Industry Expert vs. Employer

The data extracted from the expert interview will be discussed in three parts:

market information, market structure, and success factors in comparison with the data of the interview with Firm A’s employer.

Table 4.3 A Comparison of Data on Firm-customer Relationships from Industry Expert and Employer

Firm-customer Relationships

SCP: Market Information

Industry Expert The industry expert divided the development of Taiwan’s MICE industry into three phases. The initial phase began sometime before 1976 when the MICE industry in Taiwan just started. From 1976 to 1986, the export industry started to take off and develop quickly. Taiwan’s industry moved from manufacturing industry into one that was

technology-intensive. Throughout this decade, the MICE industry in Taiwan grew hand in hand with Taiwan’s industry. Since 1990 when the Taipei World Trade Centre Exhibition Hall was completed until now, Taiwan’s MICE industry has developed at an unprecedented pace.

It is unfortunate, according to Mr. Tsou, that Taiwan has missed the opportunity to become one of the best MICE destinations in Asia. It does not mean, however, that Taiwan should give up on developing the industry. Taiwan still has its own strengths including quality of the people and professionalism when compared with Asian countries. The government should invest in more MICE industrial physical and financial resources if Taiwan is to compete with other destination in the Asia Pacific region.

Concerning the future development of the MICE industry in Taiwan, Mr. Tsou suggested that not only the country as a whole, but also the players in Taiwan cooperate with other destination cities or enterprises. For example, collaboration with China or Korea is recommended.

“For instance, we can work with Korea. Taiwan’s businesses can make an offer to Korean companies that if they are thinking about organising an international conference abroad, Taiwan’s businesses are capable of being at their command, taking care of everything...China might be one of the important MICE industries in the future. Many

transnational and international enterprises might want to set up their headquarters in Asia and target the market in China, but if we want to attract them to Taiwan, we need to work harder. (Appendix p. -241-)”

Employer As for the future development of his firm, AR1 did not set his goal on China, but the Asia-Pacific region. He did not agree that China was the best location for expansion since the society there as a whole was not thoroughly ready for conference management services, and there were legal and regulatory concerns. Instead, he aimed at expanding to the

Asia-Pacific region.

“I asked my employees whether we were capable of

operating in the Asian region in 3 to 5 years…Expansion is not a must, but my point is that even if we do not go global, international enterprises will still enter Taiwan’s market somehow someday…It will be less than 10 years before international competitors tap into our market, and by then, will we be prepared to operate in other countries in Asia?

This is surely a challenge.” (Appendix p. -42-)

Firm-customer Relationships

SCP: Market Structure

Industry Expert When asked if the MICE industry in Taiwan was

concentrated, the expert interviewee said that the market was concentrated yet small, and that the barrier to entry was low.

“In terms of PEO’s and PCO’s on the market, their size is pretty much so. The reason why is that the market size is limited, so if the number of PEO’s and PCO’s increases, so will the competition, which might become vicious and

eliminate those that cannot survive at the end.” (Appendix p.

-232-)

Employer AR1 shared the same viewpoint with Mr. Tsou. Since he knew that the MICE market in Taiwan was small, he came up with other strategies to cope with this problem.

“In this field, the technical barriers to entry are low, therefore I need to turn to the market itself. The strategies I formulated are to focus on a market segment while

diversifying my business…I mean, I focus on this target and strive to fulfil all of their demands.” (Appendix p. -41-)

Firm-customer Relationships

Success Factor

Industry Expert In order to survive in the MICE industry, Mr. Tsou said that the professionalism of PEO’s and PEO’s was critical.

Professionalism includes miscellaneous administrative work,

proficiency in foreign languages, internationalisation, and worldview. The above-mentioned are threshold resources and competencies required to survive in the industry. To outperform competitors, however, requires attainment of other elements including reputation and quality, which should extend to the stakeholders such as suppliers and distributors.

“Reputation is very important. Industry players should maintain a certain level of quality, and in addition to that quality, the reputation they have accumulated over the years should be protected. Of course it is impossible not to make a mistake, but they should be ascertained that such a mistake will not destroy the established name. (Appendix p.

-240-)…Besides, the entire service quality is crucial and should be continuously maintained, so that it will be recognised by the government, private sectors, and even international participants. Consequently, clients will keep coming back to you. International conventions and corporate meetings of multinational enterprises rotate among different destinations, and if they identify with your service and the place, they will always want to come back.”

(Appendix p. -240-)

What is worth noting is that Mr. Tsou stressed that quality should never be compromised at the expense of low price.

Employer By comparing the success factors Mr. Tsou thinks that high-performers in Taiwan’s MICE industry should obtain with the key resources Firm A possesses (see section 4.2.1.1), it is getting more conspicuous why Firm A has established itself in the market and sustained its success for a long length of time.

Although this research was unable to extract views from Firm A’s clients on the firm-customer relations with the purpose to cross-check the comments of the company’s employer and to explain why it has been successful in the MICE

industry in Taiwan, the expert interview, on the other hand, provided much more evidence than expected and answered the questions of this research.