Science & Technology Development Journal – Economics - Law and Management 2023, 7(4):4961-4968

Commentary
Open Access Full Text Article

Applying the 5W-1H and 4M method to evaluate the content of

analyzing the export business organization process: QSA
approach

Le Quang Huy*

ABSTRACT
The application and evaluation of the process of the implementating export business activities are
mandatory requirements for students studying international business. Lecturers (instructors) can
evaluate this requirement by evaluating the content of analysing the export business organization
process of enterprises by students.
The objective of these is to help students apply theory and practice to explain how to set up, or-
ganize, implement, and monitor and control operations; strategies, export business plans of en-
terprises. In addition, it also prepares the groundwork for the opportunity to find suitable jobs for
students after graduation.
On the other hand, how to evaluate the organization's export activities for students and lecturers is
a big question that needs a clear method. So far, there has not been much literature regarding the
method of evaluating the content of analyzing the export business organization process. In fact,
there are many points of view to evaluate the above content.
The article offers a new method that combines the 5W-1H (What, Who, When, Where, Why and
How) and 4M (Men - people, Method - method, Machines - equipment, Materials - raw materials)
to evaluate the analysis of export business organization processes as presented in practical reports
written by students studying international business. The article utilizes the QSA (The qualitative
secondary data analysis) approach, as well as the content analysis method and single case study.
The implications of the article are twofold: firstly, it provides general guidelines to students on how
to better analyze the content of export business organization processes, and secondly, it offers
guidance to instructors on how to evaluate students' analyses of the same.
Therefore, the use of the 5W1H and 4M methods creates consistency in analyzing the export busi-
ness activities for both students, mentors, and reviewers for the graduation thesis of students.
University of Finance – Marketing, Key words: 5W-1H, 4M, export business organization process, export business practice
Vietnam

Correspondence
Le Quang Huy, University of Finance – INTRODUCTION TO THE RESEARCH ship program. Based on this, the author of article
Marketing, Vietnam aims to introduce the mixed method of 5W-1H and
ISSUE
Email: quanghuy@ufm.edu.vn 4M in evaluating the content of analyzing the export
A graduation thesis for students in the economics field
History business organization process of companies from the
(popular) is an applied research topic conducted by
• Received: 15-6-2023 perspective of instructors guiding the internship pro-
• Accepted: 31-10-2023
a student. It is the result of applying knowledge and
gram.
• Published Online: 31-12-2023 skills acquired in the university to research and solve
a specific problem arising from the practical busi- THE RESEARCH METHOD
DOI :
ness activities of businesses or industries in the field
https://doi.org/10.32508/stdjelm.v7i4.1270 So far, there has not been much literature regarding
of training that students are most interested in. For
students majoring in International Business, one of the method of evaluating the content of analyzing the
the applied research directions to complete the grad- export business organization process. Although ev-
uation thesis is to research/analyze/evaluate the pro- eryone understands that to evaluate the analysis of a
Copyright practical process, the writer needs to observe the prac-
cess of organizing the export business activity of a
© VNUHCM Press. This is an open-
company. However, there is still no consensus on ticality (or participate in practical activities), consult
access article distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons the criteria and methods for evaluating the organiza- documents about the process, or listen to narrations
Attribution 4.0 International license. tion process of export business activities for students from those who are involved in the practical activi-
and instructors. This creates difficulties or subjective ties. However, the writer of the analysis content may
evaluations for students and instructors in the intern- not know which method to use for observation or, in

Cite this article : Huy L Q. Applying the 5W-1H and 4M method to evaluate the content of analyzing
the export business organization process: QSA approach. Sci. Tech. Dev. J. - Eco. Law Manag. 2023;
7(4):4961-4968.

