Following the changes of Taiwan’s industrial structure, the service sector has become an increasingly important role in economic development. To promote economic growth and compete in global terms, Taiwan’s government focused its mind on encouraging the development of service industries.
For the sake of providing first-class service, a service provider should respect the customers, seek to put himself in the customer’s shoes, and thereby adopt the customer’s opinions towards the service quality. In order to make the preparations of transforming and upgrading, it would be better for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of service sector to engage in long-term planning as early as possible. In 2004, Taiwan’s service sector included a total of 973,497 enterprises, with an annual increase of 3.08%. Over the last three years, the number of SMEs accounted for 97.8% or more of all service sector enterprises. In 2004, there were 61,985 enterprises in emerging service industries in Taiwan, accounting for 6.37% of all service industry enterprises. As of 2004, there were a total of 5,325,000 people working in the service sector in Taiwan, with an increase of 2.92% over 2003. 77.05% of these people were working in SMEs. In 2004, the Taiwanese service sector as a whole achieved total sales of NT$18,424.9 billion, representing an annual increase of 11.10%. Over the last three years, domestic sales have continued to account for the largest share of the service sector’s total sales, climbing from 77.95% in 2002 to 81.63% in 2004.
In 2004, Taiwan’s service sector included 952,122 SMEs, representing an annual increase of 2.94%. 65.87% of all service sector SMEs in Taiwan were in the wholesaling and retailing industry, far more than in any other service industry. The service industry in which the number of SMEs grew the most rapidly in 2004 was the accommodation and eating-drinking places industry, with an annual growth rate of 7.94%. There were 58,538 SMEs in emerging serv