Principal Investigator Donald Lessard
Project Website http://mitsloan.mit.edu/globalmitsloan/taiwan.php
One of the most dynamic and mutually productive collaborations between global management teaching and global management practice was established more than a decade ago under the aegis of the Taiwan-based Epoch Foundation. Comprising more than a dozen Taiwan conglomerates, the Epoch Foundation supports MIT Sloan research, teaching, and program development in the Asia/Pacific region.
The program was launched with a $10 million endowment to support faculty research on China-based companies, executive education programs in Taiwan and at MIT Sloan, regional workshops and conferences, and scholarships for Taiwanese participants in MIT Sloan executive education programs. In fact, more than 90 men and women associated with Epoch Foundation member companies have participated in or graduated from MIT Sloan executive education programs.
Over the past dozen years, the Epoch Foundation project has flourished and its activity has expanded to include almost $30 million in collaborative research and educational initiatives across MIT -- at Sloan, the Industrial Liaison Program, the Media Lab, the Microsystems Technology Lab, the Laboratory for Computer Sciences/Artificial Intelligence Lab, the Industrial Performance Center's Globalization Study, and other centers of activity at MIT.
Epoch Foundation companies in Taiwan host MIT faculty, and CEOs of Epoch companies visit MIT to attend seminars and to meet with faculty and staff to discuss specific projects and ideas. They also have a rare opportunity to visit MIT start-ups that provide object lessons about successful entrepreneurship as well as opportunities for investment.