Brave new world needs modern managers

A recent fire in a 26-story high-tech complex in Hsichih's Eastern Science Park (東方科學園區) took 43 hours to extinguish as it spread from the complex's A-block to its B-and C-blocks. The fire has highlighted a key problem in Taiwan: That when a "knowledge-based economy" meets "anti-knowledge based management," things can get chaotic. Such confrontations have created inefficiency and a lack of discipline.

Every society goes through evolutionary phases and each phase has different characteristics. In a knowledge-based economy -- characterized by high-technology -- pragmatism must replace ideology. Otherwise, political risks will make the capital-intensive industries hesitant to invest.

In the area of administrative management, the bureaucratic system must learn to maximize professional and automated functions, and respond in a timely and effective way to problems as they occur. The bureaucratic practice of requiring papers and documents to travel between numerous government agencies for months on end must be eradicated.

Citizens of a knowledge-based economy must also learn to have a high degree of self-awareness of their obligations and rights. All of the three above requirements are indispensable.

In today's Taiwan, although people have practically turned "knowledge-based economy" into a catchy slogan, the supportive links needed for such an economy remain missing.

Our Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park (新竹科學園區) -- built in 1980 -- continually faces the threat of power shortages. The Tainan Science-based Industrial Park (台南科學園區) will face vibrations from high-speed trains that are to run nearby. Why don't these problems terrify us? In recent years, Taiwan's competitiveness has fallen behind. Isn't it about time our government did some comprehensive soul-searching?

The fire has unveiled many problems. For the government's part, we cannot cast all the blame on its fire-safety inspections. However, the inspections fail to serve any significant purpose. If a building does not pass muster, the owner receives a notice and then further tests are conducted on the premise regularly. It is doubtful whether this old-fashioned management style is effective today.

As high-tech industry and high-rise buildings are fragile and delicate, our government must manage them in a more timely and methodic manner.

Local fire departments cannot escape responsibility for the magnitude of the fire, either. While immediate actions were taken to extinguish the blaze, it was later allowed to spread under the so-called "smokestack effect" because the department erroneously thought the fire had been confined. Why didn't the department realize the possibility of a smokestack effect occurring? Further investigation is needed to determined whether the department is simply trying to justify its failure to control the fire in a timely manner.

The owner and management of the building should engage in self-evaluation as well. Modern high-rises are often called "intelligent buildings," since they are equipped with automatic sprinkler systems, smoke detectors, fire alarms and emergency facilities. But the Eastern Science Park complex failed to extinguish the fire by itself in the early stages of the fire, because the automatic sprinkler system was disabled. Therefore, the building management is also responsible for the blaze.