Tiger Technology : The Creation of a Semiconductor Industry in East Asia (Cambridge Asia-Pacific Studies)

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Summary: How to build new industries through knowledge leverage
Review: I approached this book thinking that it might give a few ideas as to how countries today might get themselves started in high technology industries. I was surprised to find that Mathews' and Cho's story is as relevant to developing countries today as it is to the East Asian tiger economies with which they are concerned. In particular, their story of how Korea, Taiwan and Singapore all used different leverage vehicles for the creation of knowledge intensive industries in their countries, seems to be applicable very much to the case of China today, or India, or any other country with a serious state looking seriously to become a player in industries where technology is a prime factor. Countries don't have to reinvent everything from zero!

Congratulations to these authors for stating this as clearly as I've seen in recent years. The book stands comparison with Amsden, Wade and other contributors to the industrial upgrading literature.

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Summary: Tiger Technology: The Creation of a Semiconductor Industry
Review: The creation of high technology firms and industries is increasingly an important source of national industrial competitiveness. Harnessing and diffusing new technologies, leveraging knowledge and developing new collaborative mechanisms demand new corporate strategies and arrangements between business and government. Tiger Technology by John Mathews and Dong-Sung Cho provides new insights into these issues. In explaining how late comer firms establish themselves in one of the most technologically demanding industries, their book sheds light on the process by which East Asian countries - Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan have developed technology leveraging strategies and capabilities that enable them to compete in high technology industries. Furthermore they argue the East Asian countries have developed institutional systems for rapid technology transmission and diffusion.

Part two of the book draws this argument out by examining in detail the various national case studies. However, it is in Part three of the book that the authors draw together the comparative detail of the national case studies.Here they identify three models of high technology industrialisation that the East Asian economies have pioneered.The book raises interesting issues for managers, public administrators and scholars - focusing on the need to develop strategies for learning at the firm level and developing institutions that can foster cooperative relations between business and the public sector.

In sum, Tiger Technology, is a well researched, well written and topical book that demonstrates the continued potency of the East Asian 'miracle'.For those studying or working in the fields of strategy, international management and public policy the book is a 'must have' that will become an important benchmark in the study of high technology industrialisation. The book is therefore highly recommended.