工業電腦公司的成長與綜效管理之個案研究

Abstract

工業電腦產品具有少量多樣、高度客製化的特性，但也享有比個人電腦產品較高的毛利率，近年來，由於工業電腦產品的需求蓬勃發展，工業電腦公司藉由產品領域的擴張、垂直市場的深耕，使得工業電腦公司規模隨之快速成長，組織內部事業單位因而增加，隨之而來的內部多部門管理問題因而成為值得深入研究的議題。 有鑑於此，本研究以台灣工業電腦產業的龍頭A公司為個案，以深度個案研究的方法，解析A公司在成為大型集團化企業過程所面臨的管理挑戰與引導綜效的作為，從而歸納多部門事業體的組織管理經驗。 據此，本研究推導出大型集團化企業的管理條件，首先需明訂企業總部的角色，負責企業策略(Corporate Strategy)的訂定，並導入適當管理工具，一方面讓各事業群能發揮自主經營的積極性，另一方面能導引事業群營運方向，並進行跨部門的營運串聯。最後，建立內部溝通/技術交流的平台，讓企業內部資訊更加透明化，且內部交流資訊能夠統一且完整地被保存下來。 在明確界定大型集團化企業的管理條件後，本研究歸納出企業內部的綜效將發生於價值鏈中各部門之間共同採購/生產、技術及研發資源的共享以及人才流通三個部分。透過料件共購有助於工業電腦公司提升對供應商的議價能力，共同生產及技術及研發資源共享有效降低內部資源浪費。人才流通則可幫助培養更多領導人才，以支持事業群的量與質的發展。 然而，綜效並非自然產生，是需要由管理手段誘發之。本研究建議將員工的教育訓練設定為首要落實的目標，透過宣導綜效產生的重要，以貫徹企業上下的目標。另外，舉行常規的開會及省察（review）可以將各部門串連在一起，達成產銷數字與年度目標的一致。最後，KPI評定標準的調整是大型集團化企業中誘發綜效的成功關鍵因素。本研究結果希望對其他正在面臨成長擴張的工業電腦廠商的管理，有正面的參考價值與幫助。

Industrial PC (IPC, hereafter) is known for its small-volume, large-variety and highly customized characteristics, and therefore enjoying a higher profit margin than to the mainstream PC products. During recent years, industrial PC companies has been growing fast due to increasing application needs. These companies expand size through horizontal product domain expansion and vertical market penetration, leading toward a proliferation of business units with different sizes. As a result, internal managerial issues, especially synergy management, become a critical challenge to the continuous growth of these IPC business groups, a research issue which this thesis is aiming for. We endeavor a case-based research with the leading IPC company in Taiwan. Through substantial fieldworks into the case company’s management processes and in-depth interviews with senior executives, we are able to inductively conclude some critical lessons for synergy management within the context of multi-business organization. First of all, to create an enabling management infrastructure, the role and responsibilities of headquarter should be clearly defined and executed. Next, introducing adequate managerial tools which allow business units to have sufficient autonomy while ensure necessary inter-division coordination so that internal coherence can be achieved. In addition, based on our research work, we suggest that synergy can be explored in three major areas, co-procurement/production, technological resources sharing, and the exploration and utilization of talent. Companies can enhance their bargaining power over suppliers through co-purchasing and reduce the waste of resource through co-production and IP sharing. Talents rotation can strengthen the quality of general management and further support the needs of business expansion. However, synergy won’t come out by nature; it has to be managed. We suggest that training would one of the key initiatives to realization. In addition, regular meetings and reviews could interlock all business units about annual goal achievement and production needs. Finally, linking required behavior to KPI content would be a key success factor to nurturing synergies within the context of a large established business group. Implications to other companies and suggestions for future research are also discussed.