Our Trip to Mexico City

By: Mara Pederson

Boing co-op representatives meet with CGE´s business students

Last week the CGE’s International Business students were able to visit and observe several different companies in Mexico City. Students spent their days by visiting such places as Hospira Pharmaceuticals, the Historical Center, and the United States Embassy. Throughout these places we visited we were able to compare and contrast how different businesses operated and functioned on a daily basis.

One example of a company that demonstrates a different business approach is the Boing Cooperative. We learned that before Boing became a cooperative it was a successful company. Boing expressed that in 1982 there was a wage increase due to economic conditions, which was not respected and led to difficult times for the business. CGE students learned about the support Boing provided to strikes that occurred between 1982 and 1985 and the effect on the company as a result. The aspects of profit returns and reinvesting were also mentioned. Boing discussed that its first profit returns were given to transportation and eventually to assembly lines.

After the Boing production increased the company started to grow. After 25 years Boing is a cooperative that focuses on the welfare of their workers. Even today, with competition from national companies like Coca Cola, they still focus on the importance of their business morals. Boing refuses to lower the price of their products because they want to maintain their quality, continue to pay fair prices to their suppliers, and maintain a social agreement with co-op workers. Currently there are about 5,000 workers linked directly to the Boing co-op and continue to stand out as a business that only resorts to firing workers as a last resort. Boing is now currently marketing to middle class individuals in the United States and are hopeful for an increase in profitable returns as their production grows.

Compared to other companies, the Boing cooperative stood out as an exceptional company that focused on the well-being and generosity of their workers. The Boing cooperative allows us to view the moral side of business beyond the focus on profits. The trip to the cooperative has taught me different business procedures that are beneficial in the survival of a company and the focus of workers rights, teaching me the importance of a business community in the heart of Mexico.