BOOST MORALE AND PRODUCTIVITY AT MEXICAN PLANT

In early 1995, Karen Burgess began implementing a project to boost morale and productivity at a plastic-bottle making plant in Fuzhou, a city in the province of Jiangxi, China. The team-based productivity project, as it is known, was designed to induce similar results at their plants across Asia and North America.

But now, in the fall of 1996, Burgess seems to have run into a brick wall at the fourth site targeted for improvement--the plant in Mexico. The tactics that worked so well in Jiangxi are failing. Staff were approached for their reasons for absence, and the responses have been resignations, without reason. Lower-level staff have gone without salary increase for years and leave for better paying jobs, without notice. The men are clamouring for a union to solve the "disrespect" issues with management who are engaging them in decision-making using participative management. There are separate rest rooms for management and staff. The certificates of appreciation they recently received as incentives for exceeding productivity targets, were all found in the dumpster just outside the factory. Men were not interested in teaming up with women. Employees claim that changes are being made without notice or explanation, causing confusion in their workspaces.

As a meeting with senior managers looms, Burgess must rethink the issues and explain how the project can be put back on track. What can be done? The company has earmarked big bucks for the project, and the CEO's ego and reputation are wrapped up in it.

Question

1. Suggest five cultural behaviours of Mexicans and the implications for managers, to better understand and motivate the staff at the Mexican plant.

2. Given your response to question 1, identify five areas that could possibly require attention at the plant and suggest ways to "get them back on track".