French Company Research Articles

Plus Ça Change: Along the Rue de Caumartin [Doing No Harm

Plus Ça Change: Along the Rue de Caumartin [Doing No Harm

Urban Transmission of Human African Trypanosomiasis, Gabon

To the Editor: We describe a confirmed case of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) in an expatriate returning to France from Gabon after a probable tsetse fly bite in the urban setting of Libreville. This case indicates a possible urban transmission of HAT in Gabon and stresses the need for entomologic studies in Libreville. HAT is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (eastern Africa) and T.b. gambiense (western Africa) parasites are transmitted to humans by tsetse flies of the Glossina morsitans group (T.b. rhodesiense) and of the G. palpalis group (T.b. gambiense), which are found only in Africa. T.b. gambiense represents >90% of all reported cases of HAT worldwide. HAT has always been a travel-associated disease. It is a rare cause of fever, cutaneous lesions, and neurologic signs in travelers returning from disease-endemic areas and involves T.b. rhodesiense in 70% of the cases, resulting mostly from an exposure during safari in game parks (1,2). A 58-year-old previously healthy Portuguese man who worked in Gabon for 13 years for a French company was admitted to the tropical and infectious diseases ward because of a 2-month history of intermittent fever, fatigue, and a 10-kg weight loss. The patient recalled a painful unidentified insect bite on his right thigh 2 months before in his garden in Libreville (Lalala quarter). A 8-cm, indurated, erythematous, and painful plaque (chancre) progressively developed (Figure) in the following weeks after the assumed insect bite. When admitted to the hospital, the patient had a temperature of 39°C, anorexia, insomnia, pruritus of the left arm, and paresthesia of the hands and feet. Two additional large annular erythematous macules, centrally pale (trypanids), were found on his back (Figure). A subclavicular 0.5-cm lymph node was observed. There was no hepatosplenomegaly. Figure Thigh chancre (1) and back trypanids (2 and 3) in a patient with human African trypanosomiasis infection, Gabon. His laboratory results showed moderate anemia (hemoglobin 11.8 g/dL) and thrombopenia (134,000 platelets/mm3) and elevated levels of C-reactive protein (30.6 mg/L) and gammaglobulins (23.9 g/L). A thick-blood smear showed no malaria parasites but a few trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma spp. PCR of blood identified T.b. gambiense. A cerebrospinal fluid sample showed moderate elevation of total proteins (0.43 g/L) and albumin (291 mg/L), 11 leukocytes, and no IgM elevation. Direct examination and PCR showed no trypanosome in the cerebrospinal fluid. Specific antibodies were found in the blood by indirect immunofluorescence (titer 200). Biopsies of 2 skin lesions (thigh, back) showed a lymphoplasmocytic vasculitis consistent with cutaneous locations of HAT; no parasite was observed in situ. The patient was treated successfully with a 7-day course of pentamidine. The case was reported to World Health Organization Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases Department. A total of 328 HAT cases were reported to the World Health Organization in Gabon during 2000–2009; most infections were acquired in the mangrove swamp Atlantic coast focus in Noya (Estuaire Province) and some in the focus of Bendje (Ogooue-Maritime Province) (3). Four of 6 cases of T.b. gambiense imported to Europe during 2005–2009 were in expatriates with a travel history to Gabon (1). In the 4 case-patients infected in Gabon, an exposure in rural forest areas was assessed (4–6; D. Malvy, pers. comm.). In the fifth case reported here, the tsetse bite likely occurred in the urban setting of Libreville. The patient did not report occupational exposure to tsetse bites outside Libreville during the previous year. He occasionally went in Pointe Denis during weekends but did not remember having been bitten by a tsetse fly. Although the patient did not identify the insect in his garden, the chronology of his clinical history and the presence of a typical chancre at the place of the insect bite that occurred before symptoms provide strong arguments in favor of this hypothesis. The bite occurred during the morning hours, in the patient’s home garden in the Lalala area of Libreville (0.357568N, 9.475365E) near the Ogombie River. This area is located 125 km and 75 km from the Bendje and Noya HAT foci, respectively. Two studies provided evidence for urban transmission of HAT in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) and in Bonon (Cote d’Ivoire) (7,8). Concurrently, some tsetse species, such as G. palpalis, adapt to high human densities and are found in the largest urban centers of western Africa (9). Entomologic studies in Libreville should prompt further investigation into a possible urban transmission of HAT in Gabon, as we suspect in the case reported.

