Mondragon Multi-localisation Strategy: Innovating a Human Centred Globalisation
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branding and acquiring a new local customer base, lobbying local governments, workforce training, workforce turnover and employee loyalty, certification of suppliers and quality control, logistics management, and issues of isolation, dissatisfaction and motivation of expatriate employees. In the same way that the Mondragon co-operatives reacted to the demands of the market with a policy of regional clustering back in the 1970s and 80s, the current market demands on the subsidiaries abroad are encouraging a clustering of these companies. Even if it does not exist as a formal policy, this emerging phenomenon invites analysis.
Mondragon co-operatives FDI: share motivations and joint locations
While analysing the Mondragon Group production plants abroad, we came to understand that the original motivation for opening production plants abroad was very similar for most of the co-operatives. Regardless of the specific industrial sector or co-operative activity, the countries and regions where co-operatives open factories tend to resemble to each other. In the following lines the main reasons for making FDI in each country or region are briefly reviewed2: − China and India: Access to low cost purchasing and local markets with an outstanding annual growth rate. In addition to being able to produce those products, that are not profitable when made at the parent co-operatives, China and India are platforms to purchasing, to selling or to entering in neighbouring countries. − East Central Europe: Locating close to customers this applies mainly to large manufacturers of domestic appliances and the automotive sector. The region
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To have a deeply description of the Mondragon production plants in emerging countries see section 5.5 in chapter 5. Jose Mari Luzarraga PhD Mondragon University - 2008