Strategic Management of Worker Health, Safety, and Environmental Issues in Mexico's Maquiladora Industry* Mark C. Butler and Mary B. Teagarden Conflict arising from differences in business practices, standards, values, and norms guiding behavior are inherent in international business. These conflicts are evident in Mexico's maquiladora industry, particularly relating to issues of worker health, safety, and environment. This article extends a model of conflict management; illustnites the model's dimensions with case study examples; discusses strategic human resource man- agement implications of the model's various outcomes; offers recommendations for manag- ing worker health, safety, and environment issues; and identifies directions for future research. © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. INTRODUCTION Mexico is a country ripe for worker health, safety, and environmental abuse. Economically, the country is striving aggressively to attract in- vestment and create jobs. Geographically, it shares a 2000-mile border with the United States, whose more stringent pollution regulations make Mexico a tempting destination for factories running away from environmental restrictions; for manufacturers looking for a cheap, albeit illegal, toxic waste dump; and whose strict worker health and safety regulations "encourage" firms to flee to Mexico to exploit less rigorous enforcement. Against these forces are, for example, barely 100 industrial pollution inspectors and a 4-year-old law covering emissions of 12,000 substances—:versus the 75,000 regulated in the United States. To com- pound the legal and inspection issues, there is the classic enforcement problem that comes with underpaid civil servants and wealthy violators: bribery. Final approval of the impending North American Free Trade An earlier version of this manuscript received the Minerva Education Insti- tute Irwin/Proctor & Gamble Award for Research Contributions to Worker Health, Safety and Environment at the 1992 National Academy of Management Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada. Human Resource Management, Winter 1993, Vol. 32, Number 4, Pp. 479-503 © 1993 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC 0090-4848/93/040479-25