台灣自開台以來貿易業便非常盛行，以現在而言每年也為國家創造不少外匯存底。貿易商的角色在經濟成長的過程中扮演非常重要的角色，為國外客戶與台灣的製造商搭起交易的橋樑。過去依靠資訊不對稱而取得中介地位的優勢已經隨著全球化的發展與現代網路資訊的發達而漸漸動搖，貿易商的生存空間日漸遭到壓縮，過去風光的景象已經陷入完全競爭的微利辛苦產業。 本研究以台灣水五金外銷產業為背景，目的為探討專營水五金出口外銷的貿易商如何在各種價值活動當中創造價值以提高生存空間。經由文獻回顧發現夥伴關係的維持、中介地位的維持以及競爭優勢具有使貿易商創造價值的能力，因此本研究以此提出三構面的研究架構。本研究採用多個案分析，以深入訪談法分別訪談四家貿易商和四家供應商，訪談結果以此三個構面分析貿易商如何創造價值。 本研究分析結果後發現，夥伴關係的維持可以與貿易商的競爭優勢互補；貿易商的中介地位與夥伴關係可以互相維持；競爭優勢可以強化中介地位維持的能力，中介地位的維持也可以強化競爭優勢。 最後本研究提出建議：（1）貿易商應該強化信任、互賴與共享的基礎，以強化夥伴關係的維持。（2）強化核心能耐可以加強中介地位的維持。（3）競爭優勢應以提升顧客價值為目的。 Trades have been popular since foundation of Taiwan, also have created lots of foreign exchange reserves. The traders play very important roles in economic growth's process, put up the transaction for the overseas customers and Taiwan manufacturers. In the past, traders depended upon the asymmetrical information to obtain the intermediary position advantages which have been vacillated gradually by the globalized development and the modern developed network information, traders’ room have been compressed day after day, the past prosperity has already fell into the completely competed meager profit industry. This research took Taiwan plumbing hardware industry as background, the main purpose is to study how traders in plumbing hardware industry create value in a variety of value-added activities in order to improve survival. By the literature reviews have discovered partnership's maintenance, the intermediary position's maintenance as well as the competitive advantage could have the traders to have the ability of value creation. Therefore this research proposes three factors as research construction. This research uses the multi-case analysis, by the thoroughly interviews with four traders and four suppliers and by the three factors to analysis how the traders create the value. The results of this study found that partnership's maintenance and traders’ competitive advantage may be complementary ; traders’ intermediary position and the partnership may maintain mutually; the competitive advantage may strengthen the intermediary position maintenance ability, the intermediary position’s maintenance may also strengthen the competitive advantage. Finally, this research suggested: (1) Traders should strengthen the trust, interdependence and shared basis to strengthen the partnership maintains. (2) strengthen the core competencies to enhance intermediary position maintenance (3) the competitive advantage should take promote the customer value as a goal.
