全球鋼鐵需求及供給的最大國－中國大陸，已進入到成長趨緩的階段，同時歐美的鋼鐵前景亦是呈現疲弱或趨緩的階段，然而依賴出口至前三個地區的台灣來說，無疑是一項衝擊。也因如此，台灣於近年來，為能提升台灣鋼鐵產業的競爭力，已大幅開放大陸地區的鋼鐵進口，然大陸鋼鐵項目的進口多寡，對於台灣鋼鐵產業的發展存在著多少的影響，即成為台灣鋼鐵產業所亟需討論課題。因此，本研究以大陸鋼鐵進口與台灣鋼鐵產業的關係為研究主軸，討論台灣鋼鐵產業發展的可行作為，策訂一個合宜台灣鋼鐵產業的產業發展模式，據以提高台灣鋼鐵產業的競爭力。 因此，本研究依據分析方法的應用，探討大陸地區鋼鐵進口的政策施行，對台灣鋼鐵產業的發展所帶來的影響，依研究分析的結果得到以下幾項的研究發現： 一、台灣粗鋼的產量未呈現大幅成長的趨勢； 二、鋼筋與型鋼的生產量與銷售量具有高度相關性； 三、台灣鋼鐵產品已由半成品製造轉而鋼鐵成品的製造； 四、大陸鋼鐵進口對台灣下游鋼鐵廠商有正面的互利關係； 五、市場區隔對於台灣鋼鐵產業發展有正面的幫助。

鋼鐵産業是象徵國家經濟情況的重要基礎産業，也是代表社會發展程度、經濟實力的重要標誌。因此鋼鐵產業常被認為是具有代表國力強弱的指標性意義，不論是先進國家或發展中國家，皆長期的、積極的振興鋼鐵產業。 現今臺灣的鋼鐵業者在面對上、下游皆瘦而中游獨大的特殊產業環境之下，許多企業為了達到產業規模經濟與拓展銷售市場，紛紛前往海外另闢戰場。傳統的國際化理論認為國際化過程的演變是大型企業為了因應產品生命週期的演進而選擇在海外市場發揮其資源優勢的行為，然而從網絡連結觀點我們可以把國際化看成是企業試圖和國外網絡連結建立關係的作為。通常非大型企業並不具備獨自建立國外相關網絡的資源深度，然而透過網絡關係的合作卻可以快速取得當地市場知識並藉由現有通路進入國際市場。這對於具有高進入障礙、高度資本密集、高度技術密集且企業難以獨自擁有足夠生產資源等特性的鋼鐵產業而言，網絡關係連結相當重要。 在這個全球化的時代，大多數企業遲早都會在國際上競爭。因此，專注於國內市場交易的在地企業會被迫具有國際競爭力並參與國際商業活動。所有管理國內企業或跨國集團的經理人都必須意識到這個潮流的影響力。全球化經濟現在已經充斥在世界的各個角落，而且國際化現在所影響的不僅是大型企業集團連許多的非大型企業也是。本次研究針對鋼鐵產業使用多點個案研究法，調查網絡連結對企業國際化進程的影響。來自六家鋼鐵業者的研究證據顯示可以印證在企業的國際化過程中，網絡連結會觸發並驅動企業的國際化、影響企業的海外市場選擇決策與進入模式決策、幫助企業獲得起始信用、接近新網絡關係與現成通路、也協助降低成本與風險，並且影響企業的國際化步調。 / The iron-and-steel industry is an important basic industry to symbolize national economics, and a main indicator which represents social development level and economics power. Because the iron-and-steel industry is usually considered as an index of national strength, no wander many developed and developing nations all have prospering iron-and-steel industries. Now iron-and-steel firms in Taiwan are facing a unique industrial environment, and many are expanding new overseas markets to exploit economies of scale. Traditional internationalization theory posited that the internationalization process is a behavior of giant enterprises to adapt to the product life cycle evolvement and exploit the resource advantage abroad. However, we can view internationalization as a behavior of SMEs to establish relationships with foreign networks from the network perspective. Usually small firms can’t afford enough resources to build up international networks by themselves, but by only cooperating through network connections they can obtain foreign market knowledge soon and penetrate international markets via existing channels. The iron-and-steel industry has high entry barriers, high capital requirement and technology intensity, for SMEs difficult to have all kinds of production resources, the network relationship connections are quite crucial to succeed in international markets. In this era of globalization, most firms will sooner or later have to compete in the international market. Therefore, local firms that focus their business on the domestic market are forced to be internationally competitive and to participate in international business. All managers must be aware of this trend when managing a domestic firm or a multinational conglomerate. The global economy now has reached every corner of the world, and internationalization now involves not just the giant corporations but also many SME enterprises. This research use case research method to examine the influence of network connections on the internationalization process of SME iron-and-steel firms in Taiwan. The evidence from the cases of six iron-and-steel firms shows that the firms’ internationalization process was triggered and motivated by network connections which also affected their foreign market-selection decisions and mode-of-entry decisions, helped them obtain initial credibility and access to other relationships and established channels, helped in lowering cost and risk, and influenced their internationalization pace.

Contemporary research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) highlights its disputed effect on firm profitability and the determinants of environmental disclosure. Largely missing from these accounts is a critical look at stakeholders — particularly agents in the public, market, and voluntary sectors — and how they influence corporate investment in environmental management systems (EMS). This study explores CSR trends in Taiwan’s private-sector steel industry, focusing on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with electric arc furnaces and contrasting them with the nation’s flagship industry conglomerate, China Steel. The research suggests that without a crisis of legitimacy or significant stakeholder pressure — particularly government pressure and pressure to retain ISO 14000 certification — SMEs see little incentive (and high costs) to build an effective EMS. Also, contextual factors in Taiwan pose both problems and opportunities for sustainable initiatives. Specifically, environmental laws are modern and strict, but administrative capacity to implement laws is not uniform island-wide. Also, activists and localized self-help groups pay less attention to SME steel firms and spend more effort over controversial industries like nuclear power, high-tech manufacturers and petrochemical companies. Still, government and cross-sector alliances sometimes take an active role in subsidizing EMS and promoting research and development. Using a mixed methods approach within the critical field of political ecology, the research concludes that economic concerns drive SME steel firm behavior, with changes in the scale of EMS development coming into play only in favorable cost-benefit scenarios and typically with substantial pressure emanating from the private and public sectors.