Currently, in Latin America the process of market globalization meant for few the beginning of prosperity, and for many a competitive disadvantage, stagnation to the point of bankruptcy, which was reflected in the impoverishment of a significant number of the population.
Thus, trade opening was nothing more than the expansion of a transnational market thanks to the Mexican workforce, which led to the neglect of the internal economy, but even more importantly, a deterioration in the development conditions in the country.
The networks of informal relations unfortunately ended up manifesting themselves in the monopolization of the market, where only a handful of families and small sectors of the population could participate and benefit from the opportunities of the neoliberal model.
In other words, postmodernism has only brought benefits to a small sector of the population, which has resulted for the majority, a mixture of different ways of producing, which would be necessary to ensure a place in the market.
Thus, in most companies there is talk of flexibility in work - a term that will be discussed shortly - which has been partial in all areas. Thing that by the conditions, we consider that they are an exception and not the rule.
Therefore, and given the circumstances, currently there are few Mexican companies that have managed to stand out nationally, and the number is lower when it comes to having a presence abroad. In this sense, this essay presents experiences and evidences of the production system of a factory located in the community of San Pedro Atocpan, in the south of the Federal District, called “Mole Don Pancho”.
The objective is to analyze the existing production and organization process, as well as to determine labor flexibility, this, in order to identify the strategies used by the Company within the free market context.
The qualitative part of the trial is the result of the information provided by the company itself, as well as the interviews that were carried out with workers from the different areas of the company.
In this way, we propose to expose what the productive restructuring consisted of and the introduction of new forms of labor organization at scale, referring to the case, the Company "Mole Don Pancho", to serve as an experience to be emulated by the national productive sector, since the relationship that the Company has created with both small, medium and large companies stands out, as a fundamental factor that has benefited its growth, positioning and consolidation as a medium-sized company in the face of the neoliberal economic dynamics.
This linkage has led to the productive organization not only being integrated effectively into the internal market, but it has also managed to expand into the external market; having conquered important niches, with the social and even identity implications, typical of the production of goods that are so local in cultural terms.
An equally decisive factor for achieving its success have been the technological innovations that it has implemented and applied, both in infrastructure and machinery, and in organizational forms, which has helped it to ensure its permanence in both markets, placing it as a “Milk Cow” Company, according to the Boston Consulting Group Parent Company, that is, it is already consolidated as a profitable company.
In order to illustrate what has been described so far, firstly, the current structure of the Company will be discussed, since it will allow us to identify the organization and productivity strategies that have been made over time, and which have managed to give it permanence and current positioning.
On the other hand, in the second section it is about theorizing about the situations seen in the form of organization and production of work, which are the basis of much of the productive structuring strategies in the factory. Likewise, a specific theory is proposed with which it is to explain the permanence of the Company despite all the drastic changes within the organizational field.
Company Background
The company "Mole Don Pancho" is 48 years old and arises to satisfy the need that mole has as a product. The company is part of the Atocpan Group, which creates the bases to produce and market the products that were made in a traditional and homemade way.
The result was positive, soon the mole of San Pedro Atocpan was recognized as one of the best in the country, which allowed it to position itself in a very short time, but also forced the company to improve its ways of production, conservation and packaging; so under the initiative of the main producers in 1963, a cooperative was created under the name: Cooperativa de Venta Común SCL
In 1973, new members joined the cooperative, which meant fresh resources and new perspectives, which injected new vigor into the company, achieving its consolidation.
Later, the common sales cooperative soon became the Production Cooperative Society, with the aim of improving sales and this in turn increased production volumes.
Finally, as a logical transition step, the need to create a commercial identity arises, which is why the Mole Don Pancho brand was born, which was gaining presence in the taste of consumers, establishing itself as one of the most prestigious and traditional brands in the country.
Success led to diversification, and soon the cooperative formed small companies dedicated to selection, milling, marketing, and distribution.
Small businesses are classified into:
- Donor of Mole Don PanchoAlmacenes AtocpanComercial AtocpanDistributor of Mole Don PanchoMoles AtocpanMoles Especial Don PanchoProcessor of Moles Don PanchoRestaurant Las CazuelasSurtidora de Chiles y Semillas San Pedro
However, as a consequence of globalization, on December 1, 2000, a merger of companies was carried out, leaving only Comercial Atocpan SA de CV, who has under its command the entire process of manufacturing the products, restructuring the personnel work in two companies.
a) Servicios Comerciales San Pedro, SA de C. V, which includes the areas of: descolado, warehouses, production and the company; and, b) Servicios Integrales Atocpan, SA de CV, whose areas are: self-services, finished products, shipments, administration and all branches.
