Advantage Sans Manufacturing

Stan Shih, founder of Acer, the Taiwanese computer company, and its spinoffs Asustek Computer and BenQ, officially retired at the beginning of the year. And he has an ambitious vision for Taiwan. In a recent interview with the Asian edition of Fortune magazine, Shih talks about a Taiwan with no manufacturing, no farming, only R&D. And marketing, branding and services. The movement of Taiwan up the food chain seems reasonable in the wake of its relatively limited resources and knowledge competencies. The interview also highlighted another point. As each country develops and hones its competitive advantage, be it India in software resources, China in manufacturing, or Taiwan in engineering and innovation, perhaps competitive advantage will come from the integration of these resources. It is likely that boundaries between these countries will blur, and cooperation will give rise to networks of knowledge workers which develop supply chain solutions that span diverse organizations. E.g. Shih says he wants "IT" to stand for "India-Taiwan".