Corp Unc & Philos

Renault, America and the return of the repressed

In the french newspaper Le Monde (July 18th 2006), I published a text, Renault, l'Amérique et le retour du refoulé about the Renault-Nissan-General Motors potential alliance. Going back into the past brings some light on the matter, and shows how the large corporations tend to repeat patterns of behaviour.

In spite of numerous attempts, Renault never succeeded on the american market. As to GM, the first bankruptcy took place in 1910, two years after its creation.

Obviously, it is the personality of Carlos Ghosn and his charism that are higly desirable in this potential deal, not the know-how of Renault as a firm. This is a sign that the Renault-Nissan alliance is not yet significant in terms of capitalistic links. It is as meaningful as the presence of the man who turned it into a success.

What is "Corporate Unconscious" ?

Whoever worked in a company is familiar with the corporate unconscious without really knowing about it. What is striking when joining a new firm is the behavior of people, whether individual or collective, the words that are recurrent and above all, the processes that are repeated everyday.

The corporate unconscious is to the firm what the invisible hand is to a nation, accordind to Adam Smith.

At the origin, a business is nothing but the desire of an entrepreneur. Even when the business model looks simple, it is a highly complex compromise between the destiny of a man and the turmoil of reality. Altogether, these factors are connected into a structure which determines collective action according to a meaning that remains unconscious.

Whatever takes place within a firm is meaningful but the daily operations do not require any clear idea about it.

Awareness of the phenomenon is growing. People tend to talk more and more openly about their professional experience. The purpose of this weblog is to provide an opportunity to exchange views on a topic whis is increasingly but not always accurately, taken into account in management practices.