Performance In Taiwan Research Articles

Knowledge Sourcing and Firm Performance in an Industrializing Economy: The Case of Taiwan (1992-2003)

We examine the impact of R&D and technology imports on firm performance in Taiwan’s manufacturing industry in a policy context of industrial upgrading. To do so, we estimate a Translog production function on two panels (covering 1992-1995 and 1997-2003), using stochastic frontier estimation. We find that the effects of both knowledge inputs become significant (with evidence of complementarities) in a larger number of industries in the second panel. These results suggest that the policies encouraging innovation implemented from 1991 onwards paid off in the second half of the 1990s, with innovation driving firm sales. In traditional industries, the effect of innovation can be interpreted as an effort to catch up with the global technology frontier. In the electronics and high-technology industries, it rather testifies of the emergence of a new domain of specialization for Taiwan - which was largely enabled by the aforementioned innovation policies.

Knowledge sourcing and firm performance in an industrializing economy: the case of Taiwan (1992–2003)

We examine the impact of R&D and technology imports on firm performance in Taiwan’s manufacturing industry in a policy context of industrial upgrading. To do so, we estimate a Translog production function on two panels (covering 1992–1995 and 1997–2003), using stochastic frontier models. We find that the effects of both knowledge inputs become significant in a larger number of industries in the second panel. These results suggest that the policies encouraging innovation implemented from 1991 onwards paid off in the second half of the 1990s, with innovation driving firm sales. In traditional industries, the effect of innovation can be interpreted as an effort to catch up with the global technology frontier. In the electronics and high-technology industries, it rather testifies of the emergence of a new domain of specialization for Taiwan—which was largely enabled by the aforementioned innovation policies.

Public Perceptions of Police Performance in Taiwan: A Historical Review (1945-2009)

This study offers a historical review and analysis of public perceptions of police performance in Taiwan spanning the 64-year history of Taiwan's National Police Agency (NPA). Data for the study were drawn from several sources, including selected waves of the Taiwan Social Change Survey, Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, the World Values Survey, the Taiwan Public Safety and Police Service Survey, a Gallup survey, and a survey conducted by the authors. The findings indicate that there has been a gradual but steady improvement in public perceptions of police performance in three perceptual areas: perceptions of police officers in general, perceptions of police service, and perceptions of police corruption. Additionally, the increasingly positive opinion of the police parallels Taiwan's political transition from authoritarian rule to full democracy and the subsequent professionalization of the NPA. However, despite the positive trend, three issues continue to concern the public: service attitudes, investigative effectiveness, and police corruption. Policy implications for law enforcement administration are discussed.

Utilisation of interpretive structural modelling method in the analysis of interrelationship of vendor performance factors

Vendor performance is a crucial factor affecting the success of outsourcing operations today. It is essential to understand the interrelationship in a complex performance analysis framework, for it helps to identify the root causes that affect other criteria as well as the overall performance. The purpose and contribution of this paper is to propose the use of interpretive structural modelling (ISM) method to provide an understanding of the causal interrelationship in the complex vendor performance evaluation framework, and in return, enables the firms to make analysis and improvements more accurately and efficient. A case study is conducted to analyse the causal interrelationship of a wafer-testing vendor's performance in Taiwan's

Dividend payouts and companies performance in Taiwan

This study examines whether companies performance based on dividend yield are effective in the stock-dividend-prevailing markets. Besides adopting various dividend yield rankings, this study incorporates some financial variables to build portfolios. Empirical results show that for the 2003 to 2007 period, cash dividend companies yielded significantly higher annual returns than stock dividend companies, market indices, and other types of dividend yield. The results remain significant after risk adjustments. Finally, the findings of this study are robust various factors, such as the 2008 financial tsunami, and the performance of companies over multiple years. Those results imply that the cash-dividend-yield ranking is an indicator of future returns in the Taiwan market.

A Causal Decision Making Model for Knowledge Management Capabilities to Innovation Performance in Taiwan's High-Tech Industry

R&D and innovation is the source of technology companies’ profit. If companies cannot be smoothly implemented technological innovation and R&D investments, then they can not strengthen their competitiveness. In the light of dynamic capabilities and absorptive capacities, we need an effective multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) analysis tools to assess the impact of organizational innovation and performance factors so that we can promote organizational innovation performance requires. This study used multiple criteria decision analysis method- DEMATEL, how influence as innovation performance on knowledge management capabilities of high-tech industry. Result of this study, enterprises can access external knowledge and make amendments to the operating principle effectively and immediately, when enhanced absorptive capabilities. Moreover, enhancing absorption capabilities will lead the improvement of dynamic capabilities to adapt to the rapidly changing competitive environment.

