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Introduction
The stability and success of the Mexican manufacturing sector is critically important for US interests for a variety of reasons. From an economic standpoint, this sector is important as a source of low-cost goods for US consumers, a revenue stream for US corporations, and a tax base for the US Government. These benefits are derived since many of the companies operating in the sector are subsidiaries of US companies operating as maquiladoras. These plants transform primarily US-made components and raw materials into finished goods - 82 percent of manufacturing materials come from the USA ([40] Whalen, 2001; [15] Gonzalez et al. , 2007). Perhaps more importantly, the industry is responsible for a burgeoning Mexican middle class, hungry for US products, and it acts as a bridge to markets in Latin America, which represent "major market opportunities" for US products ([5] Bowersox and Calantone, 1998). From a governmental standpoint, maquiladoras promote stabilization of the US southern border and economic growth along both sides of that border. For example, maquiladoras accounted for 25 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP) and 17 percent of Mexican employment in the late 1990s ([18] INEGI, 1997; [14] GAO Reports, 2003). Meanwhile, economic vitality in border towns is fueled by workers eager to purchase the American lifestyle and US maquila managers moving to the area ([22] Lindquist, 2001; [33] Salas, 2002; [36] Thomas, 2001).
The last several years have been hard on the maquiladora industry, which posted negative growth of nearly 10 percent in 2001 - a loss of 253 plants with corresponding declines in employment and profitability ([7] CNIME, 2002; [14] GAO Reports, 2003). [27] Orrenius and Berman (2002) reported that as of January 2002, nearly a quarter of a million maquiladora workers had lost their jobs in the previous year. This figure represented a loss of 19 percent of total maquiladora employment in just one year. Several factors account for this loss including a worldwide economic slump and the attractiveness of Asia's lower wage rates, which is prompting many maquiladora owners to move their operations to Asia ([14] GAO Reports, 2003). While these factors are uncontrollable, the industry can reverse the downward trend by recognizing internal problems and implementing effective solutions. This study was designed to investigate this...