TECHNOLOGICAL SPILLOVERS FROM MULTINATIONAL'S EMPLOYEE MOBILITY: TRAINING STRATEGIES IN THE EXPORT MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

This paper evaluates the impact of technological spillovers caused by the mobility, of employees of the export manufacturing industry (EMI), a form of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the market for precision machine products in the region of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The study identifies training strategies and the nature of knowledge deployed by multinational enterprises for their personnel. Also, an analysis is made of the environment and the trends in the creation of 96 small and medium enterprises (SME) suppliers in the region since the beginning of EMI until 2002. It uses the statistical technique of cluster analysis to form clusters and multivariate analysis of variance (Manova) to validate them. Results show that multinational enterprises begin formal training to their staff conservatively six years after having hired them. The training is aimed primarily at professionals, so that the processes of innovation within the processing plants (maquiladoras) are aimed mainly toward organizational aspects. However, some assembly plants provide training geared to the design and construction of production lines; this increases the technological knowledge of former employees and allows them to influence the formation of small- and medium-sized suppliers with greater technological capacity.