Paper short abstract:

How do French and Romanian multinationals’employees relate to foreign managerial styles and technologies? Site relocation to lower-wage countries and massive layoffs are matter of concern for all EU citizens. Can we conceive a peaceful multicultural area submitted to economical competition?

Paper long abstract:

Opening the geographical and spiritual frontiers worldwide was part of the post-1989 changes in Central and Eastern Europe. This opening was seen as a logical attitude after the decline of Soviet control over the entire region. The rules of competition and profit, the altering of pre-'89 internal and external commercial agreements and also the pressure from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank urged the new regimes to pursue liberalisation and privatisation.

European integration, as well as globalisation, is not a naturally occurring phenomenon that would have happened without people's determination. It is meant to fulfil aspirations to a higher level of socio-economic life. A businessman may see here opportunities for the expansion of markets, while other people may see European integration as a threat to local traditions unable to compete with the "aggressive" cultures endorsed by economical power. The main interests motivating the process of European integration are related to economy (profit-related), politics (power-related) and culture (exploring other identities). Many trans-national businesses succeed in eluding local regulations and national "supervision". In "the new spirit of competition" these businesses are not even interested to protect at least the production of their mother plants.

One of the most common situations nowadays is when a multinational decides to close its unprofitable mother plant (raising thus mass protests) and de-locate it to a 'lower wage' country, where this 'foreign investment' is seen as an invasion (also raising mass protests but otherwise motivated).

The main object of the research presented hereby is to show the way in which an employee of a multinational enterprise sees his/her socio-professional position and future related to the cultural adaptation of work habits to foreign managerial styles and imported technologies. The fieldwork started from the hypothesis that depending on decisions and innovations brought from abroad, can give an increased sense of employment insecurity, unacceptable to some people even if it means efficiency, profit and bigger incomes.

The research is based on empirical data gathered for the MA thesis at Pierre Mendes France (Grenoble II) University. These data extracted from interviews with French salaried employees working in multinational enterprises (mainly of American origin) is hereby confronted with the results of a fieldwork carried out in Bucharest also in multinational enterprises.

French workers considered as compulsory to be consulted when decisions as site closing, re-locations of plants (to lower wage countries) or massive layoffs are to be taken. On the other hand, Romanian workers are adamant about a permanent state control over firms, especially those resulted from foreign direct investment.

This comparative fieldwork leads us to an interrogative reflection: could a peaceful multicultural area be conceived, whereas its inhabitants are brought into a more or less direct antagonism due to economical competition?

Gabriel STOICIU