Strained alliances

Article Abstract:

Volvo of Sweden and Renault of France announced a corporate alliance between the two firms on Feb 23, 1990, and the terms of the alliance dictate that Renault will acquire a 25% share of Volvo, while Volvo will acquire a 20% share in Renault, with an option to raise it by 5% later on. In addition, the two companies will exchange holdings in respective industrial vehicle subsidiaries amounting to 45%. However, the firms are maintaining separate corporate identities, management structures, and marketing distribution networks. The arrangement was developed to help both Volvo and Renault maintain competitiveness in the face of the upcoming Single European market in 1992, but experts are not sure the arrangement will work because the corporate alliance does not have a single individual at the head to mediate decisions and to give the firms a guiding viewpoint. Statistics indicate that alliances which do not have a clearly dominant partner have an average failure rate of 50%.

Motor vehicles and car bodies, Europe, Sweden, International aspects, Economic policy, Automobile industry, Partnership, Partnerships, Regie Nationale des Usines Renault, AB Volvo, Single European market, company profile

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Gateway to the 21st century

Article Abstract:

La Defense business district, located in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France, was considered unsightly during its development in the 1960s and 1970s due to its office towers, which clashed with traditional Parisian architecture, and its location amongst warehouses, factories, and slums. The district recently has been revitalized by the development group Sari-Seer and over 6,000 French and foreign firms employing 110,000 people now have facilities there. Corporations have been attracted to La Defense because of low rents, fast transport connections, and an innovative communication infrastructure. Additionally, the development of the Centre des Nouvelles Industries et Technologies, a world trade center, has been a magnet for attracting high technology firms.

Central business districts, Sari-Seeri

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The provincials look across borders

Article Abstract:

The southeastern French region known as Rhone-Alpes and its major city Lyon demonstrate increased attention to economic prospects under the single European market, expected in 1992. Local business leaders expect that economic integration of European economies will bring the Rhone-Alpes region to unprecedented economic prominence as a great economic market of 322 million consumers opens. Rhone-Alpes is already France's second largest region after Parisian Ile de France, and accounts for about 11 percent of the nation's total exports. A big share of Rhone-Alpes' job creation and economic growth is tied to its thousands of small and mid-sized innovative, export-oriented companies.

Regional economics, Lyon, France, Rhone Valley, French Alps

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