台灣中堅企業策略之研究

Abstract

中堅企業(mittlestand)來自Simon於「Lessons from Germany's Midsize Giants」提出的概念。研究發現中堅企業是德國出口表現優異的最大功臣，引發後續學者相關研究。各國學者歸納出中堅企業的關鍵成功因素有：國際化、技術與聚焦。另外，這群企業因為在市場上具有主導地位，但卻鮮為人知，如此矛盾的特質，又被稱為「隱形冠軍」(Hidden Champions)。

本研究以台灣上市上櫃中堅企業為研究對象，透過組織生態、資源依賴、資源基礎三大理論，以系統觀點驗證中堅企業在「利基」、「聚焦」、「創新」、「供應商與顧客依賴關係管理」以及「國際化」的各項策略活動以及策略活動之間的交互作用對企業績效的影響。資料分析使用階層多元回歸驗證模型效果。最後，提出「T型策略」描繪中堅企業的成功因素並給予建議。

“Mittelstand” is the success of the strategy model that originated with Hermann Simon who mentioned it in his study on “Lessons from Germany's Midsize Giants.” The research found that the outstanding performance of Germany’s international trade owes much to its medium-sized enterprises. Further, some scholars extended this argument and discovered these companies have key business strategies, including core technologies, customer relationships, combining a narrow market focus with a global orientation. Besides, Mittelstand companies provide irreplaceable products to the global market and dominate their niches, but tend to not be particularly well known and shy away from publicity. Thus, Simon coined the term “hidden champions” to describe them.

In this study, we conducted empirical examination based on selected Mittelstand companies listed from the program of Taiwan Mittelstand Award and used a hierarchical regression to test our hypotheses. We took “niche”, “focus”, “innovation”, ” vertical relationships with the supply chain” and “internationalization” to evaluate their impacts on performance by incorporating the two-way and three-way moderating effects through organizational ecology, resource-based theory, resource dependency theory perspective. Finally, we conclude with a theory of “T-shape strategy” to provide suggestions for Taiwanese’s small and medium-sized enterprises.