Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of both managerial commitment and the professional development of human resources on the benefits obtained from Kaizen implementation at the planning stage in Mexican maquiladora companies. Design/methodology/approach – As part of the methodology, a questionnaire is validated and administered to 423 workers in different companies from the states of Tabasco, Baja California, Sinaloa and Chihuahua. Moreover, a structural equation model is proposed to relate four latent variables: two concerning managerial commitment and the professional development of human resources, and two more related to the kinds of benefits obtained (economic and for human resources). Findings – Results demonstrate that managerial commitment has a direct and positive impact on economic benefits and those for human resources. The major contribution of this study is, however, the determination of dependency measures between these variables. Practical implications – This research contributes to the improvement and change, since the results of the research can be extended to the sustainability of other improvement activities, presenting additional areas for future research, such understanding will increase the likelihood that the results of application of Kaizen are sustained, eliminating waste and improving support within the organization. Finally, this research makes contributions to the field of industrial engineering and management disciplines of engineering and operations management, as it focusses on the improvement of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy, these systems they are integral to the modeling of this investigation. Originality/value – This study tests the hypotheses and their relation to the sustainability of Kaizen in time for them to use the analysis technique of structural equations. For the author, this is the first study to determine the causal relationships between the critical success factors and benefits of Kaizen, determining a measure of dependence between them.

Nowadays, green supplier selection (GSS) is one of the most important activities for companies. Therefore, this research aims to demonstrate the relationship that exists between GSS and the marketing benefits of companies. The chapter proposes a structural equation model that integrates three latent variables. The two independent latent variables concern preproduction green attributes and process green attributes, and they are associated with a dependent latent variable: marketing indexes. Thus, three hypotheses are proposed to relate these latent variables. To validate such hypotheses, a survey is administered to 253 middle and senior managers from the manufacturing industry of Ciudad Juárez. Similarly, a descriptive analysis of the sample and the items is carried out. Results show direct and positive effects among the analyzed variables. However, the highest impact is caused by preproduction green attributes over production process green attributes.

Nowadays maquiladoras require improving processes and reducing costs in order to stay in the market and be competitive. Just in Time (JIT), the lean manufacturing tool, works specifically on materials handling, but critical success factors (CSFs) for its implementation are unknown. For this reason, in this chapter the results of a survey applied to 372 maquiladora workers of Ciudad Juárez (México) are reported. Six hypotheses are proposed and validated through a structural equations model executed in WarpPLS 5.0® software, where four latent variables related with Management Commitment, Human Resources, Suppliers and Quality benefits in a JIT environment are associated. Direct effects, indirect effects and total effects of each one of the variables are analyzed. The results show there is enough statistical evidence to state that there is a direct and positive impact of Human Resources on the obtained Quality in a JIT environment application.

Nowadays, green supplier selection (GSS) is one of the most important activities for companies. Therefore, this research aims to demonstrate the relationship that exists between GSS and the marketing benefits of companies. The chapter proposes a structural equation model that integrates three latent variables. The two independent latent variables concern preproduction green attributes and process green attributes, and they are associated with a dependent latent variable: marketing indexes. Thus, three hypotheses are proposed to relate these latent variables. To validate such hypotheses, a survey is administered to 253 middle and senior managers from the manufacturing industry of Ciudad Juárez. Similarly, a descriptive analysis of the sample and the items is carried out. Results show direct and positive effects among the analyzed variables. However, the highest impact is caused by preproduction green attributes over production process green attributes.

Supply Chain (SC) has become a key element for companies to increase their productivity and competitiveness. However, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) has also played an important role in the performance of these companies. Therefore, this chapter analyzes three latent variables in order to know the importance of ICT in both supply chain agility and the performance of human resources. Information was obtained from a questionnaire administered in the maquiladora industry in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. A structural equation model is generated to understand the relationships among latent variables, and three hypotheses are raised based on such interactions. Finally, results indicate that supply chain agility and the performance of human resources are directly linked to the use of information and communication technologies.