US-based ForbesBooks published the book “Competing with Giants: How One Family-Owned Company Took on the Multinationals and Won” by Vietnamese businesswoman Tran Uyen Phuong in New York on August 30.

Tran Uyen Phuong

It was the first time ForbesBooks, a book publishing imprint of Forbes Media, has published a book by a Vietnamese author. The publisher released 20,000 copies of the book on its debut. It is also available on Amazon.com.

According to ForbesBooks, the author wants to send empowering messages that the East and the West can learn from each other; family-owned businesses are thriving and Asian women are making their mark.

“Most importantly of all, it shows that small companies, which take advantage of their local knowledge and marry it with the best international standards, can hold their own and even outflank giant global corporation,” it writes.

The book was well-received by businessmen and investors who believe it will benefit global readers, particularly entrepreneurs and students of economic studies, a representative from ForbesBooks told Viet Nam News Agency at the launch.

Justin Batt, a financial officer at ForbesBooks, said the firm decided to publish the book because it thinks a story of a small brand rising and effectively competing with foreign conglomerates will inspire many small companies in the US as well as other parts of the globe.

“Competing with Giants” was written in English by Tran Uyen Phuong who serves as Deputy CEO of Tan Hiep Phat (THP) group, Viet Nam’s leading beverage company, in partnership with British journalist Jackie Horne and writer John Kador from the US.

THP was founded in 1994 by Phuong’s father, Tran Qui Thanh, aka Dr. Thanh.

In addition to running Number 1 Chu Lai Plant, Phuong is responsible for THP’s procurement, domestic and international marketing, public relations, and corporate social responsibility programmes. She is an executive of the Beverage Association of Viet Nam and also sits on the executive committee of the Young Presidents’ Organisation’s Viet Nam chapter.

After being asked by Harvard Business Review to write a case study on how her family-owned business walked away from a US$2.5 billion offer from Coca – Cola in 2015, Phuong decided to write a book that would teach people exactly how to do it in their own business.

(Source: VNS/ DA NANG Today)