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The number of assembly plants in Northern Mexico, also known as maquiladora, has grown over the years. However, expatriate managers in Mexico face major challenges including the building of an appropriate relationship and developing and maintaining organization commitment among the Mexican workers. It is reported that job turnover in the maquiladora ranges from 120 to 150 percent annually in many assembly plants. This study investigated the impacts of quality control circles and worker education on perceived organizational commitment in the Mexican workplace. It also examined the generalizability of Meyer, Allen, and Smith's three-component model of organizational commitment.
Introduction
The number of assembly plants in Northern Mexico, also known as maquiladora, has grown over the years. Our interviews with managers in the maquiladora showed that monthly job turnover in the maquiladora was between 10 to 20%. Stoddard (1987) reported that job turnover in the maquiladora ranges from 120 to 150 percent annually in many assembly plants. As a result, expatriate managers in Mexico face major challenges including "building an appropriate relationship in a host nation such as Mexico and developing and maintaining organization commitment among the country's employees" (Harrison & Hubbard, 1998:609). This study is an attempt to help fill this gap in the literature on the maquiladora industry. Briefly, we focused on the impacts of Quality Control Circles (QCCs) and worker education on perceived organizational commitment in the Mexican workplace. QCCs are small groups of employees and their leader from the same work area who voluntarily meet on a regular basis to study quality control and productivity improvement techniques.
Research Questions
Meyer, Allen, and Smith ( 1993, 1997) developed and improved scales to measure three components of organizational commitment: affective, continuance, and normative commitment. Affective commitment refers to attachment to the organization such that the strongly committed individual identifies and enjoys membership in the organization. Normative commitment refers to commitment based on a moral belief or obligation that it is the right and moral thing to remain with the organization. Continuance commitment refers to a tendency to "engage in consistent lines of activity" (Becker, 1960:33) on the basis of the individual's awareness of the costs.
Although recent studies of the psychometric properties of the three-component organizational commitment have been supportive, generalizability and applicability...