity to improve capacity, 18 and a challenge for NVV enterprises in Vinh Phuc province because some small and medium enterprises are lacking technology, capital and manufacturing experience 3.4.2.3 Causes of the limitations Firstly: Enterprises lack a team of experts, skilled workers, highlevel workers, policy makers and organizations to apply new technologies Due to the characteristics of business managers, there is very little time to update new knowledge and skills that have created a lack of necessary management knowledge and skills, leading to inadequate management capacity requires international economic integration Secondly quality of human resources of the province With the characteristics of local human resources, it is very difficult for SMEs to recruit quality human resources in accordance with the needs of the fourth industrial revolution Many problems are caused by the old mechanism, because the management level does not keep up with the innovation and international integration Thirdly The role of management guidance of industry management agencies and consultancy organizations on technology is lacking, weak and embarrassing Lack of coordination among research institutions to implement applications with small and medium enterprises, research potentials of unexploited institutes, centers and universities for public innovation programs technology, lack of technology support between large enterprises and small and medium enterprises On the other hand, there is no technology strategy for small and medium enterprises, so technological innovation takes place spontaneously, small and lack of orientation of the State Lack of synchronous solutions in acquiring foreign technology, lack of consulting information, appraisal and qualification, about 70% of equipment and machinery are bought at an average level, usually in the form of old equipment 19 Fourthly The current valuation method of collateral is unclear, often the value of assets is very low compared to the real value, even the evaluation is still arbitrary The financial and credit policies have not been implemented synchronously and effectively implemented, so the impact is not very good to the urgent need of capital of small and medium enterprises at present In addition, the capital mobilization of SMEs is difficult Meeting the conditions to mobilize capital through the issuance of shares and bonds of enterprises is limited On the other hand, the stock market fluctuates erratically, liquidity is low, so mobilizing this capital source for SMEs is not easy Therefore, most SMEs must rely on loans and be considered the only source of capital to ensure businesses operate instead of mobilizing shareholder capital Fifthly The level of science and technology and management of enterprises is still low, not operating in a chain, without association, and limited resources; Many businesses not fully understand the nature of the 4.0 revolution, so they are not ready to access technology and catch up with the new trend International integration requires high requirements and standards for the quality of goods and services that have created for small businesses and have faced new pressures on the environment, labor and technological processes 20 CHAPTER 4: SOME SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN VINH PHUC PROVINCE 4.1 Orientation and requirements to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province 4.1.1 The domestic and international context affects the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province 4.1.2 Orientation and requirements for small and medium enterprises development 4.2 Solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province 4.2.1 Developing high quality human resources and good management system to improve competitiveness for small and medium enterprises 4.2.2 Developing the financial system, facilitating loans for small and medium enterprises for investment and development 4.2.3 Strengthening science and technology capacity for small and medium enterprises in the province 4.2.4 Developing product strategy, partnership, cooperation to improve competitiveness in the process of international integration 4.2.5 Branding and marketing strategy for businesses 4.2.6 Investment in logistics services development 4.3 Conditions for implementing solutions 21 CONCLUSION The thesis has achieved the objectives: Firstly, the thesis has analyzed the study issues on competitiveness of enterprises in general as well as small and medium enterprises in particular on the basis of studying research works of scholars and scientists of countries in the world, the authors in Vietnam Since then, the author has raised the outstanding issues studied in scientific works, weight gaps of his research as required by the thesis Secondly, the basic problems of small and medium enterprises The thesis has fully clarified, such as concepts, characteristics, classification of small and medium enterprises; At the same time, it highlighted the role of small and medium enterprises in the development of our country The concepts of competition and competitiveness of enterprises have been built by the author as a tool to study the important issues of the thesis Based on the competitive models of small and medium enterprises that have been accepted by many countries in the world, the author chooses the official