Employees needed for the e-era
By Morris Chang
The Internet alone does not make up the New Economy though it is an integral part of it. American President Bill Clinton has defined the New Economy as “an economy that’s fuelled by technology, driven by entrepreneurship and innovations.”
Technology, entrepreneurship and innovations are keywords that sum up the new era.
The Internet is not just a technology, it is also about marketing. Companies which do not use the Net as a marketing tool will lose their competitiveness.
The function of information technology in marketing is more than just receiving orders on the Net. The Net offers a means of attracting clients by providing them information, something not possible in the past. It has changed the way of service and is more efficient and more capable of providing comprehensive customer service.
The Net has revolutionised the way companies are run. Electronic mail, for instance, has improved management efficiency tremendously. The traditional telephone conversations and face-to-face contacts could be easily interrupted and were inefficient. Now you need perhaps to spend just a couple of hours on e-mailing. Besides, it is now much easier to gather information to help make the right decision.
The New Economy has also led to the mushrooming of IT or Internet -related firms as though the mere setting up of such a company is a guarantee of high profits. This means businesses must have good human resource management practices so as not to lose talented employees.
There are two ways to do this. First, an atmosphere that encourages innovations must be created. Employees should not be penalised for new ideas that fail but must be rewarded for those that work.
Besides, workers must be made to feel that they can enjoy resonable benefits. When I first returned to Taiwan 15 years ago, there was a gulf between bosses and workers who were unable to move beyond drawing a fixed salary.
Technology is a tool and a change in mindset is required to do away with a hierarchical system. They are related to entrepreneurship and innovations. What is needed are people who can think independently.
A flat organisation reduces the layers of management. This is absolutely fine if every worker is capable of thinking and working on his own. But there are many who feel insecure when they can no longer rely on others. They will have to learn the new mode of thinking.
Workers need to develop the habit of independent thinking, but this will be a gradual learning process.
While many may end up as losers in the New Economy, the winners will reap increasingly huge profits. Invariably, the winners will be those prepared to embrace technology, entrepreneurship and innovations.
This is quite obvious in the US. While the income of people who are able to seize the opportunity has soared, the salary of odinary workers has hardly increased.
(The author is chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The Chinese original was published in CommonWealth Monthly. Translated by Yap Gee Poh) |