Social Innovation and Business in Taiwan (PDF)

I Han is Assistant Professor of International Trade at Feng Chia University, Taiwan. Her research focuses on collaborative relationships in the Asian agricultural industry, and she has published on the importance of local embeddedness in the Asian agricultural contexts under globalization competitions.

Sheng-Tsung Hou is Professor of Management of Technology and Director of Center for Service Innovation and Mobility Design at Feng Chia University, Taiwan. He specializes in technology and innovation management, social innovation and entrepreneurship, competitive dynamics and cooperation, and academia-industry collaboration.

"This book is a milestone for the recent hot topics of social enterprises and businesses in Taiwan. Professor Han and Professor Hou have been devoted to industry-academia collaborative research for a decade. Base on the taxi industry and agricultural communities, these cases in this book could be beneficial to Social Enterprises. Reading this book, we can easily get a theoretical concept embedded in real practices from chapter to chapter. As a Social Entrepreneur, I certainly encourage many of you who care to read this book and take an action for a new move to contribute to worldwide industries and societies." —Stan Shih, Founder, Acer Group

"In 2014, I chaired a committee to select 100 exemplary social innovations from Taiwan, covering government, living, cuisine, culture, society, and technology. Committee members were truly surprised and encouraged to discover so many excellent cases throughout Taiwan. This reflects a pervasive awareness of current social issues facing Taiwan, such as a widening wealth gap and urban-rural divide, agriculture, transportation, and energy issues, and unequal access to education. All sectors of Taiwanese society are working to create solutions to these problems, making social innovation and social enterprises a core value and concern. Professors Hou and Han have been deeply involved in the examples presented here, whether initiating, implementing, or researching. The Center for Creativity and Innovation Studies at National Chengchi University has also witnessed and been involved in many of these activities. Utilizing a variety of cases from various industries in Taiwan, this book contributes to our understanding of practice and theory surrounding social innovation, with worldwide implications and applications, making it a must read for scholars, policymakers, and active participants interested in generating, evaluating, and implementing meaningful innovations to aid society." —Dr. Jing-Jhi Wu, Endowed Chair in