ÿþ1 00:00:01,430 --> 00:00:02,370 Rick: Good afternoon. 2 00:00:05,620 --> 00:00:08,680 I appreciate the energy level 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:10,190 for those of you who have 4 00:00:10,700 --> 00:00:13,860 made it through a long and reasonably intense program. 5 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:15,590 So I thank you for that. 6 00:00:15,590 --> 00:00:17,340 It is now my distinct pleasure 7 00:00:17,980 --> 00:00:19,650 to introduce Dr. Morris Chang, 8 00:00:19,650 --> 00:00:24,880 Founder and CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company,TSMC, 9 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,110 the largest silicon foundry in the world, 10 00:00:27,110 --> 00:00:29,720 and a global leader that builds chips 11 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:31,980 for everything from PCs to mobile phones. 12 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:37,740 I was mentioning to Morris that I'm talked at the start of this convocation with an alumnus 13 00:00:37,740 --> 00:00:39,870 who is a veteran of the semiconductor industry. 14 00:00:39,870 --> 00:00:41,470 And he said, 15 00:00:41,470 --> 00:00:45,110 You know,when this whole notion of a foundry came up, 16 00:00:45,110 --> 00:00:47,460 I was convinced, 17 00:00:47,460 --> 00:00:48,550 as was everybody else, 18 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:50,660 that it was one of the truly crazy ideas. 19 00:00:50,660 --> 00:00:56,670 Well,that crazy idea has turned into a very interesting,successful and innovative company, 20 00:00:56,670 --> 00:00:58,280 about which, 21 00:00:58,280 --> 00:00:59,550 you will no doubt hear a bit. 22 00:00:59,550 --> 00:01:02,820 Morris holds three MIT degrees in mechanical engineering, 23 00:01:02,820 --> 00:01:04,710 and had an extensive career 24 00:01:04,710 --> 00:01:07,870 with Texas Instruments and General Instrument Corporation 25 00:01:07,870 --> 00:01:09,780 before founding TSMC 26 00:01:09,780 --> 00:01:11,140 in 1987, 27 00:01:11,140 --> 00:01:13,040 and playing a major role 28 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,680 in creating Taiwan's semiconductor industry. 29 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,820 Dr. Chang is a recipient of many awards 30 00:01:18,820 --> 00:01:19,920 for outstanding achievement 31 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,900 including the Nikkei Asia Prize in 2005, 32 00:01:22,900 --> 00:01:25,700 the IEEE 2000 Robert Noyce Award, 33 00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:29,120 for exceptional contributions to the micro-electronics industry, 34 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:36,950 the "Exemplary Leadership Award" of the Fabless Semiconductor Association in 1999. 35 00:01:36,950 --> 00:01:42,920 He was selected by Fortune Magazine as one of Asia's Power 25 in 2003, 36 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,510 and by Time Magazine and CNN, 37 00:01:45,510 --> 00:01:50,790 as one of the Top 25 Most Influential CEOs in 2001. 38 00:01:50,790 --> 00:01:52,760 He is a loyal alumnus, 39 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,340 a member of the MIT Corporation, 40 00:01:55,340 --> 00:01:57,450 a great friend of MIT Sloan. 41 00:01:57,450 --> 00:02:00,290 He's going to speak to us today about innovation, 42 00:02:00,290 --> 00:02:01,110 business models, 43 00:02:01,110 --> 00:02:03,190 and business model innovation. 44 00:02:03,190 --> 00:02:04,570 Please join me in welcoming 45 00:02:04,570 --> 00:02:08,650 Morris Chang. 46 00:02:08,980 --> 00:02:19,390 Morris Chang: Thank you very much 47 00:02:19,390 --> 00:02:21,580 for that gracious introduction,Rick. 48 00:02:21,580 --> 00:02:24,580 And I also want to thank all of you, 49 00:02:24,580 --> 00:02:25,830 all the audience, 50 00:02:25,830 --> 00:02:27,140 for staying 51 00:02:27,140 --> 00:02:30,160 with your stamina 52 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:32,110 til the end 53 00:02:32,110 --> 00:02:34,170 of this convocation. 54 00:02:34,170 --> 00:02:40,450 I can't adequately describe how honored and pleased I felt 55 00:02:40,450 --> 00:02:46,170 when Rick Schmalensee asked me to give a talk here. 56 00:02:46,170 --> 00:02:50,250 As Rick mentioned, 57 00:02:50,250 --> 00:02:55,420 I was an undergraduate and graduate student at MIT, 58 00:02:55,420 --> 00:02:59,760 from 1950 to 1955, 59 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,900 in mechanical engineering. 60 00:03:02,900 --> 00:03:06,830 I had transferred from Harvard, 61 00:03:06,830 --> 00:03:09,900 after my freshman year there. 62 00:03:09,900 --> 00:03:12,510 And at that time, 63 00:03:12,510 --> 00:03:15,880 MIT was arguably 64 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:21,030 the leading technology institute in the world, 65 00:03:21,030 --> 00:03:24,570 and I was naturally very proud 66 00:03:24,570 --> 00:03:29,110 of the technology education I got. 67 00:03:29,110 --> 00:03:33,060 But a few years later, 68 00:03:33,060 --> 00:03:36,550 as I entered the industry, 69 00:03:36,550 --> 00:03:41,890 and gradually became a manager, 70 00:03:41,890 --> 00:03:45,130 I asked myself the question, 71 00:03:45,130 --> 00:03:48,610 Would I have been better prepared to be a manager 72 00:03:48,610 --> 00:03:51,260 if I stayed with Harvard, 73 00:03:51,260 --> 00:03:57,150 and got a liberal arts undergraduate education? 74 00:03:57,150 --> 00:04:02,050 But then I asked a second question. 75 00:04:02,050 --> 00:04:08,730 Would I even have had the chance to get into a technology industry, 76 00:04:08,730 --> 00:04:12,550 if I didn't have an MIT education? 77 00:04:12,550 --> 00:04:16,140 And the answer to that second question 78 00:04:16,140 --> 00:04:19,370 was a very [definite].No. 79 00:04:19,370 --> 00:04:23,360 I would not have gotten into the technology industry at all 80 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:25,650 if I had not 81 00:04:25,650 --> 00:04:27,320 if I had stayed 82 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:28,390 at Harvard 83 00:04:28,390 --> 00:04:33,640 and got my liberal arts undergraduate education. 84 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:34,810 So, 85 00:04:34,810 --> 00:04:37,670 certainly the No?to the second question. 86 00:04:37,670 --> 00:04:43,000 sort of negated the importance of the first question. 87 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,590 And decades later, 88 00:04:46,590 --> 00:04:49,330 I readily accepted 89 00:04:49,330 --> 00:04:55,240 former Provost Bob Brown's pronouncement on me. 90 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:56,290 He said, 91 00:04:56,290 --> 00:04:58,230 Well,Morris, 92 00:04:58,230 --> 00:05:00,310 you had the best of both worlds. 93 00:05:00,310 --> 00:05:02,680 You got your excitement at Harvard 94 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,380 and a real education at MIT. 95 00:05:05,380 --> 00:05:14,160 At any rate, 96 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:18,530 MIT today is a very much broader university 97 00:05:18,530 --> 00:05:20,800 than it was fifty years ago. 98 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,690 Certainly,a very important development 99 00:05:24,690 --> 00:05:26,760 was the maturing 100 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,260 of the Sloan School. 101 00:05:29,260 --> 00:05:30,690 I was, 102 00:05:30,690 --> 00:05:31,040 in fact, 103 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,350 reminiscing with the dean at lunch. 104 00:05:34,350 --> 00:05:37,410 And he told me that in 2002, 105 00:05:37,410 --> 00:05:40,780 you had the 50th anniversary, 106 00:05:40,780 --> 00:05:44,650 as a school. 107 00:05:44,650 --> 00:05:49,310 So that means that in 1952, 108 00:05:49,310 --> 00:05:51,290 although I didn°b realize it, 109 00:05:51,290 --> 00:05:55,660 as a junior at that time, 110 00:05:55,660 --> 00:05:57,870 in 1952, 111 00:05:57,870 --> 00:06:00,310 the School of Industrial Management 112 00:06:00,310 --> 00:06:04,140 became the School of Industrial Management. 113 00:06:04,140 --> 00:06:05,160 Of course, 114 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:07,440 only later did they become Sloan School. 