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Science & Technology Development Journal – Economics - Law and Management 2023, 7(4):4961-4968

other words, where to start? This leads to the evalua- usually conduct transactions, business strategies, pay-
tor of the process analysis content not having enough ments, and delivery for each stage to achieve the set
information to evaluate. The result will be the failure goals 3 .
of both the evaluator and the evaluated person. According to Pham Duy Lien 4 , when researching for-
Therefore, the article’s author chose the qualitative re- eign markets, businesses need to focus on the follow-
search methodology to conduct the research, in which ing issues:
the qualitative secondary data analysis method (QSA)
• The relationship between supply and demand
and single case study method were used. According
and the scale of the market to determine the
to Silverman 1 , the qualitative secondary data analysis
market’s consumption capacity;
method (QSA) as a method that has grown rapidly to
• The economic, political, and trade characteris-
become widely practised and accepted. This growth
tics of that market;
is explained by more general trends promoting open-
• The legal systems that the market follows and
ness and sharing such as the open data movement,
applies;
research funder and journal policies promoting re-
• Natural conditions such as climate, resources...;
search transparency, and researchers seeing benefits
• Consumption characteristics from the perspec-
of sharing all manner of resources through social net-
tive of traders or consumers or both;
works.
• Other issues such as payment methods, contract
THE CONTENT OF THE EXPORT signing...
BUSINESS ORGANIZATION When researching and selecting partners, businesses
PROCESS OF A COMPANY should pay attention to the following issues:
Export activities are a basic form of international
• The organizational form of the partner (trad-
trade, which have been formed for a long time and are
ing association, limited liability company, joint
increasingly developing strongly. Exporting means
company);
selling products made from one country to another
• The organizational form of the company will de-
or for consumption by that country itself (in the case
termine who is responsible for the sales con-
where goods/services are exported from export pro-
tracts;
cessing zones into the country). Export activities are
• The responsibilities of participating members
usually divided into two groups. The first group is
will be specified in the laws of relevant countries;
trade in tangible products such as clothing, comput-
• Financial capacity (loss, profit, etc.);
ers, and raw materials. The second group is trade in
services - also known as trade in intangible products, • Partner’s reputation. To avoid importing low-
quality goods;
such as banking, tourism, accounting, international
insurance 2 . • The partner’s supply capacity is suitable for the
import needs of the business or not;
Business is simply understood as all activities aimed
at bringing profit to an organization. To carry out ex- • Geographical location of the partner to actively
port business activities, individuals or organizations calculate reasonable time when urgent orders
(enterprises) will perform many steps. Accordingly, are needed;
the export business organization process of a com- • The business sector of the partner;
pany can be divided into several stages (steps) 3–6 . In • Goodwill of the partner.
summary, the export business organization process of
To obtain information on these issues, businesses can
a company typically includes the following steps: use one or more of the following research methods:
through the media, various publications, on-site sur-
Market research and selecting partners, ex-
veys, credit investigation services, or trial orders.
port forms. Depending on the characteristics of the market that
For exporting businesses, researching and choosing the business has researched, the business will deter-
international markets is very important and deter- mine which export form is suitable: direct export, in-
mines the success or failure of the business. When re- direct export, or on-site export. However, the choice
searching foreign markets, businesses often focus on of export form also depends on production capacity,
the following issues: what product to export, to which scientific and technological level, business scale, cap-
market, who are the trading partners, how do they ital structure, export experience...

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Developing an Export Business Plan Implementing the Commercial contract

