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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Sustainable Enterprise Performance details a method for evaluating an enterprise’s readiness and progress toward sustainable performance through a comprehensive set of qualitative and quantitative indicators.
These indicators cover enterprise strategy for meeting both the impact of the enterprise within the framework of corporate social responsibility and the expectations of stakeholders, evolving and monitoring the product and service offerings and business processes.
The second half of the book focuses more closely on fundamental determinants of performance, such as digital transformation and artificial intelligence, corporate culture, ethics and compliance, branding and e-reputation and best-practice Lean management, and provides practical measures against which companies may assess the maturity of their sustainable performance.
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Seitenzahl: 280
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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Table of Contents
Cover
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part 1: A Global Framework for the Governance Process and Indicators of Sustainable Performance
1 The Governance Process
1.1. Enterprise governance
1.2. Strategic business development
1.3. Taking into account corporate social responsibility: the governance process
1.4. Translation of strategic objectives at the level of operational processes
1.5. Monitoring objective achievement and risk control
1.6. The role of decision-makers in the governance process
1.7. Case studies: assessing the maturity of the governance process
2 The Process of Creating Product Offerings
2.1. Introduction
2.2. The business’ economic environment and its ecosystem or “humus”
2.3. Exploitation of the business’ key assets or “roots”
2.4. Best practice in operations involved in the process or the “trunk”
2.5. Case study: assessing the maturity of the offer creation process
2.6. Indicators of the performance of the offer creation process
3 The Process of Product and Service Production
3.1. The strategic importance of the “supply chain” within digital development
3.2. Description of the “supply chain” process
3.3. Good practices and performance indicators for operations involved in the production process
3.4. The economic performance of the processe
3.5. The big picture of performance in the “supply chain” process
3.6. Case study: assessing the maturity of the supply chain process
Part 2: Focus on Medium- to Long-term Performance Levers
4 Digital Transformation
4.1. The importance of managing issues concerning the “digital transformation”
4.2. The importance of monitoring digital developments
4.3. Artificial intelligence and robotization
4.4. Case study: assessing the maturity of digital transformation
5 Enterprise Culture
5.1. The importance of enterprise culture for performance
5.2. Case study: assessing the maturity of enterprise culture
6 Ethics and Compliance
6.1. The importance of ethics and compliance issues for performance
6.2. Case study: assessing the maturity of ethics and compliance aspects
7 Brand Image and Reputation
7.1. The importance of brand image and reputation management for performance
7.2. Case study: assessing the maturity of brand image management
8 Lean Management
8.1. The importance of “Lean management” concepts for performance
8.2. Measures of Lean performance
8.3. Lean management in the IT industry or IT departments of enterprises
8.4. Lean management in the service industries
8.5. What is a “Lean start-up”?
8.6. Conclusion
8.7. Case study: assessing the maturity of Lean management practices
Appendix
Glossary
References
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 1
Table 1.1. The environmental actors whose expectations must be considered while ...
Table 1.2. Impact of the company on environmental actors in the context of the c...
Table 1.3. Decision-making characteristics
Table 1.4. Gexpertise: overview of governance process maturity. Summary of resul...
Table 1.5. L’Oréal Group: overview of maturity of governance processes and CSR p...
Chapter 2
Table 2.1. The Safran Group: overview of the maturity of the product offering cr...
Chapter 3
Table 3.1. Air France: overview of the maturity of the supply chain process. Sum...
Chapter 4
Table 4.1. Lise Charmel: overview of the maturity of the digital transformation ...
Chapter 5
Table 5.1. H3O: overview of the maturity of the digital transformation focus. Su...
Chapter 6
Table 6.1. iXBlue: overview of the maturity of the ethics and compliance focus. ...
Chapter 7
Table 7.1. L’Oréal Group: overview of the maturity of the brand image and reputa...
Chapter 8
Table 8.1. Air France: overview of the maturity of the Lean management focus. Su...
Appendix
Table A.1. Maturity indicator definitions
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Figure I.1. Sustainable enterprise performance framework
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1. Enterprise governance
Figure 1.2. Illustration of governance principles by navigation. For a color ver...
