Assignment 1: Diagnosing the causes of the organisational challenge (individual)

I. Introduction
As technology accelerates at an exponential rate, the opportunities for developing
mobile applications are at an all-time high. People are becoming increasingly reliant
on mobile devices for work. Customers and business partners are also demanding the
ability to engage with your organization via mobile applications. This jigsaw puzzle is
made up of several pieces; however, the mobile device is only one of them. Sensors,
big data analytics, automation, customer experience, and social media all play a
critical role in helping customers navigate the complicated digital world. Phalanx
spans a broad variety of capabilities that are inextricably linked. Organizations
looking to expand their business to mobile platforms may benefit from Phalanx, which
includes support for enterprise-level mobile application development and app business
consultant. Furthermore, Phalanx is the only one that can offer the whole spectrum of
application development services, from ideas to user acquisition and marketing. Also,
our whole way of life has been altered by the COVID-19 epidemic, which is
considerably more than a health issue. The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, social
distance, and other protective measures have boosted online market consumption and
hastened the growth of digital commerce. Therefore, Phalanx attendance is a lifeline
for conventional companies.
II. Brief background of Phalanx and Problem Identification
Established in 2021, Phalanx is led by a decent team that consists of Mr. Duc
Minh working as a CEO and founder, Mr. Tien Ta working as a chief technology
officer (CTO), Ms. Hai Yen working as a user interface/user experience (UI/UX)
designer, a developer team taking in charge of writing codes and developing apps,
a business development team responsible for looking for new customers and
taking care of existing ones, and the tester team in charge of identifying software
faults or bugs in order to improve the overall quality of the products.
2020 will be regarded in the future as the year when everything began to change.
The digital and e-commerce sectors have grown at an unprecedented and
unanticipated rate during the COVID-19 crisis. To clarify, companies who
collaborated with trusted digital providers and implemented automation into their
business strategy fared best during the pandemic, according to Gartner Inc., a
financial research group ( Patenna, 2020). It gave an example of a department
store that spent money on social media marketing. The company made the same
amount of money each week by having its own sales clerks host a live-streamed
event. At COVID-19, Rakuten Insight ran an online shopping poll and discovered
that 58.49 percent of Vietnamese respondents indicated they had increased their
online purchases. According to the same study's findings, the majority of
Vietnamese individuals surveyed indicated they buy online many times a month.
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Phalanx, which was developed in the context of Covid-19, assists conventional firms
in swiftly establishing an e-commerce platform capable of adapting to consumer
demands. Although Phalanx offers clients comprehensive and affordable application
development solutions for businesses, Phalanx still meets some difficulties with brand
awareness, number of clients, and finance.
III. External Factors Analysis (PESTEL)
1. Political
Although Phalanx offers vivid and user-friendly web designs that assure brand
awareness, and user interaction, all of which contribute to high conversion
rates, some Vietnamese government policies limit Phalanx from cooperating
with new clients. The fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (emerged from
April 27) forced Vietnam to implement centralized isolation, home isolation,
in-place isolation, and even statewide social isolation for the first time in
history (Le et al, 2021). More seriously, shippers were only allowed to deliver
essential items (Linh, 2021) and to a single district (Anh & Hữu , 2021). These
kept Vietnamese consumers from shopping, despite enterprises attempting to
transition to online platforms. Buyers and sellers were powerless to act if the
item purchased was not a necessity and the merchant was not located in the
 same district as them.
2. Social
In the wake of the COVID-19 catastrophe, there has been an increased focus
on the significance of vital commodities (such as food, medicine, etc.) in
comparison to luxury items such as clothes and accessories. A Nielsen
Company analysis (2020) found that the COVID-19 epidemic shifted
worldwide consumer spending levels. More precisely, customer preferences
have shifted toward the most fundamental needs, such as food, hygiene, and
cleaning items. As a result, this shift in consumer spending behavior has
harmed the company's ability to serve a diverse client base.
IV. Internal Factors Analysis (McKinsey 7S Framework)
1. Shared value
Phalanx is striving to provide the best prices and the best customer care to
create a smooth experience for their customers. They have a strong awareness
of what the consumer desires and hence respond to their requirements by
offering those fantastic brands at public competitive costs and with lightning-
fast delivery. On the surface, this appears to be a benefit of the organization, as
they can combine impressions on public price with fast delivery impressions
and sell it at competitive prices. However, this may in fact be a significant
obstacle. Publishing business quotations will bring advantages to competitors
since they are aware of Phalanx’s and will to offer lower prices to poach the
clients.
2. Strategy
Since Phalanx has recently built in 2021, it is shown to have low levels of
brand awareness and initial brand trust. Firstly, brand awareness is critical to
commercial success. If customers are unaware of the existence or do not
comprehend what Phalanx provides, even the most effective marketing efforts
will fail to turn into sales. Secondly, according to Koufaris and Sosa (2004),
gaining consumers’ initial trust is the likelihood of new clients incurring
reduced switching fees. When combined with the huge array of available
suppliers and products on the web, it may be very easy for buyers to elect to
visit another store following their initial trust. However, since Phalanx is a
fledgling company, it is still on the way to discovering a strategy for building
brand awareness and trust.
V. Recommendation
Having been mentioned above, Phalanx needs to identify clearly its strategy
planning for brand awareness and trust. Phalanx may need to look for bigger
clients since a company's brand recognition and trust will be greatly impacted
 by its reputation, especially if it has a small number of well-known clients who
have had success working with Phalanx.
VI. Conclusion
To summarize,Covid-19 has accelerated the pace of digital transformation
and technology adoption. Phalanx, which is a business consultant, mobile
app & website developer, and a marketer, was founded at the appropriate
time for businesses to transition to online selling. Internal and external
factors studied in this paper are both challenges and opportunities for
Phalanx to thrive and increase its revenue and awareness to provide the
finest service for its clients.
VII. References

