Design and Applied Technology (Secondary 4-6)
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3.1.1 Competitive Edges of Hong Kong
Human resources, the judiciary system, financial infrastructure, economy policy, tax system,
political environment, relationship with the Mainland are all Hong Kong’s competitive edges
and the foundation for the design and manufacturing industries.
Hong Kong has long been considered having no natural resources but human resources. With
such resources, Hong Kong provides other parts of the world with goods and services in an
efficient and effective, intelligent and visionary, adaptive, and responsive manner. An
educated and learned society offers opportunities to and grows talents. At the same time,
creativity is required by the design and manufacturing industries for innovative products,
proper response to the changing situations, and wealth creation for society as a whole.
Hong Kong’s sound legal system and financial infrastructure have promoted the territory to
become a financial hub of the region, which is a driving force in funding to industry and
business activities. A sound legal system protects intellectual properties and ensures fair
trading, giving businessmen confidence to do business in Hong Kong. A sound financial
infrastructure warrants fair business transactions and sufficient financing for large projects.
Hong Kong’s free-market economic policy, simple tax system with low tax rates and political
stability are all the territory’s competitive edges. With minimal government and political
intervention and a stable government, new investors come to Hong Kong from around the
world, advantageous to the design and engineering industries.
The large size of the China market, the growing economy in China, and the tight and long-
term relationship between Hong Kong and China are all great selling points of Hong Kong.
The territory thus can sustain its import and export business, and at the same time have
sufficient supply of land and labour for the manufacturing industry.
3.1.2 Influence of Entrepreneurial Activity
Whether or not a product design is successful depends on the business strategy that a
manufacturer adopts. The strategy selected determines what business activities will be
implemented subsequently, such as brand building, continuous quality improvement and
customer satisfaction. In general, there are three common strategies, namely design leader,
quick follower and me-too.
A design-leader goes through most activities of a complete product development cycle, such
as marketing, research, design, promotion, quality assurance, continuous improvement and
customer satisfaction. ‘Design leadership’ is a hot topic in toy industry in the couple of years.
(Reference: www.woowee.com – Design of Leading Robotic Toy)
In fact, many world-class toy manufacturers choose to go along the direction of OBM
(Original Brand Manufacturer) or ODM (Original Design Manufacturer). An ODM
manufacturer has to be involved in new technology, new materials, innovation and creativity.
A design leader leads the market and is compensated with larger profit margins for the risks
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