Figure 1.3. The process of enterprise governance
Figure 1.4. The micro-environment of an enterprise
Figure 1.5. Intensity of competition (Porter 1982)
Figure 1.6. Operational business processes and resource mobilization
Figure 1.7. The four sections of the balanced scorecard
Figure 1.8. From internal processes’ performance to financial results
Figure 1.9. Security element relationships
Figure 1.10. The COSO 2 framework. For a color version of this figure, see www.i...
Figure 1.11. Dimensions of an Executive Manager
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1. The product offer creation tree. For a color version of this figure,...
Figure 2.2. Economic Analysis Council: Creativity and Innovation. Report piloted...
Figure 2.3. Impact of disclosure of information on an organization.
Figure 2.4. The trunk or product development process
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1. Supply chain process
Figure 3.2. The CQFD process performance indicators
Figure 3.3. Activity objectives of a process
Figure 3.4. The ABB–ABC–ABM model
Figure 3.5. Information System pyramid
Figure 3.6. Generic ABB–ABC–ABM model
Figure 3.7. Measures of performance: the balanced scorecard and ABB–ABC–ABM appr...
Appendix
Figure A.1. Maturity evaluation of French enterprises in terms of sustainable pe...
Figure A.2. Maturity evaluation of French enterprises in terms of sustainable pe...
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
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Sustainable Enterprise Performance
A Comprehensive Evaluation Method
Jean-Louis Leignel
Emmanuel Ménager
Serge Yablonsky
First published 2019 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:
ISTE Ltd
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www.iste.co.uk
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
USA
www.wiley.com
© ISTE Ltd 2019
The rights of Jean-Louis Leignel, Emmanuel Ménager and Serge Yablonsky to be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019931762
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78630-371-4
Foreword
No measures without excess
The new paths of enterprise’s performance must fall within the scope of duration, systems and globality. They characterize the impact of environmental changes in terms of value well beyond traditional metric. To illustrate this, let us take, for example, the emergence of digitalization in order to transform the business and favor innovation services (Big Data, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), etc.).
The search for value is becoming with more and more acuity the main objective of enterprises that are anxious to create different revenue models, “in rupture” or, in other words, differing. More importantly, this is at the time of economy based on sharing or a platform that impacts all sectors of activity by questioning fundamentals and usual models.
However, we must not forget operational excellence in the production of goods and services, which will be strongly impacted by digital development and robotization. It is up to the enterprise to ensure that these technological opportunities are taken advantage of in order to positively contribute to this excellence.
The approach to measure performance does not go without consequence. Naturally, activity must be measured as objectively as possible, reasonably and dynamically. However, the metamorphosis that we are experiencing raises several fundamental issues. Here are some of them. Are the methods of return on investment (ROI) calculation still pertinent? Are they suitable for the new economic context that we are facing today? Are the ratios of classical management, activity and profitability still the right ones? Will non-financial information that allows the measurement of financial engagements in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) become pre-eminent? Must the valorization of assets that are deemed intangible, in particular intellectual property, be carried out in a systematic manner with potential for future value? Can an enterprise strive for “sustainability” without ethical and responsible behavior? Can it develop sustainably without relying on solid foundations, those of skill, staff engagement and attractiveness to new talents?
Let us take a look at the largest stock valuations, those of digital “pure-players”, in order to see the growing gap between capital value and profitability. To guarantee its continuity, a “sustainable” enterprise must redefine its position regarding ecosystems, alchemy between customers, shareholders, partners, service providers and suppliers, institutions and staff. A new strategy will arise, associating the vision and the reality of business, above all by not prohibiting anything at first glance. Of course, it will be necessary to make enterprise culture evolve in order to act quickly and not get left behind.
Yes, beyond “good” measure that involves rethinking organizations and their modes of operation in-depth, a little bit of excess is needed. This ounce of foolishness can push one to innovate, step out of one’s comfort zone and anticipate changes. This will facilitate governance and leadership efficiency, guarantee that the enterprise is closely monitored, and accelerate its rise and maturity. No measures without excess.
Geoffroy ROUX DE BÉZIEUX President, MEDEF (France’s largest employers’ association)
Acknowledgments
For 10 years, the authors have been at the nucleus of several working groups in enterprise governance at the French professional body Académie des sciences techniques comptables et financières (Academy of Accounting and Financial Sciences and Techniques).