Prayas by Sanofi-Aventis in India: Making Healthcare Accessible to the Bottom of the Pyramid

Prayas is a unique healthcare initiative, launched in India by Sanofi-Aventis, a French multinational pharmaceutical company, with the objectives of updating the medical knowledge of doctors in semi-urban and rural areas, bridging the gap between diagnosis and treatment, and making available quality medicines at affordable prices. This case discusses the evolution of the Prayas model from its inception to its current state, and the company's business strategies around it. Cognizant of the success of Prayas, many competitors of Sanofi-Aventis are actively developing and implementing similar models. The company's top management team has to respond to the competitive threat.

Choisir la visioconférence pour la formation professionnelle ? L'analyse stratégique des décideurs

Résumé L’objectif de la recherche est d’identifier les raisons qu’invoquent les responsables de formation pour l’adoption (ou la non adoption) de la visioconférence pour la formation. La recherche présentée est l’un des volets d’une étude d’impact de la visioconférence sur la formation dans une grande entreprise française. Les entretiens auprès des décideurs, responsables de centres de formation sont passés au crible via une grille d’analyse transposée du tableau de bord prospectif (Kaplan, Norton). En dépit des limites propres à cette analyse, sont ainsi mis en relief des raisons organisationnelles et stratégiques, dont certaines sont peu évoquées, au-delà des enjeux strictement financiers.

Method and tools for building maintenance plan arbitration

PurposeBuildings maintenance is a complex activity: importance of issues, scales crossing, diversity of civil engineering domains … The key point of this activity is the elaboration of the maintenance. This paper seeks to present a method and the associated tools to elaborate a building maintenance plan considering the complexity of the facility management.Design/methodology/approachThe risk notion can be a solution to handle the complexity. Specialists may specify each decision in terms of risk form in order to purchase (reflecting the probability and the associated consequences) a rich view about the global situation. The principle is to use a simulation logic, to compare the situation in terms of risk, with or without the realization of an action (work, equipment replacement, formation, etc.). This simulation logic must be based on efficient software tools, which enable one to manage the risk database ergonomically.FindingsThe method took the form of an experiment in a leading French company. The experiment's results and plan were highly beneficial. Although the method was based on personal choices rather than on a mathematical function, the final maintenance plan was considered sound and seemed to correspond to the expectations of all the participants.Originality/valueMost facilities management methods and tools find answering the complexity problem difficult. They ignore the complexity by focusing only on the technical aspect. The work takes place at the highest facility management level, therefore shedding new light on this domain. The risk notion enables one to consider the complexity of the maintenance and to formalize it into an understandable form for the decision‐maker.

Valuing Nature

Valuing Nature

The introduction of chlorpromazine in Belgium and the Netherlands (1951–1968); tango between old and new treatment features

The introduction of chlorpromazine in Belgium and the Netherlands demonstrates an intriguing tango between old and new treatments. Chlorpromazine, marketed by the French company Rhône Poulenc entered psychiatry as an adjunct to existing therapies. Instead of promoting chlorpromazine as a revolutionary therapy, we see early efforts to market Largactil as a supplement to the armoury of psychiatric treatments. These marketing efforts matched the idiosyncrasies of national and local styles and cultures. Despite continuities with earlier therapeutic developments, we support the notion of a therapeutic revolution. In the early sixties supply and demand provoked a turn towards more standardized therapeutic regimes.

Hedge fund activism: insights from a French clinical study

Over the period from October 2006 to May 2008, Atos Origin, a French information technology company, was the target of two activist hedge funds, Centaurus and Pardus. This article investigates in detail how the activists initiated their actions, how the management organized its defence and how both were received by the market. The analysis reveals that, although Atos seemed to be an attractive opportunity, the funds failed in their primary objective, the sale of the target. In fact, the chairmen of Atos succeeded in discrediting the two hedge funds by getting support in the French context, not particularly prone to and sometimes even hostile towards shareholder's interests. Our findings show that the success/failure classification used in large-sample studies, and based very often on officially stated goals, bears a considerable risk of misinterpretation. The Atos case shows that empirical studies should more heavily rely on what really matters for hedge fund activism, i.e. the sale of the target, spin-offs or cash-outs. While governance related motives are often mentioned and easily enforced, they do not make activism profitable and cannot, by themselves, be considered as primary motives for hedge fund activism. As a consequence, the success of hedge fund activism should be assessed considering primary motives only.

