In recent years the term soft-power is becoming more and more popular, soft-power

is a term that is coined by Harvard professor Joseph Nye. Taiwan has a variety of soft-
powers from medicine to agriculture. But what is the signature soft-power of Taiwan?
We believe it is a famous china manufacture called FRANZ, its spirit stands as an
example for the whole world. So let us tell you more about this business.

陳立恆 is the founder of the Seagull Dector cooperation, founded in 1969, the
company became a big success in1991 as it rose as the world largest artifact
manufacture, but Chen wasn’t content with the status of the company, he saw a
future change in the global market and started to target on one specific kind of
artifacts- china. Today Chen is the owner of FRANZ an extremely successful china
manufacture. The name of this company is actually his German name. The work of
FRANZ combines the elements from the east and the west, it symbolizes the cross
culture life we live today. It has been awarded the UNESCO’s {outstanding
handicraft of the world medal }three times in a role. He sees artifacts as a way for
people to show love and appreciation, every piece of Chen’s work tells a story. But
Chen is not just making pretty vases his works are designed as functional arts, it is
both useable and beautiful in one body. Now let’s welcome Willy to tell us about the
ideas behind the success.
The key behind the success is creativity and persistence. Chen had a great vision fro
the start, he targeted the luxury market from the beginning of his plan, so all of his
works are of great quality. Chen is a perfectionist, his china will never hit the market
unless he think it is perfect. Did you know, only one fifth of the designs from the
elite designers will hit the markets? This is the kind of spirit The making of china is
very complicated and difficult the use of fire in the making adds even more
unpredictable to the process. Despite all that Chen still encourage his designers to
put all of their thoughts in to artifacts, Chen believes that creativity is the most
important aspect of his business. After these beautiful works have been made the
transportation process is another big challenge, nevertheless Chen didn’t step down,
he tested over and over again to find the best package for his works. Now let’s
welcome timothy to tell us about Chen’s management principles.

Chen runs FRANZ, with the 5Fs. Every department of the company runs together in
the same system, from designs, sample making, producing to sales the progress can
run smoothly so the company can run efficiently. So the first F is fast. Despite the
fast process Chen still leaves a bit of flexibility, supervisors can put together
temporary work teams and as soon as the mission is accomplished the team is
dismissed. This allows every employ to display their ideas making every creativity
be respected. The third F is focus, every project has a clear and definite goal, so
everyone know exactly what he or her is doing and why they are doing so, this can
make people more confident and efficient. The working environment is also unique
different from the traditional office, intense, cold, competitive. The office of FRANZ
is friendly, every people can work at ease. Chen believes that a laid back
environment can nurture creativity. And the fifth F is fun corresponding to flexibility
and friendly, FRANZ offers a working place that can inspire creativity, and help
employs fall in love with their work.

The success of FRANZ displays the visions of the Taiwanese people, and power of
our knowledge, and the passion we have in our lives, the accomplishment of Mr. Chen
and his artifact industry remind us of how great our soft-power is making us prouder
than ever.