115 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,560 But the maturing of Sloan School, 116 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,560 and the rise to prominence among business schools of Sloan School 117 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:20,100 was certainly a very important development, 118 00:06:20,100 --> 00:06:23,330 a very important broadening of MIT 119 00:06:23,330 --> 00:06:26,820 as a world-class university in the last fifty years. 120 00:06:26,820 --> 00:06:33,690 Putting aside the fact that Sloan School is a part of MIT, 121 00:06:33,690 --> 00:06:37,700 yet just standing alone, 122 00:06:37,700 --> 00:06:41,090 I think it's already one of the best business schools 123 00:06:41,090 --> 00:06:42,210 in the world. 124 00:06:42,210 --> 00:06:44,420 Its relationship with MIT, 125 00:06:44,420 --> 00:06:53,620 linking it to the technology education that MIT provides, 126 00:06:53,620 --> 00:07:00,730 certainly makes it [the best business school] 127 00:07:00,730 --> 00:07:07,470 that produces the most promising technology industry managers. 128 00:07:07,470 --> 00:07:18,470 And as president Hockfield continues to say often these days, 129 00:07:18,470 --> 00:07:26,320 that technology is just going to be more and more important in the future world. 130 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:31,210 Today I want to talk about innovations, 131 00:07:31,210 --> 00:07:32,750 business models, 132 00:07:32,750 --> 00:07:35,360 and business model innovations. 133 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:41,190 Now,let's talk about those two terms, 134 00:07:41,190 --> 00:07:44,320 Innovations?and business models? 135 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:51,750 The term Innovation?should be simply understandable. 136 00:07:51,750 --> 00:07:56,360 The dictionary definition is,in fact,sufficient. 137 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,620 o innovate is to make changes, 138 00:08:00,620 --> 00:08:02,800 or do something in a new way. 139 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,680 Still,even with that simple definition, 140 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,180 I think three points should be made. 141 00:08:10,180 --> 00:08:16,670 First,the practice aspect is important. 142 00:08:16,670 --> 00:08:21,090 An idea alone, 143 00:08:21,090 --> 00:08:23,590 just an idea, 144 00:08:23,590 --> 00:08:31,200 hardly qualifies as an innovation in business. 145 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,400 After all,in business 146 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,240 you look for bottom line improvement, 147 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,200 or any bottom line at all. 148 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,520 And if you don't practice a new idea, 149 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:43,560 even if you have it, 150 00:08:43,560 --> 00:08:47,300 it doesn't bring any benefits to the bottom line. 151 00:08:47,300 --> 00:08:54,010 So,the practice aspect of innovation is very important. 152 00:08:54,010 --> 00:08:59,410 Now,the second point that needs to be made about innovation 153 00:08:59,410 --> 00:09:03,080 is that innovations often fail. 154 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:11,870 And even more often,they only bring incremental benefits. 155 00:09:11,870 --> 00:09:16,150 A third point that should be made, 156 00:09:16,150 --> 00:09:18,900 is that innovations can be large and small. 157 00:09:18,900 --> 00:09:24,940 Small innovations,of course,sometimes only bring incremental benefits. 158 00:09:24,940 --> 00:09:27,550 But when they all add up, 159 00:09:27,550 --> 00:09:35,200 small innovations can result in perhaps even more benefits 160 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,290 than a big,major innovation. 161 00:09:38,290 --> 00:09:42,840 As far as a company is concerned, 162 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:46,680 the trick about innovations is that 163 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:50,620 you need to build a company infrastructure. 164 00:09:50,620 --> 00:09:55,600 And by that,I primarily mean the soft infrastructure. 165 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:59,480 You need to build a soft company infrastructure 166 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:05,080 that encourages and rewards successful innovations 167 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,250 without punishing unsuccessful innovations. 168 00:10:08,250 --> 00:10:09,540 You reward it. 169 00:10:09,540 --> 00:10:10,810 You encourage them, 170 00:10:10,810 --> 00:10:13,280 and the way you encourage them 171 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:15,580 is to reward the successful ones 172 00:10:15,580 --> 00:10:21,580 but not punish the failed ones. 173 00:10:21,580 --> 00:10:27,950 Because the failed innovators have already been punished enough. 174 00:10:27,950 --> 00:10:30,190 They have lost time. 175 00:10:30,190 --> 00:10:35,360 I have seen a lot of people,young people 176 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:37,970 that started the push in innovations, 177 00:10:37,970 --> 00:10:41,530 and they didn°b succeed, 178 00:10:41,530 --> 00:10:44,910 and they lost a few years. 179 00:10:44,910 --> 00:10:47,070 Those people have been punished enough. 180 00:10:47,070 --> 00:10:49,280 Don't punish them anymore. 181 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:59,280 Well,incidentally,maybe that's why the young people are more innovative, 182 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:03,730 or at least,bolder than the older people. 183 00:11:03,730 --> 00:11:07,530 Because the older people have less time to lose. 184 00:11:07,530 --> 00:11:16,880 Now,investing in innovations, 185 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:17,700 in my mind, 186 00:11:17,700 --> 00:11:21,450 is not unlike venture capital investing. 187 00:11:21,450 --> 00:11:24,000 In venture capital investing, 188 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,450 out of every ten investments, 189 00:11:27,450 --> 00:11:30,960 maybe you have one home run, 190 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:35,330 one investment with very big returns. 191 00:11:35,330 --> 00:11:38,720 And maybe you have three or four 192 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,800 that have very modest returns. 193 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:50,140 And maybe you have five,or even six,that don't have any return at all. 194 00:11:50,140 --> 00:11:51,190 They have negative returns. 195 00:11:51,190 --> 00:12:01,940 And if you have that kind of batting average with your investments in innovations, 196 00:12:01,940 --> 00:12:05,900 I think you are already doing very well. 197 00:12:05,900 --> 00:12:12,590 Now,let's talk about business models. 198 00:12:12,590 --> 00:12:15,250 That's a relatively new term. 199 00:12:15,250 --> 00:12:23,480 I lived in the United States until 1983. 200 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,710 I'm sorry,1985. 201 00:12:26,710 --> 00:12:28,190 Until 1985. 202 00:12:28,190 --> 00:12:36,060 And back then,I didn't hear the word,the term,business model?at all. 203 00:12:36,060 --> 00:12:43,180 I was,in fact,checking with Dean Schmalensee on this subject also. 204 00:12:43,180 --> 00:12:50,470 At lunch,I asked him,when did people start talking about business models. 205 00:12:50,470 --> 00:12:53,460 And he said he really couldn't remember. 206 00:12:53,460 --> 00:13:00,290 What I could remember was that we didn't talk about business models twenty years ago. 207 00:13:00,290 --> 00:13:05,510 Not in literature,or in board rooms. 208 00:13:05,510 --> 00:13:07,510 We didn't?talk about business models. 209 00:13:07,510 --> 00:13:12,910 The term became popular,I think,only in the last ten or fifteen years. 210 00:13:12,910 --> 00:13:18,460 I think the internet revolution had something to do with that. 211 00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:24,610 I like the definition of business model? 212 00:13:24,610 --> 00:13:34,720 that the business model of a company is the way a company conducts its business with its customers and its suppliers. 