The business plan is a set of action plans for the busi- After signing an export contract, the most important
ness to achieve its objectives. task is to organize the execution of the contract be-
The basis for developing a business plan is to rely on the tween the buyer and seller. To execute the export con-
tract, the following tasks will be performed depending
following main factors:
on the commitment between the seller and the buyer:
• The information obtained during the market re- • Complete export procedures as required by the
search process. state.
• The business’s marketing strategy. • Carry out work at the initial stage of the payment
process.
The process of creating a business plan includes the fol- • Prepare goods for export.
lowing: • Inspect the exported goods.
• Complete customs procedures.
• Evaluating the data about the market and • Rent transportation vehicles.
traders. • Purchase insurance for exported goods.
• Setting objectives, including short-term, long- • Prepare payment documents.
term, and priority objectives. • Complaint resolution (if any).
• Evaluating the economic efficiency: exchange • Termination of the contract.
rate, break-even point, payback period, profit
margin. THE 5W-1H METHOD IN
• Developing implementation plans for the busi- EVALUATING PROCESSES AND
ness plan. BUSINESS
All successful work must have a plan in advance.
When evaluating the effectiveness of a business plan, The principle of management control and planning is
businesses usually use several indicators such as: ”first plan what you want to do, then do it based on
that” 7 . In other words, a plan is compass that guides
• Cost and revenue indicators. action. Additionally, planning helps us visualize what
• Export foreign exchange rate indicators. results will occur and what will not. Therefore, plan-
ning also has meaning in adjusting actions to help in-
• Payback period indicators.
dividuals and organizations achieve their goals. Ac-
• Profit margin indicators. cording to Deming 8 (1950, Swamidass, 2000), there
• Break-even point indicators. is a relationship between planning and action, which
can help businesses evaluate and improve quality.
Deming also introduced a method called the Deming
Negotiation and Contract Signing Cycle or PDCA Cycle (Plan - Do - Check - Act) 8 . This
is a continuous improvement cycle. The content of
Negotiation is a process in which two or more parties
each stage in this cycle can be summarized as follows:
discuss and agree with each other in order to reach
Plan - Determine the goals and implementation plan
a common goal. According to Doan Thi Hong Van
to achieve the set objectives; Do - Implement the es-
and Kim Ngoc Dat 6 in import-export activities, ne-
tablished plan; Check - Check and evaluate the results
gotiation is a cyclical process that never stops, with
of implementing the plan; Act - Based on the check
the end of one negotiation round leading to the be- and evaluation results, make necessary adjustments to
ginning of the next, and sometimes multiple nego- achieve the desired results or start a cycle with new in-
tiations must be conducted simultaneously. The ex- put information.
port contract negotiation process can be divided into In which, the plan is developed based on the following
five stages: preparation stage, contact stage, negotia- questions: What, Who, When, Where, and How and
tion stage, end stage - contract signing, and experi- Why, which is also known as The Kipling method 9 .
ence withdrawal stage. In addition, during the nego- The Kimpling method involves choosing a question,
tiation stages, exporters must determine methods and either randomly or with specific intent, and apply-
forms, and tasks to negotiate and sign contracts. ing it to a given scenario. For instance, if you were

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planning an office party, you could ask questions like M4 (Materials)

’What’s the purpose of this party? How much en- Raw materials are important ”inputs” that determine
joyment are we aiming for? What kind of music do the quality of the production process and the output of
attendees prefer? Who is likely to attend?’ and so the business. There cannot be a good result if the ”in-
forth. This straightforward approach allows for thor- put” raw materials are of poor quality. In export busi-
ough analysis and planning. Furthermore, according ness, the M4 factor could be the of capital, costs for
to Nguyen Kim Dinh 10 , to solve the problems in com- export business operations such as market research
prehensive management, people also find answers to costs, customer acquisition, procurement, and cus-
the questions: What, Who, When, Where, and How. toms clearance.
Based on that, managers will check and evaluate the APPLYING THE 5W-1H AND 4M
results of implementation.
METHODS TO EVALUATE THE
THE 4M METHOD IN EVALUATING PROCESS OF ORGANIZING EXPORT
THE CAUSES THAT AFFECT BUSINESS OF A COMPANY
BUSINESS PROCESSES. Situation for evaluation: Evaluate the level of analysis
of the process of organizing the export of textile prod-
As mentioned above, the 5W+1H method can assist
ucts of Viet Tien Garment Corporation (VTEC) to the
managers and employees during the planning and di-
US. Applying 5W-1H and 4M method to evaluate the
rection of actions. However, evaluating the comple-
level of analysis which presented in the Table 1.
tion level of the process and business tasks is not solely
based on the 5W+1H method, as it only stops at the
descriptive level. Therefore, in reality, it is extremely
important to explain the causes affecting the comple-
tion level or affecting the implementation process. To
evaluate the factors affecting the implementation pro-
cess, Ishikawa 11 proposed the 4M method in evaluat-
ing the factors that impact the quality of the produc-
tion process in general, including: M1 (Men) - people,
M2 (Method) - method, M3 (Machines) - equipment,
M4 (Materials) - raw materials. The 4M method is
specified as follows:

