Management and Leadership:

Comparison between two companies

Ona Peral Català

Julie Tanvé
Professor: Noémi Alpár Vera
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

INDEX

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 3

1. Spain and France: What is the difference? ........................................................................ 5

2. Comparison of the two countries: Hofstede’s theory ........................................................ 6

3. The chosen organizations ................................................................................................... 8

3.1 Carbios .............................................................................................................................. 8

3.2 Nantek .............................................................................................................................. 9

4. Analysis of management .................................................................................................. 10

4.1 Carbios ............................................................................................................................ 10

4.2 Nantek ............................................................................................................................ 12

5. Comparison of both companies ....................................................................................... 14

5.1 Swot Analysis .................................................................................................................. 14

5.2 Pestel Analysis ................................................................................................................ 16

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................ 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBGRAPHY ........................................................................................... 20

ANNEX ...................................................................................................................................... 21

Interviews ............................................................................................................................. 22

2
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

INTRODUCTION

Do you think plastics are not that big of a problem, well let me tell you that is wrong,
because a “7th continent” is emerging in the world and we should be concerned by it. Yearly
more than 350-400 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, out of which 150 million
tons of plastic waste is generated, and 86% of this waste goes unrecycled. The slow
degradation of plastic engages a serious problem for the natural environment, and it is
creating a surface made of plastic microparticles in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean.
Day by day, we see how this is increasing, but plastics have now become unavoidable in our
daily lives, so instead of banning the use of plastic, we need to rethink the life cycle of
materials by attacking the problem from several angles. The axis of the issue is to re-use this
waste, by recycling or reducing it, in order to program the self-destruction of it.

In fact, over the last few years, one of the main concerns of the whole world has been the
environment. People have begun progressively to realize the magnitude of the problem, and
they have seen how we must do something to fix it, or at least to stop the clock. The effects
of climate change are becoming more and more visible as the years pass by, provoking the
rise of social commands and the demand for change. In 2016, in France, many companies
acknowledged the real impact of their activities in the environment and decided to start
working in order to improve it and reduce it. Normally, these impacts are generated in the
field of waste production, climate change, air and noise pollution… This recognition is leading
companies to act in favour of the environment. Carbios and Nantek are part of this dynamic.

In this essay we are going to talk about two different companies, one of them originally from
France and the other one from Spain. Both were born with similar ideological foundations
and their beginnings are marked by the same pattern.

But if the ideologies of the companies are renewed, so are their structures. The start-up
phenomenon arose in a context of rapid and drastic change, where these emerging
companies sought to innovate and generate great profits at the minimum cost. Start-ups are
young innovative companies that are the object of media and political attention. They are
often considered as "cool" and not very hierarchical, they present themselves as an

3
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

alternative economic, organizational, and ideological model to classic companies. The

category "start-up" does not refer to any legal category of company and it seems difficult to
retain certain criteria. We could define them as fast-growing seeds. Moreover, they benefit
from unprecedented institutional encouragement and support. During the 2017 presidential
campaign in France, they even found themselves at the heart of Emmanuel Macron's political
project (the actual French president), who wanted to make France a "Start-up Nation". In
Spain we can also find a similar support, provided through investments made by the ministry
of Industry. The start-up model seems to have become the new face of a technological,
innovative, and globalized capitalism.

Although both were initially formed as start-ups, currently the company Carbios has left this
category behind and has already become a consolidated company. Meanwhile Nantek is a
recently emerged company that still performs under the start-up phenomenon. This one is
experimenting with a non-stop growing process and making sure they build a strong base
seeking for great ambitions expected to be fulfilled in the future.

But what about the business fabric of these two countries, do they resemble or differ from
each other? This is a good question on which to start building our comparison between both
companies and their differences. When we talk about the business fabric, we are referring to
how companies are distributed in each country, how they are divided in quantity according
to their sector, number of workers, and other factors that are usually of interest to analyse.
Before starting, we are going to draw a small outline of how this business fabric is presented
both in France and Spain.