213 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:39,180 Business model of a company 214 00:13:39,180 --> 00:13:42,720 is the way the company conducts its affairs 215 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:44,550 with its customers 216 00:13:44,550 --> 00:13:46,340 and its suppliers. 217 00:13:46,340 --> 00:13:52,250 Now,Dean Schmalensee has a simpler definition of business model? 218 00:13:52,250 --> 00:13:54,480 He says,it's how you make money. 219 00:13:55,970 --> 00:14:03,720 I think his definition is actually simpler, 220 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,940 and perhaps more elegant than mine. 221 00:14:07,940 --> 00:14:12,570 And I think the two actually amount to the same thing, 222 00:14:12,810 --> 00:14:17,740 how a company conducts its business with its customers. 223 00:14:17,740 --> 00:14:25,950 Now,the emphasis is on how a company conducts its affairs 224 00:14:25,950 --> 00:14:28,690 with its customers and suppliers, 225 00:14:28,690 --> 00:14:35,440 and not on the company's products or services. 226 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:44,190 That's the important new insight that the term tausiness model?gave us. 227 00:14:44,190 --> 00:14:51,410 See,twenty years ago,all we talked about in annual reports,in stockholders?meetings, 228 00:14:51,410 --> 00:14:54,210 were a company's products and services. 229 00:14:54,210 --> 00:14:57,010 We didn't talk about business models. 230 00:14:57,010 --> 00:15:00,680 In the last ten or fifteen years,suddenly,suddenly, 231 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:04,430 people started talking about business models. 232 00:15:04,430 --> 00:15:12,640 And that's because,how a company conducts its affairs with its customers and its suppliers 233 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,170 is often just as important, 234 00:15:15,170 --> 00:15:16,090 if not more so, 235 00:15:16,090 --> 00:15:19,760 than what its products and services are. 236 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:26,580 When we started TSMC,frankly, 237 00:15:26,580 --> 00:15:29,900 I didn't know the term business model. 238 00:15:29,900 --> 00:15:37,750 I just thought that we were starting a new way of doing business. 239 00:15:37,750 --> 00:15:42,390 But it was a business model innovation. 240 00:15:44,620 --> 00:15:53,980 Now,so when you start thinking about the definition of business model? 241 00:15:53,980 --> 00:15:59,370 and when you start shifting your emphasis 242 00:15:59,370 --> 00:16:08,530 from a company's products and services to how it does business with customers and suppliers, 243 00:16:08,530 --> 00:16:19,180 you begin to realize that very,very few companies have original business models. 244 00:16:19,180 --> 00:16:27,870 Very,very few companies have business model innovations. 245 00:16:32,450 --> 00:16:30,960 And there,you think some more. 246 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:38,660 Well,look,I'm going to talk about the semi-conductor industry in a while. 247 00:16:38,660 --> 00:16:41,260 But let's talk about a few other industries. 248 00:16:41,260 --> 00:16:50,330 Back in the 80s,or even in the early 90s,or even now for instance, 249 00:16:50,330 --> 00:16:55,980 you can say that almost all the auto companies have had the same business model. 250 00:16:55,980 --> 00:16:59,600 All the traditional industries, 251 00:16:59,600 --> 00:16:56,480 all the companies in an industry will share the same business model, 252 00:16:56,480 --> 00:17:10,360 even though they may have different products or services. 253 00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:17,860 Now,but who has made the most money? 254 00:17:17,860 --> 00:17:24,190 Well,I'll just give you a few examples. 255 00:17:24,190 --> 00:17:26,420 Dell. 256 00:17:27,770 --> 00:17:33,200 Dell didn't have any real innovations in technology, 257 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,480 but they had innovation in business model. 258 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:41,840 And in the whole PC industry,there have been a lot of technical innovations. 259 00:17:42,750 --> 00:17:46,030 But Dell was the one that made the most money. 260 00:17:46,030 --> 00:17:48,870 Because of their business model innovation. 261 00:17:48,870 --> 00:17:58,600 Technology innovations have become too common. 262 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:03,520 And usually when there's a technology innovation, 263 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:09,810 a lot of companies get to enjoy them. 264 00:18:09,810 --> 00:18:14,890 They catch up if they are behind, 265 00:18:14,890 --> 00:18:16,450 and they catch up pretty quickly. 266 00:18:16,450 --> 00:18:24,360 But a business model innovation is often harder to emulate. 267 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:32,570 And the reason that's so,I think,differs by company. 268 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:38,280 In Dell's case,and everybody has known for a long time, 269 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:46,920 that they got their customers to order in a different way than all the others. 270 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:55,990 But nobody really has entirely,successfully emulated Dell yet. 271 00:18:55,990 --> 00:19:02,570 While new microprocessors,new software,new designs can be emulated very quickly. 272 00:19:02,570 --> 00:19:06,960 And another good example 273 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:12,130 I think the business school faculty likes to talk about, 274 00:19:12,130 --> 00:19:12,910 is Starbucks. 275 00:19:12,910 --> 00:19:14,150 Starbucks. 276 00:19:14,150 --> 00:19:18,690 Do they have technological innovation? 277 00:19:18,690 --> 00:19:20,990 No,I don't think so. 278 00:19:20,990 --> 00:19:29,810 But they made a three dollar cup of coffee out of a fifty cent cup of coffee. 279 00:19:32,100 --> 00:19:39,530 And,I mean,they are the ones that have made the most profit 280 00:19:39,530 --> 00:19:43,970 in this business of coffee shops. 281 00:19:43,970 --> 00:19:48,240 And you look at the airlines. 282 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:55,540 The innovation was by the low-cost airlines. 283 00:19:55,540 --> 00:20:05,530 And they have the same planes,pretty much the same,everything technologically the same,but with a different business 284 00:20:05,530 --> 00:20:19,100 So,the birth of the term tausiness model? 285 00:20:19,100 --> 00:20:26,540 I think should make us pause and take stock. 286 00:20:26,540 --> 00:20:27,200 It's not 287 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,330 it wasn't just the birth of a new term. 288 00:20:30,330 --> 00:20:32,990 It was really an insight. 289 00:20:32,990 --> 00:20:35,180 The insight is that, 290 00:20:35,180 --> 00:20:36,420 fellows, 291 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:48,410 technology drives the birth of new business models. 292 00:20:48,410 --> 00:20:52,720 But technology is not enough anymore. 293 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,720 You're got to have innovations in business models 294 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:03,890 to really create wealth. 295 00:21:03,890 --> 00:21:08,580 That's,of course,an oversimplified way of putting it. 296 00:21:08,580 --> 00:21:09,930 But I think that, 297 00:21:09,930 --> 00:21:17,310 I don't plan to talk for a long time 298 00:21:17,310 --> 00:21:19,940 so I'll just oversimplify it that way. 299 00:21:19,940 --> 00:21:21,780 I think business model innovation, 300 00:21:21,780 --> 00:21:25,020 I think,is quite often, 301 00:21:25,020 --> 00:21:29,790 even more important than technology innovations. 302 00:21:29,790 --> 00:21:31,050 But of course, 303 00:21:31,050 --> 00:21:36,140 a lot of it is still owed to technology innovations. 304 00:21:38,270 --> 00:21:49,210 Now,when I first entered the high-tech industry fifty years ago, 305 00:21:49,210 --> 00:21:53,450 what was then called the high-tech industry fifty years ago, 306 00:21:53,450 --> 00:21:58,990 we thought all innovations were technological. 307 00:22:00,940 --> 00:22:05,450 And indeed, 308 00:22:05,450 --> 00:22:09,300 in the first twenty to thirty years of my career, 309 00:22:09,300 --> 00:22:15,810 technological innovations drove much of the wealth creation in society. 