The Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter
Teaming up in HCMC
Happy New Year!
This year’s Tet has been my first: an exhilarating experience, and an
embrace by a major asset of Vietnamese culture. To Vietnamese, Tet
is the cornerstone of the year. Not only to celebrate a new lunar year, LH Resources
but also to celebrate family life. To me, it is a discovery that all Office: @ 62/44
Duong So6, P5,
Vietnamese life—private and business— circles around Tet. So let Go Vap District,
this newsletter mark the beginning of a good year for our families, Ho Chi Minh City
and our business.
Since settling in Vietnam in November last year, my network has been 3rd year, no. 1
expanding rapidly. Plans are becoming reality. Despite the economic February 4, 2009
crisis—which appears to be a ‘man-made’ event—most of us know
only one thing: there is one future, and we are the ones who make it This magazine was born in
March 2007. In its first year,
happen. three editions were publis-
Announcing three more lectures hed and distributed among
my Vietnamese and Dutch
After delivering 3 lectures in July 2008, I will soon deliver a second business and private associ-
series. The topics: ates. Purpose: to keep them
informed about my activi-
 How to Build a Network—Personal PR
ties in Vietnam. This ama-
 How to Face The Crisis—Fear as a source of inspiration zingly attractive and energe-
 How to Control Time—Elementary Time Management tic country has rapidly con-
quered my soul, and become
Watch your mailbox for further announcements, and a digital flyer my home away from home.
containing the exact dates, location and times.
Loek Hopstaken

Note: if you missed one or more lectures I delivered last July, you will have
another opportunity to attend them. Topics: How to persuade people; How to
effectively speak in public; How to select the right person. LH In this issue:

And we name it … LH Resources Teaming up in HCMC 1

-
Pricing 2009 2
Sofar, I have been operating on my own. I used Hopstaken
Services and Hopstaken International to identify my activities. The Soft Skills Program 3
The time has come to get registered as a company. Since
early 2007 my professional assistant is mrs. Lien Huong. Teaming up 4
Our initials are identical, hence: ‘LH’. Teaming up means,
we now have a team of professionals we can rely on for Teaching & Training: 5
support and creativity, hence: ‘LH Resources’. what is the difference?
As many of you know by experience, the registration
Standing offer 6
process is a thorough one. And as a relative newcomer to
Vietnam, I am learning how to deal with its regulations and
procedures. Learning never ends. Contact information; 7
cv Loek Hopstaken

“Living a life of integrity is one of the greatest

missions we can undertake.” Greg Anderson Next issue May 2009
3rd year, no. 1 2

LH
The Dutch Vietnam Management
Resources Supporter
Updated: the Catalogue
The new edition of The Catalogue contains a section on The
Soft Skills Program, and updates & upgrades of several
workshops. There are 3 ways to use this catalogue:
1. Are you managing employees? You know you need to
have a maximum number of employees with well-
developed soft skills. Yes, they must still have their
vocational & technical training. However, the difference
between long term success and failure is the development
level of a person’s soft skills. Send the promising young to
“the tailor made Soft Skills Program”.See p. 13.
2. Are you a manager, and feel you are lacking certain
soft skills? Let’s have a talk, to determine which soft
skills need some work. You can learn these in a 1:1
setting, or in a small group of colleague-entrepreneurs.
3. Are you a student, college graduate or employee, and
do you feel the need to enhance your employability? Then
sign up for a personalized soft skills training program,
tailor made to fit your personal needs.
Write an email to loek.hopstaken@gmail.com for a pdf-copy.

Important: Pricing of Services per 1.2.2009

All of our services can be delivered in two ways: in-company, or in an open training environment.

