Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
Date of Award
8-2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
International Business
First Advisor
Dr. Linda Matthews
Second Advisor
Dr. John Sargent
Third Advisor
Dr. Jose A. Pagan
Abstract
The concern over attraction and retention strategies in organizations has been widely acknowledged through the voluminous amount of research. As functions of human resources management (HRM), the emphasis in utilizing effective attraction and retention strategies cannot be ignored due to their importance to the firm's overall performance. In meeting this concern, inducements have been recently mentioned to be the missing link in providing more effective recruitment and retention strategies. Inducements are deliberate modifications of a job characteristic or the work environment, including benefits for the sole purpose of enhancing the attractiveness of a job to potential applicants and maintaining that attraction to minimize the intention to leave (turnover).
The purpose of this dissertation is to reveal the particular inducements that are important to the lower-level maquiladora workers in Mexico. By way of the inducements mentioned, needs were to be discovered for the purpose of attracting potential employees and more importantly reducing turnover. The needs theories by Maslow, Herzberg, and McClelland were used as a theoretical framework in explaining the inducements and needs of the lower-level workers in maquiladoras in Mexico.
A qualitative field study was conducted to test propositions in the discovery of lower-level maquiladora workers' needs as well as their “intention to stay”. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were used in gathering responses from lower-level maquiladora workers. Utilizing content analysis and logistic regression, the findings indicate that this particular level of workers are likely to stay due to relationship-oriented inducements, work performance-related inducements, extrinsic and more visible inducements, and most importantly, inducements that satisfy their basic needs. Also, lower-level maquiladora workers are more likely to leave their jobs if they are discontent with contingent inducements.
Through the inducement categories the development of the needs of lower-level maquiladora workers resulted in the development of the following needs: need for basic necessities, need for order/stability, need for patronage, need for development/improvement, and need for relationships. In comparing these needs with the classic needs, lower level needs are overwhelmingly “forgotten” and not satisfied by maquiladora management.
For maquiladora management focused on increasing retention rates, this dissertation offers suggestions that may be considered in developing adequate human resource management practices for this level of maquiladora workers. For the academic community it provides the strategies in contributing to this growing theme in maquiladora literature where the focus lies in management principles contingent on the worker's culture and background.
Granting Institution
University of Texas-Pan American
Comments
Copyright 2003 Melissa N. Castillo. All Rights Reserved.
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