Social network analysis of directors and supervisors in Taiwan semiconductor industry

Using social network analysis, this paper examines whether a network pattern of appointed directors and supervisors exists among high-tech firms based on a case of Taiwan semiconductor industry and the primary strategies of coordination and control are occurred through network relationships of directors and supervisors. Furthermore, a high-tech firm can have access a wide variety of knowledge and control the flow of information by network attribute of visibility and strategic position. The empirical study presents an exploratory research for evaluating social network analysis of appointed directors and supervisors among the fifty-five listed Taiwan semiconductor firms, which offers the indicators of degree and betweenness centrality with corresponding network attributes of visibility and strategic position. Moreover, the network attributes of the firm itself are examined for interactive relationships with the firm's profit and R&D capability by Pearson correlation. Finally, four propositions derive from the empirical results provide insights and implications through network relationships of appointed directors and supervisors in the semiconductor industry for enriching the existing literature on interlocked directors.