French Enterprises Research Articles

Soviet Structural Aid to the Republic of Mali in 1960-1968

The article analyzes the phenomenon of the Soviet Union’s structural aid to African countries - technical and economic cooperation covering major sectors of the economy to ensure the self-sufficient development of recipient countries and weaken the neocolonial impact of the West. The case of bilateral relations between the USSR and Mali in 1960-1968 was chosen for a number of reasons - the strategic location of this African country, its place in the structure of French interests, the formats and volumes of Soviet aid, and, finally, rather weak coverage of the issue in Russian and foreign historiography. The authors preface the analysis of Soviet aid with an overview of the country’s economic situation in the 1960s and the difficulties faced by the Malian government in establishing an independent economic system through the introduction of its own currency, the Malian franc, and the nationalization of former French enterprises. The research is mostly based on the archival funds of the State Committee on Foreign Economic Relations of the Russian State Archive of Economy. The analysis of Soviet assistance is conducted in a wide range of areas, from industry and agriculture to health care and education. The final section examines the transport issue and the Soviet role in removal of the transport blockade imposed by Senegal. Both successful projects of Soviet-Malian cooperation, as the gold and bauxite exploration, the construction of a cement plant, and a sports stadium, and unrealized ideas are described. Among the most obvious problems that hindered cooperation between the USSR and Mali were the lack of financial resources, excessive caution, and Mali’s rather active cooperation with its neighbors and capitalist countries. Soviet aid to Mali allows us to trace the Soviet Union’s role in the real decolonization of African countries and the strengthening of their sovereignty. Unlike many other donors, who mostly limited their aid to certain projects, the USSR provided support within the framework of a full cycle of work in all sectors of the economy (resource extraction - construction of enterprises for processing resources - training of personnel to service enterprises - export of finished goods). Obviously, such a comprehensive approach had a truly favorable effect on the sovereignization of the Malian economy.

French Industrial Enterprises in the Russian Empire: Big Business in a Transnational Perspective

Introduction. The article explores the presence of French enterprises in the late Russian Empire in order to better understand the role and weight of French firms in global big business on the eve of World War I. The author argues that the presence of large industrial enterprises operated by French businesses should be taken into consideration when discussing the organizational capabilities of modern French enterprises. This may change the perception of France as a “follower in Western Europe” in the historiography of big industrial businesses. Materials and Methods. Large French enterprises operated in the late Russian Empire are identified based on primary sources (lists of enterprises and joint-stock companies), the RUSCORP database of Russian corporations compiled by Thomas Owen, and with the help of secondary sources. Results. The paper demonstrates that several companies operated in the Russian Empire, and owned or controlled by French businesses meet the criteria of “big business” by international standards. However, because they operated beyond the borders of France, scholars did not include these firms in the lists of French big business. In addition, many companies in the Russian Empire were established on French capital and run by French managers but registered as Russian firms. It seems that French businesses were more successful in establishing and running large industrial enterprises abroad than in the territory of their own country. This might explain why French companies are relatively poorly represented in the global ranks of the largest companies before World War I. Discussion and Conclusions. It was not only French businesses that created large industrial enterprises in Russia. There were also several British, German, Belgian, and American big businesses, so these should all be taken into account when discussing the presence of big foreign businesses in Russia. To have precise evaluations, we need to develop further the global list of the largest enterprises, which would include multinationals and free-standing companies as well. The argument of researchers who placed France to the cohort of the “followers in Western Europe” was that France, in principle, was retarded with creating large industrial enterprises. The transnational approach revealed that while in France, there were few big industrial businesses, French entrepreneurs developed them successfully outside the country. The Russian case demonstrates that French business was able to establish and operate large industrial enterprises. The presence of many large French manufacturing and mining enterprises abroad is the evidence against the thesis that French industrialists were unable to benefit from the scale and scope effect.

Dynamite, Opium, and a Transnational Shadow Economy at Tonkinese Coal Mines

AbstractThe rise of the coal-mining industry in colonial Vietnam has often been associated with the French economic presence and their drastic methods of exploitation. But, beyond the confines of French mining enterprises, coal mining gave rise to transnational economic links, fuelled clandestine economic activities, and bound communities across the Chinese–Vietnamese borderland. Drawing from business and police records located at the Vietnamese national archives including those of the Société Francaise des Charbonnages du Tonkin (SFCT)—the largest French coal-mining company in Indochina, this article reveals a thriving, complex, and intersected world of criminal activities involving the theft and trafficking of explosives and opium at Tonkinese coal mines. An investigation into the patterns of these crimes and their perpetrators exposes a transnational shadow economy that managed to stay under the radar of both the French surveillance system and the Vietnamese nationalist movement. Breaking away from the metropole–colony paradigm in colonial historiography, this blended history of labour and crime provides a new lens through which to explore the dynamics of colonial rule and the interplay of the local and the global, as well as the creation of new and important inter-Asian networks.