Analysing this data allows state strategies to be adjusted in order to offer companies aid or
other measures that they deem appropriate. This also helps the companies know their
opportunities and competitors within the sector. Each company seeks its place in the
economy of a country and many of them are increasingly looking for more ways to innovate
and make a difference, either through their work or the way they run their companies.

4
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

1. Spain and France: What is the difference?

In France, according to INSEE, there are 3,82M of companies and only 287 companies
are large companies and 140 000 are medium-sized. Indeed, 96% are micro and small
businesses. But micro-entreprise contribute only more or less 20% of the employment. The
most concentrated sector is the financial and insurance sector : 26 large companies employ
74% of employees. Despite their small number, large companies hire a lot, which shows their
importance. The most important sector of activity is business, transport, accommodation and
the restaurant industry, which represent 28% of the total.

Concerning structure of companies, the most common organization is the hierarchical

structure since the 1rst industrial revolution in the end of the 18th century. Most of the
multinational companies have been built following this structure, represented with a
pyramidal form. There are several levels of authority with management at the top and
employees below. French companies normally have one or two hierarchical levels more than
comparable companies in Germany and the UK. It is synonymous with pragmatism and
efficiency. It allows employees to have promotion opportunities, but their creativity as
individuals is not exploited and used to improve the organization's performance.

The French production system still appears concentrated in a few thousand multinationals
alone that generate more than half of the value added and are responsible for nearly 90% of
exports. In contrast, the local economic fabric is made up of several million SMEs, the vast
majority of which are microenterprises: nearly three-quarters of them have no employees
and there are nearly 2 million sole proprietorships. The organization in a group of companies
is not reserved only for large companies: nearly one SME out of two, excluding
microenterprises, has opted for this mode of organization.

On the other hand, in Spain, 99.2% of the business fabric is made up of micro and small
businesses. According to data published by Eurostat in 2013 (Annex. see Table 1), in Spain
medium-sized and large companies represent 0.7% and 0.1%, respectively, of the total. This
situation is very similar to France. The main sector is services, constituting 59% of the
economy, this is integrated by a variety of corporations. From this graph, we observe how

5
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

Spanish micro-enterprises contribute 40% of total employment. Through these data we can
see how people are an important asset for companies, whose form of management can make
a difference.

Regarding the most common organizational structure, as we can see in France, the
Hierarchical model in Spain is also at the top. Spain and France present several differences,
but in many aspects their historical past stems from the same root and it is not uncommon to
find similarities between these two countries.

Today, the choice of organization is at the heart of the concerns of companies that wish to
adapt to their environment. The different models proposed by theorists and experts
specializing in this field opens new possibilities and offers a new perspective on how to
organize a business. The transformation of companies was already necessary, but the COVID-
19 health crisis accelerated this process and showed how important people are.

2. Comparison of the two countries: Hofstede’s theory

Hofstede provides a data-driven analysis that highlights the role and scope of culture
in an organization. It focuses on identifying the constituent part and characteristics that form
the basis of a society's shared values. Through the analysis of the following values we can
determine the cultural dimension of these countries, and make a comparison between them.

Power distance: “All individuals in societies are not equal and the less powerful members of
institutions and organizations expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.” In
France power is centralized in companies and government, but also geographically (ex.: Paris).
Children are raised to be emotionally dependent, which later in their adult life will be
transferred to their superiors. This reflects the fact that employees more quickly feel put
under pressure. France accepts a higher degree of inequality. Spain has also a hierarchical

6
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

order accepted by people. A higher Power distance illustrates the total rejection of those in
power as there is no way to change by evolution but only by revolution.

Individualism: “This refers to the degree of interdependence in a society among its

members.” France is an individualist society that has been taught to only care for oneself and
one’s family. Even so, we can observe how family is a very important aspect of their lives,
similar to the situation that happens in Spain. Although they agree on this aspect, at a
European level Spain is considered more of a collectivist society, which has helped them to
relate to others. Teamwork is natural, employees tend to work this way naturally.