The Académie (http://www.lacademie.info) is the first Frenchspeaking and France-based professional network of competencies and influence in serving the economy.
It is also a platform of services where we can progress in professional activity and join a network of competencies and influence. The Académie unites professionals working with numbers under common values and facilitates the exchange of information on transversal matters and identifying good practices.
The authors hold full responsibility for the writing in this work yet they extend their thanks to William Nahum, president of the Académie, to the research groups and particularly to Sophie de Pomyers for her commercial and marketing reflexes, Faten Saadi for his passion for CRS, Nicolas Saloff-Coste for his rigorous respect for Lean management and Areski Guidir for his belief in the intangible.
Our thanks also go to Edouard Salustro, Maurice Catalan, François-Xavier Simon, Angélique Courtade, Eric Freudenreich, Antonio Dias, Jean-Louis Brun d’Arre and Alexis Kignelmans.
Similarly, the authors would like to thank in particular companies that have attested to the applicability of the method, notably Air France, L’Oréal, Safran, Gexpertise, Lise Charmel, iXBlue and H3O.
We would like to also extend our thanks to ProcessWay, an association represented by its members, and to its president, Pierre Girault of Air France, for constructive exchanges around processes.
We thank Nicolas Lamiot of the consulting firm H3O for the following endorsement of the method.
I am an engineer specializing in the agro-alimentary domain who takes action among leaders to help foster growth and take on the challenges that confront it. We always start with diagnostics that allows us to precisely identify the gaps between the vision perceived by management and what we have found in the field. In order to do this, we have used the enterprise governance approach offered in this book many times. The described governance process allows us to seek balance among the pillars, as they are explained in the various chapters.
Introduction
Knowing that more than half of the first 500 enterprises appearing in Fortune in 2000 have disappeared by 2018, which enterprises will still be present in 2020 or 2030? What differences do you see between well-known businesses such as Google, Walmart, General Electric, Holiday Inn or Toyota? Of course, they evolve in vastly different business areas. Furthermore, are there indicators that would allow us to compare their cyclical and future performance in terms of value creation?
Each one of them has management control and measurement procedures to measure their savings that, in their areas, provide information on their performance. But do these quantified and displayed results give a correct and comprehensive perception of their performance?
This book offers responses to questions by broadening traditional methods – generally accounting based – to more systematic performance criteria on the way businesses today move in their environments, movements that the digital revolution is currently revealing.
What do we see? Strategies more or less mindful of their environment. Agility more or less reactive to the expectations of the market and to the influence of their ecosystem. More or less attention to the adaptation of business models, to the quality and pertinence of the chosen operational processes.
Does that suffice? Each of the four cited businesses undoubtedly possesses a huge “corporate culture”, but it has been said that certain ones are no longer suitable to attract talent, to mobilize their internal resources in the best manner, and more simply, to entice a vaster clientele. Their internal cultures, by osmosis and whether they like it or not, from now on permeate the image that their “e-reputation” conveys.
We have analyzed work on “integral reporting”, which was developed to reinstate investors’ confidence. It emphasizes business’ financial performances, as well as social, environmental and governance (SEG) performances. It allows the promotion of sustainable development by proving to stakeholders that good practices in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) do not hinder financial growth, but on the contrary, they are a way to generate added value for the business.
The concept is promoted by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), an international association created in 2010 that gathers pilot enterprises, investors, reporting norm promoters and big audit firms.
Considering CSR in “integrated reporting” is undisputedly a step forward, but a business’ sustainable performance stems from a more global approach, integrating not only the process of governance and CSR criteria, but also the “supply creation” process and operational processes, without forgetting the importance of “enterprise culture”, “digital transformation”, ethics and compliance, the brand’s image and “Lean management”.
At the time of mass consumerism and savings called “shortages”, performance was measured in numbers that improved economies of scale and could be shown. This time is behind us. Today’s economy is strictly supply sided and must respond to the most diverse expectations on the market. The Japanese industry was the first to take on this course, since the beginning of the 1980s. A radical evolution occurred with “World Class Manufacturing”, which aims to produce varied available products with high quality at competitive prices. Lean manufacturing encodes its practices. In the same spirit, these practices now imbue governances and their administrations, services of all kinds, the development of digital systems, piloting start-ups and even the hospital sector.
Beyond the numbers, the control one has over these opportunities and their constraints – and good practices that increase a business’ profit – is determined by a global appreciation for the business’ performance.
If we cannot claim to measure everything with numbers like we do in management control, it is nevertheless possible to measure the maturity of a business with respect to a standard or another business. This work will therefore offer quantitative questionnaires for each domain of reference below: the evaluation of the maturity of the business, without neglecting quantitative approaches to management control such as ABC–ABM (activity-based costing/ management) and the balanced scorecard, made popular by Kaplan and Norton.
Even though it sometimes requires a global transformation, performance most often takes shape by means of an iteration of decisions, even microdecisions, in harmony with the business’ strategy, which must also be adapted with regard to the ecosystem in which the business finds itself. Microdecisions often take root around contacts with staff, suppliers, clients and even competitors. Over time the business will undergo a metamorphosis, maintaining contact with stakeholders, all while keeping performance in sight, which is the guarantee of its continuity.
In order to exhaustively cover the totality of domains where good practices must be applied in search of a business’ sustainable development, in the following, the authors offer a global framework, which consists of two distinct but complementary parts.
First, the main body of the text consists of:
– The process of enterprise governance, comprising:
- development of enterprise strategy;
- CSR and sustainable development;
- the translation of strategic objectives at the operational level;
- monitoring the achievement of objectives and risk management;
– The product offer creation process.
– The operational processes of production of products and services.
The second part focuses on transversal topics that deserve particular attention, which are:
- digital transformation;
- enterprise culture;
- ethics and compliance;
- brand image and reputation;
- Lean management.
Figure I.1.Sustainable enterprise performance framework
With the goal of helping businesses evaluate their level of maturity in terms of sustainable performance, this framework for good practices was completed based on questionnaires related to each section in the chart.
Summaries of these questionnaires, developed for the purposes of this book, have been tested by interviews in firms of various sizes from various sectors in order to validate their operationality. An excerpt illustrating the approach can be found at the end of each chapter with a summary in the Appendix evaluating the maturity of French enterprises based on these questionnaires.
Part 1A Global Framework for the Governance Process and Indicators of Sustainable Performance
1The Governance Process
1.1. Enterprise governance
Many principles of good governance and codes of good behavior have been suggested over nearly 15 years; the most recent ones place more emphasis on the function of Boards of Directors and the notion of internal audit. Today, we observe a certain maturity among enterprises with regard to carrying out these good practices: reporting the chapter relative to corporate governance in the annual report establishing responsible internal control or even a governance board in certain businesses, etc.
This aspect of corporate governance is oversimplified however, as it does not address matters of value creation, which is central for assuring a business’ continuity as well as its performance.
The model suggested by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has the merit of introducing the “value creation” section, complementing the “risk management” section (see Figure 1.1).
The analysis of existing models in the light of affairs revealed to the public highlights the fact that the human aspect has so far been neglected. It appears that leaders have lost interest in their human resources for a long time (“the only wealth is man”, said J. Bodin on the subject). Therefore, it seems necessary today to rebuild momentum in corporate governance by taking people (decision-makers) into account more, beyond the implemented systems and organizations.
Figure 1.1.Enterprise governance
Finally, in order to think about the many diverse aspects that governance covers, nothing is better suited than the following image of navigation (Figure 1.2). It shows that we must simultaneously:
– know where to go and plan the route to get there (value creation);
– avoid obstacles (risk management);
– make the best of winds and currents (optimization of resources);
– not forget teamwork: “we’re all in the same boat” (people).
Figure 1.2.Illustration of governance principles by navigation. For a color version of this figure, see www.iste.co.uk/leignel/enterprise.zip
It also shows that we cannot neglect any of the aspects and that we must approach all of them in a balanced manner.
Governance must not appear as an obligation; if it is imposed from outside like international accounting standards or regulations on internal control, it will be nothing more than one virtuous component integrated into the corporate culture. However, the essential preoccupation of governance and its administrators must be to assure the business’ continuity through a periodically renewed project with a unique vision that is economically responsible and sustainable by taking human aspects into account, without which a project has no true meaning.
