If you had looked around carefully at the gathering held for the release of Made by Taiwan, you would have seen that virtually all the top figures from Taiwan's high-tech industrial firms were in attendance, which should give you some idea of how influential this book is. This history of the development of high-tech industry also to a considerable degree reflects the changes and development in Taiwan society over the past half-century.

One of two editors behind this book, Chang Chun-yen, president of National Chiao Tung University, who is known as "the father of the study of semiconductors in Taiwan," admits that he was inspired by books such as Made in America and Made by Hong Kong (published by MIT) which analyze the factors behind the success of enterprises in the US and Hong Kong. He points out that even through the Asian financial crisis of 1998 and the devastating September 21 earthquake of 1999, Taiwan's electronics industry continued to develop, both astonishing and winning the trust of its many major industrial clients around the world.

"There are certainly aspects of the inside story of Taiwan's IC/PC industry worth exploring, so that we ourselves can write the story of Taiwan enterprise success," says Chang, who is small in stature but has enormous enthusiasm.

Three years ago Chang made an overseas phone call to Yu Po-lung, Scupin Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas, and found they had the same idea. Based on their similar motivations, they gathered together eighteen scholars and researchers, and devoted two years to first writing the book in English and then translating it into Chinese, writing out the proud story of Made by Taiwan.

Reproducing success

Made by Taiwan is actually quite accessible. With the help of more than 100 statistical charts, the book meticulously depicts how Taiwan has moved from an agricultural economy to an international center of high-technology industry.

Yu Pol-lung, who is internationally renowned for his work on multiple-criteria decision-making analysis and who originated the theory of "habitual domains," says with feeling that Taiwan is one of the few examples of success in international industrial competition. He has long wanted to apply the "habitual domains" framework to explain even more clearly Taiwan's experience of success over forty years.

The idea of habitual domains is that all thoughts, memories, and concepts produced by the mind or the brain can be applied to the individual, the organization, or to dynamic behavior.

Yu believes that human ideas and thoughts can be expressed as changes in "circuit patterns" constructed from our billions of brain cells. The circuit patterns can be described metaphorically as mental algorithms or human software, which facilitate the work of the "supercomputer" (our brains). The mental algorithms in our habitual domains then directly influence our daily behavior and competitiveness.

From this starting point, Yu deduces five ways in which Taiwan society differs from other countries, and which have been the source of Taiwan's vitality.

* Obsession with book learning and academic advancement: clear goals, lifetime learning, uniform focus.

* A motorcycle mentality: quick and precise action, readiness to take advantage of openings (opportunities) at any time, flexibility and speed, risk-taking.

* A strong survival instinct based on outside threats: a sense of crisis created by the uncertainty of having been six times under foreign rule, a high sense of alertness, advance preparation for possible setbacks, adaptability.

* A military system training elite troops for business: absolute obedience to commands, perseverance despite hardship, dedication to duty.

* The contributions of overseas Chinese: creation of linkages and broadening of the playing field, advanced technology and know-how from abroad, awareness of market demand and customer-orientation.

These unique experiences have, day by day, become the core elements in the habitual domains of the people of Taiwan, creating their unique competitiveness. These advantages are manifested in corporate structure: 97% of Taiwan firms are small firms; there is a vertical division of labor; firms are dextrous and dynamic; and there is a high degree of flexibility, innovation, and adaptability.

In contrast, the negative elements in Taiwan's competitiveness are lack of a collective spirit, weak respect for law, short-sighted focus on immediate profits, and lack of creativity.

Yu Po-lung earnestly urges people in Taiwan to give serious thought to how to maintain their work ethic, and put off enjoyment of the fruits of success until later, so that these habits are not lost as a result of wealth.

Looking back, a critical moment was a breakfast meeting, held at the Hsin Hsin Soy Bean Milk Restaurant in Taipei in February 1974. At that meeting, Minister of Economic Affairs Y.S. Sun, with Fei Hua, Pan Wen-yuan, Fang Hsien-chi, and others, made a crucial decision to create an NT$480 million program to develop integrated circuits. Today, in contrast, politicized issues are dominant, and economic development is stagnant. In the future, will we be able to build on the semiconductor industry and reproduce that experience and success in a new Taiwan economic miracle? It depends on whether the government has the vision and the leadership ability.

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Made by Taiwan : Booming in the Information Technology Era

Editors: Chang Chun-yen and Yu Po-lung

Publisher: Jointly published by China Times Publishing Company and National Chiao Tung University

Publication date: January, 2002

Price: NT$360