M1 (Men)
People include all parties involved in the job im-
plementation process such as managers, employees,
partners, and consumers.

M2 (Method)
The method includes ways to manage, produce, and
administer technology, as well as strategies and tactics
of the organization, the ability to cope with emerging
issues to maintain the effectiveness of the implemen-
tation process.

M3 (Machines)
Equipment and technology decide the technical ca-
pabilities of the product and the production process.
In export business, this could be the warehouse sys-
tem, goods handling equipment, and business data
processing system.

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Table 1: Illustration of application of 5W-1H and 4M methods in evaluating export business process analysis
content
Steps in the 5W - 1H Application of 5W - 1H method Using the 4M Method
process of method for causal analysis
organizing ex-
port business
(1) Market WHAT Characteristics of the US market What are the results after each time
research and regarding the textile and garment conducting market research activ-
selecting part- products that the company aims to ities? What are the reasons for
ners, export target: consumer behavior, distri- achieving those results: personnel
forms. bution channels (partners), import issues (M1) or methods/techniques
regulations for textile products, pay- used (M2), or financial support for
ment methods, level and nature of market research activities and part-
competition. ner selection (M4).
WHO Which department and who is re-
sponsible for the professional and
management of market research ac-
tivities at VTEC?
WHEN When are these research activities
conducted?
WHERE Where are the market research and
partner selection tasks performed by
VTEC managers and specialists? Is
it in the company, in the US market
or in foreign countries?
HOW What approaches and techniques are
used in market research and partner
selection, and how are the resources
spent for these tasks? What are the
results of each market research oper-
ation, and how were they achieved in
terms of research methods and part-
ner selection?
WHY Why is the market research oper-
ation conducted at this time and
not at another time? Why use this
approach and technique instead of
other methods?
(2) Develop- WHAT The data and information evaluation ”Does creating a business method
ing an Export for the textile and garment market effectively support or guide the im-
Business Plan and traders in the US. The VTEC ob- plementation process to achieve the
jectives in exporting to the US mar- stated goals? If the goals were
ket. The expected economic benefits achieved or not, what are the rea-
from VTEC’s export activities to the sons behind it? Is it due to person-
US. The measures to implement the nel issues (M1) such as insufficient
export business plan to the US mar- staff or poor staff quality, or due to
ket. the method/technique used (M2)?
WHO Which department is responsible for
creating the export plan to the US?
WHEN When was the export plan to the US
created?
Continued on next page

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Table 1 continued
WHERE This content is not important so no
review
HOW What methods were used to set the
objectives and export business strat-
egy to the US market?
WHY Why are the methods and measures
in the business plan chosen for ex-
port to the US?
(3) Nego- WHAT Activities of negotiating and signing Were the negotiation results able
tiation and export contracts to achieve the set goals? What
Contract is the reason behind it? Is it
Signing due to personnel issues (M1),
method/technique of approach to
clients (M2), financial resources
to support the negotiation process
(M4), or information infrastruc-
ture systems (M3) for e-commerce
and email negotiation?
WHO Which department and who is re-
sponsible for the professional and
management of negotiating activities
at VTEC?
WHEN When do negotiations and contract
signing activities take place?
WHERE Where are negotiations conducted?
In Vietnam or in the US or at other
exhibitions, trade fairs ...
HOW In what form are negotiations con-
ducted? How to negotiate and sign
contracts in the form of choice?
WHY Why hold negotiations, sign at the
venue, in the form of choice?
(4) Imple- WHAT Activities to deliver goods to cus- Were the steps in the contract
menting the tomers in accordance with the con- implementation process effective
Commercial ditions agreed upon in the con- in achieving the desired results?
contract tract for sale and purchase of foreign What is the reason behind it? Is
trade. it due to personnel issues (M1),
method/technique used to imple-
ment the process (M2), financial re-
sources to support the implementa-
tion process (M4), or the company’s
equipment, warehouse and work-
shop systems (M3)?
WHO Foreign trade contract implementa-
tion activities are assigned to the de-
partment, who is in charge?
WHEN When do the steps of the contract
performance process take place?
WHERE Where do the steps of the contract
performance process take place?
Continued on next page

