A co-CEO structure adopted by major Taiwanese companies would not work, as it requires a dictatorship to run companies in a responsible and efficient fashion, Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) chairman and chief executive Miin Wu (吳敏求) said yesterday.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest chipmaker, has tapped former co-CEO Mark Liu (劉德音) to be chairman and co-CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) to be the sole chief executive after former chair and CEO Morris Chang (張忠謀) retired in June last year.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the main assembler of Apple Inc’s iPhone series, last week indicated plans to set up a panel of top decisionmakers, as chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) aims to step down and seek the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential nomination.
Wu, who has won the Entrepreneur of the Year award from Ernst & Young Taiwan, said that the joint leadership design would not work, as corporate operations require a dictatorship. The annual awards recognize the impact and innovations of entrepreneurs from all across the world.
“Someone has to make the ultimate decisions and step down when things do not work,” Wu said.
The 70-year-old said that he has increased the daily responsibilities of his colleagues in the hope that someone would stand out and steer the memorychip supplier when he retires.
Wu refused to name potential successors.
Calibrated executives demonstrate a willingness to invest in research and development, and embark on innovations to help the company stay competitive and profitable, Wu said.
A good company also takes good care of its employees, he added.
Macronix would not hire family members or relatives of its top executives and board directors to avoid conflicts of interests, he said.
“It is a matter of principle, fair or not,” Wu said, adding that a family-run business is not a healthy or competitive model.
The CEO related he does not read local media as he knows clients, products and the market much better than reporters do. It is important to learn things from primary sources, he said.
Wu said that he expects the US-China trade dispute to be settled later this month, as a protracted drama would hurt China’s economy.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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