The terms "intercultural", "globalization", "internationalization" are increasingly gaining relevance in the current business scenario. Today, with the internationalization of firms in the context of the formation of the European market and the globalization of economies, it is interesting to understand what impact the strategies of these companies can have on the structure, process control, human resource policies and corporate culture at large.
Currently, commercial and industrial internationalization has now become a necessity for businesses. In recent years, many companies have beenmerging together to pool their skills and expertise and thus conquer new markets.
1990: merger of the Dutch company AMEV / VSB and Belgian insurance company AG in the field of banking and insurance.1999: French carmaker Renault's alliance with Japanese automaker Nissan in the automotive field.
At the time of these mergers, the potential success of such a venture seemed fraught with risk; however, these mergers have now proved to be hugely successful.
Air France and KLM: two national companies that are the pride of their countries. On September 30, 2003, the two chief executive officers of the French and Dutch companies announced the merger of two firms to form the new Air France - KLM. Operating in a context of globalization and multinationalism, it seemed important to analyze and study the impact the cultural characteristics each country had on the formation of a group with an international dimension. When selecting the topic of my paper, the merger between Air France - KLM seemed an ideal opportunity to study multicultural management.
What I hope to achieve through this subject is an analysis of the organizational culture of the new Air France - KLM and its relation to authority, decision making and operations. To understand better this subject, field method seemed the most appropriate way to go ahead. In this context, the interview and survey are the two strategies I chose to collect maximum information. So I opted for the inductive qualitative method, because it seemed best suited to the situation and also because it is based on field observations.
The first chapter draws on various studies and reflections on multicultural management. The second chapter describes the case of the merger between Air France-KLM and lays the foundation for my analysis. The final section presents the next challenge in this merger. Today a company that ignores the values and methods of work of different groups runs the high risk of not being able to exploit the skills and experience of each and thus lose their competitive advantages.
It is therefore clear that intercultural management in an enterprise should account for these differences. The term intercultural "management" is also frequently used to describe ways to organize the cohabitation or marriage of many corporate cultures as in the case of mergers and acquisitions.The difficulty lies, for example, in various ways to view the market, to hold together the two processes and to measure and enhance the performance of the company.
In the '80s, much research was undertaken on the possible link between management practices and national cultures within a company. Max Weber, the founder of sociology, figures among the modern sociologists whose influence in the domain of intercultural management is greatest. His work has opened avenues of research on culture and company management and the possible link between these two fields of research.
In the 60s, Michel Crozier, a French sociologist, focused his work on further study of the administration in a Weberian perspective. Finally, the thinker Tocqueville excels in the political-sociological analysis or in the description and the portrait of a particular society. All have been precursors and influenced the work of Hall, Hofstede and Philippe d'Iribarne with The Logic of Honour.
Tags: Globalization, internationalization, competitive advantages, Air France-KLM, Japanese automaker Nissan, European market.
[...] They all agree that the Netherlands is based on a culture of "mercantilism" rooted in an innate sense of business, and where consensus and dialogue are essential in human relationships within the company.While France is more of a "monarchical" bent where the state intervenes heavily in business relationships and where the application of company law is very stringent The questionnaire The merger of Air France - KLM is still recent and rife with cultural differences; it seemed interesting to identify the views and feelings of Air France employees about the relationship. [...]
[...] 3.Air France-KLM:The leading European air transport group It's official: On September the CEO of Air France announced the takeover of the Dutch company KLM in a public exchange offer to create the Group the new Air France - KLM, based on strengths and complementarities of the brands, bringing together the two biggest European hubs and networks of both companies. The bringing together of both companies was expected to be a unbeatable force in the European sky. It is in the form of a takeover bid by Air France of KLM that the merger would be effected One group, two companies In gestation for over eight months, Air France and KLM will join forces to create the fledgling group called Air France - KLM. [...]
[...] What I hope to achieve through this subject is an analysis of the organizational culture of the new Air France - KLM and its relation to authority, decision making and operations. To better understand this subject, field method seemed the most appropriate way to go ahead. In this context, the interview and survey are the two strategies I chose to collect maximum information. So I opted for the inductive qualitative method, because it seemed best suited to the situation and also because it is based on field observations. [...]
[...] The five business groups of Fortis are: - Insurance in the Netherlands: The group Fortis ASR: This group is responsible for the Dutch market, and offers a full range of life insurance to corporate clients and private individuals; - Insurance in Belgium and International areas: Fortis Belgium offers a wide range of life insurance for individuals and SMEs. Internationally, the service is offered by Fortis which deploys the insurance business in Luxembourg, France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Asia (China and Malaysia); - Network Banking provides financial services to individuals, freelancers, professionals and SMEs. [...]
[...] The merger between Air France - KLM became a reality in September Since then, many details were given by the press about the new steering group, operation, impact and synergies. Last December, I had the opportunity to interview telephonically a main player of Air France and the latter told me that they themselves were thinking hard about how the new group would function, and the understanding of the cultures involved. It was therefore difficult to give an opinion on the possible success or otherwise of this tie-up. [...]
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