Crazy for European luxury
Article Abstract:
European producers of luxury goods are experiencing unprecedented market success. In the 1970's, the fashion house Saint Laurent and the jeweller Cartier were floundering; today, both prosper. Many other luxury goods makers were only able to survive by growing large, usually accomplished through sophisticated marketing, product diversification, and overseas expansion, especially in the US and Japan. In some cases, merging with a larger firm is necessary, such as Lamborghini's merger with Chrysler and Ford's acquisition of Aston Martin. Some of the smaller, privately-owned businesses cannot or do not wish to deal with international pressures and sell out. Campbell's Soup Corp has purchased Godiva Chocolates. Christian Dior fashions and Celine leather goods are now a part of a French financial group. Others considered vulnerable to takeover include: Gucci, Hermes, Chanel, Lanvin, and spirit houses Taittinger and Martell.
Publication Name: International Management
Subject: Business, international
ISSN: 0020-7888
Year: 1987
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The straight-talking computer that leaves managers stunned
Article Abstract:
Acumen is a computer software package designed by psychologists J. Clayton Lafferty and Ronald A. Warren and marketed by Human Synergistics Inc. to help executives evaluate their management styles, identify shortcomings, and develop improvement plans. Acumen uses a 240-question survey to assess user attitudes. Survey responses are compared to an ideal executive profile, based on a survey of 250,000 managers in 6,000 US firms. Users receive candid criticism and advice through Acumen, based upon classic management science theories by Maslow, Blake and Mouton, and McClelland, among others. About 4,000 Acumen programs have been sold since the product's October 1985 introduction. Critics say that Acumen has US cultural and corporate biases that may adversely affect its international potential.
Publication Name: International Management
Subject: Business, international
ISSN: 0020-7888
Year: 1987
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The art of using a computer to plot personal relations and make friends
Article Abstract:
The SYMLOG (Systematic Multiple Level Observation of Groups) program was adapted to management analysis by Marc Poumadere, who also established the SYMLOG Institute near Paris. The program is now used successfully in companies all over Europe for employee and group behavior analysis and for resolving management problems. The program involves the use of a questionnaire, interpretation of the results by a computer based on behavior or value traits, and a discussion by those involved. The program is designed to bring problems into the open, but not to resolve problems. It also does not try to resolve the causes of tension; it has been used with considerable success at the French nuclear power station Bugey-1 and at the Paris-based lighting firm, Compagnie des Lampes.
Publication Name: International Management
Subject: Business, international
ISSN: 0020-7888
Year: 1986
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