The strategic orientations of firms and the performance of Korea and Taiwan in frontier industries: Lessons from comparative case studies of keyboard and personal computer assembly

Abstract

The paper reports the results of field interviews with national manufactures in the information industry in South Korea and Taiwan on their strategic orientationstoward innovation and acquisition of technology. Korean firms pursue a high-volume assembly strategy; Taiwanese firms follow a bootstrap strategy, with small size at entry, a high propensity for risk-taking, and rapid rates of expansion. The analysis and evidence point to an ongoing stream in Taiwan of innovation-intensive firms, some of which will grow to become large and technology intensive. The pattern of advance in South Korea in technology- and innovation-intensive sectors is likely to be far more uneven, dependent on a limited number of larger commitments, uncertain in their outcomes.