Currently the company continues to grow, trying to conquer more international markets and implementing the most modern production techniques, without forgetting the essence of its origin (Information provided by the company itself, 2011).
From the above, it appears that Comercial Atocpan has used all the strategies that have kept it facing the unstable market, profiling and adapting to the logic of capital.
Thus, the company Comercial Atocpan SA de CV is classified among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which have an important weight in the national economy, despite the fact that at one time they thought they were incapable of competing internationally.
Today SMEs generate new solutions to existing labor problems; An example of these problems is subcontracting, which gave presence to network companies (outsourcing) that have coordinated inter-firm transactions; in other words, they have the capacity to respond to the quality standards imposed by the contractor.
The network company's provider market is segmented into primary (professional) and secondary (semi-professional) providers. Belonging to one or the other of the segments is related to the degree of technical autonomy of the subcontractor company and to the duration stipulated in the contract. From the subcontractor's point of view, integration into the network company is based on the expectation of reducing uncertainty by having a secure market and having the technical support of the main company (Casalet, 2000).
Therefore, outsourcing companies have shown great growth in recent times thanks to the flexibility of work; its services are increasingly required as it detaches the company from personal dealings, paperwork and uncertainty regarding its personnel. For example, the company in question has outsourcing services for the benefits already mentioned.
An important factor for SMEs is that they constitute link networks between companies, local and national institutions, whether for research, financing or productive promotion.
In Mexico at the beginning of the 1990s, a series of organizations began to emerge that can be defined as bridge institutions, whose objectives were to provide assistance in various areas that contribute to raising the levels of productivity and competitiveness of companies (Casalet, 2000: 327).
These bridge institutions have helped boost quality in production, boost technological innovation, raise productivity levels of the workforce and create an environment of trust and certainty, through cooperation between companies that unite and share part of their capacities and / or resources, without merging, establish a certain degree of interrelation in order to increase their competitive advantages.
SMEs in Mexico constitute the:
- 97% of the total companies generate 79% employment. Their income is equivalent to 23% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (INEGI, 2004).
Based on the above, we can affirm that the weight of SMEs in Mexico is of great relevance, since it covers almost all the total number of companies; therefore, since the Mole Don Pancho Company is considered a medium-sized company, it is necessary to consider its importance in the context of the national economy.
Currently, microenterprises represent 20% of the national Gross Domestic Product with an annual growth of 2.9%, a rate higher than the average growth, which stands at 1.7%. National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI 2004).
On the other hand, PRONAFIM (The National Program for Microentrepreneur Financing) presents that in the last 10 years, the population employed in microenterprises increased from 36.2 million people to 45.4 million, which was due to an increase in productive units. of the sector from 13.7 million to 18.1 million in the same period.
Derived from the significant contribution of micro-enterprises to the country's economy, MiPYMES were created.
These constitute 99.9% of the economy, generating 79.6% of employment, reflecting 52% of GDP, that is, they generate more than 50% of GDP and 8 out of 10 jobs are created by them.
However, the question arises as to how to know when a company enters the MSMEs. So in the following box, the classification criteria of the companies are presented according to the Official Gazette of the Federation of December 2002:
|
Size of the company |
Classification by number of employees |
% of market share |
||
|
Industry |
Commerce |
Services |
||
| Micro | 0 - 10 | 0 - 10 | 0 - 10 |
96.7 |
| Little | 11 - 50 | 1130 | 11 - 50 | |
| Median | 51 - 250 | 31 - 100 | 51 - 100 |
3.1 |
| Big | ≥ 251 | ≥ 101 | ≥ 101 |
0.3 |
Source: INEGI 2004
Finally, based on the above criteria, Mole Don Pancho - part of the company Comercial Atocpan SA de CV - is considered a medium-sized company, so it faces a highly competitive scenario, forcing it to be restructuring and innovating in order to remain in the market. Therefore, in the following section we will analyze the labor strategies that have allowed the Company to continue to be present.
Productive flexibility strategies
The need to incorporate Mexico into the process of economic globalization required companies to restructure their forms of production, organization and administration of work.