310 00:22:15,810 --> 00:22:19,540 But in the last fifteen to twenty years, 311 00:22:19,540 --> 00:22:23,610 I think business model innovations have driven 312 00:22:23,610 --> 00:22:27,590 perhaps just as much wealth creation 313 00:22:27,590 --> 00:22:33,570 as pure technological innovation. 314 00:22:33,570 --> 00:22:41,600 You look at the hot companies in the last ten or fifteen years. 315 00:22:41,930 --> 00:22:48,470 Microsoft,Cisco,Amazon,Yahoo,eBay,Google. 316 00:22:48,470 --> 00:22:56,210 Every one of them was more a business model innovation 317 00:22:56,210 --> 00:22:58,810 than a technological innovation. 318 00:22:58,810 --> 00:23:08,700 Now,at this point,I guess I better start talking about my company TSMC. 319 00:23:08,700 --> 00:23:12,340 I promise you it won't be a commercial, 320 00:23:12,340 --> 00:23:20,930 because pitching my company to a business school audience is not part of our business model. 321 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,510 We did start in 1987, 322 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:32,880 and it was a new business model. 323 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:38,080 And I think that this is a very sophisticated audience. 324 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:43,100 You probably all know what the semiconductor industry is like. 325 00:23:43,100 --> 00:23:47,620 But just to explain it to 326 00:23:47,620 --> 00:23:50,310 maybe some of you who don't know it too well. 327 00:23:50,310 --> 00:23:55,940 As the semiconductor industry existed in 1987, 328 00:23:55,940 --> 00:24:03,970 the industry was dominated by maybe twenty to thirty large companies. 329 00:24:03,970 --> 00:24:05,900 Quite a few of them Japanese, 330 00:24:05,900 --> 00:24:09,360 quite a few of them American, 331 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:11,040 a few European. 332 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:21,840 Every one of those twenty to thirty companies shared the same business model. 333 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:25,390 Everyone designed its ICs 334 00:24:25,390 --> 00:24:29,740 By the way,ICs are synonymous with semiconductors,almost synonymous. 335 00:24:29,740 --> 00:24:34,410 Everyone designed its ICs 336 00:24:34,410 --> 00:24:37,200 and manufactured its ICs, 337 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:44,890 and then sold the products to the end equipment makers, 338 00:24:44,890 --> 00:24:47,330 in the computer industry, 339 00:24:47,330 --> 00:24:49,080 consumer industry, 340 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:51,710 defense industry, 341 00:24:51,710 --> 00:24:54,040 or communications industry. 342 00:24:54,040 --> 00:25:01,310 The design part was technology intensive, 343 00:25:01,310 --> 00:25:03,290 but not capital intensive. 344 00:25:03,290 --> 00:25:05,220 It still is. 345 00:25:05,220 --> 00:25:14,270 And the manufacturing part was both capital intensive and technology intensive. 346 00:25:14,270 --> 00:25:15,340 It still is. 347 00:25:16,450 --> 00:25:21,790 Also,both design and manufacturing technologies advanced rapidly. 348 00:25:21,790 --> 00:25:23,400 They still do. 349 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:28,540 So each company had to devote considerable R&D efforts 350 00:25:28,540 --> 00:25:31,940 to both design and to manufacturing, 351 00:25:31,940 --> 00:25:33,760 in order to keep up. 352 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:41,920 There was a very small nascent part of the semiconductor industry 353 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:43,800 that called themselves design companies. 354 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,400 Later on they were called fabless?companies, 355 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:49,770 that didn°b have manufacturing. 356 00:25:49,770 --> 00:25:54,090 They just designed ICs, 357 00:25:54,090 --> 00:25:58,700 and then they called on the companies that had manufacturing 358 00:25:58,700 --> 00:26:01,470 for help on manufacturing. 359 00:26:01,470 --> 00:26:05,920 And clearly,they didn't get very much help, 360 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,420 because of competitive reasons. 361 00:26:08,420 --> 00:26:14,960 What TSMC did was to take the manufacturing part 362 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:19,110 and make that our business, 363 00:26:19,110 --> 00:26:21,810 our only business. 364 00:26:21,810 --> 00:26:28,110 So we just took designs from our customers. 365 00:26:28,110 --> 00:26:31,330 We manufactured the designs, 366 00:26:31,330 --> 00:26:32,790 and then we gave the designs, 367 00:26:32,790 --> 00:26:36,480 we gave the products back to our customers, 368 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,420 for them to sell to the end equipment manufacturers. 369 00:26:40,420 --> 00:26:44,400 So our customers were a completely different set 370 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,670 from all the other semiconductor companies. 371 00:26:48,670 --> 00:26:52,530 Their customers were the communications industry, 372 00:26:52,530 --> 00:26:56,200 the computer industry,and so on. 373 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:02,080 And our customers are the semiconductor manufacturers themselves. 374 00:27:03,930 --> 00:27:06,890 Well, 375 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,440 and also,one other point, 376 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,120 which is important, 377 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:17,690 we declared that we would not do any IC designs ourselves, 378 00:27:17,690 --> 00:27:19,050 and therefore, 379 00:27:19,050 --> 00:27:21,370 we would not compete with our customers. 380 00:27:21,370 --> 00:27:25,950 Well,that sounded pretty good. 381 00:27:25,950 --> 00:27:35,110 In fact,when I was making the pitch,it sounded pretty good to me,too. 382 00:27:35,110 --> 00:27:36,720 However, 383 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,680 we immediately ran into difficulties 384 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,590 that seemed insurmountable at the time, 385 00:27:42,590 --> 00:27:44,100 three difficulties. 386 00:27:44,100 --> 00:27:55,530 One was that a new business model usually doesn°b have a market. 387 00:27:55,530 --> 00:27:57,250 They're got no customers. 388 00:27:57,250 --> 00:28:00,390 So when we started TSMC, 389 00:28:00,390 --> 00:28:04,270 we really had no customers. 390 00:28:04,270 --> 00:28:11,060 There was almost no market. 391 00:28:12,170 --> 00:28:18,200 I mean,that's why a lot of people said that this wouldn°b work at all. 392 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:24,650 The big companies,they had their own manufacturing. 393 00:28:24,650 --> 00:28:27,500 So why would they want us to do their manufacturing for them? 394 00:28:27,500 --> 00:28:30,470 Well,as it turned out, 395 00:28:30,470 --> 00:28:33,600 they sometimes did in those early years. 396 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:39,190 They did ask us to do a little part of their manufacturing, 397 00:28:39,190 --> 00:28:41,090 when they ran out of capacity themselves, 398 00:28:41,090 --> 00:28:43,970 or when they got tired of some products, 399 00:28:43,970 --> 00:28:48,850 some obsolete products that they had to make over and over again, 400 00:28:48,850 --> 00:28:55,600 and they decided to let us try our hands on that. 401 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,100 Now,as soon as they got enough capacity, 402 00:28:58,100 --> 00:29:06,260 or as soon as they needed to fill their fabs? 403 00:29:06,260 --> 00:29:08,600 they would take that business back. 404 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:13,960 So what market we had from the big companies 405 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:15,990 was both small 406 00:29:15,990 --> 00:29:18,090 and very erratic. 407 00:29:18,090 --> 00:29:24,870 Now,as I said,there was this nascent design industry. 408 00:29:24,870 --> 00:29:27,860 But they didn't really trust us. 409 00:29:27,860 --> 00:29:30,180 Yeah,they knew that we wouldn't compete with them 410 00:29:30,180 --> 00:29:35,940 but we didn't have a reputation at all at the beginning. 