Mediated Negotiations: A Case Study of a Transcultural Exchange between Lebanon and Israel

This article examines the strategies and practices by which the Israeli news media negotiated and (re)appropriated a Lebanese documentary that was produced in cooperation with a French company and was purchased and broadcast by an Israeli commercial channel. Using this transnational textual event, the article explores the dynamics, opportunities and pitfalls associated with transcultural exchanges that take place in a conflictual, translocal context, and the ways in which such exchanges are shaped by an interplay of material-institutional and discursive-symbolic dimensions. The article also provides a multi-layered framework for analyzing the broadcasting and journalistic practices surrounding such textual events, and establishes the relationship between appropriation and witnessing strategies. I show how the Israeli media—driven by commercial interests and applying complex forms of witnessing and appropriation—worked to sustain national myths and suppress the potentially disruptive aspects of the documentary, while at the same time exposing the weaknesses of these myths, as well as the limits of the State's power. Emerging from this case study is a complex picture of the multifaceted roles played by national news media in a transnational economy, and of the ways in which commercial media interests serve as both hegemonic and disruptive forces within the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict.

First steps in coupling continuous carbon isotopic measurements with already proven subsurface gas monitoring methods above underground carbon dioxide storage sites

The main role of INERIS (French National Institute for Industrial Environment and Risks) is to assess and avert accidental and chronic risks to both people and the environment linked to industrial installations, chemical substances and underground operations. INERIS is thus involved in research consortiums for underground storages of wastes, hydrocarbons or carbon dioxide. Concerning carbon dioxide storage, INERIS works for many years on defining and testing monitoring methods. As a French expert, the institute also performs integrated risk assessment studies. This paper focuses on the last improvements concerning the monitoring methods developed or patented by INERIS. Because the institute was created from the research centre of the former French national coal mining company, it has a well-established know-how in monitoring gas atmospheres. Having developed monitoring methods for mining contexts, INERIS has tools to constrain gas migrations in subsurface: 1. to determine gas flux between soil and atmosphere with dynamic accumulation chambers; 2. to determine gas concentrations in unsaturated zones through integrated gas sensor systems linked to subsurface boreholes (from 0 to about 300 meters depth). Initially designed for mining context, these two methods have been tested and proven for the monitoring of CO2 geological storage contexts. For example between 2005 and 2007, INERIS was one of the five partners involved in the 'GeoCarbone MONITORING' research project. This project was funded by the French Research Agency and aims at defining methods to monitor CO2 storage sites. Today the institute is involved in other projects studying pilot sites. In this paper we present results collected in analog contexts to CO2 storage sites. We will discuss in which conditions the carbon isotopic signature can help to determine the possible origins of the gas analyzed in our devices and to better understand the physical and chemical processes which can have led to the studied gas compositions. We will also highlight the fact that in some cases, there is a real need of using isotopic tracing methods otherwise the identification of these different processes cannot be done easily.

Ageing management of french NPP civil work structures

This paper presents EDF practice about concrete structure ageing management, from the mechanisms analysis to the formal procedure which allows the French company to increase 900 MWe NPP lifetime until 40 years; it will also introduce its action plan for 60 years lifetime extension.

À la recherche d'un emploi: Business French in a Communicative Context by Amy L. Hubbell

