Corporate environmental responsibility and competitiveness: The maquiladora industry of the Mexican northern borderlands

Abstract

This article sustains that competitive advantages can be developed when industries implement corporate environmental responsibility (CER) programs systematically and strategically, as demonstrated by data provided by a case study conducted with maquiladora industries in Ciudad Juárez, on the Mexico-United States border. In that study, organizational theory and studies were combined with qualitative analytical techniques to explore relationships between environmental management programs and competitive advantage indicators such as innovation, corporate image, and cost reduction. The data were collected from semistructured interviews with managers of environmental issues and from the official documents of seven regional maquiladoras. The findings showed a direct relationship between implementation of CER programs and activities with the resulting evolution of competitive advantages. Further analysis shows that it is the systematic and strategic implementation of CER programs as part of an overall managerial strategy that allows for the generation of competitive advantages through the mediation of innovation as a key factor. KEYWORDS business case studies, corporate environmental responsibility programs, corporate social responsibility, innovation and competitive advantages, maquiladora industry, U.S.-Mexico borderlands

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