By Don Shapiro

One chapter of The Miracle, entitled “A Tale of Duck Eggs and Dragon Dreams,” is devoted to Taiwan – and it credits both ambitious and far-sighted entrepreneurs and practical-minded economic policymakers for Taiwan’s rise to a place among the four Asian Tigers.

The centerpiece of Schuman’s Taiwan story is the success achieved by Stan Shih in leading Acer Inc. from its beginnings in 1976 as a tiny start-up (originally called Multitech and operating out of a 33-ping Taipei apartment) into what is now the world’s third-largest personal computer company. Shih had an uncanny ability to understand the potential of new waves of technology and to devise the most efficient methods for turning them into commercial products. Schuman quotes the comment of Intel CEO Paul Otellini that Shih is “a big reason why your PC costs $1,000, not $10,000.”

The first part of the chapter title comes from Shih’s childhood observations of the street stall his widowed mother operated to feed the family. Most of the income came from selling duck eggs, even though the profit margin was much narrower than for the other items being sold, such as stationery. Shih later realized that because fast-changing computer technology was as perishable as duck eggs, it was essential to speed up the process of getting new models to market.

The “dragon dream” was Shih’s aspiration to create a company that not merely benefited its immediate stakeholders, but also made a significant contribution to society. That dream was fulfilled as Acer set an example that inspired others to start technology companies and build brands, forging the robust IT industry that has made Taiwan proud.

Also highlighted in this chapter is the role played by Li Kuo-ting (more commonly known as K.T. Li), who as economics minister, then finance minister, then minister of state responsible for science and technology, is often credited with being one of the main architects of Taiwan’s economic development. A physicist by training, Li grasped how the fostering of high-tech industries could enable Taiwan to move swiftly up the economic ladder. He was instrumental in founding the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and the first Science Park in Hsinchu. Schuman also relates how those two institutions helped Acer overcome some of its early hurdles.

While Shih and Li are the stars of the chapter, a supporting-role appearance is made by Morris Chang. A semiconductor industry executive in the United States with Texas Instruments and then General Instrument, Chang was lured to Taiwan by K.T. Li in 1985 to become president of ITRI. A few years later he led the creation of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., an ITRI spin-off that became the world’s first semiconductor “foundry” – a plant dedicated to making chips according to its customers’ own designs. It was a business model that Chang devised, and since then has been widely emulated. At the age of 78, Chang is still going strong as head of TSMC.

— By Don Shapiro