Enterprise governance provides guidance for conditioning operational systems, their coordination and their control in order to meet the objectives that it put forth. It ensures coordination between various processes, which can conflict with each other.
Hence, the idea of highlighting a governance process that is in charge of orchestrating the decision-making process of all the managers of the company.
Indeed, corporate governance is characterized by the decisions made by the management at all levels throughout the life of the company with the goal of sustainably creating value:
1) Ensuring short- and medium-term business development thanks to the pertinence of the established strategy and the optimization of available resources.
2) While simultaneously guaranteeing that risks capable of threatening the corporation are assessed and managed.
The decision-makers’ responsibilities are exercised within the framework of a decision-making process that we chose to represent in the diagram in Figure 1.3 in order to give the management a global vision of enterprise governance that emphasizes the key areas where these responsibilities must be exercised.
Figure 1.3.The process of enterprise governance
The strategy is defined here based on the expectations of all the stakeholders. From this strategy, the objectives are defined in order to improve the business processes to achieve the strategic goals. Projects mobilizing the resources of the processes are launched in order to realize these adaptations. Monitoring, a major component of the governance concept, covers the measurement of:
– meeting strategic objectives;
– performance;
– risks;
– maturity in terms of governance.
However, the diagram of this model of governance is only effective when the human aspect is taken into account, defining the role of the actors in charge of making it work, evaluating the competencies and convictions that the employees have or should have. It needs also to take into account the economic, social, ecological, political, geopolitical, judicial, competitive, media and financial (analyst, rating agencies) environments.
The increasing influence of financial markets leads to certain difficulties in terms of governance. Actors are above all concerned with profit in the short term rather than constructing a sustainable future. As a result, it is necessary to ask oneself what are the values that have to be capitalized on and how it could be possible to make them sustainable. This sustainability depends on invention, innovation and technological capabilities.
In the same perspective, governance faces the issue of externalization and relocation. This phenomenon therefore requires opening up the previous model to the future of the extended enterprise. Thus, an important factor must be considered: networks – their quality, the enterprise’s place in these networks, the ability and prerequisites to access these networks and the partnerships.
The governance process therefore consists of two complementary and inseparable components that will be elaborated in the following:
– the chain of decisions that must be made on various points, all contributing to the objectives of governance to a various degree. The chain is only as strong as its “weakest link” – no one point can be neglected, as it could destabilize the whole;
– the role of managers in charge of making decisions throughout the chain, decisions that must respect good practices so that the decision chain sustainably creates value for the business.
Since governance is above all a human business, the governance process involves actors, who will be different depending on the “link” of the decision-making chain considered.
1.2. Strategic business development
How well the enterprise elaborates its future vision and its applied strategy to attain it, meeting the criteria of good governance, mainly rests on:
– the extensiveness of consideration for the environment and, notably, stakeholders’ expectations regarding the enterprise;
– the involvement of the right people at the right place, in the process of decision-making at the right time.
1.2.1. The global environment
The environment consists of elements that influence the enterprise’s decisions. It consolidates external factors that help the enterprise make decisions. In other words, it is the entirety of elements that are external to business but still must be considered when making decisions according to a systemic approach.
In this open system that incorporates the enterprise and its environment, the enterprise must therefore adapt its offer based on a constantly changing competitive environment, all while maintaining the level of quality of offered goods and services.
Some structural factors that characterize the business environment today:
– the growing evolution towards globalization;
– the arrival of new technologies capable of altering the market balances;
– the greatest conscience of ecological, ethical, etc. considerations;
– the development of innovation and competition: reduction in product and service life cycles, lowering of costs and rapid obsolescence of means of production;
– the growing consumer importance amplified by social networks;
– the change at the societal level: progressive transformation of the industry, modifying habits, new legislation (General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), etc.) and new norms.
The environment, despite its complexity and its restraints, presents opportunities for enterprises. It is therefore absolutely necessary that an enterprise understands the heavy trends that structure it and analyzes its own strengths and weaknesses in order to be in a position to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.
The environment is primarily characterized by several aspects: diversity, complexity, turbulence, uncertainty, volatility, economy, politics, technology, socio-cultural aspects, legal matters, ecology and demographics.
