رابطه واحدهای R & D خارجی در تایوان و سیستم جریان دانش تایوانی

In the development of knowledge-based economies there are two important issues of concern: one is the extent to which knowledge is shared or diffused and the second is the direction of the diffusion or flow. As globalization of technology increases, multinational enterprises (MNEs) require rapid growth of overseas research and development (R&D) capacity. This leads to two trends: the establishment of overseas R&D facilities and sharing knowledge within host countries. This paper investigated the R&D programs and facilities of foreign firms based in Taiwan and their impact on the flow of knowledge in Taiwan. The major findings reported suggest that the strategic importance of the Taiwanese market is the dominant reason for MNEs to establish overseas R&D units in Taiwan. In addition, foreign R&D investment had a significant impact on Taiwan's knowledge-flow system. From these results some policy suggestions are offered, and implications for future research described.

Contemporary studies of R&D activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs) focus on internationalization motives, R&D organizational structure, tasks and performance (Howells, 1990, Meyer, 1993, Nobel and Birkinshaw, 1998 and Gassmann and von Zedtwitz, 1999). In addition, much of the literature discusses MNEs' location selection and organizational strategy for their overseas R&D activities. Few discuss the impact of MNEs' overseas R&D activities on the development of technology in the host country. From the perspective of developing countries a major concern is how to attract MNEs and to encourage their investment in R&D activities in the indigenous country. To the extent that they are successful, the outcome of the R&D activities can enhance the diffusion and flow of knowledge, which will in turn support the country's national innovation system (NIS) (Fagerber, 1998; Reeve and Piric, 1998). The recent rapid growth of Taiwan's economy demonstrates its investment potential. The primary incentive for foreign investors is now Taiwan's indigenous market. This in turn requires foreign investors to establish R&D units in Taiwan for new products and product adaptations that can respond to the diverse needs of Taiwanese consumers. As a consequence of governmental investment in education and related policies, Taiwan has sizable human resources in science and technology. In a number of technologically advanced industries Taiwan's manufacturing capacity can already compete successfully at the international level which in turn can enhance the strategic position of MNEs in the global economy (Reddy and Sigurdson, 1997). For these reasons, foreign-firm R&D activities in Taiwan are growing rapidly. Some well-known MNEs, such as Motorola, Toyota and Panasonic, have set up advanced R&D units in Taiwan. In the future it is likely that many more foreign firms will set up R&D units in Taiwan whose nature and tasks will tend to greater diversity, which could have an enormous impact on the strategy of individual firms as well as on the macro-economy of Taiwan. This paper examines foreign R&D activities in Taiwan from the perspectives of how MNEs decide to develop R&D activities in Taiwan, what motivates these decisions in the context of the MNEs' R&D strategy, the particular tasks of MNEs' R&D institutes in Taiwan, as well as R&D management. These questions are clearly relevant to the relationship between knowledge flow and diffusion and the knowledge acquisition and technical innovation of domestic firms. This paper reports a comprehensive theoretical and empirical study of the effects of foreign R&D organizational units in Taiwan. The major research questions of this study are: 1. What are the characteristics of foreign R&D organization set-up in Taiwan? 2. What factors influence foreign firms to set up R&D units in Taiwan? 3. What impact do various foreign R&D units have on Taiwan's knowledge-flow system?

The theoretical logic of a national innovation system (NIS) would expect MNEs to be an important source of technological knowledge. Foreign investment may no longer be a major objective. The important issue at this stage is how to encourage foreign firms to establish high-level R&D units in Taiwan. From the perspective of firms' behavior, this paper reviewed the literature describing MNEs' overseas R&D and knowledge flow, and constructed a theoretical research framework which addressed the impact of foreign R&D activities in Taiwan on the Taiwanese knowledge-flow system. A survey instrument was designed to obtain information describing foreign R&D investment in Taiwan. The data were used to analyze how the characteristics of foreign firms affect their choice of R&D organizational type, and how various R&D organizations influenced the Taiwanese knowledge-flow system. The major conclusions of this paper are: 1. If the major purpose of foreign R&D activity was restricted to the needs of the Taiwan market, foreign firms tended to set up a transfer technology unit (TTU) or an indigenous technology unit (ITU) in Taiwan. 2. If the objective was to enhance technology learning, in recognition of Taiwan's strategic position in the global market, foreign firms tended to set up international interdependent laboratories (IILs) in Taiwan 3. Most foreign firms of Southeast Asia tended to set up IILs, not ITUs. European firms prefer to set up IILs. 4. Setting-up an IIL can maximize the impact on the Taiwanese knowledge-flow system. ITU is the second choice, and TTU is the last. These conclusions have important implications. The results of this paper showed that the interaction of IILs and Taiwan institutes in terms of technology and the exchange of human resources can broadly increase knowledge flow in the Taiwanese knowledge-flow system. Thus, there is a strong theoretical base as well as empirical evidence supporting a policy of attracting foreign firms to set up R&D centers when the government has a major policy orientation toward a ‘green technology island’. It was also pointed out that the two major factors leading to the establishment of IILs in Taiwan are technology itself, and Taiwan's strategic global position. If the goal of the government is to transform Taiwan into a global technology R&D base for MNEs, increased technological training of indigenous personnel, attractive tax deduction incentives, and a positive learning environment for technology R&D are all relevant policy steps. An important implication of this paper is that knowledge flow is a significant issue in the field of knowledge management. This paper is possibly the first to report research that addresses the impact of knowledge flow from foreign firms to the Taiwanese knowledge-flow system. Thus, the conceptual framework and the research outcomes of this paper contribute to the understanding of this issue and provide a base for future research. Finally, because of time and financial limitations, this paper was not a comprehensive survey of all foreign firms in Taiwan. The conclusions were based on a sample of 60 firms with R&D units and focused on the reports of quantitative measures of knowledge-flow interfaces. Some qualitative questions need further study. For example, what are the results of foreign firms' and Taiwanese industrial development in terms of the knowledge-flow interface? How can effective management mechanisms be designed to utilize the technology knowledge that is shared by foreign firms in Taiwan? In general, this exploratory study should provide the basis for a broader and more rigorous analysis.