| Summary: | 長久以來，國際化議題一直是實務界與學術界關心的重要焦點，對於小型開放經濟體的台灣而言，企業走向「國際化」更是必然的趨勢。國際化是否能為廠商帶來利潤？大部份的研究發現國際化確實有助於企業獲利的提昇，但亦有學者認為國際化為廠商所帶來的正面利益實屬有限，真正有助於提昇廠商績效的因素為廠商的「產品差異化能力」，甚至有學者更強烈地指出國際化與廠商績效的關係並不顯著，廠商本身所擁有的產品差異化能力才是最重要的獲利來源。
然而，相較於歐美大型多國企業，台灣企業規模相對較小，除國際化外，台灣企業擁有那些產品差異化能力可以提昇廠商的績效呢？雖然各方學者所持觀點不一，但其研究的範圍皆以西方已開發國家為關注焦點，顯少針對開發中國家加以研究。此不禁令人產生一些疑問：國際化是否也能為新興工業化國家的台灣企業帶來較佳的績效呢？若國際化不意謂著較佳的績效，那如此高度依賴海外市場的台灣企業該如何是好呢？
此外，「管理能力」在廠商國際化的過程中所扮演的角色在過去研究中並未受到重視。然而，國際化程度的提高，並非對所有廠商在績效上皆能有正面的提昇，廠商必須在海外市場擴張的過程中，隨時調整其管理能力才得以能夠維持優良的廠商績效，此議題的瞭解，有助於對過去實證結果的分歧做更進一步的解釋。
針對上述研究問題，本研究回顧國際化程度、產品差異化能力，以及管理能力相關文獻，經由相關理論之推導，形成三個主要的研究命題，透過以台灣製造廠商為研究對象，同時以量化及質化的研究設計加以探討。
命題一與命題二分別以第三章564家大型製造廠商、第四章170公開上市資訊電子業、第五章3,194家中小型製造廠商、第六章601家中小型紡織業及818家中小型電子業，以及第七章1986年、1991年與1996年三期之大型 (275家，825個樣本) 及中小型 (322家，966個樣本) 製造廠商之長期追蹤資料加以驗證。經由不同廠商規模與產業，以及橫斷面與縱斷面的資料分析，得到國際化程度對廠商績效為一倒U型關係、產品差異化能力 (研發密集度) 對廠商績效為一正向的影響，亦即在研究一 (第三章) 至研究五 (第七章) 的結論發現，國際化程度與廠商績效的倒U型關係皆獲得支持，惟不同的樣本中，國際化程度與績效的最適點不同；產品差異化能力的部份僅於研發密集度與廠商績效的正向關係獲得支持，故支持本研究所提出之前兩項研究命題。
本研究根據量化研究倒U型之結果，分別在研究六 (第八章) 以一家非上市 (櫃) 小型手工具製造業、一家中型上櫃紡織業，以及一家大型上市電子業為研究對象，分析管理能力對國際化與廠商績效關係之影響，經由三家個案廠商的分析，亦傾向於支持管理能力對台灣製造廠商之國際化程度與績效的關係有一正向的調節效果。亦即廠商的管理能力可以調節 (moderate) 國際化與廠商績效的關係，在面對海外市場擴張所面臨的複雜度增加，廠商若能適時調整其管理能力，即使處於高度國際化的狀況，亦能保有優良的廠商績效；反之，若廠商之國際化程度仍未達國際化之最適點，但其管理能力始終沒有在海外市場擴張的過程中做適時的調整，亦有可能產生績效不佳的狀況。因此，支持本研究所提出的第三個研究命題。
整體而言，本論文於第三章至第七章量化研究獲得國際化程度與產品差異化能力對廠商績效一致的結果；透過第八章的質化研究，亦達成管理能力於國際化與廠商績效間關係的釐清。因此本論文的完成亦讓研究者對於台灣企業的國際化程度、產品差異化能力及管理能力，在影響廠商績效的議題上有更豐富的認識與瞭解。
=== Internationalization has been the focus to the business and academic communities for years. Actively entering foreign markets for most firms in Taiwan, a small-opened economy, has become a must in the globalized economy. Does internationalization bring better performance for business? Most empirical studies found that internationalization increases firms’ benefits; however, some researchers argued that there are limited the benefits associated with firms’ internationalization. Furthermore, it has been suggested that there’s no significant relationship between internationalization and firm’s performance. That seemed a tendency for researchers to argue that “capability for product differentiation” is the key to profitability.
Comparing with multinational corporations (MNCs) from western developed countries, the sizes of Taiwanese firms are much smaller. What kind of capabilities for product differentiation, in addition to the internationalization, could contribute to their performance? So far researchers have different views. On top of that, when excusing the issue, most studies still focused on firms, mostly MNCs, from the developed countries, few has looked into the behaviors of firms from developing countries. This study bridges this gap and proposes the following research questions: (1) Does internationalization affect performance firms from newly industrialized economies, such as Taiwan? (2) Besides internationalization, what characteristics of firms in Taiwan contribute to their performance?
Managerial capability truly plays an important role in firms’ internationalization process; however, previous studies did not pay much attention on this construct. Also, higher levels of internationalization does not necessary bring positive impact on firms’ performance. To maintain better performance, firms need to adjust as well as adapt their managerial capabilities during their foreign market expansion process. Understanding the relationship between managerial capability and international expansion helps us to shed new light on the inconsistency findings of past empirical studies. Thus, the third research question tries to understand the moderating role of managerial capability on the relationship between internationalization and firms’ performance.
The study reviews related literatures on internationalization, capability for product differentiation, and managerial capability in terms of above mentioned research questions. After deriving three main research propositions, this study employs both quantitative and qualitative research designs to answer the research questions by taking Taiwanese manufacture firms as research samples.
For the purpose of triangulation, this study examines propositions 1 and 2 by different sample profiles including cross-sectional and longitudinal data. They are: (1) 564 large manufacture firms (chapter 3); (2) 170 Taiwan Stock Exchange Market listed electronics firms (chapter 4); (3) 3,194 small and medium-sized enterprises (chapter 5); (4) 601 small and medium-sized textile firms and 818 small and medium-sized electronics firms (chapter 6), and (5) 275 (825 observations) large and 322 (966 observations) small and medium-sized firms for three periods (i.e., 1986, 1991, and 1996) (chapter 7). The first two main findings are: (1) the relationship between internationalization and performance could be graphically depicted as an inverted U-shaped curve, and (2) a positive relationship between capability for product differentiation in terms of R&D intensity and performance regardless of firm size and industry. Thus, our findings support the first two propositions.
According to the U-shaped result of quantitative analysis, this study explores the relationship among managerial capability, internationalization, and performance by conducting three in-depth company interviews. The firms, including an unlisted hand tool firm, a medium-sized OTC textile firm, and one large listed electronics firm, represent a mix of companies. The third main findings tend to support that managerial capability has a positive moderating effect between internationalization and performance. If firms could adapt or adjust their managerial capabilities to handle the complexity during their foreign market expansion process at the right timing, they could still enjoy better performance with higher levels of internationalization. On the contrary, the complexity associated with high-level of internationalization will burn out the managers and eventually lead to poor performance. Thus, the result supports the third proposition.
In summary, on the one hand, the study confirms the relationship among internationalization, capability for product differentiation, and firm’s performance through quantitative analyses in chapters 3 to 7. This study also identifies the moderating effect of managerial capability on the relationship between internationalization and firm’s performance through a qualitative analysis in chapter 8. Theoretically speaking, this dissertation provides better understanding on the relationship among internationalization, capability for product differentiation, managerial capability, and performance of Taiwanese firms.
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