Hostage and manager.

These are two words that you would not usually expect to hear spoken in the
same breath. However, during the first few months of 2009, workers at manufacturing facilities of
3M Company, Sony Corporation, and Caterpillar Inc. in France took managers hostage. Why? To
negotiate better severance packages and benefits for laid-off employees.
French workers have long been known for their aggressive and a radical response to what they feel
is wrong or oppressive treatment.
Says one French executive, “Protest is inscribed in the genes of French culture. In the past, peasants
protested against their lords.
Today the difference is that the lords are chief executives.” Protesting French workers have been
known to burn piles of tires in city streets or tie up traffic with caravans of farm tractors. In one
instance, striking truckers blockaded roads and highways to highlight their campaign for retirement
at age 55. The labor blockade worked, as the French government relented when food supplies
started to run out. And the tactic of taking the boss hostage has been used previously, as well. For
instance, in 1997, workers at the state-run mortgage bank Credit Foncier de France took their boss
hostage for five days to try and prevent the bank’s closing even though it had been losing money.
Although kidnapping your boss isn’t legal, a French sociologist who surveyed 3,000 companies found
that 18 of them had experienced an “executive detention” in the prior three years.
These actions by workers, which have been peaceful and more of a symbolic protest, were in
response to the economic downturn. Although France wasn’t in any worse shape than other big
industrialized economies, the country’s “strong tradition of egalitarianism triggers strong reactions
when people think they are being mistreated or when better-off people appear to flaunt their
wealth at a time of general hardship.” At Caterpillar’s French facility near Grenoble, unhappy
workers first went on strike for a day. The next day, they detained the plant director and four other
managers for about 24 hours. The managers were released only after the company agreed to
resume talks with unions and a government mediator on “how to improve compensation for
workers being laid off.” The incident at Caterpillar followed others at Sony and 3M, where managers
also were held captive by workers angry over being laid off. Although all of the hostage-taking
incidents were resolved peacefully, some analysts wonder if more violent actions may be in store,
especially if workers feel they have nothing to lose.
Discussion Questions
1. What’s your reaction to these events? Do you think your reaction is influenced by the culture,
values, and traditions of the country in which you find yourself? Explain.
2. Look at what Hofstede’s and the GLOBE findings say about France. How would you explain these
workers’ actions given these findings?
3. We’ve said that it’s important for managers to be aware of external environmental forces,
especially in global settings. Discuss this statement in light of the events described.
4. What might the French managers have done differently leading up to the point at which workers
felt they needed to take their managers hostage in order to be heard? Explain.
5. Do you think something like this could happen in the United States? Why or why not?
The case study is based on the hostage situations of managers identified in France due to various
reasons. The following are the details.

1. The reaction to such situations would be panic and determining ways to provide the necessary
solutions to the workers so that they do not harm any managers and let them go.

2. From the findings of Hofstede's and the GLOBE, France seems to have a high-power distance and
individualism among the people which can lead to disagreements and situations where the
management is not considering the workers requirements. These aspects can lead to such situations
as an outcome of the company's management methods.

3. It is important for the managers to have the required knowledge of the external environment to
ensure that they are able to work according to the particular countries expectations and follow their
culture and beliefs. This will help them to not be involved in any complicated situations.

4. The French managers may not have addressed the issues of the workers properly which led to
such consequences. The instance of 3M company mentioned in the case explains that the managers
were made hostages to negotiate better packages for the workers that were laid off suddenly.

5. Such hostage situations cannot take place in the U.S. because of the work culture and
management style they follow which is extremely different from what is followed in France. The
management of the companies in the U.S. think collectively about all the employees and the benefit
of the company which allows them to avoid any major complicated consequences.

Step-by-step explanation

The case is regarding situations where managers were taken as hostages by the workers to ensure
their requirements are considered by the management. The case refers to a few instances of such
situations and one of them is of the manufacturing facility of 3M company of Sony corporation, and
Caterpillar Inc. in France. There are several reasons for the occurrence of hostage situations and to
understand better, the following analysis is done.

1. The immediate reaction to such situations will be panic and ways to look into the reasons that are
causing such problems and leading to an extremely dangerous and complicated situation. It shows
that there are several issues within the management of the company that are not addressed
appropriately to avoid the consequences. It is extremely disappointing to find out about such
hostage situations for the managers and the aggressive behavior of the workers towards the
company and the community.

No, the reactions to such situations are not influenced by the culture, values, and traditions of any
other country but by basic behavioral and humanitarian aspects that should be considered while
working in any country with any kind of organization.
2. According to the findings of Hofstede's and the GLOBE, France is a country where the factors of
power distance and individualism are prevalent.

Power distance refers to the situation wherein the employees are highly dependent on the top
management for their requirements and issues arising in the organization. Due to this, the
companies in France only have two hierarchy levels which make it difficult for the workers to convey
their issues and its complexities as they are completely dependent on the top management of the
company.

Individualism is another aspect in the people of France where the people are more concerned about
themselves first and then the rest of the organization which makes it difficult for the employees in
an organization to work as a team and think about other employees as well.

Based on these findings, the actions of the workers can be justified because they have been instilled
with these qualities within them since their childhood. But on humanitarian grounds, these actions
are not acceptable in any community in the world.

3. The managers should be aware of the external forces that can influence the overall operations of
an organization in a global setting because it helps them to accommodate the culture and values the
particular country follows and work accordingly to easily mingle in the environment. By doing this,
the managers can ensure that they are successfully able to deliver their responsibilities and not
getting involved in any kind of conflict that can lead to consequences such as a hostage situation.
Determining a strategy to handle the external forces that can lead to complicated situations is
important to ensure that any unwanted incidents do not take place worsening the job environment.

4. According to the case, the situation that would have led the workers to take such extreme steps,
such as taking the managers hostage might be because they were not able to convey their wishes
and requirements to the management. In the instance of the 3M company, the managers were
made hostages to negotiate better packages for the workers that were laid off from work. The
workers had to take extreme steps because they may have felt that the managers and the company
were not being fair to the workers by laying them off for invalid reasons and not acknowledging the
workers' concerns. They considered this act to be justified because they were witnessing injustice
from the company.

5. The situation of hostages and managers discussed in the case is less likely to occur in the United
States because of the management style they follow in the organizations. The companies in the U.S.
create a hierarchy which is approachable and to help the employees of the company regarding any
issues they face. They believe in effective communication within the company with all the
departments and employees to ensure that each and every one is heard and informed of the
important ideas and developments. This particular system followed by the companies in the U.S.
makes it easy for all the employees and managers associated with the company and no complicated
situations could lead to hostage of managers.