• Service Export of Suang-Lien Elderly Center

Abstract

Facing the global aging issues, demand for elderly care is getting stronger than ever. In 2012, Suang-Lien Elderly Center found that the growth in terms of number of group coming to visit is evident, and there were quite many requests from those institutions for providing further assistance after their visit. The CEO, Mr. Fang-Wen Tsai, who recently was informed of a service internationalization counseling plan initiated by the Industrial Development Bureau of Ministry of Economic Affairs, started to ponder whether it might be opportune for Suang-Lien to transform itself through service innovation, from providing tangible labor care to the exportation of intangible management know-how. However, would it be suitable for service exportation considering the fast duplication capability of Mainland China? How about the market potential? Which mode of transformation to pursue is better?

What would be the risks involved? What might be Suang-Lien’s core competitive advantage? What are to be exported for service internationalization? This case is to demonstrate its decision-making process and the approaches taken by Suang-Lien transforming from tangible labor care to exporting intangible management know-how.

Keywords: Elderly Center, Service Innovation, Export Of Service, Management Consultancy Services, Risk Management