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Publications Topics Archive Topics Archive 2007 Vol.37- No.7 Commentary
Publications Topics Archive Topics Archive 2007 Vol.37- No.7 Commentary | Commentary |
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Best Practices can be Learned at Home The presence, however, of top-performing local high-tech companies - plus an assortment of foreign-invested enterprises - means that service industries can simply look around at home to learn lessons about building world-class competitiveness. Taiwanese high-tech-sector executives (many of them returned from overseas) and expatriate country managers at MNCs operating here have solid experience to share about what's necessary to make the grade in an international environment. Many best practices are relevant to any business sector, whether in project management, education and training, tourist-site development, private-sector healthcare, business services, or a host of other fields. Even for firms focusing only on the domestic market, such lessons remain relevant; in the pervasively integrated world marketplace, no island can be "an island" and few businesses can be strictly local. Here is a short list of what Taiwanese "returnees" and expatriate business leaders in high-tech fields have said about best practices relevant to all successful businesses: Establish solid business systems. Local companies usually compare their operations only with local competitors, a "frog- in-the-well" attitude that prevents them from even gaining awareness of international standards. Managers and employees alike need to be on top of the proven "right way of doing things" in such varied areas as R&D, planning, service standards, customer relations, HR trends, financial reporting, and communication with stockholders. Set clear business priorities. Companies should be issue-driven, fact-based, and result-oriented. Too many Taiwan SMEs focus narrowly on the bottom line and on short-term planning. Survival demands paying more attention to short- and long-term marketplace facts and trends, and doing solid analysis. Adaptability doesn't have to mean shutting down one company and starting another - a common SME approach - but building more sustainability based on sophisticated R&D and market research. Emphasize values. Long-term relationships with customers can be made and strengthened by employees at all levels if they enthusiastically embrace established company values. At the offices of Corning, 3M, Johnson & Johnson, HP, Electronic Data Systems (EDS), and the Far Eastern Plaza and Grand Hyatt hotels, for instance, the company's values are posted on office walls, corridors, and in meeting rooms - and they are explained and reinforced by regular training sessions. One obvious goal of value-based performance is to improve customer satisfaction. Another is to inculcate into employees a genuine service mentality that translates into effective action. Upgrade standards. A goal of "90% right" just isn't enough. Seek zero defects, be genuinely interested in customer needs, and keep everyone fully trained and informed. A "close enough" attitude won't wash. Pay close attention to environmental and safety issues. U.S. and European customers are increasingly concerned about such matters as how "green" a firm's operations are, how well employees are treated, and what environmental and safety demands are placed on subcontractors. When firms fall short in these areas, it can mean a loss of competitiveness (and loss of life and property in the case of safety mismanagement). Today price is rarely the only factor - and often not even the major factor - in choosing a service provider. Improve company transparency. Meet international standards for annual reports and company information, and recognize that compliance with legal and regulatory standards is important to government regulators, stockholders, employees, and customers. Increasingly, Taiwanese investors are learning to be more critical of the information companies release, so all listed companies take note. Make internationalization more than a slogan. Customers want to talk with people at all levels of a corporation - engineers, technicians, designers, marketing and distribution managers - not just the senior managers who may have lived abroad. And they want quick and accurate responses. This means demanding better English training at all levels. Like it or not, English is the international language of business. Pay more attention to human relations. Managerial responsibilities have traditionally been much different from technical work, but today everyone needs HR abilities. This field receives far less attention in Taiwan than it does abroad. In contrast with the old "personnel manager" who filled slots, HR managers are expected to work closely with top management to find people that fit the company's short and long-term goals, and also concentrate on employee career development. Insist on higher educational standards. The number of overseas Taiwan nationals available to be brought back as managers, engineers, technicians, and R&D researchers is already inadequate to meet growing needs. In the short term, talent of other nationalities must be attracted to Taiwan to fill those positions. For the long term, Taiwan must develop its own. This means taking a hard look at the job being done by schools, colleges, and graduate institutes, as well as promoting greater understanding of regional and world affairs. In their high-tech and multinational neighbors, local service industries have plenty of good working models around them to learn from if they make the effort. In an increasingly challenging business environment, doing so may turn out to be the difference between success and failure. - Richard R. Vuylsteke is executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei. |
