Papers presented by Eric Godelier since 2019

2024 Providence, Rhode Island

"Is Fernand Braudel a Business Historian? Contemplating everyday practices and tracing the History of Capitalism and Civilizations over the long term"

Abstract:

At a first glance, nothing could be further removed from the work of Fernand Braudel that Management and Business History. On the one hand, the long-term thinker, historian of Civilizations, attentive observer of Individuals and Communities, their Economies and their Practices. On the other, a field of History that is regularly debating its subject matters and has set itself the goal of describing today's organizations. And yet, possibilities do exist. First, through Methodological dialogues (I). In the École des Annales school, F. Braudel innovated and mobilized concepts from other social sciences, such as economics. He showed how Monotony and Repetition are interesting sources for Historians. Instead of official events and great men, F. Braudel prefers to study conjunctures and crises. He is interested in "the thousand gestures that flourish, (...) and about which no one has to make a decision, which take place in the real world, outside our full awareness". He also criticizes the "event-based sin" of the Social Sciences, which overemphasize Inventions or certain forms of Organization that are supposedly new because different from the past. On the Contrary, F. Braudel proposes a type of research that involves observation, precise description and classification without too many preconceived ideas Second thanks to Conceptual dialogues (II). From his earliest research, he has built a program based on the 3 durations or stages of history: 1) dealing with everyday life; 2) studying exchanges and relations structured by capitalism; 3) analyzing systems of international domination, in other words, economic and political powers. His analyses of the long history of capitalism and globalization shed light on the emergence of organizational methods, and the Economic and Technical Practices of Actors engaged in everyday life. F. Braudel shows how Societies shape the Behavior and Mentalities of Individuals and Groups. These are all elements that, at certain times and under certain conditions, contribute to the emergence of civilizations.. and of Capitalism.

Keywords:

2022 Mexico City

"A Contribution to the History of Management Education in France : From the Science of Practices to Management Science "

Abstract:

France is not usually perceived as a Nation of Managers and Management. The dominant paradigm is that its modern management models and methods have been imported from the USA after WWII. Does this mean that nothing existed before? This proposal aims to provide a contribution to this debate by offering a study of French Management Education. The history of management education raises a set of challenges and debates: the problem of the recognition and legitimacy of a new discipline compared with already established disciplines and teachers; the role played in the selection and education of national elites, and more generally, of its social function; the relationship with the job market and profressionalisation; and the relationship of management with research and science. Today, in France, Management Education is provided by many institutions, some private, some public. Around 420,000 students are involved in programmes related to management, i.e around 1/6th of all French students. In France, one may learn Management at a University, of course, in a private Business School and also in a School of Engineers. A historical journey back to the early roots of French management Education is required to confirm or interrogate the possible existence of a management ‘à la française’. To try to understand this long journey staring in the 19th centry, it is important to assess three misunderstandings. Firstly: despite that in France, business schools and management education has existed since the 19th century, it is common to read that management – and by consequence management training or education - did not appear until after the Second World War. Secondly: is it true that French management imported all its principle sources from an American influence ? Thirdly: The rising need for management education is often explained by practical factors: for example, the rise in complexity and size of organizations. This assertion has to be discussed.

Keywords:

2021 Hopin Virtual Events Platform

"Cross Border Alliances: An Opportunity or a Guarantee of Failure in Normal Business Life and Crisis? The Cases of Air France-KLM and Renault-Nissan Technology"

Abstract:

In the new context created by the C19 pandemic, international business has been brutally stopped. Various Nationalist fear and reactions have leaded to frontiers closure and traveling restrictions. Since the early days of 2020, airlines and airplane businesses seem, more than others sectors, deeply threatened. How airline big networks have resisted. Could it be that Cross borders do better than single companies? This crisis provides an interesting opportunity for assessing Cross border Merger and Alliances. Since the 1960s, mergers and acquisitions – and especially cross border alliances - have been associated with lowered productivity, higher absenteeism, worse strike records and lower innovation power rather than higher profitability (Kitching 1967; Cartwright and Cooper 1996; Renneboog 2019). Some economists even argued that 50 to 80 percent of all cross border mergers and acquisitions are considered to be financially unsuccessful and do not create any value (Schenk 2008). Nevertheless, the numbers of international alliances, mergers and acquisitions remained and are still high (UNCTAD data 2019). Many economists and other social scientists have tried to fathom this paradox. Why are so few international alliances efficacious and valuable for different stakeholders? In particular, mergers between firms that originate in different business systems were more complicated than the amalgamation of firms with similar institutional and cultural background (Van Oss 2009). In most cases, these recipes did not result in a major breakthrough in the success-failure ratio of cross border alliances or to a decrease of the number of international contracts closed. This paper compares two cross border alliances (of firms operating in different cultural and institutional settings) that were rather successful. The first case highlights deals with the alliance of Renault and Nissan (1999). The Second Highligths the merger of Air France and Royal Dutch Airlines in 2004.

Keywords:

2020 Charlotte, North Carolina

"Cross Border Merger: Guarantee of Failure? The Cases of Renault-Nissan and Air France-KLM"

Abstract:

Since the 1960s, mergers and acquisitions – and especially cross border alliances - have been associated with lowered productivity, higher absenteeism, worse strike records and lower innovation power rather than higher profitability (Kitching 1967; Cartwright and Cooper 1996; Renneboog 2019). Some economists even argued that 50 to 80 percent of all cross border mergers and acquisitions are considered to be financially unsuccessful and do not create any value (Schenk 2008). Nevertheless, the numbers of international alliances, mergers and acquisitions remained and are still high (UNCTAD data 2019). Many economists and other social scientists have tried to fathom this paradox. Why are so few international alliances efficacious and valuable for different stakeholders? In particular, mergers between firms that originate in different business systems were more complicated than the amalgamation of firms with similar institutional and cultural background (Van Oss 2009). In most cases, these recipes did not result in a major breakthrough in the success-failure ratio of cross border alliances or to a decrease of the number of international contracts closed. This paper compares two cross border alliances (of firms operating in different cultural and institutional settings) that were rather successful. Instead of looking at failure, we analyze two cross border alliances that were at the beginning efficacious. Unfortunately, the companies were not able to continue their success and, over time, tensions between the partners arose that had even the potential to jeopardize the cooperation. The first case deals with the alliance of the French automobile producer Renault and its Japanese competitor Nissan that came about in 1999. The second case highlights the merger of Air France and Royal Dutch Airlines, the first international merger in the airline industry in 2004. What went wrong?

Keywords: