Everyone at TSMC carries a part of Morris Chang’s legacy—winning means preparing half a year ahead.

At the end of March 2023, TSMC established a new Overseas Operations Office (OOO), led by three senior vice presidents: Ching Yung-pei（秦永沛） from operations, Chang Hsiao-chiang（張曉強）from business development, and Rick Cassidy, who oversees Arizona operations. At the same time, TSMC appointed Vice President Wang Ying-lang（王英郎） as CEO of its U.S. fab, and Vice President Liao Yung-hao（廖永豪）as CEO of its Japanese subsidiary, JASM. Both executives are taking on these overseas roles while continuing to manage their original responsibilities at the Taiwan fabs.

This personnel restructuring marks a major organizational move by TSMC to strengthen its global footprint and improve the operational efficiency of its overseas units. The two executives assigned to lead operations in the U.S. and Japan—Wang Ying-lang and Liao Yung-hao—are among the company’s top performers in operations management and are known for their rapid career advancement. More importantly, they exemplify the core values of TSMC’s distinctive “engineer-driven management culture.”

Let’s begin with Wang Ying-lang. Among veteran TSMC employees, many stories are told about his remarkable rise through the company. He set numerous records for the fastest promotions in TSMC history, becoming the youngest ever to hold positions as manager, department head, deputy fab director, director of technology, and fab director. He was also named one of Taiwan’s Ten Outstanding Young Persons, received five National Invention Awards, and was honored five times with the Morris Chang Award—making him a legendary figure within the company.

Wang achieved so many records because he insisted on doing everything to the highest standard—even TSMC’s internal relay race was no exception.

TSMC holds a company-wide sports event every year, and one of the most teamwork-driven competitions is the 5,000-meter relay. Each fab forms a team of 25 male and 25 female employees, with each person running 100 meters, combining to complete the 5,000-meter race.

A senior executive recalled that in order to win the race, every fab went to great lengths in preparation. His team even invited a coach to help select the fastest male and female runners. At the time, the average 100-meter dash times were about 12 seconds for men and 13 seconds for women. After training, their team finished the relay three seconds faster than the previous year’s champion.

With such a strong performance, everyone assumed they had the championship in the bag. But to their surprise, they still lost. The winning team, led by Wang Ying-lang, finished at least one or two laps ahead of the runner-up, leaving everyone stunned.

It was only later that everyone realized Wang had meticulously prepared for the race well in advance. Because the rules required each participant to have been employed at TSMC for at least six months, he reached out to a local sports class at Chang Jung High School in Tainan six months prior and hired the entire class into his fab. The male students could run the 100 meters in 11 seconds, and the female students averaged around 12—making them virtually unbeatable by regular employees.

Some might wonder—why take a company relay race so seriously? It has nothing to do with manufacturing or business results. But then again, if he’s willing to plan six months ahead for a simple race, is there anything he wouldn’t take seriously?

In fact, it wasn’t just the relay. Under Wang Ying-lang’s leadership, TSMC’s Fab 14 in Southern Taiwan consistently ranked among the top in various internal competitions—whether it was yield improvement, shipping performance, cost reduction, or cycle time optimization. The sports-class recruits he brought in weren’t just fast runners; they also delivered outstanding performance on the fab floor. This was one of the key reasons he became the fastest-promoted executive in TSMC.

Although Wang Ying-lang never studied abroad, his academic background is impressive—he holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from National Tsing Hua University, a master’s in materials science from National Sun Yat-sen University, and a PhD in electrical engineering from National Chiao Tung University. He joined TSMC in 1992 and led Fab 14 in Southern Taiwan, expanding it into the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, six to seven times the size of a typical fab. In 2015, he was promoted to Vice President of R&D, where he spearheaded the development of 10nm, 7nm, and 5nm technologies and successfully brought them into mass production.

In addition, Wang Ying-lang holds 283 patents worldwide, including 136 in the United States. During TSMC’s successful patent lawsuit against SMIC, four of Wang’s patents were used, among them a key low-temperature processing technology that played a critical role in protecting Taiwan’s semiconductor industry from Chinese infringement.

Thanks to his exceptional performance, Wang Ying-lang has long been regarded as one of TSMC’s most formidable figures. He cultivated a loyal team of senior staff, and when he transferred from Tainan to Hsinchu, he brought over 300 people with him to Fab 12—a move that earned him the nickname of TSMC’s “feudal lord,” unprecedented in the company’s history. His commanding presence also stirred some internal dissent. Now tasked with leading TSMC’s most challenging U.S. fab project, Wang’s appointment signals deep trust from senior leadership and high expectations for his leadership abroad.

If you leave work at 10 p.m., that means your engineers can’t leave until 11—how’s that for work-life balance?

Liao Yung-hao, who joined TSMC in its second year, is another top-performing Vice President of Operations. He oversaw Fab 15 in Taichung, which successfully ramped up mass production of 28nm, 10nm, and 7nm processes—making TSMC the first company in the world to mass-produce 7nm technology. Under his leadership, the fab also set records for the fastest equipment installation and production capacity ramp-up, and enabled seamless transfer of technology from R&D to manufacturing.

