Legal issues
When doing business, Taiwanese tend to believe in the importance of good
relationships, while US Americans tend to emphasize rules and laws (Kenna and Lacy,
1994). Taiwan’s legal system is quite different from that of the USA. Smith (1993)
stated that legal issues were recognized as learning needs, but they were not
considered as a critical factor to US business expatriates’ success in Taiwan. Findings
of the current study show that both US expatriates and their Taiwanese colleagues
perceived legal issues to be important learning needs for US expatiates in Taiwan. This
does not contradict Smith’s findings. It may not be critical, but it is important for US
expatriates to know legal issues in Taiwan.