‘You care for your work; I'll care for your family’: perceptions of paternalistic managerial actions and employee commitment in Mexico

Abstract

This study focuses on paternalism as a managerial strategy to foster employee commitment. Using in-depth, qualitative interviews during extended fieldwork at a Mexican multinational company, I examine employee perceptions of managerial actions within the context of workplace transformation. Employees perceived management as caring toward them and their families and characterized the workplace as a considerate and respectful environment. Employees interpreted managerial actions positively because a company cooperative provided family-supportive policies and cultivated a family-supportive culture, even after workplace transformation. Rather than disrupt the paternalistic practices, management combined them with the new strategic management practices. In exchange, employees were committed to the organization as evidenced by expressions of loyalty, pride, and appreciation. With its focus on how a specific family-supportive setting matters in the global south, this study extends the research on managerial strategies to promote employee commitment.

Este estudio se enfoca en el paternalismo como estrategia administrativa para fomentar el compromiso de los empleados. A través de entrevistas cualitativas profundas durante un extenso trabajo de campo en una compañía multinacional mexicana, examino las percepciones de las acciones administrativas dentro del contexto de la transformación del lugar de trabajo. Los empleados señalaron que la compañía se preocupa por ellos y sus familias y destacaron que el entorno laboral es de respeto y camaradería. Asimismo, consideraron que las acciones de la empresa son positivas porque las políticas de la compañía fomentan la cultura de apoyo a la familia, incluso después de los cambios en el lugar de trabajo. Por su parte, la compañía no abandonó las prácticas paternalistas, sino que las combinó con los nuevos enfoques estratégicos de administración. A cambio, los empleados se comprometieron con la organización, como lo evidencian las expresiones de lealtad, orgullo y agradecimiento. Al centrarse en la importancia que tiene la familia en las empresas en países como México, este estudio amplía la investigación sobre estrategias administrativas para promover el compromiso de los empleados.

Keywords:

• managerial strategies
• Mexico
• organizational culture
• organizational commitment
• paternalism
• work–family

Palabras claves:

• estrategias de administración
• México
• cultura organizacional
• compromiso organizacional
• paternalismo
• trabajo-familia

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers of Community, Work & Family for their helpful comments and suggestions. I am especially grateful to the BevMex employees for sharing their stories.

Notes on contributor

Krista M. Brumley is assistant professor of sociology at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Her scholarship explores gender, work, organizations, social movements, and globalization in Mexico. Her research has been published in Gender, Work & Organization, The Journal of Family Issues, and The Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.