Author: Alexis Kummetat

  • What kind of solidarity with Japan?

    The dramatic events in Japan raise a question that does not spontaneously come to mind: the quality of relations between Japanese and Westerners, and the kind of solidarity we prove…

  • SNCF: a cultural rather than organisational transformation

    Beyond organisation and the cost of railway labour, SNCF’s “service revolution” faces three cultural challenges: uncertainty, winning customers, and status rather than commitment.

  • Shared responsibility

    The planned European mechanism for restructuring sovereign debt introduces loss-sharing: government bonds will no longer be “guaranteed”. A revolution for investors – and above all for States.

  • Vulnerabilities

    Financially stifled, challenged on their “intellectual” output, threatened with shortages of the materials high technology needs: are France and Europe doomed to a brutal recession?

  • The TGV Club wins an award

    The Franche-Comté region is to receive a “Territoria” award for its commitment to the Rhine-Rhône TGV Club, an initiative to mobilise local decision-makers ahead of the arrival of the high-speed…

  • Influence management

    The disappointment of French environmentalists at the remit of “their” ministry shows how hard France finds it to accept non-hierarchical management.

  • Royale Navy

    France and Britain have finally decided to act together on their combat navies. A reminder that change always calls for a broad view, and the ability to run several projects…

  • The world according to Beijing

    The contracts signed during the Chinese President’s visit cannot make us forget Alstom’s recent setbacks: how can short-term stakes be met without irreversibly increasing medium-term risk?

  • The open society and its enemies

    Refinery strikes and the paralysis of the port of Marseille are driving business elsewhere. In an open world, others can freely choose to do without you.

  • Usages

    Samsonite has seen its profitability improve thanks to innovation: the new suitcases, easier to roll and tougher, are boosting sales. Yet these “wheelie” suitcases are also an illustration of the…

  • “We’re not going to spend our lives earning a living”…

    A slogan from French secondary-school protesters says a lot about the relationship to work – and about the economic literacy that companies could help to develop.

  • SNCF on the move

    François Regniault continues his chronicle of the transformation of SNCF under Guillaume Pepy – with a nod to the TGV Clubs we help to run.