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Table 1 continued
HOW How are the steps of the contract im-
plementation process conducted?
(related to resources, time, costs)
WHY Why were these steps in the process
chosen to be carried out in this way,
and not in another way?
Source: Author’s proposed idea.

In addition, combining with the objective evidence US: The United States of America
of the analytical content through scientific research VTEC: Viet Tien Garment Corporation
methods (usually qualitative methods), we can eval-
uate the level of clarity and specificity of the export CONFLICT OF INTEREST
business organization process analysis content. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of in-
terest.
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
In applied-oriented training, the main objective of AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTIONS
business international students’ internship is to grasp Author Le Quang Huy is responsible for the entire ar-
the practical work that is closely related to their major. ticle.
This helps students to integrate into practical work at
companies after graduation. During the internship, REFERENCES
students will observe and learn from the real tasks, 1. Silverman D. Qualitative Research (4E ed). SAGE Publications
Ltd; 2016;.
and find answers through mixed thinking 5W-1H and 2. Ha Nam Khanh Giao. International Business Administration.
4M method. Along with process analysis and descrip- Ho Chi Minh city: UEH Publishing House; 2017;.
tion using the 5W-1H method, to clarify the issue, stu- 3. Vo Thanh Thu. Export-Import Business Techniques. Ho Chi
Minh City: Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House; 2011;.
dent (writer) needs to combine it with the analysis of 4. Pham Duy Lien. International Business Transactions textbook.
the causes and impacts of the process implementation Ha Noi: Statistical Publishing House; 2012;.
5. Ha Thi Ngoc Oanh, Doan Xuan Huy Minh, Tran Thi Thu Huyen.
through the 4M method. From this, to evaluate the
International Business textbook. Vietnam: Labor and Social
analysis content of the export business organization Affairs Publishing House; 2014;.
process from students’ articles, the instructors can as- 6. Doan Thi Hong Van, Kim Ngoc Dat. Export-Import Manage-
ment textbook. Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh City University
sess the level of analysis through process presentation
of Economics Publishing House; 2017;.
using the 5W-1H method and explaining the cause 7. Kumar SA., Suresh N. Production and Operations Manage-
through the 4M method. ment. India: New Age International Ltd. Publishers; 2009;.
8. Swamidass PM. Encyclopedia of Production and Manufactur-
ing Management. MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 2002;.
ABBREVIATIONS 9. Kipling R. Just so stories. N.Y: Doubleday, Page & company;
4M: Men - people, Method - method, Machines - 1922;.
10. Nguyen Kim Dinh. Establishing a quality system according to
equipment, Materials - raw materials ISO 9000 international standards. Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi
5W: What, Who, When, Whre, Why and How Minh City National University Publishing House; 2022;.
PDCA: Plan - Do - Check – Act 11. Ishikawa K. What Is Total Quality Control? The Japanese Way.
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs; 1985;.
QSA: The qualitative secondary data analysis

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Open Access Full Text Article Bài tham luận

Vận dụng phương pháp 5W-1H và 4M trong đánh giá nội dung
phân tích quá trình tổ chức kinh doanh xuất khẩu của doanh
nghiệp: Phương pháp tiếp cận QSA