LES ENTREPRISES FRANÇAISES FACE AUX OCCUPANTS (1940–1944)

Amid severe shortages of raw materials, labor, and transportation, companies in occupied France (1940–1944) sought alternative paths to what is commonly called “economic collaboration.” They worked to find substitute supplies, convert to new product lines, alter their manufacturing methods, and even adapt to the black market. But few businesses could avoid the question of whether to provide goods and services to the occupier. The opportunities to do so were widespread, though they varied according to occupation, economic branch, and the passage of time during the Occupation. The German occupiers thus benefited from the French economy. With decisive help from the Vichy regime, the occupiers managed to force, induce, or entice French enterprises into their war economy—be they large industries formerly mobilized for French national defense, small and medium-sized firms, or agricultural producers.

ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF FRENCH COMPANIES IN RUSSIAN ECONOMY

The objective of the article is to substantiate the interest of French enterprises in modern Russian economy. The key Franco-Russian economic relations participants’ views on the further cooperation between countries, conclusions have been studied, conclusions and forecasts have been made. As an example, the largest French companies in Russian economy have been named and сharacterized. The main obstacles to economic integration of two countries have been designated. A historical aspect of the relationship between France and Russia, causing its mutually beneficial cooperation in our days, has been considered.

Translators Training for Joint Venture Employment

The paper deals with some issues of professional translator and interpreter training for employment in joint Russian and French enterprises. The key factors determining the need to develop the problem is changing political and economic situation, increased dependence on high quality translation and localisation for purposes of international business and higher requirements to personnel providing translation services in the context of globalization and the active introduction of digital technologies into economic, social, managerial processes in the global market in countries with different levels of economic development. At the same time, profound changes in translator and interpreter training have occurred over the past 20 years which is related both to globalization in the area of professional education, accessibility and relevance of various methods and technologies for teaching translation personnel, as well as to growing demands from business employers determined by the increasing complexity of economic activity. Scientific and technological context requires from mediator and translators new expertise and adaptive skills due to global trends of mass production including localisation of joint ventures operations and websites. The authors of the paper describe the principles of translators and interpreters training based on specific texts use, analyse advantages of “mixed” group format classes and compare them to traditional teaching approaches. The suggested methods are based on the Interpretive Theory of Translation developed by the French Translation School (ESIT); specific exercise series have been compiled for development of native and source language skills accompanied by relevant background knowledge and corresponding methodology. The authors have proved the effectiveness of the mixed group classed format conducted with the use of the developed complex of training exercises for the need of business environment helping to overcome linguistic, cultural and economic differences as well as to enhance comprehension within multinational companies through internationalization, standardization and localization.

L’influence de la GRH mobilisatrice sur l’innovation

Cette recherche se propose de comprendre les mécanismes intermédiaires qui expliquent la relation entre la GRH et l’innovation. Pour cela, les auteurs ont examiné l’effet médiateur du partage des connaissances. Les résultats issus d’analyses de régression logistique réalisées sur un panel de 962 établissements français de l’enquête REPONSE montrent une relation positive entre la GRH mobilisatrice et l’innovation. Toutefois, ce lien direct est impacté par l’introduction de l’indice de partage des connaissances dans les modèles de régression. En effet, le partage des connaissances joue un rôle de médiation entre la GRH et l’innovation.

Co-opetition in the boating industry and collective managerial capacity

Co-opetition allows small businesses to pool their human resources to introduce new lines of business and/or exploit new geographic markets. Co-opetition is nevertheless a difficult strategy to organise because of its dual nature. The management of the collaborators involved in a project plays a role in achieving the collective and individual objectives pursued by the firms involved. The relationship between the management of human resources during co-opetition and the objectives related to the cooperative sector's activity and territory policies deserves to be addressed. Our empirical study of the leaders of 106 French small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and mid-cap boating firms reveals that specialised and national co-opetition encourages individual learning linked to the exposure of the human resources of its participants. Conversely, the complexity of a diversified and international co-opetition creates a new collective managerial capacity resulting from the firms' collaborative efforts.

