Some pointers for multinationals looking to improve their community involvement. Many companies recognize the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but are still daunted by the challenges involved in doing it well. A lot can go wrong every step of the way – from picking a cause, to choosing partners, to long-term execution. Here are…
Describing social enterprises as an “important part of Taiwan’s soft power,” Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Digital Minister, hailed their ability to meld the pursuit of social interests and business profits – forces usually thought of as being in conflict – to facilitate the search for common shared values and solutions. She made her remarks as the…
A leading engineering company seeks to reposition itself. If you’ve ever ridden on the Taipei MRT, filled up your car with gasoline, or even turned on the lights in your home or office, then you’ve experienced the work of Taiwan’s largest engineering services company, CTCI Corp. With annual revenues exceeding US$2.4 billion, and over 40…
Domestic research institutes have developed numerous innovative technologies for transfer to the private sector. Taiwan’s prowess in such industries as semiconductors and bicycles is well-known. If government efforts bear fruit, the list of industries in which Taiwan is among the global leaders may be lengthened in the years head – and dental equipment and materials…
Cacai Cacao, Vicky Lin’s bean-to-bar chocolate company is a home business in every sense. The inspiration for the business came during a 2015 visit to her husband Mark’s family home in the Philippines, a trip that gave her the chance to see several cacao farms that make their own chocolate for turning into finished chocolate…
Justin Dunkle didn’t intend to follow in the footsteps of his father, Joseph Dunkle, a former military police officer from New York who founded Aunt Stella’s Cookies and Cakes in Japan in 1983. The younger Dunkle, raised in Japan and educated in Canada and Japan, instead originally chose a career in investment banking. The fallout…
Not long after coming to Taiwan to study Chinese, Brett Aaron started to dabble in business – opening the market here for Snapple beverages – as a way to help hone his language skills. Now, some three decades later, he is still based in Taipei, and the company he founded in 1994, BABI International Corp.,…
The slow rate of economic growth is considered to be the major factor causing the stagnation in compensation levels. Why does nearly everyone in Taiwan feel they are working hard but still receiving a meager pay packet? “The biggest problem is the low rate of growth,” says Peng Su-ling, director of the Center for Economic…
Taiwan has played a role in two recent developments related to advancing the cause of women’s health and well-being. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, more commonly known as SLE or lupus, is a chronic autoimmune disease that disproportionately affects women. More than 90% of its sufferers are female, making the disease very much a women’s issue. This…
Supporting a brand is difficult. Despite low margins, the OEM/ODM model brings in steady business. Factories of Hon Hai Precision (also known as Foxconn) and other major Taiwanese contract manufacturers are currently running at full capacity churning out the iPhone 8 and other new models launched by Apple. Economists regularly disparage Taiwan’s continued heavy reliance…
