ปีงบประมาณ 2530

ชื่อโครงการวิจัย              การลงทุนของไต้หวันในประเทศไทย

                                    (Taiwanese Investment in Thailand : A Customer Satisfaction Approach)

ชื่อผู้ทำวิจัย                    ผศ.ดร.อัจราวรรณ    งามญาณ

จำนวนหน้า                    21  หน้า

Abstract

            This study is an attempt to use a marketing theoretical framework to explain the foreign direct investment decision in Thailand.  Perceptions of Taiwanese investors on investment in Thailand are explored under expectation disconfirmation model of customer satisfaction.  The perceived actual performances of Taiwanese investors on each factor of interest are contrasted to their original expectations.  The results show the negative disconfirmation and indicate the customer dissatisfaction upon investing in Thailand in some respect.  The services offered to the Taiwanese investors which are below their expectations include some factors of production, the benefits that the Thai government gives to Taiwanese investors, economic, social and political stability in Thailand and the return on investment.  What the Taiwanese investors consider as the serious problems are slow government processes, the corruption of the government officers, and improper treatment, the non-cooperation and the insufficient infrastructure.  Moreover, the exploratory factor analysis has been done on the differences between perceived actual performance and original expectations to determine the underlying dimensions of the country’s service to foreign investors.  There are six extracted factors.  These are low cost of production, economic, social and political environment in Thailand, internal supporting facilities within Thailand, labor availability and stability, return on investment and encouraging Thailand policies.  The study reveals the deficiency of the Thai government in servicing the Taiwanese investors.  It suggests that the Thai government should improve the service quality by speeding the government process, improving the country’s facilities, stabilizing political environment and improve the competitive situations by creating the service minded government officers.

            Foreign direct investment has played an important role in expediting the economic growth of developing countries.  Since there is generally not sufficient accumulation of capital, each country tries to compete in getting foreign capital into her own country in order to boost the employment and consequently economic growth of the country.  Japan has been known as a leading country in investing in other countries including Thailand.  There are many studies done on the Japanese investment in Thailand so far.  However, the study on countries which maintain high level of direct investment in Thailand are minimal.  These countries include Hong Kong, USA, Singapore, and Taiwan.  The figures on foreign direct investment in Thailand from the top five countries during the period 1985 to 1994 are shown in Table 1. 

Table 1

Net Flow of Foreign Direct Investment in Thailand of the Top Five Countries                         Million baht

Source : Bank of Thailand, as of April 1995.

Though the ranking may be changed year by year, the overall foreign direct investment from Japan during such period was the highest, about double the amount invested by Hong Kong which was the second.  Japan had its peak in 1990 before declining.  Hong Kong invested heavily around 1991-1992 and then started to decline.  USA invested the most in 1992, then the investment had been decreased.  Singapore was exceptional in that for some years the net foreign direct investments were negative which means that the Thai investors invested in Singapore more than what the Singaporean investors did in Thailand.  Taiwan had investment peak in 1990, then the investment declined.  However, if the total foreign direct investment for the ten year period (1985-1994) is considered, Taiwan ranked the fifth largest investor in Thailand.

            Considering the attempt to draw investments into her own country, there are so many selling points that each developing country can use to attract foreign investment.  In such case, developing countries can compete in offering attractive and quality services to various investing countries.  Any country which can offer a good bargain and satisfy foreign investor’s needs will gain a competitive edge within this global market.  One can consider investors’ satisfaction on their investment in a country in a similar way to that of customer satisfaction from buying tangible goods and services.  How well the service quality a country can offer to an investing country and gain investors’ satisfaction, will determine a constant flow of fund to that country.  Foreign direct investment usually is examined from the perspectives of the economic theories.  This paper, however, will deal with foreign direct investment, particularly that from Taiwan, from a different theoretical background.  The marketers’ theory of customer satisfaction will be used to explain the Taiwanese investment in Thailand.  Business firms compete in satisfying their customers, similarly, Thailand, as a country, can ask herself how well she can satisfy her particular customers, which are foreign investors, in order to attract their investment into this country.  Though the substance of the service quality of Thailand in satisfying foreign investors may not be well defined, it is unequivocal that if Thailand can render quality service and gain investors’ satisfaction, there should be some strategic benefits added to the country as a whole.

            Though there are lots of economic studies on foreign investments as well as the studies of service quality and customer satisfaction in marketing literature, few researchers have attempted to integrate the two.  This paper is an attempt to look at some economic constructs from marketing perspective.  The purpose of this study is of twofold.  First, the level of expectations and satisfaction on different aspects offered from the Thai investors to Taiwanese investors are investigated.  Second, a case study of Taiwanese investors in Thailand will be investigated using the theoretical framework of customer satisfaction model.  The perceived satisfaction of Taiwanese investors is contrasted to their original expectations to see if Thailand has offered a customer satisfaction to those investors.  The significant factors determining the Taiwanese investors’ satisfaction on investment in Thailand are explored.

            Prior work on measuring quality has been largely done in the goods sector especially on the Japanese firms.  Recently, the study has been undertaken on service sector.  Service quality and customer satisfaction are hot issues in the area of marketing for the past decade.  Distinct from the quality of goods, service itself has properties of intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry 1985).  Therefore, to measure an elusive construct like service quality is a difficult task.  One has to get involved with attitude measurement like perceptions of investors in this case.  The heterogeneity character will lead to the differences in service that Thailand can give to each investor.  What a Taiwanese investor receives may be entirely different from what an American investor or even another Taiwanese investor receives.  Those who perform this service are numerous