Stakeholder dialogue: strategic tool or wasted words?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify which stakeholder dialogue approach has the best outcomes. Moreover, it is investigated how stakeholder dialogue practices are linked to the quality of stakeholder management and the maturity of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy.Design/methodology/approachTwelve CSR managers of 11 French enterprises are interviewed.FindingsFour different types of stakeholder dialogue are identified and their characteristics, as well as the opportunities and risks connected to each approach, are discussed.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a limited number of enterprises operating in France are studied. More research is needed to ensure the generalisability to other countries and to identify the prevalence of each dialogue type.Practical implicationsProactive companies manage their stakeholders in a mutually beneficial way and receive more stakeholder support on strategic issues. They discuss issues material to stakeholders, include a wide range of stakeholders and organise frequent meetings. This approach, the Hanoï Dialogue, has the best outcomes and is, therefore, best practice.Social implicationsStakeholder dialogue is key for the development of CSR strategies which truly benefit society.Originality/valueAlthough stakeholder dialogues become empirically more relevant, most researchers conduct single-case studies of good practices and do not systematically compare a range of practices.

An Analysis of French Mergers and Acquisitions in Different Sectors of the Czech Economy

Over the past two decades, French enterprises have been heavily investing in the Czech Republic. Today, France is the fifth biggest investor to the Czech Republic, and French companies are among the most important employers. The aim of this study is to analyze the presence of French firms in Czech Republic by look at the example the French-Czech mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and to explain the main motivation of the location of French firms in the country. Using a review of documents and secondary data analysis, we observe that French enterprises have invested especially in the Czech manufacturing sector, energy & power, consumer staples and financial services. In this study, we evaluate if French corporations try to optimize their production process within so-called global value chains, and if French companies have invested in their own strategic domain area or another strategic area by using the diversification growth approach. Finally, we present examples of successful mergers and acquisitions of French firms realized in the Czech Republic.

French enterprises are cybercrime victims

The threat of proliferation of new types of crime - cybercrime - has increased nowadays. According to statistics, the French companies are most susceptible to virtual attacks that interferes with their normal functioning and enjoyment of activity. This article makes an attempt to analyze the causes, types and forms of cyber-crimes, some possible and most effective methods to combat virtual crime at the national and international levels.

Revisiting the birth of industrial accounting in France, a return to the actors involved

ABSTRACTThis study returns to earlier investigations of cost accounting in French enterprises. It has been demonstrated that apart from a few exceptions, industrial accounting was established later in France than in Great Britain, mirroring the lag which one observes with respect to industrialisation. Our objective is to examine the points during which these changes took place, in pre-existing enterprises or in new ones, and to explore more deeply how and why these changes occurred. Various explanatory factors can be considered, but it is above all the actors involved in these changes and their personal trajectories on which the emphasis is placed in this study. In this period of transition, before double-entry bookkeeping (DEB) had been diffused more broadly, or even generally adopted, accounting innovation in industry frequently seemed to have been carried out by individuals who shared trade in common, and lived or had lived in regions where DEB had long been practised compared to elsewhere. Taking the geographic dimension into account argues for a comparative history of accounting that not only juxtaposes parallel stories, from one side or the other of the current borders of nation-states, but rather delves more deeply into a level of analysis that concerns itself with the spatial circulation of accounting techniques and their imprints over the longue durée.

Improving the Creative Thinking of Talented Knowledge Workers and Managers in Polish and French Enterprises

Abstract The study considers the issue of creative and participatory activities of employees in the organization in the context of the changing socio-economic expectations, forcing employees, teams and executives to innovative activities. The planned research seeks an answer to the question: What factors attributable to the organization can help to improve the working conditions of knowledge workers classified as “talent”, teams of such employees and managers in charge of the work of outstanding employee teams in Poland and France? In order to answer such a question a questionnaire was developed (and subsequently validated) adjusted for purposes of the research and questionnaire research was conducted on a sample of 142 Polish workers in 23 medium-small enterprises, 84 employees from 10 companies in France. Workers considered to be particularly talented in both in Poland and France stressed in the first place the need of approval of deviating from accepted standards of work style by the entrepreneurs and board members. Members of the outstanding teams in somewhat greater number in France than in Poland (the variance obtained a criterion for statistical significance) pointed to the “favorable personnel policy” and the ability to obtain additional compensation for an above-average job. In the group of Polish managers “more autonomy” was clearly accentuated in the workplace (the French differed significantly from the Poles in terms of statistics) and already cited “favorable personnel policy”. The latter category was also nominated by the bulk of the French managers.