model as a basis for studying the factors affecting the competitiveness of enterprises ensure the right direction, consistent with the best practices of Vinh Phuc province It is also the basis for proposing measures to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province in the context of integration On the basis of studying the theory of competition and competitiveness of small and medium enterprises, the author has built the basic criteria as a basis for surveying the situation, assessing basics of edge competencies The picture of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province is considered as the basis for proposing solutions in Chapter of the thesis 22 Thirdly, the author has surveyed and evaluated the status of factors affecting competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province, which is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative By determining the scale of 10 factors affecting 54 observed variables, the author has developed a survey questionnaire with a reasonable situation The survey results show that the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province faces a lot of difficulties in capital resources, the level of organization of business management, cooperation and cooperation, and logistics costs are still high The regression results of the factors affecting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises show that the factors of marketing capacity of enterprises, management policies of the state, improving the quality of human resources for Business management or enterprise management are important factors that have the most impact on the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises Fourthly, Research results of the chapters serve as a basis for proposing groups of solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province in the current period, including: Developing quality human resources in and good management system to improve competitiveness for small and medium enterprises; Developing the financial system, facilitating loans for small and medium enterprises for investment and development; Strengthening science and technology capacity for small and medium enterprises in the province; Develop product strategies, partnerships, cooperation links to improve competitiveness; Branding and marketing strategy for businesses; Investment in logistics services development 23 In each solution, the thesis clearly defines the objectives, contents and methods of implementation in the current local conditions The solutions have certain constraints and have a great influence on improving the competitiveness of enterprises, so they must perform synchronously and flexibly in practice The solution groups are built on the basis of the state and local guidelines on the development and support of small and medium enterprises of our country in order to constantly improve the competitiveness of enterprises In addition to the achieved results, the thesis has not yet collected sufficient data and analyzed the market share criteria of SMEs in Vinh Phuc; The number of factors affecting the competitiveness of SMEs conducted survey and analysis only stop 10 factors Therefore, in subsequent studies, the author expects to complete the issues mentioned above 24 LIST OF PUBLISHED STUDY WORKS OF THE AUTHOR RELATED TO THE THESIS TOPIC No Name of the project (article) Author Year of publication Some issues on the competitiveness of Vietnamese small and medium enterprises in the context of international economic integration Dao Truong Thanh Le Dinh Tan 2017 Consolidate and strengthen the organizational structure and management system, ensure the quality of human resources to improve the competitiveness of enterprises Some solutions to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in Vinh Phuc province in the current period Dao Truong Thanh 2018 Dao Truong Thanh 2018 Role of Marine and economic development logistics Port services’s Vietnam in the context of current Dao Truong Thanh 2018 Solutions to improve the competitiveness of logistics enterprises at present Dao Truong Thanh 2019 Influential factors of small and medium sized enterprises’s comptetitiveness in Vinh Phuc province Dao Truong Thanh 2019 Journal title, number, from page to page Seminar: “The 4th Annual conference of Vietnam young scientists (June, 2017 in Korea)”; Trang 82 Industry and Trade Magazine, Vol 1, January 2018; From page 116 to page 121 Industry and Trade Magazine, Vol + 6, April 2018; from page 131 to page 136 Journal of Middle East and North Africa Sciences Vol 04, December, 2018, from page 15 to page 21 Journal of Economics and Forecasting, Vol 10, April 2019, from page 21 to page 23 Journal of Economics and Forecasting, Vol 21, July 2019 ... current period Dao Truong Thanh 2018 Dao Truong Thanh 2018 Role of Marine and economic development logistics Port services’s Vietnam in the context of current Dao Truong Thanh 2018 Solutions to improve... enterprises at present Dao Truong Thanh 2019 Influential factors of small and medium sized enterprises’s comptetitiveness in Vinh Phuc province Dao Truong Thanh 2019 Journal title, number, from... small and medium enterprises in the context of international economic integration Dao Truong Thanh Le Dinh Tan 2017 Consolidate and strengthen the organizational structure and management system,