Search

The development of the global athletic shoe industry has undergone rise and fall in America, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan over the last 40 years or more. Taiwanese enterprises have led Taiwan and China's footwear growth from production to product development since 1990 and they have built up a long-term cooperative relationship with international brand companies. Furthermore, Japanese management technology was introduced in 2000. Factories in China implemented the lean production system and moved toward target cost management. Taiwanese enterprises have not only succeeded in collaborating with the European, American, and Japanese brands to manufacture in China, but they have also replaced the Japanese footwear factories and taken the lead from Korean manufacturers. This article examines how Taiwanese enterprises compete and collaborate with leading brand companies, while reviewing the literature and constructing an analytical framework based on two axes: manufacturing organizational capability and partner relationship. Observations will include the most recent cases of leading brands in America and Japan, Nike and Asics, as well as their respective Taiwanese-owned shoe firms in China, with the aim of uncovering the reasons for their superior position. Findings show that the competitive capability of Taiwanese-owned shoe firms comes from introducing Japanese management technology to strengthen their manufacturing organizational capability and building up partnerships with brand companies. Both factors interact and mend the product value chain gap to create advantages for original equipment manufacturing/original design manufacturing. It is important to upgrade capabilities independently, while maintaining long-term cooperation and learning with partners.