Trainers by design : a case study of inter-firm learning, institution building and local governance in western Mexico

Studies of international economic development often feature the competitive gains from inter-firm cooperation. By cooperating, firms within a region can draw on their collective resources and experience to test out new production processes and techniques; share the risks associated with system-wide upgrades and improvements; and identify and transition to more secure niche markets. What many development analysts and practitioners often forget, however, is that local economic actors do not always realize these benefits themselves, nor in unison. In recent times, sophisticated manufacturers have been known instead to employ less cooperative survival strategies, including disassociating themselves from their existing manufacturing base and especially from local colleagues with less training and experience. What then leads firms to work together and cooperate? This is the central question of this dissertation and case study of apparel manufacturing in Guadalajara, Mexico. Since the mid-1990s, a growing number of sophisticated, medium sized apparel makers in the region have been working with smaller sized, less experienced or barebones subcontractors and in the process, have established dynamic upgrading and learning alliances. Together these firms are having to "unlearn" an entrenched relational pattern based on strict production hierarchies and centralized forms of control; establish a new set of rules and routines that are more suitable for open learning and joint decision making; and finally, develop a shared "identity" around which to build out and legitimize their collective activities and experience.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Lowe, Nichola J

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Paul Osterman.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/30040

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/30040