Acing the Computer Business "宏"鵠之志

There is little doubt todaywhether or not Acer can compete in the global marketplace. The computer giant has flourished under the vision of its founder Stan Shih with revenues of US$9.9 billion last year. As recently as the early nineties, however, Acer, and Shih in particular, were the frequent targets of criticism for being overly ambitious in their international operations.

At that time, Acer appeared to be inefficient and inflexible in comparison with the purely export-oriented original equipment manufacturers (OEM). Acer was charged for marketing expenses, which OEMs are not concerned with. The books, however, failed to take into account the benefits gained through Acer's efforts. Acer was also criticized for its slow inventory turnover.

Shih's solution was the "fast-food? business model, which essentially moves supplies as close to the market as possible. The model required significant decentralization, and led to the "global name, local touch" idea. All decision makers worldwide are required to be majority shareholders in their local affiliates, which directly links their success to the success of Acer as a

今天宏基在全球市場的競爭力毋庸置疑。由于創辦人施振榮先生的高瞻遠矚，這個計算機界巨人得以蓬勃地發展，去年總收入達99億美元。然而，早在九十年代初期，宏基集團，特別是施先生本人，因在國際運作上過于鋒芒畢露，常成為眾矢之的。

當時，和純外銷的原始設備制造商（OEM)相比，宏基顯得效率不高，運作缺乏靈活性。宏基要負擔行銷費用，而OEM 對此卻不必擔心。然而，會計帳簿并不會把其費心努力獲取的利益考慮在內。此外，宏基還因存貨周轉率低而屢遭批評。

施先生采取“快餐”經營模式，也就是從根本上讓貨盡量靠近市場。這種模式需要進行重大的權力下放，從而產生了“世界品牌，當地特色”的理念。世界各地的決策者必須 是當地分公司的大股東，他們的成功直接造就了宏基集團的成功。