The adequacy of production processes led to adjustments in the organization of work, via labor flexibility, understood as "the ability of management to adjust employment, the use of labor power in the production process and the salary to changing conditions of production ”(Tunal, 2002).
One of the peculiarities of labor flexibility is that it appears as one of the most important consequences in the reorganization between capital and labor, which produced and is producing substantial changes in the labor markets.
Beginning in the 1980s, the concept of flexibility became key to understanding changes in labor relations; This concept changes according to the conceptual source from which it comes. “The concept of flexibility as it is currently used has three main origins: the oldest comes from neoclassical theory; the postfordist; the one that originates from the modern managerial theories of the organization of companies ”(De la Garza, 2000: 115).
From neoclassical economic theory comes the specific idea of labor market flexibility, and it is understood as the elimination of obstacles for market mechanisms to spontaneously take care of assigning the factor of work in terms of price and employment (García, 2002: 15 in De la Garza, 2000: 152).
The emphasis on the flexibility aspect as a labor force market is not free. Some of the most important assumptions of neoclassical theory would be:
- The rationality of economic agents (Blaug, 1992) would be guided by the search for maximum utility; They must have complete information about the market (prices and movements of the other agents), as well as know the equations that allow them to calculate their utility function and by virtue of which they would decide when the relationship between invested means and achieved ends is optimal. They build models as if it were possible to control variables. Extra-economic institutions, cultures or conflicts are not taken into account; all these factors are considered externalities or market failures. If conditions of perfect competition are maintained, there will be a tendency to balance.
(De la Garza, 2000: 152)
In this way, making the labor market more flexible for the neoclassicalists is “making the supply and demand of workers more flexible, facilitating employment and unemployment, the use of labor power within the work process, individualizing forms of payment according to productivity marginal ”(De la Garza, 2000: 155).
In one way or another, these proposals included the need for employers to have the ability to hire, fire and relocate labor, as well as to involve it in changes in work processes.
Now, “labor flexibility at work can be studied through two dimensions: productive organization and human resources. In the first, numerical flexibility, functional flexibility and worker participation in work organization are normally used as indicators. In the second, reference is made to personnel training and wage flexibility in relation to the well-being of workers ”(Tunal 2002).
Thus, according to the results of six interviews with different workers of the Mole Don Pancho company, an analysis is made of the following, admitting that the assertions presented only refer to the formal part of said interviews and therefore cannot be taken as generalities.
Productive organization
- Numerical flexibility: Refers to the ability of companies to transform their worker plants, based on variations in the external demand for their products. Likewise, "numerical flexibility is an indicator that helps us understand the ability of companies to adapt their general working conditions to the process of productive modernity" (Pérez and Tunal, 2003).
According to the above, it is concluded that in the Mole Don Pancho company, numerical flexibility is one of the least practiced. Most of the employees in the plant are consolidated in their employment.
The only way to lose your job in the company is as a consequence of some economic crisis, such as the one in 2008 regarding the cut of personnel "Yes, definitely because I think that the crisis affects us all, especially with the energy that is it had, with the production that it had if it was to produce another branch that currently stopped, because wages were also frozen and obviously the staff who wanted to look for other opportunities also stagnated ”(Interview with Briones Miguel, 2011).
- Functional flexibility: “it refers to the use of labor within production processes, the modification of the structure of jobs, the reassignment of tasks of workers based on technological change, mobility within the company and the presence of multipurpose workers ”(Pérez and Tunal, 2003).
This type of flexibility is the most used within the company, since of the six interviews, all managed a mobility of their jobs.
- Salary flexibility: “It is the well-being of workers associated with remuneration systems in addition to salary. Although it also involves negotiation between the company and the union ”(Pérez and Tunal, 2003).
Regarding the salary issue, the workers of the Mole Don Pancho company have monetary or symbolic remuneration systems. The main ones are the benefits of law, social security, personal loans and daily food at a low cost.
Regarding the dimension that concerns Human Resources, there is:
The training, which basically seeks to promote the integral development of the personnel, and as a consequence the development of the organization, as well as to propitiate and strengthen the technical knowledge necessary for the best performance of work activities (rrh-web.com, 2006).
In the company in question, training is the most widely used flexibility tool, since it helps the worker to feel identified and motivated to move up the job, thanks to the hard work that he gets to perform; while for the employer it is a compensation by obtaining higher productivity from the worker.