Masculinity: “A high score on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by
competition, achievement, and success. Otherwise, the dominant values are caring for others
and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. These countries seem to be keener to
preserve quality of life.” With a score of 43 and 42 respectively, France and Spain have
somewhat a Feminine culture. In France this may be indicated by its policies of 35-hour
working week, 5 weeks of holidays per year and its focus on the quality of life. Whereas in
Spain, the reason is more about consensus. Spanish children are educated in search of
harmony, and concern for needy people, polarization is not well considered. Regarding
management, managers like to consult their subordinates to know their opinions and,
according to it, make their decisions.

Uncertainty of avoidance: “This dimension has to do with the way that a society deals with
the fact that the future can’t be known.” French people seem to be more anxious about it and
they prefer to have everything structured and planned. They are straight forward with what
they want and there is a strong need for regulations. The situation in Spain is very similar.
People are afraid by change and prefer to have rules that maintain order. On the contrary,
the younger generations seem to break with this dynamic, since they are increasingly looking
for a social change.

Long term orientation: “This dimension describes how every society has to maintain some
links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future, and how
societies prioritize these two goals.” French people are pragmatic. They think that everything

7
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

is a question of time, situation, and anticipation. They can easily adapt their tradition to the
changing times, and have a strong propensity to save and invest, patience and constancy are
the key. Spain is the opposite; people are characterized for trying to live the moment and
don’t worry much about the future. It is a more normative country. They look for rapid results
and that explains why there is a need for clear structures and well-defined rules.

Indulgence: “Without socialization we don’t become “human”. This dimension is defined as

the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they
were raised.” In Spain, people are indulgent. They follow their desires and are less stressed
by norms, whether in France people are less relaxed and enjoy life less often. Indeed, France
doesn’t have a very high score on the happiness indices.

Finally, although we mostly agree with everything, we wouldn’t say that French society
tends to accept more inequality, since lately on many occasions we have seen how they have
fought for their rights. On the other hand, the French tend to be more concerned about their
organization than the Spanish.

3. The chosen organizations

3.1 Carbios

Carbios is a French based company founded in 2011 that operates in the field of
biochemistry, whose CEO is Emmanuel Ladent. Its headquarters is situated in St Beauzire,
Auvergne Rhône Alpes in France. This was created by the hand of Truffle Capital, a business
builder company that seeks to select and transform the inventions of multiple universities
into major technological innovations. Carbios is known for being a pioneer in the design and
development of enzymatic processes to rethink the end-of-life of plastics and textiles.

Since this company was created, it has been growing at high speed, and has received many
investors. Among which stands out the European funding of €3.3 million in the form of a grant.

8
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

This large grant program aimed at supporting innovative projects with a low environmental
impact and proven industrial deployment capacity. Carbios is in accordance with the
objectives of the European Commission.

The company uses all industry participants (collectors, producers, processors, and consumers)
in a sustainable transition to a true circular economy model. They seek to make a more
efficient use of the resources and reduce waste. Furthermore, this enterprise offers
manufacturers sustainable and eco-responsible alternative solutions for consumer markets
(ex.: commercialization of 100% sustainable tires). They are committed to designing solutions
with positive impact not only for the world, but also to feed their long-term competitiveness
in the market and to meet the major environmental and social challenges of our time. Their
model is based on collaboration with all stakeholders.

Since 2020 the company has achieved great goals and has become known worldwide. A
highlight of it, is that they were able to present its objectives during the COP21, which consists
of contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions due to the incineration of this
waste and, more globally, contributing to the preservation of the planet and the environment
by limiting the proportion of plastics in the oceans or in nature.

3.2 Nantek

Nantek is a company created in 2019, the founding partner of which is Carlos Uraga.
This start-up was able to grow thanks to investment. For example, in 2020, they received
funds from a big company called SENER, which is a private engineering and technology group.
Later in 2021 they continued receiving more investments.

