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Patriotic and Professional Jurisdictions: Disclosures and Silences in a French Aeronautic Plant Michel Anteby Harvard B

Patriotic and Professional Jurisdictions: Disclosures and Silences in a French Aeronautic Plant Michel Anteby Harvard Business School. An Erroneous Retirement Speech “Henry H. started as a draftsman…” .

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Patriotic and Professional Jurisdictions: Disclosures and Silences in a French Aeronautic Plant Michel Anteby Harvard B

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  1. Patriotic and Professional Jurisdictions: Disclosures and Silences in a French Aeronautic PlantMichel AntebyHarvard Business School

  2. An Erroneous Retirement Speech“Henry H. started as a draftsman…” • “He never really was hired as a draftsman… it was more like a bilingual engineer! The story of my husband’s past is a tumultuous one that he always hid. My husband was taken by the Germans when he was eighteen [and] sent to the F. Aeronautic Engineering School near Berlin. He graduated as one of its youngest engineers. He spent the four years of German occupation [of France] in Germany… and worked on the turbojet engine in Germany. After that, the [French] Commander S. hired young bilingual French citizens to work [in France]. My husband took the job, but he always hid his pedigree; he never, ever spoke about it.”

  3. Setting, Periods, and Data Sources • Research Setting • Snecma’s Villaroche aeronautic plant (France) • Airplane engines for the military and civilian markets • Periods of study • 1945-1960: Input of German engineers (H. Oestrich) • 1970-2000: Increasing collaboration with GE • Data sources: • Corporate and union documents • Historical accounts • Plant level (Villaroche) internal bulletins • Company-wide level (Snecma) internal bulletins

  4. Continuous References to thePatriotic Duties of Snecma/Villaroche • “The patriotic consciousness necessitates a complete reorganization of the company.” • General De Gaulle (1945) • Warnings of the “nefarious agreement” with the Americans and of becoming a “subcontractor to GE” • Union document (1960 and 1973) • “The continued existence of Snecma depends… on its capabilities to tune and develop a complete engine” • Snecma bulletin (1979) • “Repositioning France in the arena of aeronautic engines” is a sign of Snecma’s success • Snecma in-house “historian” (1986)

  5. First Patriotic Strain (1946-1960)Herman Oestrich and the “O Group”Source: http://www.parisairshow-2003.com/fr/h_group1939_1.php (cited May, 1, 2006)

  6. Making Sense of the German PastMixing Patriotic and Professional Claims • The collaboration was engaged “at the request and with the help” of the French government Snecma bulletin (1975) • The development of jet engines: The history is dedicated to four pioneers, including Oestrich who “opted for the French citizenship” Snecma in-house “historian” (1996) • The 50 years of Snecma: “My colleagues and I are clearly emotionally involved with France; for proof half of us stayed in this country [France]. The others, including myself, always are happy to come back here.” Closest German aid to H. Oestrich at Villaroche (1996) • Past Successes: “Since fifty years all the plane engines that contributed and still continue to contribute to the fame of Snecma were born at Villaroche” Villaroche Director (1999)

  7. Second Patriotic Strain (1970-2000)An Increased Reliance by Snecma on GESource:http://www.safran-group.com/IMG/jpg/IE9S9942.jpg (cited May, 1, 2006)

  8. Loosing the “Noble Work”Hot and Cold Parts of an Engine

  9. Making Sense of the GE InvolvementContemporary Patriotic Dexterity • Justifying the linkages by necessity and government orders • The collaboration is “nowadays necessary to launch new products” Snecma Informations (1972) • It is “requested and supported by the French government” Snecma Bulletin (1979) • Recalibrating the patriotic duty to the military market • “To ensure, independently the equipment of the French air force, but on the civilian market “to compete in collaboration and in close intelligence with our GE friends” Snecma Information (1981) • Silence by omission: Limited references to GE in publicly available plant bulletins (5 years in 1990s) • 8 pages on GE out of 324 (1990-1992 and 1999-2000)

  10. Unanswered questions… • Implications for professional jurisdictions • Using national boundaries as marker • Is an Indian software engineer in Bombay more or less professional versus one in America? • Heightens gains and losses to the profession • Implications for organizations • History as constraining and enabling meaning • Patriotic dexterity as an organizational competency?

  11. Snecma Internal BulletinsDetails of the Coding Procedure • Company wide bulletins ( “Snecma Information”) • Describing Snecma’s industrial activity, new projects, company developments, as well as practical internal information for employees • 309 bulletins (totaling 5,614 pages) dated 1953 to 1999 • Methodology • Inductive category building (initially by random sampling) • Two independent coders (inter-coder reliability of 86%) • Categories used: • [1] internal (62.33 %): promotions, benefits, etc. • [2] industry overviews and air shows (10.78 %) • [3] GE related activities (5.36%): CFM56, CF6, GE36, GE90 engines • [4] Non GE related activities (18.67%): military (7.26% ), Concorde (2.21%), space (1.94%), nuclear (0.75%), other activities (6.51%) • [5] new technologies (2.86%): not assigned to a specific engine

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