07-02-2003, 01:13 PM
Vivendi may be a French company, but it got where it got because its former CEO, J.M. Messier tried to model it after the major US groups, and actually be more "American" than Americans themselves.
For a long time, business methods and ethics were very different in France.
But nowadays, the major French groups are even "more American" than their US counterparts. France resisted ultra-liberalism (or "neo-capitalism" - I'm not 100% sure that the word "liberal" when applied to economy means the same in English and in French) for a long time, but now French managers have embraced it.
A main US periodical recently had on its frontpage the title "Aren't their ashamed ?", referring to some US managers who paid themselves astronomical salaries when their groups faced difficulties.
Well, in France it's become the outrageous norm: groups lay off personnel, show losses instead of profits, but their CEOs keep increasing their income.
"American" in John Doe's mind, when applied to business, means "ultra-liberal" or "neo-capitalistic".
It has little to do with reality where the US government actually heavily helps US firms and where you'll see CEOs whose firm hasn't shown a profit resign or get a symbolic 1$ salary.
"Americanization" in that context simply means: "more concerned about making profits than making good products".
It is one of the myths of a capitalistic or "liberal" economy: the better the product, the better the service, the larger the profit.
Neo-capitalism doesn't bother with such a myth. They know that quality is but one factor, and more often than not, a very minor one.
For a long time, business methods and ethics were very different in France.
But nowadays, the major French groups are even "more American" than their US counterparts. France resisted ultra-liberalism (or "neo-capitalism" - I'm not 100% sure that the word "liberal" when applied to economy means the same in English and in French) for a long time, but now French managers have embraced it.
A main US periodical recently had on its frontpage the title "Aren't their ashamed ?", referring to some US managers who paid themselves astronomical salaries when their groups faced difficulties.
Well, in France it's become the outrageous norm: groups lay off personnel, show losses instead of profits, but their CEOs keep increasing their income.
"American" in John Doe's mind, when applied to business, means "ultra-liberal" or "neo-capitalistic".
It has little to do with reality where the US government actually heavily helps US firms and where you'll see CEOs whose firm hasn't shown a profit resign or get a symbolic 1$ salary.
"Americanization" in that context simply means: "more concerned about making profits than making good products".
It is one of the myths of a capitalistic or "liberal" economy: the better the product, the better the service, the larger the profit.
Neo-capitalism doesn't bother with such a myth. They know that quality is but one factor, and more often than not, a very minor one.