For example, two workers answered the question about training in the company: “when there is a significant change in the plant, let's say some process, the personnel are trained and if this does not happen in a period of six months, every six months there is specific training in the areas in which you are working "(Interview Gil Miguel, 2011) and" yes of course, you like the test is three months, if we react well to that they give us the position, but we are still from the general table, but now it is practically everyone's question if they want to learn too much ”(Interview Camacho Freddy, 2011).
According to the participation of workers in the design of processes, the division of labor, the form of assignment of tasks, training, the functions of the positions, the hierarchical structure, is almost nil, or scarce, within the organization.
Other forms of work
The work process is transformed according to the change in the accumulation regime and the regulation mode, in order to achieve a greater saving of time and at a low cost; therefore, Fordism and Taylorism came to the fore as an organizational innovation in the United States mainly, in the late 19th century.
For the purposes of this essay Taylorism will be taken as a scientific organization of work; "Taylor (1856-1915) was one of the authors who most contributed to formulating an operational conception to" rationalize "human work applicable to the organization and management of companies oriented towards the search for benefits, and the one who had the most impact on this matter during the first half of our century in the business environment ”(Neffa, 1998: 31).
Before Taylorism, the job market was very busy because skilled employees were so few in number because the population was primarily engaged in the fields and were reluctant to join the industrial workforce.
But with the application of the techniques of the methods of the Taylorist version, for greater success in the industry and within it in the mass production branches of homogeneous products, these techniques were applied to compete in a small market and achieve low production costs. These techniques were:
- Carry out studies of time and movements, to eliminate downtime. The social and technical division of labor. Standardize tasks, either manually or mechanically. Section and standardization of tools and machines. Assign a certain number of tasks to each worker. Scientifically to the workers. Work is individualized. Professional training of the employees. Objectively measure the work in a personalized way. Give a salary according to the production of each worker. Dictate time off. Control and supervise each Worker: Build a personal management and work relations system.
Then, the salary was analyzed as a form of control towards the workers, because Taylor said that having different wages, the workers would worry about producing more, to earn more; reason why this form of payment was called: piecework, this being a productive modality that corresponds to a special form of payment while an increase in production or product is verified.
The main features of the piecework system are:
- It is an individual incentive, in the sense that each person receives a “prize” according to their performance. It is applied to group remuneration (crews, work groups responsible for a specific part or product, etc.). A goal of production per charge. The worker is encouraged to perform the task quickly. As the task execution time is reduced, the remuneration obtained is increased. All the premium is received by the worker.
At the Mole Don Pancho factory, this type of payment could be noted in the descolado area (a place where chile is cleaned and treated), where we had the opportunity to interview Mr. Pedro Leyva (2011), who mentioned who earns $ 2.30 for each kilo of chili that he cleans; It was surprising to see how quickly he carries out his work, so the Taylorist theory about the concern to produce more, to earn more, can be reaffirmed.
Neoschumpeterianism
Finally, the argument that we want to develop in this work starts from the idea of assuming that the successful permanence of the Mole Don Pancho company within the national market is due to continuous innovation in general terms; In other words, the company initially moved within a local market that persisted within the logic of capital accumulation, currently placing it within the international market (De la Garza, 2000).
However, we see the need to support this assumption, so we will support our position with the Neoschumpeterian theory; European Anglo-Saxon theory that is better attached to the analysis that was previously proposed.
The central point of the neo-Schumpeterian theory is technological innovation, which depends on the accumulation of capital; In other words, economic growth, say the neo-Schumpeterians, depends on technological innovation and this, in turn, on capital accumulation to be in a position to invest in innovation.
The theory of neoschumpeterianism based its study on the long cycles of Kondratiev's capitalism, not in the same way, but it helped to understand its theory.
Currently, this theory has essentially contributed to the understanding of the process that goes from invention to technological innovation, from it to its diffusion and finally to productive investment. Freeman describes it as:
“A process with multiple mediations, among which the characteristics of the scientific-technical apparatus, the expectations of the actors regarding the results of the innovation, the market uncertainty about the results of the technological innovation, among others, stand out” (De la Garza, 2000: 719).
This theory relates productive restructuring to the technological paradigm, understood as the scientific knowledge on which the techniques of production, circulation or consumption processes that need innovation to give life to the product and process cycle are based.