The Nantek business is located between two sectors, the services and the industrial, in turn
providing a model of energy renewal and the manufacture of new products through plastic.
This company decided to focus on the purpose of trying to save the planet and close the loop
on plastic waste generating second-life products and raw materials for clean energy.

9
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

To be more precise, said by the CEO of the enterprise himself, "Nantek's idea consists of
installing plants all over the world, so that we develop a technology that really eliminates
plastic waste, so that this material ceases to be the enemy. On the contrary: it It is about
turning it into a useful tool that we know how to manage and revalue without ending up in
the oceans or natural environments.1 "

One of their competitive advantages is to focus on plastic elimination by converting it into

valuable assets for the industry of energy and petrochemicals. While doing so, they take great
care to optimize the way the word exploits natural resources. Efficient production is their aim,
empowering a real and sustainable circular economy.

4. Analysis of management

4.1 Carbios

Carbios uses a functional organizational structure. Initially they were a start-up with a
basic structure but over time they grew up. The principle of the functional structure is to
group employees and resources by function: production, marketing, research and
development, accounting/finance, human resources... All functions are supervised by the
manager of each department. It is technically very efficient. This structure is based on
different activities such as task allocation, supervision, and coordination. The fact that it is
structured in different departments managed independently, allows employees to focus on
their roles and encourage specialization.

Today, it is a public limited company, whose management is ensured by an Executive

committee and a board of directors. The Board of Directors is a collegial body that decides on
the strategic orientations to be taken and ensures their proper implementation.

1Ordeñana, T. (2021, 6 octubre). Carlos Uraga, Nantek: La solución que transforma el plástico en combustible
SPRI.https://www.spri.eus/es/emprendimiento/carlos-uraga-nantek-la-solucion-que-transforma-el-
plastico-en-combustible/

10
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

Indeed, Carbios is divided by different parts:

- The Executive Committee plays a central role in leading the company’s projects,
focusing on the relationships with all the parts and preparing the organizational and
strategic development of the company. This organization ensures that action plans are
coordinated and applied throughout the Company.
- The Board of Directors’ task is to determine the priorities and ensure they are
implemented. Its members have strong complementary expertise in industry,
research and finance and high-level international experience.
- The Scientific Advisory Board is a consultative scientific committee that was formed
to assist the Board of Directors with all scientific issues, by providing advice,
suggestions, and recommendations.
- The Audit Committee is responsible for monitoring the financial statements and
processing the information efficiently.

This organization can be categorized as a functional structure, which is pretty similar to the
hierarchical one. The risk of this structure is that the coordination of the different functions
is ensured only by the management team, so in consequence, workers show more interest in
their department rather than the whole company. As a result, there can be a loss of
information, but also the resources of the different functions will not be used to improve the
other functions.

Thereby, in the company, we find a leader with great experience, who is confident in his
decisions and knows how to manage his employees in this hierarchy. The biggest difficulty in
this structure is the communication between the scientific part and the board of directors.
The complementarity of skills is very important here, because without the scientific
knowledge the company could not move forward. Usually, this structure is more
characterized by an authoritarian leader, but with these newest companies focusing on
progress we see how this has been changing, as it is in the case of Carbios, who uses a
democratic leading model.

Concerning creativity, the company tries to promote listening and good cohesion as much as
possible. Although in the departments related to support personnel, innovation is not a highly

11
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

encouraged quality, since their works are mostly limited to predetermined tasks. Moreover,
its values are oriented towards respect for people, engagement to the planet, innovation for
the benefit of industrial reality and agility for performance. Equality is also very important and
in February 2022, their teams were composed of 43% women.

There is a real desire to have team spirit to create a collaborative dynamic. Good
communication is essential and as much as the manager is present, he tries to listen to
everyone. Moreover, this structure has changed in order to adapt to its needs and demands,
as the company has grown.