411 00:29:35,940 --> 00:29:38,220 And our technology was way behind. 412 00:29:38,220 --> 00:29:41,860 So they wouldn't let us do, 413 00:29:41,860 --> 00:29:43,040 for the most part, 414 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,990 they wouldn't let us do the manufacturing for them either. 415 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:52,300 Now,a few years later,however, 416 00:29:52,300 --> 00:29:53,920 suddenly, 417 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:54,980 suddenly, 418 00:29:54,980 --> 00:30:02,960 it really happened over only a one or two-year period of time 419 00:30:03,010 --> 00:30:04,850 in 1991,1992. 420 00:30:04,850 --> 00:30:08,100 Within a short period of time, 421 00:30:08,100 --> 00:30:13,420 suddenly the number of start-up design companies multiplied, 422 00:30:15,540 --> 00:30:20,810 and a design industry, 423 00:30:20,810 --> 00:30:22,280 IC design industry, 424 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,680 was created. 425 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:30,430 And they became our main customers. 426 00:30:30,430 --> 00:30:34,190 Now,why did they suddenly get up? 427 00:30:34,190 --> 00:30:39,560 Why did they suddenly multiply? 428 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:46,310 I think that at least one of the reasons, 429 00:30:46,310 --> 00:30:48,050 perhaps a very important one, 430 00:30:48,050 --> 00:30:54,740 was that we had gradually made a reputation 431 00:30:54,740 --> 00:30:58,620 that we were a very reliable manufacturer. 432 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:04,260 So,in fact there were a lot of companies that started up then, 433 00:31:04,260 --> 00:31:12,950 and when they pitched their proposals to the venture capitalists for funding, 434 00:31:12,950 --> 00:31:16,330 they told the venture capitalists 435 00:31:16,330 --> 00:31:22,520 that there is now a pretty reliable manufacturer called TSMC. 436 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:26,850 And so all we have to do is to design the right products 437 00:31:26,850 --> 00:31:28,410 and they will do the manufacturing. 438 00:31:32,810 --> 00:31:38,280 And that was a very,very nice development for us. 439 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:39,420 We needed it. 440 00:31:39,420 --> 00:31:40,980 We needed it. 441 00:31:42,590 --> 00:31:49,090 We were really having a very difficult time in the first few years, 442 00:31:49,090 --> 00:31:59,070 doing business only a very erratic and small basis 443 00:31:59,070 --> 00:32:03,200 with the big companies that had manufacturing. 444 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:10,780 The second difficulty we almost immediately ran into, 445 00:32:10,780 --> 00:32:12,290 after we started of course, 446 00:32:12,290 --> 00:32:13,840 was the technology. 447 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:15,330 We were two generations behind. 448 00:32:15,330 --> 00:32:17,870 So we had to catch up there. 449 00:32:17,870 --> 00:32:21,640 And it took us about ten years to catch up. 450 00:32:21,730 --> 00:32:23,660 87 to 97. 451 00:32:23,660 --> 00:32:26,530 But fortunately, 452 00:32:26,530 --> 00:32:28,690 in the semiconductor business, 453 00:32:28,690 --> 00:32:34,270 there are a lot of designs using older technology 454 00:32:34,270 --> 00:32:37,300 that still had a market. 455 00:32:37,300 --> 00:32:44,440 So the new design companies [didn't] need the most advanced technology. 456 00:32:45,380 --> 00:32:49,230 They could just use the technology that TSMC had, 457 00:32:49,230 --> 00:32:51,420 which was at first, 458 00:32:51,420 --> 00:32:52,710 two generations behind, 459 00:32:52,710 --> 00:32:55,320 and gradually became one generation behind, 460 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:56,770 half a generation behind. 461 00:32:56,770 --> 00:33:01,930 We sort of grew together. 462 00:33:01,930 --> 00:33:08,940 And the third problem was that in manufacturing, 463 00:33:08,940 --> 00:33:10,640 we had to be highly competitive. 464 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,990 Because obviously, 465 00:33:13,990 --> 00:33:25,840 if the big companies could provide the same price that we did offer to the design companies, 466 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:30,860 we might be outcompeted. 467 00:33:30,860 --> 00:33:38,200 So our manufacturing has had to be very competitive in cost,cycle time,quality, 468 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:39,640 and everything. 469 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:51,440 Well,we gradually surmounted these difficulties. 470 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:56,690 But,the challenges, 471 00:33:56,690 --> 00:33:56,630 indeed, 472 00:33:56,630 --> 00:33:58,960 are every continuing. 473 00:33:59,670 --> 00:34:06,340 So innovations of all kinds are needed for us to survive, 474 00:34:06,340 --> 00:34:07,920 let alone,prosper. 475 00:34:09,470 --> 00:34:14,910 I think we'll need future business innovations 476 00:34:14,910 --> 00:34:16,100 in order to keep growing 477 00:34:16,100 --> 00:34:17,860 at a healthy rate. 478 00:34:17,860 --> 00:34:28,430 Now,I think that's happening to a lot of these new companies that started up 479 00:34:28,430 --> 00:34:31,770 on the basis of new business models,too. 480 00:34:31,770 --> 00:34:34,410 They have all had to extend 481 00:34:34,410 --> 00:34:38,550 or revise their original business model 482 00:34:38,550 --> 00:34:39,900 in order to keep going. 483 00:34:39,900 --> 00:34:47,150 I understand that one third of their business is not auction business anymore. 484 00:34:47,150 --> 00:34:52,760 It's based on fixed price. 485 00:34:57,650 --> 00:35:00,310 However,I feel pretty sure 486 00:35:00,310 --> 00:35:11,540 that once you have grown to a certain extent with your new business model, 487 00:35:11,540 --> 00:35:15,220 or the business model that was new when you started it, 488 00:35:15,220 --> 00:35:19,190 once you have grown to a certain extent, 489 00:35:19,190 --> 00:35:24,330 then you are pretty much burdened with it also. 490 00:35:24,330 --> 00:35:29,360 And your core strength were built on that business model, 491 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:32,180 and to make any revisions, 492 00:35:32,180 --> 00:35:36,990 you still have to keep pretty close to your core strength. 493 00:35:39,180 --> 00:35:40,160 That,of course, 494 00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:46,260 is the challenge of the business model innovators. 495 00:35:47,050 --> 00:35:49,820 I think I will end here. 496 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:51,020 Thank you very much, 497 00:35:51,370 --> 00:35:52,620 for listening to me. 498 00:36:02,150 --> 00:36:02,730 Rick: Thank you,Morris. 499 00:36:02,730 --> 00:36:04,170 A small token of thanks. 500 00:36:04,170 --> 00:36:05,350 Morris: Thank you. 501 00:36:05,350 --> 00:36:06,980 Rick: And we will proceed as we have before. 502 00:36:06,980 --> 00:36:08,960 If you would write down questions. 503 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,650 I assume there are cards in circulation or available. 504 00:36:12,650 --> 00:36:17,990 In the meantime,let me pose a question. 505 00:36:17,990 --> 00:36:23,420 We're had a lot of discussion in this convocation 506 00:36:23,420 --> 00:36:25,480 about leadership and leadership styles. 507 00:36:28,260 --> 00:36:31,480 And,you're been in companies pursuing established business models, 508 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:34,830 and you started a company with a new model. 509 00:36:34,830 --> 00:36:38,660 Are there different requirements of leadership 510 00:36:38,660 --> 00:36:40,770 or different successful styles of leadership 511 00:36:40,770 --> 00:36:42,950 in those two settings? 512 00:36:42,950 --> 00:36:44,590 Morris: Yes. 513 00:36:44,590 --> 00:36:53,440 I was in the audience listening to Carly Fiorina yesterday. 514 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:57,160 And I think the same question was asked of her also. 515 00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:58,390 Now, 516 00:36:58,390 --> 00:37:03,230 my concept of leadership is that 517 00:37:03,230 --> 00:37:06,740 it really requires only two things. 