A report of information technology in Mexican manufacturing firms

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study that investigates the sophistication of the information technology (IT) employed by maquiladoras. The maquiladoras are Mexican manufacturing and assembly plants that have been established by non‐Mexican, primarily US, companies to take advantage of several economic factors that should increase the profitability of these non‐Mexican firms. This research is designed to allow the research team to: (1) develop an understanding of the technologies found in the maquiladoras, and (2) assist in the development of an adequate model of IT architectures employed such that comparisons can be made of the architectures used by manufacturing firms located in the USA, Canada, and Mexico (the signatories of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement). In general, the results of this survey indicate the use of significantly more sophisticated IT than might otherwise be expected as a result of the general perception that maquiladoras should be organized to capitalize on the relatively low skill levels and wages of the hourly Mexican worker.

Citation

Lunce, S.E. and Smith, S.A.M. (2000), "A report of information technology in Mexican manufacturing firms", Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 100 No. 5, pp. 201-209. https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570010291801