processing instruction, Total Physical Response, and self-instructional methods for teaching language forms. This eclectic approach provides readers with a host of techniques to help build or expand their teaching repertoire. Furthermore, while Brandl makes a convincing research-supported case for CLT and taskbased learning, he also recognizes the challenges inherent in implementing these methods, and guides readers to anticipate and address them. Despite its strengths, some significant omissions prevent Communicative Language Teaching in Action from being a complete language teaching methods resource. A discussion of teaching writing is completely absent (though the chapter on assessment contains an appendix of suggestions on evaluating writing). This serves to reinforce the all-too-common misconception that writing is incompatible with CLT, and leaves pre-service teachers unprepared to help their students develop this key skill. Moreover, discussion of teaching culture is cursory, limited to mentions on choosing culturally authentic materials and preparing students to encounter cultural references when reading. A more comprehensive treatment of these fundamental topics would be welcome in future editions of the book. Saginaw Valley State University (MI) Julie A. Foss HUBBELL, AMY L. À la recherche d’un emploi: Business French in a Communicative Context. Newburyport, MA: Focus, 2010. ISBN 978-158510-372-0. Pp. 254. $59.95. As implied by the Communicative Context part of the title, the author intends to offer a practical guide to students wishing to acquire the basic knowledge and skills required to function in the French and Francophone world of business. The structure of the book reflects its objective, with the two introductory chapters (“La géographie et l’administration de la France et quelques régions francophones,” “L’économie et les entreprises”) providing a broad overview, while the next five chapters (“À la recherche d’un emploi,” “Le curriculum vitae,” “La lettre de motivation ,” “L’entretien d’embauche,” “La communication professionnelle”) are more pragmatic, focusing on specific aspects of the business world with which the student must be familiar in order to succeed. The final chapter presents a case study involving a small French company, Rose la Biche, which markets its distinctive line of women’s clothing. The vocabulary list, presented at the beginning of each chapter, is generally germane and of reasonable length, although a number of easily recognizable cognates could be omitted: l’économie, la technologie (32), la personnalité, la qualité (74), l’enveloppe (192), l’adresse (193). Some items are listed twice: le chômage (2, 32), embaucher (65, 100), un en-tête (134, 192), une formule de politesse (132, 194). The book contains a significant amount of useful material that could be applied to a job search: practical advice and models for preparing a CV (including attention to differences between the French and American CV), presenting oneself for a job, decoding classified ads, guidance on preparing an effective cover letter (again with models provided), advice on preparing for an interview (including a list of 50 possible questions that might be anticipated), and also suggestions on how to follow up in writing after a job interview (the formules de politesse appropriate for a follow-up letter are especially useful). The video segments provided for the book vary considerably in applicability and utility. Some are quite relevant and well integrated into the chapter to which they correspond. The interviews with Henri Kaufman (co-creator of Les vidéos du Reviews 415 succès) are generally entertaining and informative, although interference from background street noise will challenge comprehension for many students. Most students will find some segments too difficult to follow. Chapter 1 contains a list of fifteen questions based on a film trailer for L’auberge espagnole, in which very few of the questions actually correspond to any of the scenes shown in the clip. In chapter 2 a ninety-second film trailer for Ressources humaines does not correspond to the questions, which appear to be based on a twelve-minute scene from the movie. Chapter 6 contains a video activity for which no video could be found. Although many of the links included in the book’s Web site are useful resources for further research, a few are inactive, one links to Amazon.fr, another to Yahoo! France, and...

Institutional Change in the Making - The Case of Socially Responsible Investment

This dissertation explores the mechanisms of institutional change in practice. The institutional change under study relates to the progressive penetration of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) criteria into conventional investment funds, a phenomenon which appeared during the 2000s, known as SRI Mainstreaming. The dissertation aims to explain why SRI Mainstreaming has expanded into France and to identify its impacts on the practices of the French asset management sector. It mobilizes a three-year (2006-2009) longitudinal case study of a French asset management company, conducted as an SRI analyst. Research methods rely on the pragmatist concept of inquiry and combine participative observation, semi-structured interviews and documentary evidence. The dissertation comprises three articles that should be considered together. They explore 1) the origins of the SRI Mainstreaming phenomenon, 2) how asset management companies have transformed their practices in response to SRI Mainstreaming and 3) why practices have been transformed in a different way in fixed-income investment, compared to equity investment, respectively.This dissertation received three awards: > Best Thesis Award European FIR-PRI (French Socially Responsible Investment Forum & Principles for Responsible Investment) 2011.> Highly Commendable dissertation in the EFMD Emerald 2011 Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards in the Interdisciplinary Accounting Research (category sponsored by the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal).> Second prize in the 2011 European EDAMBA (European Doctoral Programmes Association in Management and Business Administration) Thesis Competition.

Institutional change in the making – the case of socially responsible investment

This dissertation explores the mechanisms of institutional change in practice. The institutional change under study relates to the progressive penetration of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) criteria into conventional investment funds, a phenomenon which appeared during the 2000s, known as SRI Mainstreaming. The dissertation aims to explain why SRI Mainstreaming has expanded into France and to identify its impacts on the practices of the French asset management sector. It mobilizes a three-year (2006-2009) longitudinal case study of a French asset management company, conducted as an SRI analyst. Research methods rely on the pragmatist concept of inquiry and combine participative observation, semi-structured interviews and documentary evidence. The dissertation comprises three articles that should be considered together. They explore 1) the origins of the SRI Mainstreaming phenomenon, 2) how asset management companies have transformed their practices in response to SRI Mainstreaming and 3) why practices have been transformed in a different way in fixed-income investment, compared to equity investment, respectively.