In-company services:
the service is tailor made to fit the need of a board of directors, a management team, company department
or section. Participants are colleagues, but can be employed in different departments. What binds them is
the department and company goals and policies. A project team also falls in this category. Maximum
number of participants: 16.
In-company prices are all excluding 10% VAT.
Workshop: US$ 1,200 per day, per company team
Consultancy: US$ 90,- per hour (minimum 3 hours)
Seminar: US$ 500,- per 3,5-4 hour seminar
Lecture: US$ 250,- per 1,5 hour lecture
An ‘All Round Program’ for company teams costs between US$ 1,250 and US$ 1,400,-, depending on the
type of program. As a rule, these programs are tailor made, and include off or online coaching.
Public workshops and seminars:
Individual participants come from different companies and organizations, but registered for the same ser-
vice. Maximum number of participants: 20 (workshops), 40 (seminars; lectures).
Public workshops and seminars are all excluding 10% VAT.
Workshop: US$ 150 per day
Seminars: US$ 50; lectures US$ 15.
In 2009 LH Resources plans to deliver parts of the All Round Programs as public seminars.

“The important thing is to not stop questioning.”

Albert Einstein (German-born American physicist)
3rd year, no. 1 3
The Dutch Vietnam Management
LH
Resources Supporter

The tailor made Soft Skills Program

Have you ever hired a person whose CV showed lots of diploma’s and certificates, and an impressive list
of job titles and projects—but whose contributions were disappointing, and who failed completely as a
team member? Sadly, this personnel selection mistake is being made daily. When faced with such a situa-
tion, it’s often hard to understand why academic brilliance and years of on-the-job experience apparently
is no guarantee for a sound performance, for a solid production record. Still, there is a real reason: lack of
soft skills. What are soft skills?
Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual’s interactions, job performance and
career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which tend to be specific to a certain type of task or
activity, soft skills are broadly applicable. Soft skills are sometimes broken down into
a. personal attributes, such as: optimism, responsibility, sense of humor, integrity, time-
management, self esteem and control, motivation. They also include artistic and ceremonial
qualities, including knowing how to dress to the occasion, and to combine colors; taste.
b. interpersonal abilities, such as: empathy, leadership, communication, good manners and
etiquette, sociability, working as a team member, use of proper language, the ability to interact
with colleagues, intercultural skills, ethics, hostmanship/hospitality, persuasion skills,
customer friendliness and service, utilizing tact, courtesy and civility, and the ability to teach.
(sources: Whatis.com; Yahoo! answers)

When we are young, our parents and school teachers take care of our basic soft skills education. Yet,
many people grow up just copying lack of soft skills from their environment—often, un-civilized compa-
ny. Some simply seem to lack the talent. Others simply forget their basic education.
Tailor made or done with a team
To enhance a person’s soft skills, one first needs to find out her / his strengths and weaknesses. When
this is done, a tailor made program can be designed to add missing and improve weakly developed soft
skills. The Soft Skills Program can be done individually, but also in a group or with a team. LH Resources
will assist you in finding out which solution best suits your employee, your team, or … you.

Situation:
A person / team’s lack of soft skills
leads to tensions in the work place, or
loss of clientele. Again and again,
managers needs to repair the damage.
Solution:
Convince the person / team that a tailor made, practical
program to add missing and improve underdeveloped soft
skills. This may take 1—8 program steps, depending on
the results of a soft skills scan.

How much does a Soft Skills Program cost?

In-company team: US$ 1,200 per day (excl. tax); public seminar: US$ 35 (incl. tax)

“Hard skills will get an applicant an interview, but soft skills will get that person a
job.” Ian Morrison
3rd year, no. 1 4

