A determination of the tasks of technology managers in the Central American maquilas of US based multinationals using structured observation
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This study is a structured observation of the work of four technology managers employed in the maquilas of publicly traded US multinational corporations in the developing countries of Central America. The firms operate in the apparel, automotive components, electronics, and textile industries. The study reports that the technology managers spent 64% of their time on tasks that were ostensively managerial and 36% on technical tasks. They spent 25% of their time on international issues that involved a non-native language or international logistics. Although the distribution of activities varied substantially from previous structured observation studies on managerial work, they were empowered managers who performed all of the managerial processes. They were not technicians with limited supervisory duties. They accomplished their jobs mostly through communication and combined their technical and language skills to transfer information, knowledge, and technology as boundary spanners in the interorganizational networks. Because they retained knowledge as they communicated it both horizontally and vertically in the organization, they were repositories of special information in the organization's transactive memory system and that made them a key participant in the organizations strategic decision-making process. Overall, they played an invaluable role in the transfer of tacit, explicit, and codified knowledgeoften through translationnot only into the foreign subsidiary, but also out of it and into other subsidiaries and the US headquarters. As technologists, they were researchers and constantly apprise themselves of innovations that may affect their industry. They attended training and seminars locally and abroad. They were the factory's technical information expert and others expected them to have answers or find them quickly. They played an important role in enhancing subordinates technical skills and often this involved locating and translating information not available to the subordinate in their native language.