518 00:37:06,740 --> 00:37:17,190 First,a leader has to know what direction he is taking his followers. 519 00:37:17,190 --> 00:37:23,250 I mean,a leader that doesn°b know the direction 520 00:37:25,190 --> 00:37:27,330 leads his group in circles. 521 00:37:28,700 --> 00:37:29,880 And that¯b not a leader. 522 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:36,000 The second requirement is that a leader has to have a following. 523 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:40,440 If a leader doesn't have a following then, 524 00:37:42,020 --> 00:37:46,270 it's just like what Winston Churchill said, 525 00:37:48,910 --> 00:37:50,610 after the war, 526 00:37:50,610 --> 00:37:51,990 after the second world war. 527 00:37:51,990 --> 00:37:52,630 He said, 528 00:37:52,630 --> 00:37:55,150 Great Britain leads the world, 529 00:37:55,150 --> 00:37:58,320 but the world does not follow Great Britain. 530 00:38:02,470 --> 00:38:05,400 Now,so a leader needs just those two things. 531 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:07,490 He needs to know the direction, 532 00:38:07,490 --> 00:38:09,030 he needs to have a following. 533 00:38:09,030 --> 00:38:16,620 Now,my concept of leadership is that, 534 00:38:16,710 --> 00:38:18,290 usually, 535 00:38:18,290 --> 00:38:24,060 it's a strong style. 536 00:38:24,060 --> 00:38:26,620 It's not an authoritarian style. 537 00:38:26,620 --> 00:38:33,920 Because authoritarian style may work in a political system, 538 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:34,970 in some countries. 539 00:38:34,970 --> 00:38:36,710 But in business, 540 00:38:36,710 --> 00:38:39,200 it doesn't work. 541 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:43,000 But a strong style is called for. 542 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:48,920 Strong style means that you need to persuade, 543 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:52,130 you need to convince the people to follow you, 544 00:38:52,130 --> 00:38:56,580 that your direction is the direction that 545 00:38:56,580 --> 00:39:01,820 that whole group needs to go. 546 00:39:03,270 --> 00:39:04,180 Now of course, 547 00:39:04,180 --> 00:39:09,380 then here comes the part I think Carly answered. 548 00:39:09,380 --> 00:39:11,450 She said that communication was very important, 549 00:39:11,450 --> 00:39:13,000 and I agree with her completely. 550 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:18,670 Now,does business model innovation require 551 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:18,980 Now,does business model innovation require 552 00:39:18,980 --> 00:39:21,510 a different style of leadership? 553 00:39:21,510 --> 00:39:22,390 Morris: I doubt it. 554 00:39:22,390 --> 00:39:23,280 I don't think so. 555 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:31,520 I think a good leadership style, 556 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:32,590 which in my mind, 557 00:39:32,590 --> 00:39:33,850 is a strong leadership, 558 00:39:33,850 --> 00:39:36,720 a persuasive leadership style, 559 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:40,060 I think will work in almost any situation. 560 00:39:40,060 --> 00:39:40,670 Rick: Okay. 561 00:39:40,670 --> 00:39:45,920 You talked about the Harvard MIT issue. 562 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:46,920 Here is a question. 563 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:50,890 You also talked about a number of obstacles that you had to overcome 564 00:39:50,890 --> 00:39:52,820 to set the company on its course. 565 00:39:52,820 --> 00:39:55,830 What did you learn at MIT that helped you overcome 566 00:39:55,830 --> 00:39:58,090 the obstacles that you faced? 567 00:39:58,090 --> 00:40:01,100 And if you didn't learn it at MIT, 568 00:40:01,100 --> 00:40:02,580 where did you learn it? 569 00:40:05,850 --> 00:40:15,830 Morris: MIT gave me an education that let me get into the semiconductor industry. 570 00:40:15,830 --> 00:40:18,300 I was a mechanical engineering student. 571 00:40:18,300 --> 00:40:20,960 But the basics, 572 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:21,860 physics, 573 00:40:21,860 --> 00:40:22,580 math, 574 00:40:22,580 --> 00:40:25,660 and basic engineering, 575 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:33,080 allowed me to get into the semiconductor industry. 576 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:34,270 Oh,in fact, 577 00:40:34,270 --> 00:40:37,790 the reason they hired me was that 578 00:40:37,790 --> 00:40:38,840 they thought, 579 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:42,860 it was a company in Boston,in fact, 580 00:40:42,860 --> 00:40:45,970 and they were starting out in semiconductors. 581 00:40:45,970 --> 00:40:49,240 Nobody knew much about semiconductors at that time 582 00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:50,600 in 1955. 583 00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:56,940 And the managers were from the vacuum tube business. 584 00:40:56,940 --> 00:41:00,560 And the top manager thought that 585 00:41:00,560 --> 00:41:08,310 pretty soon they would have to automate their transistor production line 586 00:41:08,310 --> 00:41:10,340 in order to be competitive. 587 00:41:10,340 --> 00:41:13,360 So here I was, 588 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,970 right out of MIT 589 00:41:15,970 --> 00:41:18,300 with a mechanical engineering degree. 590 00:41:18,300 --> 00:41:21,630 So he thought that I could help 591 00:41:21,630 --> 00:41:23,930 in the automation effort. 592 00:41:23,930 --> 00:41:26,050 What he did not know 593 00:41:26,050 --> 00:41:31,950 was that automation came only twenty or thirty years later. 594 00:41:31,950 --> 00:41:35,800 See,the process was so erratic 595 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:37,670 that it was not automable. 596 00:41:37,670 --> 00:41:43,330 It could not be automated 597 00:41:44,190 --> 00:41:46,040 for at least another twenty or thirty years. 598 00:41:46,910 --> 00:41:48,060 But I got in anyway. 599 00:41:50,780 --> 00:41:53,040 Now,as to management skills and so on, 600 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,350 I believe that those could be learned, 601 00:41:55,350 --> 00:41:57,420 leadership skills,if you will, 602 00:41:57,420 --> 00:42:02,980 I think they can be learned in your career, 603 00:42:02,980 --> 00:42:04,660 on the job. 604 00:42:04,660 --> 00:42:08,200 Rick: But people should still come to business school 605 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:08,840 because 606 00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:11,790 we have to make a living. 607 00:42:11,790 --> 00:42:12,550 Morris: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. 608 00:42:12,550 --> 00:42:14,040 I wish I could have come to business school. 609 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:14,710 Rick: Thank you. 610 00:42:15,460 --> 00:42:16,450 I hope everyone heard that 611 00:42:16,450 --> 00:42:18,390 and paid attention. 612 00:42:19,460 --> 00:42:22,510 Here are a couple of questions about TSMC. 613 00:42:22,510 --> 00:42:24,550 What is TSMC's strategy 614 00:42:24,550 --> 00:42:26,840 to compete with emerging foundries in China? 615 00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:28,410 And of course, 616 00:42:28,410 --> 00:42:29,170 the corollary to that, 617 00:42:29,170 --> 00:42:29,970 what are their weaknesses? 618 00:42:31,700 --> 00:42:36,860 Morris: As long as there's a level playing field, 619 00:42:38,030 --> 00:42:43,060 I fear no competition from mainland China. 620 00:42:43,060 --> 00:42:45,670 The level playing field, 621 00:42:45,670 --> 00:42:47,950 I'm mainly talking about 622 00:42:47,950 --> 00:42:49,620 funding, 623 00:42:49,620 --> 00:42:52,580 and protection, 624 00:42:52,580 --> 00:42:55,710 or respect for intellectual property. 625 00:42:55,710 --> 00:42:59,330 As far as funding is concerned, 626 00:42:59,330 --> 00:43:01,590 we, 627 00:43:01,590 --> 00:43:05,050 all of the world's semiconducting companies, 628 00:43:05,050 --> 00:43:06,270 almost all of them, 629 00:43:06,270 --> 00:43:12,280 I think operate in a market economy. 