LH The Dutch Vietnam Management

Resources Supporter

Teaming up with my associates

Living in Ho Chi Minh City is no less than a life-changing
event for a person who until April 2007 was a stranger on
Vietnamese shores. Like what is happening to many, Vietnam
offers a true challenge—one that makes you determined to make
the very best of it. As a professional the fun part of it is teaming
up with several new professionals. People like Raymond
Wiranatakusuma, Director of Spectra (right, at Highland Coffee,
near Park Hyatt Hotel). Raymond is from Singapore. By
delivering what he promises to his clients he succeeds in putting
his training & consultancy company firmly on the map. People
like Dr. Patrick Doan (below; 3rd from right) and Dr. Clement
(centre, far end of the table). They cooperate to establish a new
school, while running a business school (IHTC) and a university (NCU). Their entrepreneurship is both
inspirational to me, and a fine example.
“You need a mass of help to stand alone”: entrepreneurs know they cannot realize their dreams all by
themselves. I see this happening all over the world: the successful ones inspire others to help, and make
sure there is a good reward for them. They understand the function and value of ‘give & take’ in long
term business relationships. Those who fail also get help, but they don’t reward their helpers: they take,
but don’t give. They waste their associates. This eventually ruins their reputation. Who would want to
help, or work for an opportunist? The business world is tough. For talented entrepreneurs the risks it
offers can prove to be ‘too much’. Soft skills provide an answer.
2009 is the year of the truth.
Many face an economic depression.
No one will survive these tough
times all by themselves. Now is the
time to find true associates, to join
forces with kindred spirits, to create
a viable activity. Successful
entrepreneurs seem to have another
characteristic in common: they
don’t focus on money, they focus
on meeting a demand, on delivering
a fine product in the hands of their
customers. The unsuccessful ones
stare themselves blind on money.
Associate yourself with those who
may be your assistants to make
good business happen—against all
odds. Making it happen, day by day.

“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you

never really knew. They make the instrument stretch; what makes
you go beyond the norm.”
Cicely Tyson
3rd year, no. 1 5
The Dutch Vietnam Management
LH
Resources Supporter

Teaching & Training???

Teaching and training: what is the difference? Usually, training is associated with improving someone’s
abilities, both hard and soft skills. Companies send their staff for training: to refresh their professional qua-
lities, or to enhance their competencies. Nowadays, many business oriented training centers cater to this
need with courses and workshops. These are often short: as the training takes place during working hours,
the average employer doesn’t like staff to spend too much paid time away from the workplace.
However, in recent times companies also send staff to uni-
versities, especially those that offer MBA and vocational pro-
grams that are closely linked to the world of business. Programs
that often take much more time than the corporate training sessi-
ons. A university pretends to go deeper into the subject, adds both
flavors of science and academic status. This then is called teaching.
Many universities hire acade- mics, not business professionals—
people who have extensive ex- perience in the business world.
Surveys have shown that most employees prefer a short, practical
training over a lengthy teaching program.

“Being rich isn’t about money. Being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much
money we have, will never be free enough to stop and take the time to eat the heart of the water-
melon. And some of us will be rich without ever bring more than a paycheck ahead of the game.”
Harvey Mackay (American businessman, speaker, author)

More and more employees discover the benefits of a university education—and enjoy the status of being
a university student. MBA pro- grams have been on offer since in
the mid 80ies major American universities (Harvard, Yale, Roches-
ter) discovered that there is an ever growing market for this service.
Mind you: a fulltime employee needs to study hard for 12-16 hours
a week, for two years. The re- ward is an MBA certificate, which
will boost the person’s career: a sound investment. To make the
MBA programs attractive, uni- versities and business schools have
learned that these programs should contain lots of action. Tea-
ching becomes training. So the old difference is fading.
As a trainer / teacher I enjoy working both for corporations and
universities. This has been my ‘double career’ these past 6 years:
Trainer, Professor. The pro- grams I deliver are quite similar: fo-
cused at practical use of the models and theories, after filtering out the ones that have proven their worka-
bility. How to ‘filter’? By putting them to the ultimate test: trying them out in the real world. The classic
‘Halls of Learning’ become places where Trainers rub elbows with Professors. A lively exchange between
science and real life. In this way the academic and business worlds feed each other, to pick the fruits of syn-
ergy.
Teaching at 2 renowned HCMC universities and training Vietnamese managers made me realize its value.

