Best in France: Altis Semiconductor May 2004 Interviews of Franck Bermon, HR Director Pascal Louis, R&D Director Marcus Reisinger, Financial Director Vincent MAHEO Thibaud MOULIN Louis POULAIN HEC Master in Large Projects Management

Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN MAP OF ALTIS CASE 1. Presentation of Altis and its challengers 2. Interviewed People 3. France, factors of (un)success HR R&D Social and Laws Finance Logistic Quality of life 4. Multiculture in Altis Conclusion : Why does Altis stay in France ?

PRESENTATION of ALTIS and its CHALLENGERS Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN Presentation People France MulticultureConclusion IBM on the site of Corbeil-Essonnes in 1941 IBM Microelectronics is created there in 1964, first advanced components manufacture in Europe in the early 90’s, Siemens works on a technical project in the site of Corbeil the financial sky of IBM Microelect. looks stormy and to save the company, a 50/50 joint-venture between IBM and Infineon (Siemens) is created in July Altis Semiconductor was born people Logics a revolutionary R&D project: MRAM 40% sales in Europe Flash memory 578 M€ (gross income 2001) 15% of mobile phones use Altis components

PRESENTATION of ALTIS and its CHALLENGERS Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN Presentation People France MulticultureConclusion in Europe: Siemens and their famous semiconductor center in Dresden (Germany) the twin manufacture of Altis in Asia: Taïwan, China, Korea... many foundries with low costs but not a so high technology and IP issues in the USA: not so many on Altis’ sector

INTERVIEWED PEOPLE Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN Presentation People France MulticultureConclusion Franck Bermon, HR & Communication Director  Social & Laws aspects  Operating and managing qualities  Subsidies Pascal Louis, New Technologies Director  Research in France  Operating and managing qualities  State structure Marcus Reisinger, Financial Director  Managing in France, Germany and the USA  Taxes and salaries  Investment policy

HUMAN RESSOURCES Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN Presentation People France MulticultureConclusion to work 24h a day, Altis needs 5 teams whereas US and Asian need only 4 (vacation, work time) Asian salaries are not comparable to French in this sector, investments are huge so the impact of higher salaries is reduced: 15 to 20% of costs 20 to 25% less for competitiveness French engineers have a general education and are creative French need a strong boss who takes final decisions on his own and do not appreciate to find a consensus (≠ German) Not enough technicians in France

RESEARCH & DEVELOPPMENT Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN PresentationPeople France MulticultureConclusion Partnership with high level Universities (Orsay) IBM has decided to give a revolutionary R&D projet, MRAM to Altis, why ?  pre-existing R&D engineering  close from Orsay Univ. (the creators of MRAM)  state subsidies

SOCIAL and LAWS Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN PresentationPeople France MulticultureConclusion Laws:  Intellectual property well protected (≠ Asia)  Flexibility hardly possible (≠ world) Syndicates: embarrassing partners... Important role of politics: the mayor of Corbeil, Serge Dassault, very close from the current government has put pressure to get important subsidies from MRAM project To handle with all complex administrative issues, foreign companies have to hire French specialists (≠ USA) Government structure not appropriate to companies: Research and Industry administrations do not walk the same way

FINANCE Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN PresentationPeople France MulticultureConclusion Subsidies: in France, the system is very complex (many actors from the State down to the city), they are low and only dedicated to projects (≠ China, rusty sites: Dresden) Taxes: very high (≠ USA) and complex (≠ Germany) for the company and its employees. But the SC sector is in crisis, and a company does not pay taxes if it looses money... Banks: only international banks can deal with this amount of investment, so no specially French banking behaviour Investment: French think more on a long run (≠ USA, IBM’s demand for ROI=6 months !) and take less risks (=Europe)

LOGISTIC Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN PresentationPeople France MulticultureConclusion the proximity of the two Parisian airports is important: all products are delivered by air and 60% are sent out of Europe

QUALITY of LIFE Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN PresentationPeople France MulticultureConclusion the French way of life is an advantage to convince foreigners to work in France Paris and its prestige is well appreciated by singles the Parisian suburbs are a good location for families with their international schools

MULTICULTURE in ALTIS Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN PresentationPeople France Multiculture Conclusion triple culture: French, German and American (advantage for managers) 15 nationalities (~40 German) languages problems less cultural differences between a French and a German than between an engineer and a commercial

CONCLUSION: WHY DOES ALTIS STAY IN FRANCE ? Best in France - HEC - May 2004MAHEO – MOULIN - POULAIN PresentationPeople France Multiculture Conclusion now, on Altis’ sector, engineering is more important than costs Intellectual Property is a major issue an important part of Altis’ clients are European France keeps its leading position, but until when ? China developps their engineering education With high level engineering and low costs, there will last only one point to prevent Altis from relocating in China: IP