Purpose:

To analyze the implementation process of the Center for Innovation and Technology Transfer for the Automotive sector project of Aguascalientes (CITTAA) in order to explain what the multilevel governance mechanisms that influenced its formation were and how they contributed to resolving the tensions that arose when initiating operations.

Methodological design:

It consists of a case study that proposes an analytical framework to identify and classify the public decisions as governance mechanisms of the CITTAA consortium project found in three dimensions: sectoral-territorial, political- institutional and organizational.

Results:

Command-type, persuasive, and monetized exchange governance mechanisms predominated in the sectoral-territorial dimension while command-type and persuasive ones prevailed in the political-institutional dimension. In the organizational dimension, mechanisms of solidarity, persuasive and, to a lesser extent, command and non-monetized exchange were mobilized. The prevalence of command-type mechanisms in the three dimensions characterizes the implementation of the CITTAA project within model I of multilevel governance centered in the State. However, since business agents located in Aguascalientes also had an influence, it can be considered a hybrid model.

Research limitations:

This research allowed an in-depth understanding of the implementation of the Technological Attention to Industry Centers Strategy (ECATI) of Conacyt for the Aguascalientes automotive sector based on the CITTAA project and without attempting generalizations in the organizational field of research consortia in Mexico.

Findings:

CITTAA maintains a weakly coupled organizational structure with a low level of institutionalization that favors its flexibility to respond to the advanced manufacturing demands of multiple sectors not just for the automotive.