Diversity
Globalization does not mean uniformity. Quite the contrary, globalization diversifies access to resources whereas at the same time expectations become more singular. Our industrial culture that is constructed on mass production and has founded its model on economies of scale is deeply questioned by growing diversity. We must from now on inspire ourselves with other, more economical and agile models.
Complexity
Diversity is a source of opportunities, but the resulting complexity can be a source of disappointment if it is not well managed. However, when properly managed, it paves the way for qualitative differentiations that allow the establishment of a reputation. Norms, for example, offer an enterprise a framework that can lead to excellence if the enterprise knows how to intelligently go about it. When badly managed, complexity becomes stifling.
Turbulence
Turbulence accounts for the agitation that stems from incessant interactions between the many actors that animate the enterprise environment and therefore its resources. The environment depends on economic, social, ecological and financial phenomena such as the Arab Spring, protectionist regulations, the fall of financial markets, etc., which can turn out to be advantageous or disadvantageous for the enterprise. These phenomena often change their appearance with the scales of time that we use to observe them.
Uncertainty
The environment is called uncertain insofar as several contradictory interests compete at all times (the arrival of a new operator like Free or the emergence of the electric car from Tesla). Many enterprises can complain of uncertainty regarding the environment they are investing in. Yet, the instability of resources is the counterpart of their fast renewal.
Volatility
Volatility is everything that is short-lived. With regard to resources, the company must be wary.
Cyclical incentives deemed “artificial”, most often emanating from public powers such as the “scrapping premium” for old cars, momentarily boost sales but lower them even more when they are over. Concerning products and services, they require time to market and manufacturing delays that are shorter and shorter. Even when orders are placed a long time in advance, customers insist on being able to modify them up to the expected delivery date, with the consequences in terms of logistics that one can imagine.
Beyond its ecosystem, the enterprise, wherever it is, is surrounded by a vast set of determining factors whose importance is becoming increasingly preponderant with globalization. Despite their big differences, understanding them is indispensable.
Economy
The economy is now global, but like an orchestra without a conductor, it does not function in unison: one slip-up and everything malfunctions. This turbulence consisting of recessions and prosperous periods of varying length influences the offer creation of products and services. New expectations and trends that accompany them are equally opportunities to renew the offer.
However, the products and services offered by the company must account for the economic context. Indeed, the offer is aimed at consumers whose level of income and their propensity to spend is linked to the economic cycle and to the confidence placed in the policies that guide the country’s economic policy.
If during a period of economic growth with steadily increasing salaries the consumer will buy the latest phone model (for example, the iPhone X) without asking any questions, it would not necessarily be the same in the context of high unemployment.
The consumer will tend to differ their purchases, with basic needs becoming more significant. Even though this logic is not respected for certain types of projects, due to the power of fashion trends, it remains true that the enterprise must pay close attention to economic indicators and orientations given to the economy by politicians.
Politics
In every country, politics tend to protect companies’ employment from jolts in the economy. Thus, politics orients the economy of the country with the decisions it makes, even though its role is becoming less and less a determining factor with globalization, where multinational firms such as GAFAM can be more powerful than states.
Once again, the approaches diverge. Here, one attempts to plan the economy while somewhere else one is convinced that it must be more liberal. Thus, based on the barriers that the State either does or does not put on the importation of foreign products, local companies will or will not have the incentive to invest primarily in a national offer.
In certain sectors, due to their particularity, the State must take initiative and present the main strategic axes and objectives. That is the case we find in France in the sector of renewable energy, where we note that the political guidelines play an important role in the development of more ecological vehicles.
In other sectors, State intervention can prove to be counterproductive, insofar as it most often tries to infringe on the rules of a market that is open to global competition.
Technology
Technology is a particularly sensitive element that the enterprise cannot influence but should at least efficiently look out for. Indeed, the enterprise must remain extremely vigilant to the risks of disappearing if it does not make decisions at the right time with respect to technological change and disruptions in the considered industry. At this level, the enterprise must also know how to take risks (notably large groups that have important financial means at their disposal) by investing in innovating projects. The risk is limited, because if the project fails, the enterprise has only lost a small sum of money, whereas in the case of success, it will have been a pioneer in the domain and will receive important competitive gains.
