Business Communication’s Proposal 

Research Subject: Apax Leaders

Group 7
(Âu Thế Phong, Lê Thị Thanh Tâm, Nguyễn Thị Diễm Lộc, Cao Thu Trang)

1. Brief description:
 Established in 2015, Apax Leaders is one of the leading English centers that focus on
training, teaching English and developing comprehension skills for the young
generation. 
 Apax attracts learners with a miniature social environment and all of the classrooms have
reached the highest international standard and have had a professional teachers system as
well
 After two years operation, Apax Leaders quickly achieved success with 60 centers in 17
provinces/cities and more than 40,000 students nationwide, rising to hold the position as
the leading English center in Vietnam

2. Reason choosing this topic: 

Learning English has become an inevitable trend in society. More and more parents research
different English centers to choose the best place for their children to study. Among massive
English centers, Apax Leaders was chosen by hundreds of parents but the operators have
appropriated part of tuition money and supplied virtual courses. These errors make their public
image appear to be unprofessional and negatively affect their sales. 

3. Situation 1: Controversy between Apax Leaders and Buyers

3.1. Background of the situation: 

Many parents have paid a dozen million VND to this center to let their child learn English with
nearly 100 lessons per year. But since then, 2 years have passed, they realized that their children
haven’t improved and even in some provinces outside Hanoi, students haven't attended any
classes. The center also did not call to say the reason. The parents offered to return the tuition fee
but they didn't receive any answers.

3.2. Description the situation : 

Apax Leaders repeatedly breached its commitment with customers by using a completely
different curriculum than the one promised. When parents offer to return their tuition, the
executives always use excuses to prevent parents from withdrawing tuition.
They have explained that due to the prolonged COVID-19 epidemic situation, business activities
of enterprises have been delayed, and educational activities have only been returned for the last 5
months, thus causing an adverse influence on the operation of the Englishnow System. However,
according to some leaked information, many branches of Apax Leaders keep raising funds which
are announced for updating the curriculum and enhancing the education system. 

3.3. Analyze the situation based on the course: 

  If it is an attempted fraud:
Chapter 1: Business communication in the Digital age - Telling the truth: Apax is not honest to
their customers because they went against what they had said. Specifically, in the first case, they
guaranteed the service quality with students’ parents in contracts but then failed to commit it. In
the other case, Apax didn’t organize class although they received money from students’ parents. 
 If it is not an attempted fraud: 
Chapter 2:  Professionalism - Six Steps for Dealing With Conflict: Apax didn’t follow those
steps to deal with conflicts with customers. They made an excuse instead of looking for areas of
mutual agreement (step 4), inventing new problem-solving options (step 5) and reaching a fair
agreement (step 6). Without those steps, conflicts can not be solved.

Situation 2: The sudden close of Apax

4.1. Background of the situation: 

A branch of Apax in Buon Ma Thuot opened on 23/02/2022 and its operation has been
maintained since then. However, in August 2022, the English center in Buon Ma Thuoc suddenly
closed without any announcement of resumption or explanations. This shocks parents’ students,
especially those who already paid the annual tuition fee but have just started learning for a few
weeks or months. 

4.2. Description the situation :

A representative of Apax Leaders English Joint Stock Company said that “after verifying the
incident, Apax Leaders' leadership confirmed that there was no policy of abandoning customers
and had checked the entire system”. They explained that Apax Leaders Buon Ma Thuot Center is
in the process of moving to a new location in order to optimize costs , therefore there has been a
disruption in communication with some parents, leading to frustration, unnecessary contact and
misunderstanding for parents. However, according to many forums and social media, the apax
leaders center did not pay the rent so the building was sealed and the water was cut off which
made the center unable to operate, but the center lied to parents because the epidemic had not
returned to teaching.

           4.3. Analyze the situation based on the course: 

Chapter 1: Business communication in the Digital age - Telling the truth: apax leaders center lied
to parents that the center moved to a new location due to the epidemic but in fact it was sealed,
leading to inefficient operation
Chapter 2: Professionalism - Listening to customer:In this situation, the company seems to
become ineffective listeners because they barely listen to the customer's urgent matter for
suddenly closing the center

5. What can be learned from these situations?

Situation 1:
 The companies’ real products must be similar to its promotion
 If mistakes affect customers' experience, companies should take responsibility; find
solutions immediately 
 If the situations can’t be fix or negotiate ,refunds is recommended
  After losing customers' trust, companies have to do more than apologize to regain it, such
as offering additional incentives
Situation 2
 Companies should always give timely response to customers’ questions or feedbacks
 If problems or changes emerge, companies should announce publicly to keep the
customers updated, and to keep in touch with them
 The spokesperson of the companies should be honest; provide real and precise
information to the customers