630 00:43:14,410 --> 00:43:15,290 Now,we don't want 631 00:43:15,290 --> 00:43:30,840 any government to subsidize its companies in a particular industry 632 00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:32,490 because that will constitute, 633 00:43:32,490 --> 00:43:33,810 I think, 634 00:43:33,810 --> 00:43:35,300 an unlevel playing field. 635 00:43:35,300 --> 00:43:38,540 And with respect to intellectual property 636 00:43:38,540 --> 00:43:39,770 I think it's the same. 637 00:43:42,100 --> 00:43:44,120 Yeah,I think all the rest of the world respect it. 638 00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:47,580 And I think the Chinese government, 639 00:43:47,580 --> 00:43:51,370 certainly has repeatedly expressed their 640 00:43:51,370 --> 00:43:59,000 intention to respect intellectual properties too. 641 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:02,590 So,if the playing field is level, 642 00:44:02,590 --> 00:44:05,120 then China, 643 00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:07,610 the Chinese companies, 644 00:44:07,610 --> 00:44:12,330 have no advantage over TSMC. 645 00:44:14,470 --> 00:44:15,390 It's not 646 00:44:15,390 --> 00:44:17,300 the labor cost, 647 00:44:17,300 --> 00:44:19,860 that's nothing. 648 00:44:19,860 --> 00:44:20,960 Labor cost, 649 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:22,230 total labor cost, 650 00:44:22,230 --> 00:44:24,070 including my salary, 651 00:44:24,070 --> 00:44:31,720 is about 14% of our cost. 652 00:44:31,720 --> 00:44:34,890 It's about 7% of our revenue. 653 00:44:34,890 --> 00:44:40,340 So it's not a labor-intensive thing. 654 00:44:40,340 --> 00:44:43,270 And also, 655 00:44:43,270 --> 00:44:52,360 while China does offer low labor cost for the basic labor, 656 00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:58,210 the engineers are not low-cost in China. 657 00:44:58,210 --> 00:45:01,980 Particularly the productive engineers, 658 00:45:01,980 --> 00:45:03,520 the experienced engineers, 659 00:45:03,520 --> 00:45:04,710 are higher-cost 660 00:45:04,710 --> 00:45:07,050 than in Taiwan. 661 00:45:08,410 --> 00:45:13,080 Rick: Because there are so few of them relative to the demand,huh? 662 00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:13,680 Morris: That's right. 663 00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:15,900 So they hire Taiwan engineers. 664 00:45:15,900 --> 00:45:15,900 They hire a lot of Taiwan engineers 665 00:45:15,900 --> 00:45:18,970 And those people make more money in China 666 00:45:18,970 --> 00:45:21,520 than they made in Taiwan,you know. 667 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:24,190 And the Chinese companies have to pay them more 668 00:45:27,230 --> 00:45:28,450 to get them to China. 669 00:45:31,140 --> 00:45:32,180 Rick: That's interesting. 670 00:45:32,180 --> 00:45:33,670 And we could play with that for a while. 671 00:45:33,670 --> 00:45:35,560 But let me move to a related question. 672 00:45:35,560 --> 00:45:36,210 No, 673 00:45:36,210 --> 00:45:37,230 it's interesting economics. 674 00:45:37,230 --> 00:45:40,870 The question here, 675 00:45:42,100 --> 00:45:43,390 it's also a compliment. 676 00:45:43,390 --> 00:45:48,280 Why is TSMC so excellent at building relationships with customers? 677 00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:53,890 Morris: That was actually 678 00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:56,070 in my mind 679 00:45:56,070 --> 00:46:00,620 the most important extension of our business model 680 00:46:00,620 --> 00:46:03,090 that we made 681 00:46:03,090 --> 00:46:05,920 after we started it. 682 00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:09,230 We started in ?7 683 00:46:09,230 --> 00:46:13,190 and our business model was very simply what I just told you. 684 00:46:13,190 --> 00:46:15,190 And it worked fine, 685 00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:17,960 until competitors began to appear. 686 00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:24,370 Then we realized that it took more than just being a foundry 687 00:46:24,370 --> 00:46:26,780 to keep our customers. 688 00:46:26,780 --> 00:46:31,560 We really had to have a, 689 00:46:32,740 --> 00:46:34,270 almost, 690 00:46:35,290 --> 00:46:36,630 die-for-customer 691 00:46:38,090 --> 00:46:38,780 culture, 692 00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:40,360 spirit. 693 00:46:40,360 --> 00:46:44,750 So there's a good Chinese proverb. 694 00:46:44,750 --> 00:46:48,610 Translating into English,it is, 695 00:46:48,610 --> 00:46:50,230 you would 696 00:46:50,230 --> 00:46:55,400 jump into boiling oil, 697 00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:58,020 walk through fire, 698 00:46:58,020 --> 00:47:02,240 for the person you love. 699 00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:04,680 And the person we love is our customer. 700 00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:11,380 So we started to tell our customers 701 00:47:11,380 --> 00:47:12,680 and show them 702 00:47:12,680 --> 00:47:18,640 that we would jump into boiling oil 703 00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:20,240 walk through fire for them. 704 00:47:20,240 --> 00:47:23,020 Now,that became a corporate culture. 705 00:47:24,570 --> 00:47:31,170 Now,we don't evaluate our managers by how much money they make for us, 706 00:47:31,170 --> 00:47:32,470 incidentally. 707 00:47:33,860 --> 00:47:34,430 I mean here, 708 00:47:34,430 --> 00:47:36,580 here's an interesting anecdote, 709 00:47:36,580 --> 00:47:38,270 I think. 710 00:47:38,270 --> 00:47:44,440 I had dinner with a big company executive one time. 711 00:47:45,180 --> 00:47:50,460 And he is one of the big companies, 712 00:47:51,100 --> 00:47:52,520 the CEO of one of the big companies. 713 00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:56,680 So,in the middle of dinner 714 00:47:56,680 --> 00:47:59,810 he sort of half-jokingly told me that 715 00:47:59,810 --> 00:48:01,920 maybe he should get into the foundry business 716 00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:02,950 to compete with us. 717 00:48:02,950 --> 00:48:06,230 And I let it go at the time. 718 00:48:06,230 --> 00:48:09,180 But a few minutes later I asked him, 719 00:48:09,180 --> 00:48:12,680 how he evaluates his production managers, 720 00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:14,200 his fab managers, 721 00:48:14,200 --> 00:48:15,020 production managers. 722 00:48:15,020 --> 00:48:17,200 So he told me,well 723 00:48:17,200 --> 00:48:18,170 obviously, 724 00:48:18,170 --> 00:48:20,020 yield, 725 00:48:20,780 --> 00:48:21,970 cost, 726 00:48:22,580 --> 00:48:24,030 productivity of the people, 727 00:48:25,110 --> 00:48:26,450 the cycle time? 728 00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:28,600 A list of things. 729 00:48:29,830 --> 00:48:31,040 And he said, 730 00:48:31,040 --> 00:48:33,650 Won't you do the same thing? 731 00:48:33,650 --> 00:48:36,440 Won't you evaluate your production managers the same way? 732 00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:38,400 And I said, 733 00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:41,230 Wo. I evaluate them, 734 00:48:41,230 --> 00:48:46,570 we evaluate them by how the customers think of them. 735 00:48:46,570 --> 00:48:48,440 And that's true. 736 00:48:48,440 --> 00:48:49,480 That's a fact. 737 00:48:49,480 --> 00:48:50,980 We do evaluate our production manager 738 00:48:50,980 --> 00:48:55,990 by how many problems he solves for our customers. 739 00:48:55,990 --> 00:49:00,280 And I get those inputs, 740 00:49:00,280 --> 00:49:02,050 systematically, 741 00:49:02,050 --> 00:49:03,590 from our customers, 742 00:49:05,510 --> 00:49:07,530 all the time. 743 00:49:07,530 --> 00:49:09,660 And so, 744 00:49:09,660 --> 00:49:12,710 that's the corporate culture difference. 745 00:49:15,050 --> 00:49:15,500 Rick: Thank you. 746 00:49:15,500 --> 00:49:16,060 That's interesting. 747 00:49:16,060 --> 00:49:18,870 Two questions about founding TSMC. 748 00:49:18,870 --> 00:49:19,960 Two related questions. 749 00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:21,100 The first, 750 00:49:21,100 --> 00:49:23,100 since nobody would invest in you, 751 00:49:23,100 --> 00:49:24,270 how did you get the capital? 