Business strategy during COVID pandemic event: Survival plans of instant coffee manufacturers in Vietnam

Abstract

In Vietnam, the covid situation started in the beginning of 2020 but not until May 2021, it severely impacts the country economically and socially. Some of the top instant coffee producers in Vietnam are struggling to calibrate their business decision-making to survive but others are taking advantage of the situation and fetch for opportunistic expansion. The theoretical framework initiates a global examination in the coffee industry to seek understandings through different business approaches from international organizations against the pandemic and determines dominant components succor firms to overcome adversities. Specifically, this study focuses on understanding the business strategies of Vietnam instant coffee manufacturers using business case study and unstructured interview. The result unveils that for the company survival plan categorizes into three directions: expanding, hibernating, and idling tactic. The paper suggests that during the pandemic event, the business decision-making highly relates to the degree of automation and liquidation. Furthermore, the study suggests that the decision of whether to embrace vertical or horizontal acquisition tactic during this period is a dependent variable with the magnitude of synchronization among the firm sub-business ecosystem. The study, hence, suggested instant coffee manufacturer to establish a set of backup plan in case of unexpected pandemic occasions by improving their automation degree and upgrading its liquidation channels.