Patriotic and Professional Jurisdictions Disclosures and Silences in

Patriotic and Professional Jurisdictions: Disclosures and Silences in a French Aeronautic Plant Michel Anteby Harvard Business School

An Erroneous Retirement Speech “Henry H. started as a draftsman…” § “He never really was hired as a draftsman… it was more like a bilingual engineer! The story of my husband’s past is a tumultuous one that he always hid. My husband was taken by the Germans when he was eighteen [and] sent to the F. Aeronautic Engineering School near Berlin. He graduated as one of its youngest engineers. He spent the four years of German occupation [of France] in Germany… and worked on the turbojet engine in Germany. After that, the [French] Commander S. hired young bilingual French citizens to work [in France]. My husband took the job, but he always hid his pedigree; he never, ever spoke about it. ” 2

Setting, Periods, and Data Sources § Research Setting – Snecma’s Villaroche aeronautic plant (France) – Airplane engines for the military and civilian markets § Periods of study – 1945 -1960: Input of German engineers (H. Oestrich) – 1970 -2000: Increasing collaboration with GE § Data sources: – – Corporate and union documents Historical accounts Plant level (Villaroche) internal bulletins Company-wide level (Snecma) internal bulletins 3

Continuous References to the Patriotic Duties of Snecma/Villaroche § “The patriotic consciousness necessitates a complete reorganization of the company. ” – General De Gaulle (1945) § Warnings of the “nefarious agreement” with the Americans and of becoming a “subcontractor to GE” – Union document (1960 and 1973) § “The continued existence of Snecma depends… on its capabilities to tune and develop a complete engine” – Snecma bulletin (1979) § “Repositioning France in the arena of aeronautic engines” is a sign of Snecma’s success – Snecma in-house “historian” (1986) 4

First Patriotic Strain (1946 -1960) Herman Oestrich and the “O Group” 5 Source: http: //www. parisairshow-2003. com/fr/h_group 1939_1. php (cited May, 1, 2006)

Making Sense of the German Past Mixing Patriotic and Professional Claims § The collaboration was engaged “at the request and with the help” of the French government Snecma bulletin (1975) § The development of jet engines: The history is dedicated to four pioneers, including Oestrich who “opted for the French citizenship” Snecma in-house “historian” (1996) § The 50 years of Snecma: “My colleagues and I are clearly emotionally involved with France; for proof half of us stayed in this country [France]. The others, including myself, always are happy to come back here. ” Closest German aid to H. Oestrich at Villaroche (1996) § Past Successes: “Since fifty years all the plane engines that contributed and still continue to contribute to the fame of Snecma were born at Villaroche” Villaroche Director (1999) 6

Second Patriotic Strain (1970 -2000) An Increased Reliance by Snecma on GE Source: http: //www. safran-group. com/IMG/jpg/IE 9 S 9942. jpg (cited May, 1, 2006) 7

Loosing the “Noble Work” Hot and Cold Parts of an Engine 8

9

Making Sense of the GE Involvement Contemporary Patriotic Dexterity § Justifying the linkages by necessity and government orders – The collaboration is “nowadays necessary to launch new products” Snecma Informations (1972) – It is “requested and supported by the French government” Snecma Bulletin (1979) § Recalibrating the patriotic duty to the military market – “To ensure, independently the equipment of the French air force, but on the civilian market “to compete in collaboration and in close intelligence with our GE friends” Snecma Information (1981) § Silence by omission: Limited references to GE in publicly available plant bulletins (5 years in 1990 s) • 8 pages on GE out of 324 (1990 -1992 and 1999 -2000) 10

§ § 11

Unanswered questions… § Implications for professional jurisdictions – Using national boundaries as marker • Is an Indian software engineer in Bombay more or less professional versus one in America? – Heightens gains and losses to the profession § Implications for organizations – History as constraining and enabling meaning – Patriotic dexterity as an organizational competency? 12

Snecma Internal Bulletins Details of the Coding Procedure § Company wide bulletins ( “Snecma Information”) – Describing Snecma’s industrial activity, new projects, company developments, as well as practical internal information for employees – 309 bulletins (totaling 5, 614 pages) dated 1953 to 1999 § Methodology – Inductive category building (initially by random sampling) – Two independent coders (inter-coder reliability of 86%) – Categories used: • • [1] internal (62. 33 %): promotions, benefits, etc. [2] industry overviews and air shows (10. 78 %) [3] GE related activities (5. 36%): CFM 56, CF 6, GE 36, GE 90 engines [4] Non GE related activities (18. 67%): military (7. 26% ), Concorde (2. 21%), space (1. 94%), nuclear (0. 75%), other activities (6. 51%) 13 • [5] new technologies (2. 86%): not assigned to a specific engine