Participating in an MBA program at University of Colorado, our class took the following courses while at EDHEC in Nice (EDHEC - Ecole Des Haute Etudes Commerciales)
Professor Eric Labbe, program dean.The intention was to teach us international business with a focus on European business by the experts, but we also were treated to a variety of external perspectives on the US business model.
Professor Charles Lumbers, Canadian, lectured of the EU government and differences in EU v. US business.
Professor Anne Witte, American, lectured on the cultural issues and differences.
Professor David Weir, Scottish, lectured on the HRM issues of France and throughout the EU.
CULTURE :
France is the most visited country in the past 50 years.
Second highest birthrate in EU after Ireland.
There is a bakery (Boulangerie), coiffure (hair salon), tabac (tobacco store), and Pharmacy on every block.
Death rate per km driven is 2x higher than the UK. This is a low-context society and has very little signage and traffic control combined with lots of crowding and speeding.
France is a secular society and removes religious references and values from laws, school, workplace, and public institutions.
French are hypocritical about being pro-Israel and Muslin. The president Chirac has a lot of Iraq investments that he is trying to protect. France is an equal target of Bin Laden and will be forced to choose a side in the war on terrorism.
Après shampooing is not shampoo. Asparin, Tylenol, and Claritin must be purchased in a separate store; la Pharmacie (with the green and white cross outside).
CORPORATE FINANCE :
The 'triple' bottom line is a common measure of a company's performance as viewed by the community. People hold companies accountable to report the financial, environmental and social progress in annual reports.
POLITICS :
US gov’t is very exotic. It has low voter turnout and is influenced by highly organized minorities (ex. NRA members are less than 2% of citizens)
All French politicians come from the same school, the ENAP, Ecole of National Public Administration.
France Presidential elections are in April 2007; two popular candidates are Sarkozy and Buffet. Buffet is a woman and may have a greater appeal after the tremendous success of Germany's and the EU president, Angela Merkel.
Current French president, Jacques Chirac, is known for broken promises and corruption. Any choice will be an improvement. http://economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_RRVDSTD
SPORTS :
There isn’t a coach that doesn’t encourage players to cheat. (London billboard)
Bullfights are disappearing with the younger generation without legislation or persuasion.
Example of the difference of French way of thinking :
Anglo cultures have a procedural way of doing business; French have a idealistic way.
Harvard College was founded in the late 1700’s and grew to be a fantastic college.
Notre Dame was founded as nothing more than a barn, but declared to be a university.
IMMIGRATION :
London is the most open city in the world to international travelers.
The US should have absolutely no immigration concerns, education is crucial for Americans to minimize the economical damage that is being done domestically. It is appalling that such a scared minority of older Americans can drive such prejudice.
There should be no border fences and limited border patrol. The US is fortunate to have the neighbors of Mexico that simply wish earn a wage doing the work that Americans will not do. They do not come over with criminal intentions or intend to drain our schools or hospitals of resources. If the US would be more open with visas for immigrant workers, then jobs could be accounted for and employment taxes collected.
On the other hand, the EU is dealing with immigration concerns that result in six different mafia groups with the worst being the Albanians.
Whatever the cost of illegal immigration to the US, it is the cost of our lifestyle. Illegals do not disproportionately consume resources or take any of the jobs that the US could otherwise fill. To focus on one or two attributes that don't sound ideal is to take the issue out of context.
Entertaining debate : Bill O'Reilly v. Geraldo Rivera http://youtube.com/watch?v=_rlZvrUJecs
BW : http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2007/gb20070509_505675.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily
WAR : We were reminded that more Americans died (600,000) in the Civil war than all other wars put together in the history of the US. The battle of Waterloo was the defeat of Napoleon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Waterloo
HISTORY : Joe Kennedy was one of few who didn’t lose money in the stock market crash of Oct 28, 1929. He allegedly pulled all of his investments when he heard two elevator boys discussing what stocks they were invested in. He figured that the entire stability of the market could not be sustained with such ignorance and lottery mechanisms. To this date we have seen many odd trends in the market and harsh corrections due to the openness of the market to non-professional investors. John D Rockefeller of Standard Oil caused many of the anti-trust laws due to monopolizing, cartels, price fixing, and outright threatening other companies with hostile takeovers. It is said of him that this good side is every bit as good as his bad side is bad. General Charles de Gaulle was born in Lille and a strong leader in anti-Nazism. He was president of the French Republic through the 1960’s and is remembered for his quote “Long live free Quebec” that stirred English Canadians up tremendously. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Charles_de_Gaulle
RANDOM NOTES :
Spaniards are buying everything they can. There is a national tax break for the monies that they overpay when acquiring a company (known as Goodwill).