Finally, events are usually organized to continue to mix the teams, their cohesion, and the
values of the company. Indeed, they regularly organize information meetings but also
lunches, conferences, and they even participate as a team in marathons ("Run for the
Planet")… For Emmanuel Ladent, it is important that employees understand and share the
company's core values. As he says, if he had to describe the company in 2 words it would be:
"sharing and exchange". He regularly celebrates their projects because for him "it is important
to show that everyone is essential to the good development of the company and to be
recognized for their good work".

4.2 Nantek

Nantek uses a horizontal organizational structure with some variants. Initially they had
a basic structure without any management levels, but over time this structure has evolved
with some levels of hierarchy. Although the model has now been outlined and somehow
redefined it still belongs to the category of a flat organization. This structure is free of
hierarchy pressure, and it is a characterized form of the start-ups.

We find a leader that has great trust in the workers and delegates more responsibility to them.
We could attribute this to a type of liberal and democratic leader who is not afraid to divide
its power. This form allows employees to be more productive and have a wider space to
develop their ideas. This not only gives workers more opportunities to grow on a personal

12
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

level, but also fosters a collaborative group dynamic where they help each other and manage
to develop a final project.

As we mentioned before, this structure is usually used when the start-up is initiating. That is
why this company faced the same problem as many others, the difficulty to maintain this
structure when the company grows. According to Carlos Uraga, they decided to choose this
type of organizational model because they reject hierarchical structures, which they consider
to be typical of previous societies. "I don't see the point of depriving my workers of thinking
beyond, defining their tasks too specifically would only harm my company by limiting our
innovative capacity." Even so, he himself admits that it is a difficult structure to maintain and
that over time he has realized that it is necessary to establish some level of organization. After
1 year and a half it was when they modified their structure by adding two departments: the
investigation and dissemination department. They made a simple division between types of
workers. These departments continue to have a vague name, since below them there are
workers with various tasks. According to the director, this facilitated the leaking of
information since it reached a point where it was too much work to absorb for oneself. In this
way, each department already presents its well-defined projects and demands.

He said that: "To help maintain harmony within the office we have held different "Team
building events". Currently we do not have a person assigned to human resources since we
are still a small company, but our marketing director is the one responsible for maintaining a
suitable work environment”. We see how this company presents a very delicate structure, in
which it is not strange that conflicts arise between employees. This can be due to the
confusion and trouble caused by having the same level of responsibility and holding a similar
position in the company. When despite that employees end up having a different treatment,
we find ourselves in an unequal situation. Having that said, Nantek has not let this create
disruption in the work environment and has really focused on creating and building a pacific
and collaborative work environment.

Currently, at an internal and business level, they do not have a way to celebrate their progress,
since they consider that their company is based largely on group projects, and everyone tends
to collaborate equally. On the other hand, they are not in favour of creating economic

13
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

incentives, since its main objective is to try to innovate to see a change in the world, as the
company itself proposes. In addition, having a simplified structure makes it difficult for a
person to scale within the company, since everyone is generally at the same level. Leaving
this aside, the same director has admitted that when he achieves the proposed goals, they do
go out to celebrate with the companions, either for dinner or for a drink.

5. Comparison of both companies

5.1 Swot Analysis

Swot analysis is a strategic management and planning technique used to help a company to
identify challenges related to business competition and determine what new leads to pursue.