How to assess the maturity of small and medium-sized enterprises to Lean Six Sigma projects

This article describes the considerations for the implementation of the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) methodology in small and medium-sized enterprises. Pilot research was conducted in Polish and French SMEs (nine Polish and nine French enterprises from the service and production sectors) referring to the context of the implementation and application of the Lean Six Sigma concept. The studies led to the identification of the motives, needs, expectations, concerns and experiences of these companies and helped to develop criteria assessing the maturity of a smaller enterprise to conduct Lean Six Sigma projects. As one of the results of the study, a maturity indicator to LSS has been developed and presented in this paper. The index is a part of the original comprehensive methodology of the Lean Six Sigma implementation dedicated to the SME sector (LSS Plutus methodology). The indicator allows such projects to be matched to the real needs and preparedness of any small or medium-sized organization.

Scaling the Commanding Heights: The colonial conglomerates and the changing political economy of French Indochina

AbstractBy the late 1800s the colonial state's increasing capacity to regulate, finance, and tax had begun to open up new opportunities for locally based French enterprises in Indochina. Chinese syndicates that had previously dominated the economy found themselves deprived of existing revenue streams and denied access to new ones. The result was an ‘Indochinese moment’ when a handful of colonial conglomerates used profits from state contracts, monopolies, and subsidies as a base for growth and diversification after 1900. Yet scaling the commanding heights of the economy was not easy, and was only achieved thanks to sustained and powerful state intervention. Moreover, one of the effects of the economic crisis after 1928 was the end of this Indochinese moment and a shift in initiative to a new partnership that linked an increasingly technocratic state with the financiers and experts of the Bank of Indochina. This article investigates this complex interaction of state power, technology, and capital flows with local Chinese, French, and indigenous Indochinese actors, using one particular conglomerate, the Fontaine group, as a case study to shed light on the mechanisms that linked an interventionist state to capitalist enterprise and ultimately to the remaking of the Indochinese economy.

Asia en la España del siglo XIX. Literatos, viajeros, intelectuales y diplomáticos ante Oriente by Joan Torres-Pou (review)

Reviewed by: Asia en la España del siglo XIX. Literatos, viajeros, intelectuales y diplomáticos ante Orienteby Joan Torres-Pou David R. George Jr Joan Torres-Pou. Asia en la España del siglo XIX. Literatos, viajeros, intelectuales y diplomáticos ante Oriente. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2013. 218 pp. Over the past two decades scholars of nineteenth-century Spanish and Latin American literatures have scrutinized the trans-Atlantic ties between Spain and the Americas. Work in this area has shed new light on the multiple literary discourses generated by colonial and post-colonial exchanges across the Atlantic in a century of imperial expansion. Not only has this focus enriched the field of Spanish studies, but also of late it has impelled critics to look beyond the obvious trans-Atlantic axis to explore how other transnational relations are captured in nineteenth-century literature. In response to the impact of Edward Said’s seminal work on Europe’s relationship with the East Orientalism(1979) and to the recent economic ascendency of China, Latin American Studies has witnessed a “trans-Pacific turn” with research that takes account of the region’s historical and contemporary ties to Asia. Similarly, scholars of Iberian cultures have turned attention to the Far East with studies that retrace the long history of Portuguese and Spanish incursions in the Pacific, and the impact of such exchanges in the peninsula. The six chapters that comprise Joan Torres-Pou’s book Asia en la España del siglo XIXcontribute to this growing area of interest by bringing into the conversation Orientalist writings, and travel narratives and chronicles on Asia by canonical and lesser known Spanish writers of the late-nineteenth century. Torres-Pou begins with a historical overview of European imperialism in Asia emphasizing the predominance of British and French enterprises in the nineteenth century. Of particular relevance to his arguments are notes offered on the creation of institutions dedicated to the study of Asian cultures in Britain and France in the period as key to the development of the discourses of superiority that bolstered colonial projects in the Orient. The author then provides an outline of Spain’s marginal position in this age of empire, concluding even so that, “ya fuera directa o indirectamente, fue partner in crimeen la acción de las demás potencias coloniales en Asia” (17). As evidence of this tacit collaboration he refers to the extensive, but unstudied corpus of literature on Oriental topics by Spanish writers in the second half of the nineteenth century. He declares that his study intends not to be an exhaustive review of Spanish colonial discourses about the Orient or of these materials, but rather a survey of the presence of Asia in nineteenth-century Spanish culture and society (17). In Chapter One the author reads Juan Valera’s late novel Morsamor(1899) through the optic of Orientalism. He draws attention to episodes that reflect the novelist’s interest in Asian religions in order to expose how Orientalist themes are deployed to reveal the essence of religion itself. He examines in particular references to Hinduism and the esoteric philosophies Valera encountered while in the US in the 1880s. Torres-Pou concludes that beyond the affirmation of his religious conviction that God must be sought in Nature, Valera’s exploration constitutes a veiled endorsement of discourses on the Asian origins of European culture that justified imperialist policies (53). [End Page 131] Chapter Two examines works by Valera’s son, Luis Valera y Delavert, inspired by his voyage to China as secretary of the Spanish legation to Peking in 1900. Looking at Sombras chinescas: recuerdos de un viaje al Celeste Imperio(1902), Torres-Pou provides valuable comments on how the younger Valera’s visions of China were colored by the xenophobic and anti-Christian Boxer Rebellion, and the atrocities committed by the rebels, and the Chinese and foreign troops dispatched to quell the summer of 1900 uprising. He correctly points out how the diplomat’s appreciations echo Western images of China, and highlights his understanding of the role of Christian missionaries in exacerbating internal tensions. The theme of cultural clash is further explored in comments on the two short...