“In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those
who show their good qualities in action.”
Aristotle (Greek philosopher)
3rd year, no. 1 6
The Dutch Vietnam Management Supporter
STANDING OFFER:
EXPERIENCE HOW HOPSTAKEN MAKES A DIFFERENCE
A theory serves its purpose when it increases someone’s practical skills. MINI-CATALOGUE
The English say: ‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating’. There is
An overview of Hopstaken services
only one way to get to know my way of training: by experiencing it.
Workshops
One way of getting this experience is to invite me to deliver a lecture
A workshop is a 2-4 day group activity
(1-2 hours) or a full seminar (3-4 hours) in your company. You choose with a defined purpose, where theory,
the topic. For ideas, see the ‘mini-catalogue’ (right). practical exercise and exchange of
Two conditions: 1. the participants should be able to understand experiences are the main ingredients.
English, and 2. the maximum number is 40. Areas: HRM, PR, Communication,
and Management.
If this seminar or lecture leads to delivery of a next service to  Team Engineering
your company, the cost of this seminar or lecture will be  Communication
deducted from your first bill.  Commercial Communication
If you are interested, please let me know. Please name the topic AND  Public Relations
name the period in which it will be feasible for your team to attend the  Effective Meetings
seminar.  Organizational Design
All the best,  Intercultural Communication
Loek Hopstaken For contact information, see page 7.  Time Management/Efficiency
 Personnel Selection
My best Consulting
friend and Consulting is any specified expert
colleague activity to help solve a defined
from The problem. This can take the form of
Nether- coaching, but also, conducting a
lands, research. By definition, it is tailor
Peter van made. Areas: HRM, Strategy, PR.
Oosten,  Management Coach
visited Ho  Corporate Strategy
Chi Minh  Personal Coach
City in
 Mediation
November
 Executive Selection
2008. He
met seve-  In- & External Surveys
ral alumni. Seminars
A seminar is a 3-4 hour interactive
transference of core know-how,
Peter takes a
picture of Dien Dutch Connections combined with practical assignments.
 People Management
Bien Phu Street  Emotions in the workplace
from the Hud
 Conflict Handling
Building,
where we had a  Business Ethics
meeting with  The All Round Manager™
Ms. Kim Ngoc,  The All Round
of Saigon Van. Communicator™
This relocation  The Soft Skills Program™
company is a Investments
member of Workshops: US $ 1,200 per team/day.
UTS. One of Consulting / Coaching: US $ 90 p/h.
my Dutch Seminars: US $ 500 per seminar;
clients is (except the ‘All Round’ seminar pro-
Voerman Inter- grams). US$ 250 per lecture .
national, also a Train-the-Trainer: US 1,200 per day.
member of See page 2 for more about pricing.
UTS.
3rd year, no. 1 7

LH
The Dutch Vietnam Management
Resources Supporter

This newsletter is written & published by Loek Hopstaken.

LH Resources
Office: 62/44 Duong So 6, P. 5, Go Vap District, HCMC
Email: loek@hopstaken.com or loek.hopstaken@gmail.com
Mobile Vietnam: 09 0888 9450
Assistant: Ms. Vo Ngoc Lien Huong
Email: jane.hopstaken@gmail.com
Mobile VN: 090 888 9451
Website: www.lh-resources.com (under construction)
In The Netherlands Loek Hopstaken’s company is:
Hopstaken Bedrijfsadvies.
Address: Gouden Leeuw 628, 1103 KN Amsterdamn ZO

After working as HRM specialist, Department Head (Job Evaluation Dept.) and
Project Manager (HRM, PR, TQM) for 30 years, including 5 years as a teacher of
business administration at an international management school, I was appointed
Professor. It’s the title I’m most proud of. Teaching is the true crown on any career.
Who is Loek Hopstaken?
1951: born in Haarlem, Netherlands
1971: Near & Middle East travels
1972-1975: Amsterdam University
1976-1977: North & South America
1977-1993: career in banking: NCB,
Postgiro, Postbank, NMB Postbank
Group, ING Bank
1979-1982: BA studies
1983-1988: project manager
privatization process Postgiro to
Postbank (field: HRM)
1989-1993: project manager
formation NMB Postbank Group;
ING Group (fields: PR and TQM)
1991: founding own company:
Hopstaken Bedrijfsadvies
1993: left ING Bank; started career in
training and consultancy
1996-2000: business club MC
2001: started mediation career
2003-2008: combining training &
consultancy for companies with
teaching at an international
management school (BA—MBA)
2005: appointed Professor
2006: start of exploring the
Vietnamese market
2007: first 3 visits to Vietnam
2008: 4th & 5th extended stays in
Vietnam: lecturing, consulting, sur-
veying, delivering workshops at 2
universities; establishing in HCMC
2009: founding of LH Resources
Full cv available.