Research on the correlation between Design for Six Sigma implementation activity levels, new product development strategies and new product development performance in Taiwan's high-tech manufacturers

Owing to growing quality consciousness and rapid changes in the market environment, higher demand for product quality by customers, and the shorter life cycle of high-tech products, it is important to streamline the new product development process and reduce the preparation time for entering the market. Enterprises must constantly manage Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) activities and choose correct new product development strategies to develop products that meet customers' requirements and upgrade business performance. New product development is a critical activity for business survival and growth. This research examines the correlation between DFSS activities, new product development strategies and new product development performance in high-tech manufacturers. The research findings reveal that: (1) the level of DFSS activity implementation has a significant impact on new product development performance; (2) the level of DFSS activity implementation has a significant impact on new product development strategies implementation; (3) the level of new product development strategies implementation has a significant impact on new product development performance; (4) for manufacturers with different industry characteristics, the executive degree of DFSS activities did not reveal a significant impact on new product development performance.

The effect of corporate culture and total quality management on construction project performance in Taiwan

The new market expansion in the real estate market has resulted in the flourishing development of construction companies in Taiwan. Thus, the question of how construction companies may establish external alliances, gain tangible and intangible support and deliver satisfactory project outcomes needs to be answered, and is consequently worth exploring. This study aims to examine the relationship between corporate culture (CC), total quality management (TQM) and project performance (PP) in construction firms where project-based assignments and high-priced contracts are involved. Data collected from 30 construction firms located in northern and central Taiwan (N = 371) were analysed using structural equation modelling. The results confirm that both CC and TQM generate positive and direct influence on PP. In particular, the effect of CC is amplified on PP through the implementation of TQM. Managerial implications are proposed and research limitations are discussed.

Co-resident Grandparents and Grandchildren’s Academic Performance in Taiwan

Using the Taiwanese panel survey data, we investigate the consequences of children's co-residence with grandparents, and we find a positive effect on academic achievement. Further analysis reveals different types of effects among the various types of grandparent-grandchild co-residence. While long-term co-residence confers the most educational benefits, a recent transition into co-residence confers no such advantage. Compared to other co-resident situations, children who recently transition out of co-residence with grandparents are the most disadvantaged. Furthermore, we find educational benefits of co-resident grandparents in both single-parent and two-parent families, but long-term co-resident grandparents' positive association with grandchildren's academic achievement is the most pronounced in households where both parents are absent. We interpret these finding using a theoretical framework, and discuss their implications for policy and for other research.

DEA and ranking with the network-based approach: a case of R&D performance

This study enhances the network-based approach, which is a novel method to increase discrimination in data envelopment analysis. The enhancements include removing the bias caused by a scale difference among organizations and highlighting the approach's ability to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each organization. The former makes the approach applicable to both the constant returns of scale (CRS) and the variable returns of scale (VRS) models. The network-based approach applies the centrality concept developed in social network analysis to discriminate efficient decision making organizations as determined by standard data envelopment analysis (DEA). More specifically, the results of data envelopment analysis are transformed into a directed and weighted network in which each node represents a decision making organization and the link between a pair of node represents the referencing relationship between the pair. The centrality value for each efficient organization provides the base for discrimination and ranking. This network-based approach suggests aggregating DEA results of different input/output combinations such that the merits of each organization under various situations can be considered. The final ranking of this approach favors organizations that have their strengths evenly spread and tends to screen out specialized efficient organizations. As a real world example, the approach is applied to evaluate and rank the R&D (research and development) performance of Taiwan's government-supported research institutes. The cross-organizations and within-organization strengths for each efficient research institute are identified after applying the approach. A two-stage R&D evaluation model separates the R&D process into the technology development and technology diffusion stage. The resulting performance map differentiates the research institutes into four categories—Achievers, Marketers, Innovators, and Underdogs.