752 00:49:24,810 --> 00:49:25,620 And second, 753 00:49:25,620 --> 00:49:27,080 since nobody thought it would work, 754 00:49:27,530 --> 00:49:28,450 how did you get the talent? 755 00:49:30,420 --> 00:49:35,580 Morris: Oh. The first part was easy. 756 00:49:36,540 --> 00:49:42,120 It wasn't nobody that thought it would work. 757 00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:47,080 I would say most people thought it wouldn°b work. 758 00:49:47,080 --> 00:49:50,260 But the government, 759 00:49:51,950 --> 00:49:58,820 they didn't know anything aboutthe Taiwan government didn°b know anything about the industry. 760 00:49:58,820 --> 00:50:02,440 But they had faith in me. 761 00:50:02,440 --> 00:50:06,950 And so they said, 762 00:50:06,950 --> 00:50:12,680 well,this guy is supposed to be a semiconductor industry veteran 763 00:50:12,680 --> 00:50:15,240 So we'll do whatever he says, 764 00:50:15,240 --> 00:50:16,160 we'll fund what he says. 765 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:20,150 So they put up about 48% of the capital. 766 00:50:20,680 --> 00:50:24,440 And then there was a very important investor, 767 00:50:26,660 --> 00:50:29,140 Philips of Holland. 768 00:50:31,200 --> 00:50:35,700 Among the fifteen or so companies that I contacted for investments, 769 00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:38,880 and those fifteen companies included 770 00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:44,330 all of the big semiconductor companies in the world at that time, 771 00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:46,560 they were the ones, 772 00:50:46,560 --> 00:50:53,110 Philips was the only one that became interested in investing. 773 00:50:53,900 --> 00:50:54,540 And then 774 00:50:55,260 --> 00:50:58,010 So Philips put up about 27%. 775 00:50:58,010 --> 00:50:59,940 The government had put up 48%. 776 00:50:59,940 --> 00:51:02,210 Philips put up 27% 777 00:51:02,990 --> 00:51:06,100 And then I started a three-month,four-month campaign, 778 00:51:06,900 --> 00:51:10,890 to round up the other 25% or so. 779 00:51:13,330 --> 00:51:15,950 And those were smaller ones. 780 00:51:17,520 --> 00:51:18,680 And their stakes were smaller, 781 00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:20,400 Their risks were smaller 782 00:51:20,400 --> 00:51:23,580 because the amount of money they had to put up was smaller. 783 00:51:23,580 --> 00:51:27,260 But still,it took three or four months. 784 00:51:27,950 --> 00:51:34,410 Now,as far as why the people worked for TSMC. 785 00:51:35,360 --> 00:51:37,450 Well,back then, 786 00:51:38,280 --> 00:51:45,220 we were the second semiconductor company in Taiwan. 787 00:51:46,240 --> 00:51:49,470 And we hired the Taiwanese engineers,of course, 788 00:51:49,470 --> 00:51:52,170 and Taiwanese operators. 789 00:51:52,790 --> 00:51:54,840 And we paid quite well, 790 00:51:54,840 --> 00:52:01,010 so they just wanted to experiment. 791 00:52:01,620 --> 00:52:02,820 I mean, 792 00:52:03,720 --> 00:52:07,880 if the company wasn't very successful, 793 00:52:07,880 --> 00:52:11,290 they would probably leave in a year or two,you know. 794 00:52:12,310 --> 00:52:13,530 We managed to hold on. 795 00:52:14,580 --> 00:52:17,110 Rick: That's a nice segue into this next question. 796 00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:24,940 It says,you speak of customers and suppliers in your definition of business models. Where do you place, 797 00:52:24,940 --> 00:52:28,280 or how do you think about employees and managers 798 00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:31,040 when you think about the way you do business? 799 00:52:31,630 --> 00:52:34,920 Is how that relationship is handled part of the model? 800 00:52:36,850 --> 00:52:43,110 Morris: I don't include the employer-employee manager relationship 801 00:52:43,680 --> 00:52:45,820 in my definition of business model. 802 00:52:45,820 --> 00:52:52,080 But if you talk about how a company can succeed, 803 00:52:52,520 --> 00:52:57,970 certainly,the employee-manager relationship, 804 00:52:58,470 --> 00:53:02,990 the total employee relationship certainly is very,very important. 805 00:53:08,080 --> 00:53:12,200 Rick: It's a question about international politics, 806 00:53:13,250 --> 00:53:17,050 particularly US-China-Taiwan politics. 807 00:53:17,050 --> 00:53:19,740 How has that situation, 808 00:53:19,740 --> 00:53:21,760 or that political dynamic, 809 00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:24,970 affected your company's business models over the last twenty years, 810 00:53:24,970 --> 00:53:27,590 and what do you see going forward? 811 00:53:27,590 --> 00:53:29,510 Morris: How is it 812 00:53:29,510 --> 00:53:31,000 Rick: How is the political, 813 00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:33,980 the international political situation,particularly the 814 00:53:35,410 --> 00:53:36,120 Morris: Well,I'm an optimist. 815 00:53:36,910 --> 00:53:44,480 I think that whatever problems we have will be solved peaceably. 816 00:53:44,480 --> 00:53:45,080 Peaceably, 817 00:53:47,070 --> 00:53:48,210 in the future. 818 00:53:51,470 --> 00:53:56,480 I don't think that anything really bad will happen. 819 00:53:58,500 --> 00:54:01,250 And,how has that affected us? 820 00:54:01,250 --> 00:54:03,530 So far,not too much. 821 00:54:03,530 --> 00:54:05,420 Because again, 822 00:54:05,420 --> 00:54:07,130 let me emphasize, 823 00:54:08,480 --> 00:54:11,640 we don't need the low-cost labor in China. 824 00:54:11,640 --> 00:54:14,760 We are very much interested in China 825 00:54:14,760 --> 00:54:20,150 because it's an emerging market for us. 826 00:54:21,590 --> 00:54:25,270 It's an emerging market for a foundry like us. 827 00:54:25,270 --> 00:54:29,210 And it will be a very important market. 828 00:54:29,210 --> 00:54:30,980 There will be pretty big business. 829 00:54:31,700 --> 00:54:33,050 But the business now, 830 00:54:33,050 --> 00:54:35,380 the foundry business now in China is still pretty small. 831 00:54:35,380 --> 00:54:39,020 The acceleration is infinite, 832 00:54:39,020 --> 00:54:41,580 but the velocity is still almost zero. 833 00:54:43,560 --> 00:54:48,440 Rick: . 834 00:54:48,440 --> 00:54:49,920 Okay,that's too hard. 835 00:54:53,610 --> 00:54:55,330 How do 836 00:54:55,330 --> 00:54:55,400 We may get to it. 837 00:54:55,400 --> 00:54:58,550 But he has a plane to catch to we can't go on forever. 838 00:54:58,550 --> 00:55:02,810 How do you see regulatory,governmental,and institutional environments 839 00:55:02,810 --> 00:55:05,940 as restricting business model innovation? 840 00:55:05,940 --> 00:55:06,910 Or put another way, 841 00:55:07,820 --> 00:55:10,510 are their needs for changes in institutions 842 00:55:10,950 --> 00:55:11,820 or policies 843 00:55:11,820 --> 00:55:14,320 to facilitate business model innovation? 844 00:55:15,640 --> 00:55:17,970 Morris: I think,well,in America 845 00:55:18,450 --> 00:55:24,210 I think that you really have big,big freedom. 846 00:55:25,100 --> 00:55:28,440 Yeah,I'm sure that regulatory requirements and so on 847 00:55:28,440 --> 00:55:32,910 puts some limits on business model innovation. 848 00:55:33,610 --> 00:55:37,300 But relative to some other countries, 849 00:55:38,530 --> 00:55:43,210 I think the limits are minimal. 850 00:55:46,180 --> 00:55:47,730 But in some other countries, 851 00:55:48,970 --> 00:55:52,500 I do believe that there's a lot that has to be done, 852 00:55:52,500 --> 00:55:58,020 in order to encourage business model innovations. 853 00:55:59,410 --> 00:56:03,080 Rick: I think we can combine these last two a little bit. 854 00:56:03,080 --> 00:56:09,730 There was some discussion yesterday about innovation in established firms. 855 00:56:10,580 --> 00:56:15,900 And,at this stage,TSMC counts as an established firm. 856 00:56:15,900 --> 00:56:17,050 So the question is, 857 00:56:17,050 --> 00:56:17,720 how do you, 858 00:56:17,720 --> 00:56:20,090 or any other established firm, 859 00:56:20,090 --> 00:56:23,520 deal with a major innovation, 860 00:56:23,520 --> 00:56:25,990 or the possibility of a major innovation, 861 00:56:25,990 --> 00:56:28,880 that might disrupt your business model, 862 00:56:29,500 --> 00:56:31,290 or render 863 00:56:31,450 --> 00:56:33,440 It might disrupt your model. 864 00:56:33,440 -->