Hedge Fund Activism: A Clinical Study of the French Company Atos Origin

Over the period from October 2006 to May 2008, Atos Origin, a French information technology company, was the target of two activist hedge funds, Centaurus and Pardus. This article investigates in detail how the activists initiated their actions, how the management organized its defence and how both were received by the market. We find that, although Atos looked like an attractive opportunity, the funds failed in their primary objective, the sale of the target. In fact, the chairmen of Atos succeeded in discrediting the two hedge funds by taking support on the French context, not particularly prone to and sometimes even hostile towards shareholder's interests. Our findings suggest that this context can create a strong support to managers' entrenchment when facing activists. We also show that the success/failure classification used in large-sample studies, and based on officially stated goals, bears a considerable risk for misinterpretation. As our case shows, those objectives can not only change throughout the activism process, but may also be disclosed in different (and not exclusively official) ways. Relying solely on stated goals can significantly distort the overall judgement on the success of activism.This paper was presented at the 8th Governance International Conference, Florence, Italy, 2009 and French Financial Association Annual Conference in Brest, France, 2009.

Acceptance and Appropriation of Videoconferencing for E-training

The purpose of this paper is to explore the acceptance and the appropriation of videoconferencing-mediated training during real training situations in a French company. The authors compare the acceptance and appropriation by 60 employees of two videoconferencing-mediated training systems: the virtual class (desktop videoconferencing) and the remote class (where learners are gathered together in the same room while the trainer is located at distance). In considering the acceptance of these videoconferencing-mediated training systems, a link was confirmed between perceived usefulness and the intention to use, but no relationship was established between the levels of acceptance and the required effort. The intention to use videoconferencing was associated with the expected benefits and not with the expected effort. Regarding appropriation, learners did not report a perception of technological distance. Moreover, this paper shows that learners and the trainer preferred the virtual class rather than the more classical remote class. The authors’ findings contradict the media richness theory, according to which the remote class, which is the “richer” medium in their research, should have been preferred.

How the Compagnie Générale des Eaux survived the end of concession contracts in France 100 years ago

The end of the nineteenth century coincided with the end of concession contracts as a desirable option for French municipalities to organise their water services. An increasing number of disagreements between municipalities and their water concessionaires were brought to administrative courts, while the most difficult cases went to the French Supreme Court, the Conseil d'Etat. All cases dealt with the same issue: the conditions to renegotiate and/or terminate concession contracts. The Compagnie Générale des Eaux, the biggest French water company, lost its biggest concession contracts and had to negotiate new contractual arrangements to survive.

La capacité de transformation comme composante du capital humain : une étude exploratoire dans un groupe coté

Résumé Une étude exploratoire menée dans un grand groupe français sur le thème de la construction d’un outil de mesure de la capacité de transformation a montré des résultats permettant d’avancer l’hypothèse que cette même capacité de transformation pouvait constituer une des composantes clefs du capital humain. En partant des paradigmes de l’organisation organisante (« organizing »), du modèle de la fabrique de la stratégie, cet article propose une grille de mesure de la capacité de transformation autour de quatre pôles : Méthodes/Ressources ; Pratiques ; Compétences des acteurs ; Obtention des résultats. Partant des résultats sur un premier terrain, nous montrons que le capital humain reposant sur les notions de potentiel individuel, de motivation et d’engagement peut être étendu à la dynamique de transformation dans une logique d’apprentissage collectif et d’organisation apprenante. La capacité de transformation devient alors une composante du capital humain et un moyen de le mesurer de manière opérationnelle.

Treasurer vs. CFO: Vivendi's liquidity disaster

AbstractWhat happens when the CFO and the treasurer clash over liquidity management and reporting? For the French company Vivendi, it caused them to run afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission! The author explains what happened so other firms can avoid similar tragedies. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

AstraZeneca Acquires Novexel to Firm Up Anti-infectives Portfolio

AstraZeneca is to acquire French infection research company, Novexel, for US$350 M in cash. After completion of the acquisition, in a related deal, Forest Laboratories will pay back US$210 M to AstraZeneca for rights in the USA to two combination late-stage antibiotics that treat multidrug resistant bacteria.