2/3 of Brussels citizens are interpreters. Brussels, Belgium is home of the EU government and all EU documents are required to be translated into ~23 languages by law.
Pres. Bush : “Entrepreneur is the one word that the French don’t have a word for.”
Donald Rumsfeld, Past Defense Secretary : “Its what you don’t know that you don’t know, that will kill you!”
Largest ethnic growth in Harvard faculty. Indian and Chinese.
Des Moines, IA has more millionaires per capita than anywhere in the US.
The ‘World Village’http://www.gdrc.org/uem/1000-village.html of 100 people :
58 are Asian, 12 african, then EU and American
17 speak mandarin, 9 english, 8 hindi, then Spanish and Russian
33 are Christians, 18 muslin, 6 buddhist, then atheist, Jews (35% other)
67 are adults
20 have 75% of total income
60 live in sub-standard housing
1 has a college education
therefore, I must start learning Mandarin.
2 comments:
When i read the original post, i noticed that you left off tabac (but it is there now). That's also the place to get your pre-paid phone card (with impossible instructions printed on it). What about the bistros and cafes? Must be at least 2 to 3 on each block as well.
Please try to experience a crepe from a sidewalk stand while you are there. I highly recommend the simple, but fabulous, butter/sugar variety! Une brioche du sucre from la boulangerie is also highly recommended! Simple but delicious!
So, do you personally feel psychologically destroyed during your French experience? There is no reason for people to feel this way. I can see a possible intimidation and resentment over their attitude, and aloofness, but I personally loved the French (as politically incorrect as that may be). Their fashion, cuisine, art, lifestyle, everything. I could live there in a heartbeat, and actually after my last trip there, I put in a job search for my company to look for opportunities in Paris.
The language barrier is difficult, but the young folks speak English fluently and are a big help. If you look like a tourist, you get treated like one. If you don't wear sneakers and t-shirts, and do wear a scarf, simple, non-flashy clothing, and use S'il vous plait, merci and de rien profusely, then people start to mistake you for a fellow countryman. I was stopped on the sidewalk repeatedly by other Parisians asking for the time and/or directions. Although I could not usually fool the waiters who seemed to always hand me the English version of the menu without having to ask if I wanted it.
Try to experience some of the French furniture stores or kitchen/bath stores. It is completely amazing the sleek, contemporary styles and total regard for scaling to the small living space. The bathroom fixtures and cabinetry are like nothing we can find in the States. So much function and beauty in a very small package. Also kitchenwares and serving pieces/dishes are so fun, colorful, and nothing like we can find here.
If you can, try to bring home a large selection of French foods, such as chocolates, coffees, cookies, and other sweets. They are half the cost that you will find at home. At the grocery store in Paris, we found chocolate bars for less than one euro, that sell for $4 to $5 at gourmet stores here. Those little honey sweet cracker/cookies that they give you with your cafe after dinner are really cheap and great to bring home. Stay away from the stuff you can get here (and not really cheaper in France) such as beauty products, cosmetics, etc. I found the Lancome, Clinique, L'Occitane (all of which you can find at US deparment stores) more expensive in Paris than US. Same for perfumes (although there is some packaging and size differences, and it is nice to have a fine French perfume - from France)
I believe that the French attitude is unique and admirable. They are proud of their heritage and language - to the point of obnoxious - when in France, think like a Frenchman - blend in, soak it in, and if all else fails, drink at least one bottle of wine a day, and everything will seem a bit rosier!!!
remembered the cookies that you should find and bring home:
gavottes (and they come plain - melt in your mouth sugary wafer, and covered in milk or dark chocolate) Light as a feather, so pack several in your bag to bring home.
also highly recommend: "Rocher Suchard" chocolates. Individually wrapped in red foil and come 6+ to a package - a heavenly chunk of chocolate. Very inexpensive. Get several!!
Was wondering if you tried to shampoo your hair with conditioner???
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