On the other hand, De la Garza says that it is:
“The technological base for development, crisis and productive restructuring, which considers the institutional framework for inventions, innovations, diffusions and investments fundamental, especially the institutional framework for research, dissemination and training, which would not be the result of a automatic process regulated by the market. To this extent, the current crisis is conceptualized as the exhaustion of the previous technological paradigm; Its overcoming would take place through the application of the results of the third technological revolution to the productive, circulatory and consumption processes, but this leap forward would still be suspended in the face of the absence of new institutions that would enable the wide dissemination of new technologies ”(De la Garza, 2000: 720).
Neoschumpeterianism
Source: (Dela Garza, 2000: 720)
One of the criticisms that have been made of this theory is to suppose that the stages of capitalism are given by economic cycles that will result in a crisis when it has reached its current state. However, the technology-innovation variable is not very convincing because the technological trajectories have been confusing in terms of periodization, so that in theoretical-historical questions the neo-Schumpeterian theory is ruled out.
On the other hand, neoschumpeterianism remains a theory of a more limited regional scope, so it can be taken for analysis, perhaps not of a world economic reality, but rather to adaptation at a micro level (in this case, to the company Mole Don Pancho) to understand its permanence in the logic of capital based on technological innovation in all its areas (from infrastructure to the workforce), which has helped it to compete and soon relate to the world market.
conclusion
In conclusion; Based on the research carried out, it was observed that the company Mole Don Pancho knew how to adapt and remain in the national market thanks to the incorporation of different production strategies, which mix static and dynamic factors; that is, it maintains traditional production / organization strategies as well as its constant renewal that the same logic of capital demands.
This analysis is based on visits made to the factory, where it was observed that the company offers social and labor security, at the same time that it follows the accumulation logic; Likewise, the company mixes organization, production and administration strategies that serve its particular case, which point out that there is a management that is aware of innovation in every sense, without detaching itself from what has served it for the reproduction of your capital; reason why it seems necessary to mention the traditional strategies inserted in the productive structure of the company such as:
- Detachment, Salary, Social Security (IMSS social insurance, legal benefits, food stamps).
On the other hand, we mention the modern strategies that have changed its structure, such as:
- Productivity bonuses, Outsourcing, Participation in the external market, Temporary contracts, Productive niches in the company (different brands), and White or home union.
It should be noted that the success obtained by Mole Don Pancho has been such that it begins to insert itself in the foreign market; initially using substitutes, since it is a strategy due to the innumerable requirements to export, which makes it impossible to expand its market, but it is expected that in the short term, continuing with its market strategy, the brand in the international market.
When making a final balance it is possible to say that, there are some areas in which the examined company has put in place systems for the modernization of its work processes, via labor flexibility, which has come to support its productive restructuring, because thanks these provisions have been able to maintain both their capital potential and the support of the workers.
Obviously, there are many requirements that must be met to achieve a satisfactory degree of labor flexibility that allows it to compete with international markets, which is why there is talk of the need to develop an adequate strategy to take advantage of the natural and social characteristics of Mexico, which modify the old forms of accumulation, thinking about political and social changes.
The challenge today for the entire company is to design a new accumulation pattern that combines new technologies with productive capacity that will allow them a positive incorporation into the envious international market.
In this investigation, emphasis was placed on the neoschumpeterian theory since it encompasses all the strategies of productive structuring with a determining variable such as innovation.
Therefore, based on the data collected, such a theory was adapted as it allowed explaining and summarizing that the successes achieved in the company are due to the constant innovation that has taken place.
An important aspect to highlight is what concerns piecework, since it is one of the main factors in the production process at the company Mole Don Pancho, distinguishing itself for being a production modality that is paid in a special way, since everything depends on the amount of production that is done to obtain the desired salary; However, this is a way to incentivize workers' performance, which obviously benefits the capitalist more since his surplus value increases by the increase in effort of each worker who depends totally on what he produces. In a way it is a way of demanding more than normal performance in a legal way.
As Taylor said, any job can be studied; reason why in the present investigation, although not all the theories that could analyze the current situation of Mole Don Pancho were addressed, if it was based on an interest that was the permanence of a national company, which is present in a preferential context.
The implications of this essay translate into an experience worthy of being emulated by many Mexican companies that have not found a way out or solution to their permanence problems in different market niches.
Bibliography
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Note: This essay is based on research carried out by the co-author at UAM-Xochimilco in 2011.
