Innovation in Asia: 7-Eleven Taiwan’s Strategic Transformation

In 2014, we invite you to attend our Marketing in Asia Speaker Series where Edward Tu, Director of Public Affairs for Uni-President Enterprises Corp will speak about ‘Innovation in Asia: 7-Eleven Taiwan’s Strategic Transformation from traditional convenience store to service centre’.

EVENT DETAILS
Date: Tuesday 25 March, 2014
Time: 12.00 to 1.30 pm, followed by lunch for attendees from 1.30 – 2.30pm in AGSM courtyard
Location: Boral Theatre, AGSM building, University of New South Wales (UNSW)
Cost: Free

Places are limited, so please register ASAP to secure your attendance by emailing Xin Na Zeng at x.zeng@student.unsw.edu.au

LECTURE SUMMARY

Asia is fast becoming a hub for worldwide innovation. Singapore, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan rank among the ten most innovative markets, according to the Boston Consulting Group. In this session, Edward Tu will outline the challenges 7-Eleven Taiwan faced as it reached saturation point in terms of revenue growth. While Taiwan may have the second highest population density in the world behind Bangladesh, it also has the highest density of 7-Eleven stores and faces aggressive direct competitors. Edward Tu will share with you the challenges and opportunities associated with their strategic transformation from traditional convenience store to community service centre. This transformation was not a simple services-adding exercise, but involved building more efficient operating systems, forming strategic alliances and gaining staff buy-in.

MARKETING IN ASIA SPEAKER SERIES INFORMATION

Recognising the growing importance of Asia, the School of Marketing at the Australian School of Business, UNSW, introduced the Marketing in Asia Speaker Series in 2009. The program offers a unique opportunity for academic experts, business leaders and marketing professionals to get together and engage in an inspiring dialogue and share new ideas. This program highlights the most important economies in the Asia-Pacific region. As Asian countries secure an increasingly significant role in shaping the world’s economy, it is imperative that companies and business players stay informed of different consumer trends and marketing issues in the region. In the first few years of our speaker series we invited highly qualified speakers from India, China, Vietnam and Indonesia to share their valuable insights on the different marketing issues and trends in their respective countries, and to evaluate the importance of these markets for Australian companies. The speakers have also examined specific strategies taken by successful companies in their markets. The Speaker Series is attended not only by academics and business leaders, but also by Australian School of Business alumni from various industry backgrounds.

SPEAKER BACKGROUND

Edward (Chung-Cheng) Tu is Director, Public Affairs for Uni-President Enterprises Corp.  Uni-President Enterprises is the largest food production company (dairy products, beverages, snack foods, noodles) in Taiwan with subsidiaries in China, Vietnam and other south-east Asia countries. It also has the licence to operate 7-Eleven, Starbucks, Mister Donut and Carrefour supermarkets in Taiwan. Edward has an MBA from National Sun Yat-Sen University and is currently a PhD candidate at the same university.  Edward Tu has worked for Uni-President Enterprises for the past 23 years (including 10 years in mainland China) in a number of management roles, including marketing, human resources and more recently as Director, Corporate Affairs.