Globalization of R&D in the automotive industry : applying current knowledge to a Mexico case study

Abstract

This thesis presents the challenges, opportunities and key themes of globalization of R&D from the point of view of a growing product development office in Mexico belonging to a large multinational automotive company. The study finds that Mexico has a very large domestic market with a growing middle class and access to an even larger international market due to one of the most open economies. It is also finds that Mexico has a growing pool of skilled human resources in S&T and is well positioned to keep growing the number of researchers in the near future. The study also shows that even though the research in Mexico is not quantitatively significant in the world yet, it is qualitatively competitive with all the BRICS and that there is a presence of agglomeration and clusters in the aerospace, automotive, electronics and software industry which is a positive sign for establishing R&D operations in those fields. The review concludes that in order to increase Ford of Mexico's (FoM) ability to contribute to innovation efforts to the company globally, it is recommended to have a small group of dedicated people to oversee and manage a portfolio of R&D projects in 4 areas of opportunity: * Process innovations including manufacturing operations " Product Innovations supporting FoM's core commodity responsibilities or targeted at commodities in which FoM has global design lead. " Projects directly geared at improving FoM's ability to deliver top hats * Building core competencies in niche areas currently not present in the company.