For this assessment, I decided to interview Mr Steeven Mallet, the financial director of the American subsidiary of Clarins Group, situated in Miami.
As part of our course, our classmates were supposed to go to study in New York but I have never been there before. So I thought that it could be a good idea to learn more about the American culture by interviewing a French expatriate in the USA.
Steeven Mallet aged 26, is a Frenchman with a Jewish origin. He has been studying in Paris in the ISG Business school. At the end of his scholarship, he was integrated into the Clarins group in France and the following year, he had been expatriated to Miami. He has been living and working there for three years. Mr Mallet travels a lot and he often comes back to Paris to see his family and friends. During one of his visits back home, I was able to interview him .
Before the interview, I had conducted some brief research about the group where he works for in order to better organize my questions. Group Clarins is a French company created in 1954 by Jacques Courtin-Clarins. The group is known especially for its treatment methods using plant-based products. However, in 1991, Clarins began to diversify by launching his first make-up collection. This strategy continued into the fragrance sector with the launch of "Angel" by Thierry Mugler in 1992 and the acquisition of "Azzaro" Perfumes in 1995. Today, it is an international group with 20 subsidiaries around the world and a wild chain of 19000 shops. Their cosmetic products are distributed in more than 120 countries and the group employs nearly 6000 people. The brand is the leader in luxury skin care market in France and in Europe.
Before detailing my appointment with Mr Mallet, I wanted to know the values that the firm wants to convey. According to the Clarin's website, the three main values that the group would like to convey are: Listening, Innovation that lasts and Respect. Moreover, the group is looking for highly competent people and they seem to accord a strong importance by imparting practical training in the company. Hence, the internal promotions are usually privileged. I was intrigued and I wanted to check how employees perceive these principles.
[...] Before detailing my appointment with Mr Mallet, I wanted to know the values that the firm wants to convey. According to the Clarin's website, the three main values that the group would like to convey are: Listening, Innovation that lasts and Respect. Moreover, the group is looking for highly competent people and they seem to accord a strong importance by imparting practical training in the company. Hence, the internal promotions are usually privileged. I was intrigued and I wanted to check how employees perceive these principles. [...]
[...] Mr Mallet gave me plenty of information about the management of the private context. However, in spite of my numerous attempts to try my interviewee to tell me more about management of the multicultural team, the team aspect still not really clear for me. My questions were: Do you have an official language inside the company? What differences did you notice between the management of the 90% French team (that was the case in Paris) and the management of the multicultural team? [...]
[...] In my interview, I wanted to know a little more about solutions that Clarins group adapts in order to improve the effectiveness of its multicultural teams. To undertake this analysis, I grounded my thoughts on E. Mosakowski's model. a. Clarifying the team's mission Mr Mallet explained to me how his mission was prepared. Before his definitive departure, he was involved with both countries. So when he arrived at Miami for good, his colleagues were already familiar with him. Nevertheless, he was introduced to the team and the HRD explained his future functions and the reason why he was chosen for this position. [...]
[...] Therefore, I asked Mr Mallet to give me some examples of differences that he has noticed between two cultures and I was really surprised by the number of funny stories he wanted to tell me Examples of cultural differences The five dimensions that Hofstede uses to distinguish between national cultures are: Power/distance, which measures the organizational style of the society. Individualism/Collectivism, which shows the connections that exist inside the group. Masculinity/Femininity, which focus on the main values and priorities of the group. [...]
[...] Creating a plan and rules The plan should clearly state the responsibilities of each person on the team, what they do, and how they do it. It should outline what each person does, and how he or she is accountable. For example, firms can chose an official language to be used at work and some rules that must be respected inside the office. For this aspect, Mr Mallet was not able to give many examples. According to him, his company aims to give employees as much liberty and flexibility as possible. [...]
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