While managing the fab, Liao Yung-hao once had a department manager tell him, “I’ve been working until 10 p.m. every night—I’m contributing a lot to the company.” But Liao responded, “If you leave at 10, doesn’t that mean your engineers are staying until 11? That’s not sustainable. Others are finishing by 8—shouldn’t you reevaluate your work efficiency?” The manager was clearly embarrassed, but from that day forward, he came to appreciate Liao’s pragmatic and people-conscious management style.

Liao Yung-hao oversees TSMC’s Japanese subsidiary, JASM, the company’s only overseas fab that is not wholly owned—a structure that makes it particularly unique. He works closely with multiple Japanese partners, including Sony and Denso, and must navigate the cultural differences and coordination challenges between Taiwan and Japan. In this context, Liao’s calm and pragmatic leadership style makes him an ideal choice to lead JASM.

Through the examples of Wang Ying-lang and Liao Yung-hao, we see TSMC’s distinct engineer-driven culture in full force. When every engineer is committed and performance-driven, the result is a powerful organizational momentum. TSMC currently employs around 65,000 people, more than 50,000 of whom are engineers—with over 90% holding master’s or doctoral degrees. These engineers are the company’s backbone, the foundation of Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” and the core force that will take on the seemingly impossible mission at TSMC’s U.S. fab.

Engineer-led governance: the cornerstone of TSMC’s success

TSMC’s overseas personnel shifts have sparked debate in Taiwan. Some worry it could lead to a brain drain in the semiconductor industry, while others view it as a normal part of global corporate expansion. Regardless of the stance, there is near-universal agreement on one point: engineers are the most valuable asset of both TSMC and Taiwan’s entire tech industry.

I remember hearing something years ago from Chang Ping-heng, who was then TSMC’s Vice President of Human Resources. “On a micro level,” he said, “every TSMC executive has a different management style. But on a macro level, TSMC is the embodiment of Morris Chang. When people think of TSMC, they think of him. It’s as if everyone carries a piece of his legacy—that’s the deepest form of corporate culture.”

I’ve always believed that while TSMC’s success is undoubtedly rooted in the leadership and governance of Morris Chang, it is equally built on the shoulders of outstanding engineers like Wang Ying-lang and Liao Yung-hao—and the strong teams they lead behind the scenes.

TSMC has long embraced an engineer-led governance culture. Within the company, engineers form the largest group by far. Even in areas where other firms might involve substantial commercial interests—like equipment procurement—TSMC defers decisions to its New Tool Selection Committee (NTSC). This committee is composed of managers and above, while all evaluation reports and decision-making data are provided by technical engineers across the fabs.

In my interviews with the semiconductor industry, I’ve heard of cases where senior executives were solely in charge of equipment procurement, while the engineers who used the machines daily expressed dissatisfaction—believing that the equipment or brands chosen were ill-suited. In some cases, there were even allegations of executives accepting kickbacks or profiting personally from the deals.

At TSMC, equipment procurement decisions are made by technical engineers—not by business or purchasing executives. Achieving this requires years of accumulated experience and rigorous knowledge management. Every piece of equipment-related data is systematically documented, and the best tools, materials, and processes are codified into shared know-how. This knowledge is then rapidly transferred to new fabs, ensuring that customers receive the same high level of quality regardless of which TSMC site they place their orders with.

As a result, the collective knowledge of the world’s most advanced foundry is stored within TSMC’s technical committee archives, making equipment procurement far more structured and efficient. With standardized operating procedures (SOPs) available for every piece of equipment, an industry saying has emerged: “At TSMC, engineers make the equipment decisions.”

Engineers are essential because every decision must be grounded in technical judgment—that’s what they do every day. But with that importance comes immense pressure. For TSMC’s engineers, facing constant challenges isn’t the exception—it’s their daily reality.

For example, when TSMC receives an order, it often splits the same order across three different fabs. This internal competition allows the company to assess which fab performs best, while motivating others to catch up. For customers, it also reduces the risk of shipment delays caused by issues at any one or two fabs.

One employee put it this way: “Everyone at TSMC is like a tiny screw in a massive machine. Once the machine is running, if one screw comes loose, others speed up to cover the gap—and you have to catch up with them, too. No project is ever a solo effort. To avoid dragging others down, you push yourself to adapt quickly, to not become a burden, to not be the reason the team falls behind.”

As a result, when every TSMC employee takes responsibility seriously, that responsibility inevitably becomes a source of pressure. This internally competitive management model keeps fab heads and managers constantly on edge—many say the pressure feels as heavy as a mountain.

A company governed by engineers not only fosters intense internal competition but also creates an environment where engineers can advance into management roles. Once this kind of culture takes root, people take pride in it and strive to uphold it—forming a virtuous cycle. Whether a company thrives or fails often hinges on the strength of its corporate culture. While that idea might sound abstract elsewhere, at TSMC, it’s a fundamental and irreplaceable part of both governance and identity.

Some may remain skeptical of that idea—but at TSMC, corporate culture is truly the core of its governance and an element that simply cannot be replaced.