Arthur Yeung

Building Global Competitiveness in a Turbulent Environment: Acer's Journey of Transformation

While all global leaders aspire to build a winning global company – one that is competitive, profitable, and sustainable – the business strategies and organizational models they pursue vary substantially, depending on the external and internal business environments they face. In this article, we outline the journey of Acers growth and transformation from the founding of the company in 1976 to the end of 2004. Throughout this period, the Acer Group had grown tremendously and been transformed radically to adapt to the changing competitive dynamics of the global PC industry. We describe the two major transformations in strategy and organization implemented by Acers global leadership teams to maintain and enhance the global competitiveness of Acer Inc. in a turbulent industry where many players had disappeared in the last two decades. Based on our reflections on Acers journey, we also highlight five key roles that global leaders play in building the sustained competitiveness of their companies. We believe that leaders must (1) develop innovative business models to leverage global resources for profitable global growth; (2) be sensitive to external environmental trends and internal bottlenecks and act on them proactively; (3) communicate persuasively with key stakeholders to gain commitment to the change; (4) reverse the negative vicious cycle of low performance into a positive virtuous cycle of growth; (5) be positive and optimistic in the midst of adversity so that opportunities for turnaround and eventual growth can be found. In industries that are fast-changing and highly competitive, we believe that it is more imperative than ever for global leaders to demonstrate such leadership roles and capabilities in order to navigate their companies through the turbulent times.