Services

Services / Sensitization - the trigger

Paris, 2023
Pateau Consultants is conducting several cross-cultural sessions for Sonepar, a leading technical solutions provider to electrical industry professionals.  

Weiden-Lille, 2023, March
Pateau Consultants organises a cross-cultural coaching session for the Witt Group, a leading German clothing mail order retailer belonging to Otto Group

Paris-Bonn, 2023, March-May-December
Pateau Consultants continues to support Buyin, the JV of Deutsche Telekom and Orange through on-line and face-to-face coaching and cross-cultural training. 

Intercultural awareness represents our main field of action. In this area we work with companies for which the time has come to work closer together internationally. Sometimes they are venturing into terra incognita, more often they are vaguely familiar with the subject but lack the tools to understand, analyze and address the challenges.

Conferences

Examples :

EADS Space, conference series in both France and Germany

The recent creation of a new integrated company has resulted in multicultural teams and new questions have arisen due to the change from what was previously a simple cooperation. How can this change be anticipated ? On the sites in Brême and Friedrichshafen, many German managers asked us : How much maneuverability do I have with a French boss ? How can I express my disagreement to my team ? Does the “boss' dilemma” exist in France also ?

“During this lecture it really clicked : I understood that we can use the cultural differences to our mutual advantage.”
Michael Kindler, Vice President, Costing Modifications, EADS Germany.

Allianz Group, Euler Hermes, Helsinki, 2005

During the annual convention of the Scandinavian section of the European leader in loan insurance, Euler Hermes, 90 Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish managers were asked to take a step back from their own culture and better apprehend the logic and behavior as well as the expectations and perceptions of their European partners. The questions asked : How can Northern European specificities be taken into account in a primarily French and German group ? What is the connection between company culture and national culture ?

“All the participants greatly appreciated both the quality and the contents of Jacques Pateau's contribution. It was a high point in the convention that gave participants insights into some cultural aspects that are essential to the success of our group.”
Lars Gustafsson, CEO, Euler Hermes Nordic

Events

Within the framework of corporate conventions, executive conferences, or when new projects or teams are launched, we organize events from 4 to 6 hours in length that contribute to creating intercultural awareness through activities that are both fun and informative. Experiential activities such as simulations, games or workshops trigger an awareness among participants of the blind spots in their perceptions, the stumbling blocks to communication and other difficulties inherent to intercultural cooperation or integration. Group debriefing or a dinner-conference allows any manager, whether new to the field or very experienced internationally, to benefit even further from these impacting sessions.

Examples :

Aventis Law Conference 2004, Boston, USA

200 lawyers from the Aventis group, representing over thirty cultures, participated in a simulation which revealed that all successful cooperation relies on knowing the other person's frame of reference. Expectations, approaches or methodologies are not universal but only products of cultural programming. This common learning process created strong group dynamics and significantly increased the quality of the work that followed.

“Participants greatly appreciated the conference program, and the contributions of Pateau Consultants played a major role in its success.”
Dirk Oldenburg, Legal Director, Aventis Corporate and Pharma

DCNS, Ships and Systems Pole, 2005

The 80 managing directors of the Ships and Systems Pole of the Naval Construction Management (DCN), meeting at Agay for their annual convention, devoted more than half of their session to understanding others and intercultural communication. An interactive game followed by a presentation and workshops helped participants prepare themselves for the extensive internationalisation of their company. How can friendly avoidance and workers' fears be overcome so that international projects can prosper ? How can a set of rules common to everyone be defined together ? What is the real impact of cultural differences on any given national or international cooperation ?

“Pateau Consultant's contribution was a great hit and it triggered a consciousness on the part of the participants that is indispensable in the period of extensive internationalisation that we are experiencing.”
Jean-Claude Martinet, Deputy Director of the Ships and Systems Pole

Cultural Awareness Seminars

Example :

Lesaffre Group, Finance Directors, 2006

For this very multicultural group in full expansion, where 18 different national cultures are represented (from Hong Kong to Argentina, via Croatia, Morocco and the United States), our goals were to create an appreciation of diversity, provide insights for understanding and tools to analyze the impact of cultural differences in the professional environment by bringing those involved closer together.

Nancy Bragard and Laurence Bonnafous helped participants reveal their perceptions and representations and become aware of their own cultural framework. The use of simulations allowed them to actually experience intercultural situations. This module gave particular attention to the diagnosis of each participant's intercultural profile and the identification of skills to develop.

“Practical, clear and easily applicable advice, the methods used are scientifically grounded, and although somewhat unusual very useful for those in finance.”
Geza Matyas, Accounting Manager, Hungary

“My key learning point : to be more insightful into the thought process/perspective of my colleagues throughout the world. It's a good way for the group to start organizing, supporting and developing its integration into a truly multinational/multicultural organization.”
Geff OConnor, Financial Director, USA

Management Modules for high-potential executives

Examples :

Monocultural Groups : Trois Suisses, since 1996

Within the framework of special sessions designed for the Group's future directors, a transcultural module is organized each year for around twelve managers. 3-day program, held in a European city, this module offers an in-depth approach to the main cultures represented in the company. The subtle mechanics at work between partners from Germany, England, Spain… are analyzed in the light of participants' real experiences. Cultural awareness is reinforced by the new surroundings that are discovered during the seminar.

“This seminar taught us : the importance of the role played by history, family, religion and the educational system in cultural differences ; to always remember, in our communications and in our work, that the other person's culture is different and to keep this in mind in our relations with our clients and our shareholders ; the importance of implicit and explicit forms of communication, of context and timing on relationships and effectiveness ; the notion of ethnocentrism ; the fact that culture itself is successful adaptation. The facilitator contributed a very rich experience and high quality demonstrations.”
Comments from the class as a whole, 2007

Multicultural Groups : EADS, Corporate Business Academy

Despite recent turbulences and political fights this European merger between the Spanish, French and Germans in the aeronautic, space and military sector makes understanding each other across cultures a long term necessity. The Corporate Business Academy is faced with the challenge of creating a network among managers in the various sectors and Business Units. In this context we devoted three days to discovering not only the three cultures represented in the group but also those of the facilitators. Isabel Mohedano, Helga Schenzer and Jacques Pateau led participants to a better understanding of their partners' logic, a greater knowledge of their historical, socio-cultural and educational roots, and above all laid the foundations for a new management style common to all and based on shared values

“I will see people in a different way now That I understand the reasons and background they have to behave as they do, but without stopping being myself.”
Rocio Vidal-Martinez, EADS CASA, Spain

“I acquired a greater acceptance of French culture, people and behavior and I developed new motivation to seek a shared EADS culture.”
Michael Eberwein, EADS Headquarters Paris