IMD business school for management and leadership courses

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, better known as TSMC, was the leading contract manufacturer of semiconductors, controlling 90% of the production of the most advanced chips. Almost all of its manufacturing capacity was in Taiwan, a self-governing island off the coast of China that the government in Beijing was determined to unify with the mainland. This placed TSMC at the heart of the 21st Century’s most consequential geopolitical fault line and in the middle of Great Power rivalry over a key industry with pivotal civilian and military applications. The case provides key facts and figures on the industry and its development to frame at a high level the key corporate strategy decisions facing TSMC’s leadership – (i) where to locate major production sites and (ii) how to balance the myriad political stakeholders that are seeking to shape the industry’s evolution in line with their national security- and economic interests.

Over the past decade, Asian companies have been launching accelerated and wide-ranging digital transformation initiatives. This has enabled some of them to become leading national and even international players, as well as digital pioneers in their respective industries. This case examines the successful digital transformation undertaken by the Chinese company Midea, one of the world’s leading home appliance manufacturers. By digitally transforming the company, Midea improved its financial performance and reshaped its business on a wider scale. While many cases that address digital transformation focus on the early phases of the process, Midea’s case illustrates a successfully completed digital business transformation. This allows participants to have an overview of the entire digital transformation journey and see what the potential outcomes might be.