Strengths Weaknesses

- Development of technologies with the -Excessive loss between 2019 and 2021
capability to disrupt plastic industry
-Dilution of shareholders equity through
- Monopoly over 41 patent families issuance of new shares

Carbios - Partnerships: l'Oreal, H&M, Nestle -Inaction of states to implement policies

that encourage companies to reuse their
-Support from European Investment Bank
plastic
and European Commission

-Support of the civil society and visibility

14
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

- Does not have a presence on social

- Simple devices with great
media. Ex.: No instragram
applicability in the industry
- Not a big company = less capacity to
- Being a small company, they can
absorb big deals
Nantek focus more on their clients and
- They don’t accept remote work
have a more exhaustive control
- New technology
- Little but strong partnerships

Opportunities Threats

- Opportunity to improve R&D capabilities - Plastic Ban Policy

through the newly developed
-Copy of intellectual property
international research center

-Development of products to destroy

-Commercialization of 100% sustainable
plastics
Carbios tires developed through PET recycling

-Competition
-Potential to extend the market

-Cost of technology investment

-Update branding

-Liability of Business partners

- Plastic Ban Policy

- Experience in the industry
- Many competitors in the market
- Growing market due to the
- Competitors with lower prices
environmental problems
Nantek - Other companies seeking to be
more eco-friendly buy their
products

15
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

5.2 Pestel Analysis

The Pestel analysis is an assessment of the political, economic, social, and technological
factors. This is a management method whereby an organization can assess major external
factors that influence its operation in order to become more competitive in the market.
In this case, due to that both companies are focused on the same sector and working area we
see how they enjoy the same external conditions. Moreover, the countries where the
companies are based are part of the EU.

Political Economical

- Incitation to fight plastic pollution at the -Global plastic recycling market

global level is expected to reach USD 71,5
billion by 2027
- Increasing regulatory measures across
Carbios and Europe and maybe at the global level -Investment
Nantek (Word Organisation for the Protection of
the Environment)

-Incitation to promote the distribution of

subventions

Social Technological

-A company's CSR activities influence -Promote innovation, R&D

consumer's buying decision
Carbios and -Promote to recycle plastics

Nantek - Raising ecological awareness, sensitising

-Collect plastic from the 7th
- The fear of climate change and its impact continent

16
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

Legal Environmental

- EU and national regulatory -Combat against increasing plastic

pressure for transition towards pollution at the global level
circular economy
-Growing pressures on businesses
Carbios and -Legal disputes over intellectual to become sustainable, reduce
Nantek property rights about licenses their consumption of plastic and
recycle their plastic
-Development of patent laws
-At the same time, can initiate
people to do the same = influence

Making a review on both models:

Concerning the common points, in fact there are many because both have more or less similar
motivations and goals. Indeed, they want to achieve a circular economy by changing the way
we reuse and rethink about plastic. To do this, they have found solutions with new
technologies that can recycle plastic and create a new life for it.

Secondly, they are two recent companies that want to expand their influence and have
growth prospects at European and global level. They encourage innovation because they
believe that in order to find sustainable solutions, the use of science is essential.

Apart from having many common points, our companies also have some differences.
Regarding its activity on social networks, we can see how Carbios is more active and that
makes it closer to its customers. This is a way not only to promote the company and publicize
its main work, but also to show a more human face. On the other hand, Nantek has a website,
but currently networks such as Instagram are of great help to communicate and expand a
project. This can be due to the number of workers each company has. Whereas Carbios is a
medium-sized company, Nantek is still a micro-company, and the coordination of different
areas requires specialized workers. Although in this point this is a weakness rather than a

17
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

strength, in other respects it can be an administrative advantage. Having many workers can
hinder control and execution tasks, while Nantek's small size provides the ideal conditions to
have constant control of the situation.

Carbios stands out for having a higher number of partnerships and Nantek must work more
on it to grow. Carbios has stood out like no other company, as it has entered the market with
a strong footing and has managed to gain great influence at a European level. It's not that
Nantek doesn't have the possibility to reach such a level, but we must emphasize its
emergence is quite recent and Carbios has more years of experience. Having a more
consolidated company also facilitates the confidence of new investors when deciding whether
or not to collaborate with companies.

As for remote work, it can be a problem since the company may be losing a worker to
collaborate with if he or she is not willing to maintain face-to-face work. But even so, we
believe that this is more a question of the company's ideals and that deep down it does not
have an excessively relevant impact on the work that both develop.