Rakuten Insight. (2021). Change in online purchase behavior during coronavirus

(COVID-19) among respondents in Vietnam in 2020 [Data set]. Minh Ngoc Nguyen.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1128314/vietnam-change-of-online-purchase-
behavior-during-coronavirus/#statisticContainer
Panetta, K. (2020). How Chinese Companies Successfully Adapted to COVID-19.
Gartner. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/how-successful-
chinese-companies-adapted-to-covid-19
Le, T. T., Vodden, K., Wu, J., & Atiwesh, G. (2021). Policy Responses to the
COVID-19 Pandemic in Vietnam. International journal of environmental research
and public health, 18(2), 559. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020559

Linh, T. (2021). TP. HCM chỉ cho phép shipper giao hàng thiết yếu hoạt động. Luat
Viet Nam. Retrieved from https://luatvietnam.vn/tin-van-ban-moi/chi-cho-phep-
shipper-giao-hang-thiet-yeu-duoc-hoat-dong-186-31837-article.html
Anh, T., Huu, C. (2021). Mỗi shipper chỉ được giao hàng tại một quận, huyện ở TP
HCM. Vnexpress. Retrieved from https://vnexpress.net/moi-shipper-chi-duoc-giao-
hang-tai-mot-quan-huyen-o-tp-hcm-4330941.html
Nielsen. (2021). Key consumer behavior thresholds identified as the coronavirus
outbreak evolves. NielsenIQ. Retrieved from
https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/analysis/2020/key-consumer-behavior-
thresholds-identified-as-the-coronavirus-outbreak-evolves-2/
Koufaris, M. and Hampton-Sosa, W. (2004) The Development of Initial Trust in an
Online Company by New Customers. Information and Management, 41, 377-397.
Retrieved from https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?
doi=10.1.1.1076.5690&rep=rep1&type=pdf#:~:text=In%20the%20context%20of
%20web,with%20their%20products%20or%20services