The Influence of Innovation Management on New Product Development Performance in Taiwan�s Hi-Tech Industries*

The Influence of Innovation Management on New Product Development Performance in Taiwan�s Hi-Tech Industries*

Evaluation of thermal power plant operational performance in Taiwan by data envelopment analysis

Abstract Electricity is essential in the economic development of a nation. Due to the rapid growth of economy and industrial development in Taiwan, the demand for use of electricity has increased rapidly. This study evaluates the power-generation efficiency of major thermal power plants in Taiwan during 2004–2006 using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. A stability test was conducted to verify the stability of the DEA model. According to the results, all power plants studied achieved acceptable overall operational efficiencies during 2004–2006, and the combined cycle power plants were the most efficient among all plants. The most important variable in this DEA model is the “heating value of total fuels”. Findings from this study can be beneficial in improving some of the existing power plants and for more efficient operational strategies and related policy-making for future power plants in Taiwan.

Internal marketing, organisational culture, job satisfaction, and organisational performance in non-life insurance

The concept of internal marketing employed in the service sector is crucial to excellent service provision and successful external marketing. This study conducts an empirical investigation into the non-life insurance industry in Taiwan, exploring the correlation between internal marketing, organisational culture, job satisfaction, and organisational performance in Taiwan. Results show significant correlations among internal marketing, organisational culture, job satisfaction, and performance of non-life insurers. These findings can provide a basis for future studies of related topics as well as a solid reference for business owners and managers in the non-life insurance sector.

The longitudinal effect of HRM effectiveness and dynamic innovation performance on organizational performance in Taiwan

This longitudinal study examined whether HRM effectiveness and dynamic innovation performance increase the level and growth rate of organizational performance. In 2002 we sent questionnaires to the top 1,000 manufacturing companies in Taiwan, and 181 valid questionnaires were returned. Otherwise, innovation and organizational performance between 2002 and 2005 were measured by research intensity and labor productivity. Latent growth curve modeling methodology was used to analyze the panel data over the 4-year period. Our results indicated that there was significant individual variability in terms of the intercept and slope factors for research intensity and labor productivity. HRM effectiveness was found to be a significant predictor of the intercept and slope factors of labor productivity. Initially, research intensity had a significant impact on the initial status of labor productivity, and an increasing rate of research intensity could significantly affect the growth rate of labor productivity.

Science as ideology: SSCI, TSSCI and the evaluation system of social sciences in Taiwan

In this paper, I review the background and history of how the Taiwanese government implements policies to evaluate and enhance scholarly performance in Taiwan's universities and research institutes. The policies include the priority of advancing universities into the Academic Ranking of World Universities (compiled by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University). Meanwhile, in accordance with this objective, the administration spends a large proportion of educational investment on only a few so‐called research universities and a few ‘blessed’ fields of sciences, in order to quickly enhance academic productivity before the next presidential election. Furthermore, I examine the academic evaluation system as related to social sciences, describing the use of SSCI and TSSCI to rank and classify journals, put into practice by almost all education‐related bureaucracies such as the Ministry of Education, National Science Council, universities, colleges, and academic departments. Consequently, the academic administration system ranks scholars strictly according to the number of their papers published in journals listed in the databases, rather than by the qualities of their publications, including both journal articles and books. From this analysis I intend to explain some ideologies behind these policies; for example, the culture of science, especially natural science and pseudo‐natural sciences, such as engineering, and economics; and, accordingly, the distinction given to leading figures of natural science, such as winners of the Nobel Prize. In brief, the top‐down system of various fields of science reflects the myth of using quantitative standards objectively, that is, to ‘scientifically’ measure and discriminate the excellent from the inferior in terms of academic performance. There is a general emphasis on performance according to so‐called international standards, which are essentially based on foreign (often American) perspectives. These notions are prevalent in Taiwan and have resulted in policies that form the evaluation system of scholars' academic performance.

Research on the Influences of New Product Design and New Product Development Process Management on New Product Development Performance in Taiwan’s Industries

This study aims to probe into the influence of new product design and new product development process management on development performance. The research finding demonstrates that product design reveals positive and significant influence on new product development performance. Through statistical analysis, this study finds that companies in Taiwan value new product design. When companies value it more, they tend to have better new product development performance. With regard to the relation between new product development process management and new product development performance, the empirical results demonstrate that companies would pay more attention on new product development process management. With regard to new product idea and assessment, concept design and development, product function test and mass production in the market, through statistical analysis, this study finds that companies that value process management of new product development tend to have better new product development performance. As to the influence of new product design and new product process management on new product development performance, statistical analysis result demonstrates that the integration between new product design valued by companies in Taiwan and development process management would lead to significantly positive influence on new product development performance of the companies.