18
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

CONCLUSION

In today’s world, these companies have ideals that are totally in line with their time and our
needs. Indeed, the climate emergency is an issue of the 20th century, and the new
generations are the ones who are more aware of it (generation Y and Z). In recent years, a
great awareness for the environment and its preservation has been recovered, although we
know that we have grown with some useful advances and eliminating them may not be the
best solution, rather we must seek to reinvent ourselves. It is not possible to control the
consumption of plastic, but it is possible to find alternatives and these companies have
understood the assignment. Also, the organization of each one shows this will to adapt and
renew itself. For example, remote working is proof of this. Both have already tested it.

The methods we have used to make the comparisons are of great help to any company and
allow us to see things in perspective. Although both companies seem to be well designed and
have a good support framework for employees, we must not forget that this liberalization of
the worker can also bring problems with it. Teamwork is not always easy, and as different
individuals it is common for conflicts to appear. But as we have seen these companies seem
to be managing the problem very well.
However, if these methods of organization and management of work give employees the
feeling of being more autonomous and freer in their work, they continue to be subjected to
forms of control and pressure that are even more powerful and effective because they are
invisible and indirect.

We believe that the power of these companies is in their ability to adapt and enjoy the benefit
of dealing with one of the biggest problems in the world, plastic recycling. We see how they
have great market opportunities, and if they continue at this rate, in the future they might be
one of the main enterprises in the world.

19
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WEBGRAPHY

El tejido empresarial español. (2017, 25 abril). Círculo de Empresarios.

https://circulodeempresarios.org/2013/10/22/el-tejido-empresarial-espanol/

Business Builders –. (s. f.). Truffle. https://www.truffle.com/en

Nantek. (2021, 22 julio). lanzadera. https://lanzadera.es/proyecto/nantek/

Accueil − Insee − Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques | Insee. (s. f.).
https://www.insee.fr/en/accueil

History. (2021, 1 diciembre). Carbios. https://www.carbios.com/en/history/

Nantek. (s. f.). https://www.nantek.es/

Hofstede Insights. (2021, 21 junio). Country Comparison. https://www.hofstede-

insights.com/country-comparison/france/+(OFSTEDE/

Catégories d’entreprises − Tableaux de l’économie française | Insee. (s. f.).

https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4277836?sommaire=4318291

Carbios - Innover pour une véritable économie circulaire des plastiques. (2022, 15 septiembre).
Carbios. https://www.carbios.com/fr/

20
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

ANNEX

Table 1: Corresponding to the Eurostat:

Contribution to employment by company size:

21
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

Interviews
Interview with Carlos Uraga, CEO of Nantek

Why did you decide to create this company and how it has evolved so far?
Currently, the plastic situation is more dramatic than we think. To give us an idea: landfills
currently receive in about ten or twelve years the amount of plastic that they should receive
in thirty years as designed. Something must be done with all that amount of plastic that is
generated in all parts of the planet. Even though plastic is a perfect solution for many needs
we can see the real impact that this material has, so we need to do something in order to
improve the situation.

Nantek arose from research on certain nanoelements and reactive agents that allowed us to
see that there was some potential in the reaction that transforms plastic into petrochemicals,
called pyrolysis. Based on the research and development of these nanoelements and
reagents, we found that we were able to increase the yield of the process and therefore could
make it profitable for the industry. We tried to make this project attractive for the investors
so we could continue to develop our ideas.

Although we are still a relatively small company, the truth is that the company has grown
faster than we expected. We have been very well received by investors and in the market. At
the moment our project is going very well, and we hope to grow more in the coming years.
Currently we already have an elaborate plan for the future, which includes large-scale projects
that I cannot speak about. Although it is true, this industry is increasingly developed and there
are a large number of competitors in the market, but we do our best to make our way.

