The Study of Organization and Function of World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce

Abstract

The establishment of the Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce across the world is highly intertwined with the policies of the R.O.C. government, cross-strait relationship, and the international situations. Therefore, the economic power of these chambers not only makes them the perfect platform for communicating and sharing commercial information with each other, they also have the function of lobbying, problem-solving, and cohering national identity in foreign countries. In fact, given the unique status of Taiwan in the world, these chambers have become a vital communication channel with countries with which Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic ties. Furthermore, the Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce are also the direct products of the complicated cross-strait relationship, as there is always the problem of national identity in Taiwan. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to further understand the organization and function of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce and how they influence the society of Taiwan.ith the premises of recognizing Taiwan, overseas Taiwanese businessmen voluntarily started to form independent chambers of commerce, and eventually, chambers of commerce at the regional and continental level are established to unify their branches. Finally, with the guidance and financial support of the R.O.C. government, the World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce was established in 1994 to oversee all its branches.n order to decipher how and why the chambers exist and work, the theory of structural functionalism, brought up by renowned scholar, T. Parsons, is applied to this thesis. Parsons believes that if any social system wants to survive and progress, four basic functions are needed. The first is “Adaptation,” which means that a social system has to adjust and adapt to the external pressures and need. The second is “Goal-attainment,” which means that after the goal is recognized by a social system, the necessary resources are mobilized to attain that goal. The third is “Integration,” which means that a social system has to unify and organize all its units. The last is “Latent Pattern- Maintenance,” which is the recessive function of a social system. The above four functions make up the famous system of “AGIL,” this theory is applied to understand the organization and function of the Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce. inally, since the Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce was established by many unique factors, it’s worthy to note whether the benign interaction between the Taiwan Strait might affect the future of these chambers. And the government of the R.O.C. should concisely and comprehensively modify its policy when guiding these chambers for the good of the nation. In the end, hopefully the power of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce can be put into good use, and eventually manifest the true value and economic strength of Taiwan.