Silicon Valley in the South

ABSTRACT New trends are now taking place within manufacturing industries led by multi-national corporations (MNCs). Globalization and liberalization together with the information technology (IT) revolution has accelerated “fables” industry in the network economy, i.e. outsourcing production processes and global parts procurement by MNCs. As a consequence of this, the primary function of the MNC has changed from that of manufacturer to ‘service’ provider by outsourcing production processes to foreign contract manufacturers (CMs). NAFTA in fact mutated Mexico into a production platform toward the US and Canada as well as Latin American countries. We can observe these dramatic changes, for instance, in Guadalajara in Mexico, now called the “Silicon Valley in the South”. Since MNCs use their brand names to sell products, their business function becomes close to that of the fashion industry. They market their products in the same way as Gucci and Chanel sell products of original design carrying their brand names. Therefore, product design and marketing become highly important for MNCs to achieve success in business while domestic providers have been left behind for their parts and components supply in this new global supply chain.

摘要：当前，由跨国企业（Multi-National Corporations, MNCs）主导的制造业正涌现出新的变革趋势。全球化、贸易自由化与信息技术（Information Technology, IT）革命的浪潮，加速了网络经济中外包型产业的发展——即跨国企业将生产流程外包，并开展全球零部件采购。在此背景下，跨国企业的核心职能已从制造商转变为"服务"提供商，将生产流程外包给境外合同制造商（Contract Manufacturers, CMs）。事实上，北美自由贸易协定（North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA）推动墨西哥转型为面向美国、加拿大及拉美国家的生产平台。我们可以在墨西哥瓜达拉哈拉市观察到这类剧烈变革，该市如今被誉为"南方硅谷"。由于跨国企业依托自有品牌开展产品销售，其业务职能已与时尚行业愈发趋同。其产品营销模式与古驰（Gucci）、香奈儿（Chanel）等品牌销售自有品牌原创设计产品的模式如出一辙。因此，产品设计与营销对于跨国企业获取商业成功至关重要；而在这一全新的全球供应链中，本土供应商在零部件供应领域已逐渐被边缘化。