O ofício como operador de saúde

The text discusses the present work conditions in which the so called “psychosocial risks” become worries for the work management. Some criticism is presented to the ways the issue has been dealt with by French enterprises, proposing other ways out, based on the clinic of activity. It concludes by the importance of taking care of work in all its instances: impersonal, transpersonal, interpersonal and personal. It is each professional’s responsibility towards their colleagues to maintain the work’s architecture in contact with the surprises of reality, sustaining it by the means of continuous questioning of the quality of work. Health at work might spring from this.

Cultura organizacional: nível coletivo constitutivo da gestão por competências

A proposta deste estudo é analisar a cultura organizacional como nível coletivo constitutivo do modelo de gestão por competência. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva de abordagem qualitativa que parte de uma reflexão em bases conceituais, complementada por um estudo empírico aplicado em três empresas francesas. Os resultados levam à conclusão de que considerar a cultura organizacional é condição essencial para consolidação teórica do modelo de gestão por competência.

Strategic governmental economic activities in support of young French SMEs

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to closely study young French small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The authors highlight the structure of these target firms and build a typology of corresponding business models.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a dataset of 38,000 young French SMEs. It is constituted of all individual and consolidated year‐end financial statements submitted by French firms to the commercial court. Data analysis techniques (principal component analysis then hierarchical and ascending classification) were used on the data.FindingsThe business models stemming from this typology are typical (to the greatest extent possible) and actionable. The authors are particularly interested in identifying groups of SMEs where government assistance would be particularly effective and strategically valuable for the national economy.Practical implicationsOne of the authors' conclusions is that the typology is not based on a classical growth model that reflects progressive phases of development in the life of a young firm. Furthermore, it is ineffective and wasteful to focus government assistance efforts on firms based on their age. The authors identify groups of business models where assistance would be more efficient and strategically more effective.Originality/valueIt is notable that this paper relies not upon a sample, but upon the exhaustive collection of all available data on the subject. This research questions the allocation efficiency of governmental assistance on the basis of growth models. It intends to provide a better understanding of the criteria that should be taken into account to enhance targeting of assistance toward businesses with the greatest potential for the nation.

Occupational Exposure to Beryllium in French Enterprises: A Survey of Airborne Exposure and Surface Levels

An assessment survey of occupational exposure to beryllium (Be) was conducted in France between late 2004 and the end of 2006. Exposure estimates were based on the analytical results of samples collected from workplace air and from work surfaces in 95 facilities belonging to 37 sectors of activity. The results of this study indicated airborne Be concentrations in excess of the occupational exposure limit value of 2 microg m(-3) recommended in France. Metallurgy and electronic component manufacturing represented the activities and occupations where workers had the highest arithmetic mean exposures to Be. Surface contamination levels were also high and frequently exceeded thresholds recommended by different bodies. These results should prompt the development of prevention programmes that include Be substitution, process control and surface decontamination, in conjunction with suitable medical surveillance.