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Kao Shu-Lin
is senior advisor at Mitsubishi Electric Taiwan. Born in
1937, he worked at a Taiwanese mining company after graduating
from university and joined Mitsubishi Corporation in 1970.
Mr. Kao became the first non-Japanese executive to fill
the post of chief representative at Mitsubishi Corporation's
Amoy (China) office in 1993, and he retired from the trading
house three years later. The CEO of Mitsubishi Electric
Taiwan, Isao Kameyama, persuaded Kao to join that company
1996 as an advisor.
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 Kao
brings a wealth of experience in international business
to Mitsubishi Electric Taiwan. |
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Globalizing
by localizing
"Lots
of Japanese companies talk about globalizing themselves.
But few of them become truly global. The reason that most
of them fail is that they don't begin by localizing operations
thoroughly.
"Localizing operations in every
principal market is fundamental to globalization. That needs
to include providing employees and executives in each region
with persuasive incentives. Stock options, for example,
could be a valuable tool for attracting and motivating capable
managers in some markets. The people at headquarters in
Japan need to be attentive and responsive to the special
needs of each subsidiary."
Employee
responsibility
"We who work at subsidiaries of Japanese companies
need to do our part. We need to understand how our Japanese
colleagues think and make decisions. Helping people at Mitsubishi
Electric Taiwan fulfill that responsibility is a big part
of my job as advisor.
"Twenty-six years at Mitsubishi
Corporation gave me a great deal of insight into Japanese
values and perceptions. It gave me a great deal of practice
in combining the best of Japanese and Chinese practices.
My job now is to help equip our people with the skills and
understanding they need to contribute fully to the Mitsubishi
Electric Group.
"That includes providing employees
with solid capabilities in the leading-edge technologies
that are essential to our products and markets. We do business
in information technology. So we need to be experts in that
technology. We also need to be quick in responding to fast-changing
customer needs in information technology solutions."
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company traditionally has relied on Mitsubishi Electric's
global organization for most of its business. To continue
growing, we need to take more initiative in developing
new business on our own. That will include localizing
our operations further and entering into strategic
alliances with diverse partners." |
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Fulfilling human
potential
"The work that has given me the greatest satisfaction
at Mitsubishi Electric Taiwan has been in human resources.
I have had the opportunity to oversee a sweeping revision
of our system for evaluating and compensating employees.
"Our improved system provides a
clear link between performance and rewards. For example,
we added two ranks to the previous seven to allow for rewarding
young employees sooner with promotions. The changes have
made our company a more-appealing employer for people who
want to make the most of their potential."
Winning new business
"I also am proud of our success in winning new business.
I participated in winning orders for hydraulic power plants
when I was at Mitsubishi Corporation. And most of the equipment
for those plants came from Mitsubishi Electric.
"After joining Mitsubishi Electric
Taiwan, I participated in successful bidding for an automated
distribution system for an electric power grid. Other bidders
offered lower-cost proposals. But the teamwork and negotiating
skills at Mitsubishi Electric proved decisive."
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Coping
with adversity
"Market conditions remain trying for the next couple
of years. We need to be alert to trends in demand and to
emerging business opportunities. At the same time, we need
to be especially careful to avoid getting stuck with uncollectable
receivables. We need to monitor our customers closely, that
is, and manage our accounts receivable rigorously."
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| Mitsubishi
Electric president and CEO Ichiro Taniguchi (center-right)
pays a visit to his company's Taiwanese subsidiary.
At center-left is Mitsubishi Electric Taiwan's CEO,
Isao Kameyama. Kao is at the far right. |
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