Event Information

Time：September 15, 2014 (Monday) 03:00-04:30 p.m.

Place：TRPMA Conference Room
（1F, No. 465-1, Sec. 6, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Nangang Dist., Taipei City 11557, Taiwan）

The TRPMA invited Prof Xiaoke Zhang of the Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester to give a special speech on Sept. 15. Prof Zhang talked about the impact of a country’s culture, political and economic situation and history on the national industrial technology. Prof Zhang classified industrial technology into four levels: high-tech industry, medium-and-high-tech industry, low-and-medium-tech industry and low-tech industry. By his definition, biotech, software design, semiconductor and aerospace technology are in the high-tech group. Transportation facilities, harbour facilities and precision instruments are in the medium-and-high-tech group. Foods and metallurgy are classified as low-and-medium tech industries. There are no all-round countries, as every country has to focus on the industries in which it has a competitive edge. In his speech, Prof Zhang used the US and Germany as examples of high-tech industry and medium-and-high-tech industry to illustrate the impact of political and economic situations on industrial development.

In Prof Zhang’s theory, the US and the UK are the representative countries of high-tech industry, featuring speedy R&D and product development. These two countries are adaptable in reconfiguration, emphasize on talent cultivation, have a free labour market for professionals and are typical capitalist markets.

Germany and Japan are the representative countries of medium-and-high-tech industry. They keep bringing existing technology to a new level, tend to maintain a long-term cooperative relationship with suppliers, emphasize on talent cultivation and has a comprehensive training program to meet the industry’s demand on new talents. Communication and mutual trust is especially important for both employees and employers. Banks are the key players in the financial market.

Those examples illustrate how culture and history play a role in shaping a country’s industry. Prof Zhang described them as two extreme examples. He reckoned that countries at both end of the spectrum are more innovative than those countries in the middle. However, he hopes the Asia-pacific countries could develop a new model for innovative technology based on their countries strengths.

Table: A comparison of two industry groups

US and UK

(high-tech industry)

Germany and Japan

(medium-and-high-tech industry)

 Innovation features

[if !supportLists]1. [endif]Low risk of counterfeiting

[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Technology are clearly recorded and protected by patents.

[if !supportLists]3. [endif]Market creativity

[if !supportLists]1. [endif]High risk of counterfeiting

[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Manufacturing technology cannot be patented. Low protection

[if !supportLists]3. [endif]Market extending

 Technology features

[if !supportLists]1. [endif]Products appeal to the general public (generic)

[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Discontinuous & radical

[if !supportLists]3. [endif]Breakthrough in existing technology

1. Various products appeal to a certain group (specific)

2. Continuous & incremental

3. Improvement in existing technology

   Financial market structure

Capital-based

Bank-oriented

 Relationship between employees and employers

Low (conflict)

High (cooperation)

 Personnel training

All-round training

Specialized training

 Overall industry structure

Liberal market economy

Co-ordinated market economy

The TRPMA invited Prof Xiaoke Zhang of the Manchester Business School at the University of Manchester to give a speech on “Institutional Variations, Technology Development Regimes, and Innovation Specialization”.