An analysis of Taiwan's energy ecological efficiency and the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol

AbstractThis paper examines and discusses core issues relating to ecological pressure and climate policy performance in Taiwan, given Taiwan's status as a non‐signer of the Kyoto Protocol. Taiwan's CO2 emissions account for 0.9 percent of the world's total, making it the 23rd largest producer of global CO2 emissions. To better understand Taiwan's performance in energy efficiency, this study calculates Taiwan's energy ecological footprint (EEF) and its ecological debt and eco‐energy efficiency (EEE) from 1990 to 2005. These measures are then used in cross‐national comparisons of EEF and EEE between Taiwan and Annex 1 and non‐Annex‐1 countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, a regional comparison of the same indices is made between Taiwan, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The results suggest that Taiwan would experience a decline in its EEF and an increase in its eco‐energy efficiency if it were to sign the Kyoto Protocol and to implement policies for better management of energy resources. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

A comparative analysis ISO 14000 performance in Taiwan and China

ISO 14000 arose out of the push towards effective implementation of environmental policies among developed nations in recent years. To help traditional industries remain competitive, it encourages businesses to examine their operations to find ways to prevent pollution and help the environment. It also defines a basic set of common international standards that eliminate invisible technical obstacles to international trade and commerce caused by regional and cultural differences in each country’s environmental management standards. For this study, we began by collecting information and literature on the development of the traditional industries in Taiwan and China (Note. In this study, Chinese traditional industries refer to those operated in China by Taiwanese businessmen.). A questionnaire was then designed for businesses in the traditional industry that passed ISO 14000 certification to determine how they fared and the collected data was analyzed using the Performance Evaluation Matrix. According to the modified version of the performance evaluation matrix proposed by D. M. Lambert and A. Sharma, developed by Hung and Huang et al., two or more indices may be substituted into the performance matrix in order to determine the level of satisfaction and importance associated with the implementation of ISO 14000. A performance matrix may also be defined as the introduction of a standardized system to determine a business’ environmental performance. By examining where a task places in terms of satisfaction and importance within the performance matrix, a manager may assess its effectiveness and draw up performance improvement measures for the implemented system. Finally, tasks that fall into the “Inappropriate Performance Zone” are expanded to two levels using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to determine the critical tasks. Through these analyses, this study hopes to identify the optimal measures for improving business environmental performance and establish the foundations of a sustainable business. These will serve as a useful guide for businesses seeking to enhance their corporate image through ISO 14000.

Efficiency analysis on private universities: the case of Taiwan

Because Taiwan's population of children has decreased and the number of university is too many, all universities in the country are facing fierce competition. This study uses the Super Slacks-based Measure (SBM) model and Malmquist productivity index to evaluate the performance of Taiwan's 20 private universities. Some conclusions are found as follows: (1) If academic research is emphasized in universities, then the efficiency values of them will increase. (2) If a university is far from downtown, then it can set up a continuing and cooperative education center downtown so as to upgrade its average productivity. (3) The universities in Taiwan with high average productivity have high efficiency. (4) A traditional private university in Taiwan will be caught up by newlyestablished private universities if the traditional private university has not made any progress. Under the structure of the World Trade Organization (WTO), all countries will open up their education market in the future, and Taiwan is not an exception. We hope that Taiwan's education experience can provide a reference for all the countries in the world

Use DEA model to study hospitals’ performance through medical quality

We use data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods to assess the performance of Taiwan’s hospitals. The difference between this study and prior studies is that we use medical quality factors in estimating hospitals’ performance. The samples in this study come from the “The Survey of Public and Private Medical Care Organization in Taiwan” during 2001 to 2003 that was provided by the Statistics Division of the Department of Health, Executive Yuan, Taiwan. DEA methods and Tobit regressions model were used in this study to discuss the factors affecting the hospitals’ performance. And then we use the Malmquist index to measure a change in productivity Some results are as follows: (1) The medical quality plays an important role in hospitals’ performance and productivity. (2) Military hospitals and public hospitals perform worse than private and proprietary hospitals. (3) Some factors, including the average inpatient day, the percentage of outpatients to inpatients, the quantity of high-priced medical devices, divisions, and the percentage of licensed personnel to nonlicensed personnel have a positive impact on performance. However, the factor of the number of departments has a negative impact on performance. These findings provide hospital managers an evaluation tool for improving hospital performance.