French and British top managers' understanding of the structure and the dynamics of their industries : a cognitive analysis and comparison

School of Managemen

Entrepreneural high growth companies

This article is based on a study of two entrepreneurial high growth companies: Salomon and Plastic Omnium. Both of them managed high growth for about 40 years, became the leaders in their business and are still managed in an entrepreneurial mode by the founder, 40 years after start up. The presentation of the firms' transformation in terms of strategy, organization, management and culture is followed by a discussion of the entrepreneurial characteristics common to both firms in the 80s. Growth, international strategy, market orientation, innovation (products, processes and strategy), related diversifications such as new challenges, attracting resources, flexibility, product-market structure, strategic thinking and short term planning, perseverance and learning, strong evolving corporate culture and a constant pressure from the entrepreneur, appeared to be shared characteristics of these entrepreneurial high growth companies 40 years after the start up

Management stratégique dans les industries émergentes à haute technologie

[fre] Cet article est fondé sur une étude explorative de six entreprises françaises leaders, engagées dans quatre secteurs émergents à haute technologie (robotique, fibres optiques, photovoltaïque, biotechnologies). L'objectif est d'identifier les logiques d'action, les stratégies, l'organisation et la culture de quelques uns des meilleurs concurrents issus de puissances économiques moyennes comme la France, dans les industries nouvelles à haute technologie. Les résultats montrent une grande diversité des logiques d'action et une grande diversité des systèmes d'organisation (structures, systèmes de management) de ces entreprises. Par contre, ces entreprises performantes ont suivi des chemins stratégiques semblables sur plusieurs points et des traits culturels dominants les rapprochent. Ces résultats pourraient inspirer d'autres secteurs privés ou publics qui s'engagent dans ce type d'activité à haut risque. [eng] This article is based on an exploratory study of six major french firms involved in four new high technology industries (robotics, fiber optics, photovoltaïcs, biotechnologies). The objective is to identify logics, strategies, organization and culture of some of the best competitors born in « middle power » nations like France in new high technology industries. The results show a great diversity of the companies' entry logics and a great diversity of the organisation (structures, management systems). The history of those six competitors have several points in common considering elements of their strategies ; some common cultu ral traits also emerge. Those results could help other actors in this kind of risky businesses.

Sameness, Otherness? : Enriching organizational change theories with philosophical considerations on the same and the other

International audienceOur objective is to discuss, in the organizational change literature, the recurring use of what we call the "sameness principle," along with another principle, inspired by contemporary philosophy and somehow present in the organizational ethics literature. called "otherness." We review four classic organizational change approaches, underscore the limitations of the sameness principle, and position otherness relative to current organizational ethics literature. We then emphasize the role of powerful agents within the organization as potential conveyors of otherness and deduce propositions that relate these agents' posture to the observable type of organizational change processes.<br/

Sameness, Otherness? : Enriching organizational change theories with philosophical considerations on the same and the other

International audienceOur objective is to discuss, in the organizational change literature, the recurring use of what we call the "sameness principle," along with another principle, inspired by contemporary philosophy and somehow present in the organizational ethics literature. called "otherness." We review four classic organizational change approaches, underscore the limitations of the sameness principle, and position otherness relative to current organizational ethics literature. We then emphasize the role of powerful agents within the organization as potential conveyors of otherness and deduce propositions that relate these agents' posture to the observable type of organizational change processes.<br/

Diagnostic et décisions stratégiques

International audience"Cet ouvrage propose un ensemble de méthodes et d'outils pour élaborer un diagnostic général puis formuler la stratégie d'ensemble, ainsi que les stratégies d'activités d'une entreprise. Cette deuxième édition entièrement refondue, est illustrée de nombreux exemples concrets et d'un cas d'entreprise en ligne disponible sur le site Dunod." - Présentation de l'éditeur -<br/

Diagnostic et décisions stratégiques. 1ère ed.

International audienc

Diagnostic et décisions stratégiques

International audience"Cet ouvrage propose un ensemble de méthodes et d'outils pour élaborer un diagnostic général puis formuler la stratégie d'ensemble, ainsi que les stratégies d'activités d'une entreprise. Cette deuxième édition entièrement refondue, est illustrée de nombreux exemples concrets et d'un cas d'entreprise en ligne disponible sur le site Dunod." - Présentation de l'éditeur -<br/