Lê Quang Huy*

TÓM TẮT
Việc áp dụng và đánh giá quy trình thực hiện hoạt động kinh doanh xuất khẩu là yêu cầu bắt buộc
đối với sinh viên học ngành kinh doanh quốc tế. Giảng viên (Người hướng dẫn) có thể đánh giá
Use your smartphone to scan this
yêu cầu này thông qua đánh giá nội dung phân tích quy trình tổ chức kinh doanh xuất khẩu của
QR code and download this article doanh nghiệp của sinh viên.
Mục tiêu của các nội dung này là giúp sinh viên vận dụng lý thuyết và thực hành để giải thích cách
thiết lập, tổ chức, thực hiện và giám sát, kiểm soát các hoạt động; chiến lược, kế hoạch kinh doanh
xuất khẩu của doanh nghiệp. Ngoài ra, còn chuẩn bị nền tảng về cơ hội tìm được việc làm phù
hợp cho sinh viên sau khi tốt nghiệp.
Mặt khác, làm thế nào để đánh giá được hoạt động xuất khẩu của tổ chức đối với sinh viên, giảng
viên là một câu hỏi lớn cần có phương pháp rõ ràng. Cho đến nay, chưa có nhiều tài liệu nghiên
cứu về phương pháp đánh giá nội dung phân tích quy trình tổ chức doanh nghiệp xuất khẩu. Trên
thực tế, có rất nhiều quan điểm đánh giá nội dung trên.
Bài viết đưa ra phương pháp mới kết hợp 5W-1H (Cái gì, Ai, Khi nào, Ở đâu, Tại sao và Như thế nào)
và 4M (Men - con người, Phương pháp – cách thức, Máy móc - thiết bị, Vật liệu - nguyên liệu) để
đánh giá việc phân tích quy trình tổ chức kinh doanh xuất khẩu được trình bày trong các báo cáo
thực tế do sinh viên học kinh doanh quốc tế viết. Bài viết sử dụng phương pháp tiếp cận QSA (Phân
tích dữ liệu thứ cấp định tính), cũng như phương pháp phân tích nội dung và nghiên cứu đơn tình
huống. Ý nghĩa của bài viết gồm hai phần: thứ nhất, nó cung cấp những hướng dẫn chung cho
sinh viên về cách phân tích tốt hơn nội dung phân tích quá trình tổ chức kinh doanh xuất khẩu
của doanh nghiệp và thứ hai, nó cung cấp hướng dẫn cho người hướng dẫn về cách đánh giá nôi
dung phân tích của sinh viên.
Vì vậy, việc sử dụng phương pháp 5W1H và 4M tạo sự thống nhất trong phân tích hoạt động kinh
Trường Đại học Tài chính – Marketing, doanh xuất khẩu cho cả sinh viên, người hướng dẫn và người phản biện luận văn tốt nghiệp của
Việt Nam sinh viên.
Từ khoá: 5W-1H, 4M, quá trình tổ chức kinh doanh xuất khẩu, thực hành kinh doanh xuất khẩu
Liên hệ
Lê Quang Huy, Trường Đại học Tài chính –
Marketing, Việt Nam
Email: quanghuy@ufm.edu.vn

Lịch sử
• Ngày nhận: 15-6-2023
• Ngày chấp nhận: 31-10-2023
• Ngày đăng: 31-12-2023
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.32508/stdjelm.v7i4.1270

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© ĐHQG Tp.HCM. Đây là bài báo công bố
mở được phát hành theo các điều khoản của
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International license.

Trích dẫn bài báo này: Huy L Q. Vận dụng phương pháp 5W-1H và 4M trong đánh giá nội dung phân
tích quá trình tổ chức kinh doanh xuất khẩu của doanh nghiệp: Phương pháp tiếp cận QSA. Sci.
Tech. Dev. J. - Eco. Law Manag. 2023; 7(4):4961-4968.

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