Is the preponderance of female executives due to the industry, the openness of Taiwanese society, or mere coincidence? For the first time, women are taking the top position as country head or general manager in nearly all of the operations of Western pharmaceutical companies in Taiwan. Women also tend to excel more broadly in those…
Younger Taiwanese have a very different approach to work than previous generations. Companies are looking for the best ways to adapt. Since the start of Taiwan’s manufacturing age half a century ago, the same ethos has permeated most companies’ corporate culture. Decision-making is concentrated at the top, absolute loyalty is expected from employees, and overtime…
Labor strife has been a rarity in Taiwan. Most unions have been organized within individual companies rather than across industries, limiting their power. And for years under the martial-law provisions that ended in 1987, strikes were prohibited altogether. Based on recent developments in the aviation industry, that labor tranquility can no longer be taken for…
While in Asia in the fall of 1964, American businessman Edward J. Rehfeldt Jr. decided to make a stop in Taipei at the invitation of a friend. Before the visit was over, he had agreed to set up an electronics components factory in one of the first foreign investments on the island. In the more…
Foxconn Rejects Microsoft Patent Suit Terry Gou, chairman of the Foxconn Technology Group, which trades as Hon Hai Precision Industry, in mid-March responded to a patent infringement lawsuit filed against one of his subsidiaries by Microsoft Corp. He said that as a contract manufacturer, his group has never been required to pay royalties for use…
Forty years ago, AmCham Taipei members found themselves in the middle of a giant geopolitical shift – the new diplomatic alliance between Washington and Beijing. The ramifications for Taiwan were significant, creating serious challenges that are described well in this issue of TOPICS. The heroic way AmCham members stepped up to meet the challenges is…
After a decade of discussion and planning, construction began last October on an MRT system for the northern Taiwan city of Taoyuan, starting with a 27.8-kilometer Green Line. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan hailed the event as reflecting the city’s “coming of age.” The first portion of the Green Line will be…
Taiwan’s three Science-based Industrial Parks – the Hsinchu Science Park in northern Taiwan, Central Taiwan Science Park centered in Taichung, and Southern Taiwan Science Park centered in Tainan – have provided a nurturing base of operations for the country’s high-tech industries. The advantages of locating within a science park include: One-stop Service. Companies need to…
Taiwan’s producers must move up the value chain as Chinese competitors undercut them on price in the mass market. The optoelectronics sector, a fixture in Taiwan’s science parks, has faced intensifying competition from China in recent years. Like the Taiwanese before them, the Chinese have focused on making products of acceptable quality at a low…
The Taoyuan Airport is already crowded well beyond the designed capacity. If the crowded conditions at Taipei Taoyuan Airport annoy you, get used to it. The situation will likely only get worse between now and late 2023 when the airport’s third terminal is supposed to be ready for service. Repeated delays have plagued the project….
