Best in France Case Study:A Consultant’s Perspective of

Business in France -Frost & Sullivan

Prepared for Professor Michael Segalla

Group ES2 – GMohammed Alhuraimel, Pierre-Henri Belin, Charuta Fadnis, Kazuki Okoshi

Executive Overview

• Corporate Overview• Mission statement• Corporate Values and

Working Environment• Company Services• Frost & Sullivan

France• Reasons for coming

to France

• Market Characteristics in France

• Main factors behind success in France

• Constraints in France• Key Costs and

Staffing Issues• Aims and

Opportunities

Frost & SullivanCorporate Overview

• Broad-Scope Management Consultancy with

global presence in fifty countries

• Founded in 1961 in New York City, European

presence since 1970

• Provides growth consulting and corporate

training solutions

• Website: www.frost.com

Frost & Sullivan Mission

“Partnering with clients to create innovative growth strategies”

Corporate values and Working Environment

Corporate values of F&S

• Results Driven • Personally Responsible • Ambitious • Challenging • Fast Paced

The pay structure at F&S has a results-based bonus component, which drives staff to achieve targets. Analysts and managers have full responsibility for completion of projects.

International Working Environment

“One of our key strengths is the ability to attract an international workforce. This leads to a unique working environment of cultural diversity and, as many of our projects are global or pan-European, it is an ideal environment to use the full range of any languages you speak.”*

Though the office in France has mostly French staff, there is a high degree of co-operation between various international offices and the work environment is very international.

Company Services

Offers Market Intelligence/Research, Training and Consulting Services in the following industries:

– Automotive/Logistics– Chemicals/Process Industries – Energy and Environment– Industrial Automation– Healthcare– Information Technology and Telecoms– Satellite communications– Aerospace and Defence

Frost & Sullivan France

• Offers a full range of services from its office in Paris

• 12 staff members• Generates 30% of business in Europe*• “Nicely profitable and growing fast”*• Clients include leading multi-national companies

based in France and surrounding French-speaking countries

• Primary focus is sales but consulting business is growing rapidly

Reasons for coming to France

• Initially, French office was a sales operationInitial Aim:

– Sales operation fundamentally, and local relay to the UK based teams (European Hub) ⇒ Has reached that aim

• France had major growth opportunities based on an excellent match between F&S’s service offering and evolving market requirements

Market Characteristics in France

• Structurally, similar to other mainstream European markets

• Centralised in terms of client operations*• Too centred on France, but slowly opening up to

the world• Distinctive culture

Main Factors behind success in France

• Excellent team, focused and driven

• Stability of the French market, compared to

Germany for example

• Focus on quality, getting it right first time

• Total commitment to client satisfaction

Constraints in France

• The principal constraints faced by F&S– Very high social charges

– Rigid administration hampering rapid and flexible business development

– Intrinsic high human cost base

• Other constraints as compared to other locations– Culture and “French” way of doing business is an issue*

– The French market is much more sensitive to price

• Opinions differ on working directives*– “The new working directive (NDLR 35 hour work-week) is not favorable

to expansion in France”

– But also “is not an issue”

Key Costs and Staffing Issues

• Recruitment and retention costs are key– “High NI contribution companies have to make (something

like 50%)”

• Staffing Issues– “It is an issue finding people who have good grasp of English

and the right qualifications and experience in our business sector”

– “Sometimes, admin resources are difficult to recruit and retain, but no big deal”

Aims and Opportunities

• Major growth opportunities with key accounts and as French companies become global

• Aims for the future: – To grow the operations to take a rightful share of the local

market; major growth opportunity

– At least 50% annual growth forecast for the next 3-5 years

We would like to Thank:

Sarwant Singh Practice Director, Automotive and Transportation (Europe) Frost & Sullivan Sullivan House4 Grosvenor GardensLondon SW1W 0DHUKTel: +44 20 7730 3438

Jan KristiansenManaging DirectorFrost & Sullivan 24 Rue de Londres75009 ParisFranceTel: +33 1 42 81 54 50

Our Team

Mohammed Alhuraimel mohammed.alhuraimel@mailhec.net

Pierre-Henri Belinpierre-henri.belin@mailhec.net

Charuta Fadnischaruta.fadnis@mailhec.net

Kazuki Okoshikazuki.okoshi@mailhec.net