CorecompetenceandcompetitivestrategyoftheTaiwanshipbuildingindustry:aresource-basedapproachInstituteofBusinessandManagement，JUNE2004TheshipbuildingoutputforTaiwanhadbeen4thintheworlduntil1999;however,atthattime,itdroppedtothe9th.Currently,theworldshipbuildingcapacitygreatlyexceedsthedemandandthisdisparitycouldgrowto40%by2005.Facingthisturningpoint,themainobjectiveofthisstudyistore-examinetheinternationalcompetitivepositionofTaiwan’sshipbuildingindustry;further-more,torealizetheindustries’corecompetencesandattempttorecommendcompetitivestrategiesforthefuturedevelopmentofTaiwan’sshipbuildingindustry.TheresultsshowthatTaiwan’smaincorecompetenceisproductionmanagement,mainlythroughheterogeneousresourceanalysis.Thispaperalsoproposesthatforgeneraltypesofships,Taiwan’sdevelopmentpriorityshouldbetoutilizelow-coststrategiestooccupythemarketcontinuously;astohighvalueaddedtypesofships,Taiwan’spriorityshouldbetoutilizedifferentialandfocusstrategies.Finally,thedirectionofgovernmentpolicyissuggested.IntroductionResource-basedviewhasbecomeasignificantapproachforstrategymanagementthroughmanyliteraturediscussionssinceWernerfelthighlightedhowadepartmentusinguniqueandidiosyncraticorganizationalresourcescansustainsuperiorperformance[1].Firmscanobtainadvantagesbyanalyzingandre-assessinginformationabouttheassetstheyalreadycontrol,iftheseassetscanbeusedtoimplementvaluablemarketstrategiesandifsimilarassetsarenotcontrolledbyasignificantnumberofcompetitors.Navarrosuggestedthataresource-basedviewofthefirmisakeyfortherenewalofstrategicthinkinginmatureindustries[2].Barneyproposedthatresourcesincludeallassets,capabilities,organizationalprocesses,firmattributes,information,knowledge,etc.controlledbyafirmthatenablethefirmtoconceiveofandimplementstrategiesthatimproveitseffciencyandeffectiveness[3].However;thereareafewrelatedconceptsinstrategyliteraturewhichareworthmentionedasfollows:OrganizationalcapabilityUlrich&Lakeproposedthatorganizationalcapabilityistheabilitytobuildfirm’sinternalstructureandprocess,andthesestructureandprocessareabletoaffectemployeestocreateorganizationalappropriablecapability.Hence,theorganizationisabletofitwithstrategicrequirementandenvironmentalchange[4,5].DistinctivecompetenceSelznickproposedthatdistinctivecompetenceistodescribethecharacterofanorganization,referstothosethingsthatanorganizationdoesespeciallywellincomparisonwithitscompetitors[6].Snow&Hrebiniakstatedthatdistinctivecompetenceisthecapabilitythatorganization’scompetitorsdonotpossess[7].CorecompetencePorterproposedthatmainstreamstrategyresearchthroughthe1980sandtheearly1990sbroadlyassumedthatitispossibleforafirmtoachieveandsustainacompetitiveadvantage,auniquepositionrelativetocompetitorsthatallowsittoconsistentlyoutperformthem[8].PostPorter’sideal,muchoftheresearchoncompetitiveadvantagefocusedoncorecompetenceasamajorsourceofthatadvantage[9].Corecompetenceisthecollectivelearningintheorganization,especiallyhowtocoordinatediverseproductionskillsandintegratemultiplestreamsoftechnologies[10,11].Afirm’scorecompetenceisdefinedasthevectoroftheirreversibleassetsalongwhichthefirmisuniquelyadvantagedanditisassetofdifferentiatedtechnologicalskills,complementaryassets,andorganizationalroutinesandcapacities[12].Corecompetenceisskillsandareasofknowledgethataresharedacrossbusinessunitsandresultfromtheintegrationandharmoniza...