What structural organization do you use as a company? Why did you choose it? (By
this I mean: you organize yourself through different sectors or everyone reports to
the same person in charge...)
We are currently using a horizontal organizational structure with some variations from the
initial one. As we still have a small size, we have not created many different departments, we
just have included a couple of sectors that simply separate the main axis of the company with

22
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

what is the organizational part. We call them the investigation and dissemination
department. Basically, we decided to do this because it was increasingly difficult for me as a
director to manage all the sources of information and it was a way to make my job easier.

From the beginning I knew that I didn’t want to organize my company with the typical
pyramidal and hierarchical structure, since I believe that it is an archaic form from past times
that limits growth and innovation. I don't see the point of depriving my workers of thinking
beyond, defining their tasks too specifically would only harm my company by limiting our
innovative capacity.

How do you manage the teams? (A more authoritarian, liberal, democratic way...)
How do you build a good first impression as a manager?
When I first started working as a manager, I tried to project a friendly atmosphere to build
trust amongst my workers. My intention in doing that was to make them feel welcome so that
they felt heard and so they knew that they could communicate with me. This served to make
them see that any problem or idea could be discussed and that I would pay attention to what
they were doing. The fact of delegating my responsibility to others was one more way of
showing my confidence in them and seeing how they acted.

We use a rather liberal leadership but without losing that point of rigidity, I try to show at the
same time, the right amount of authority and camaraderie. The responsibility is divided
among all the members of the company, and everyone has the capacity to express their
opinion.

Are workers' views heard? Is innovation important to you?

As I have already mentioned before, for me innovation is the key, since thanks to it this project
was born. So, I do not intend to put any limit to the innovative capacity of my workers and
whenever I can I try to listen to their opinions and advice. I think this is part of the reason why
we work so well. At the end of the day, the workers are the ones who move your company
forward, so the bare minimum is to treat them as equals and take their words into
consideration.

23
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

How do you measure and celebrate progress? (For example, when reaching a goal
within the company, workers receive some type of incentive, be it economic, social,
or verbal; that is, is there a mechanism to celebrate a certain goal achieved?)
We don't really have a specific way to measure progress, we just go out for a drink or dinner
when we achieve one of our goals. The fact of giving incentives when achieving important
goals has come to my mind more than once, but I consider that mostly all our projects are
based on teamwork and it wouldn’t seem right to me to favour some workers more than
others. On the other hand, our organizational structure doesn't give me room to promote
anyone either, so I prefer that my workers keep working to improve the world and not to get
more money.

How do you solve conflicts? Do you do “Team building events”?

We do it the old-fashioned way, talking and mediating. To help maintain harmony within the
office we have held different Team building events. Currently we do not have a person
assigned to human resources since we are still a small company, but our marketing director
is the one responsible for maintaining a suitable work environment.

Do you allow remote work?

With the covid we adapted to a new way of working, but now that it is under control it is not
within our options. We believe that the office environment favours the worker and gives him
an environment where it is easier to concentrate. For us, socialization in the work
environment is necessary and we attribute it as one of the key points of our success, so for
the moment we decided to maintain face-to-face.

24
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

Interview by call with Ludivine Bonnet, from Human Resources

What type of organization does the company use? Why did they choose it?

The company uses a Functional organizational structure, with different departments and
organs which have their own area of competences.

The size of the company is medium, so it is integrated with different areas of work, so it was
a good structure in order to foster and improve communication. It allows us to engage and
associate scientific knowledge with other areas.

Do you do team building events?

Yes, and this is one of the things that I really appreciate in the company. Since I am part of the
human resources team, and we organize some of these events. We organize Carbios's days,
evening parties, breakfast and we participate in events related to the environment like
marathons (“Run for the planet”) or waste collection. The collaboration is essential, and the
stakeholders want to be sure to alert all the employees about the climate change because it
is the base of the company to protect the environment and find solutions in reaction to
climate change.

How does your manager lead its team?

He tries to hear the opinions of everyone. It is not always possible because we are a big team
with 90 employees but when he can he takes time to be present. For example, even if he had
to travel to meet investors or new partnerships, he always tries to be present in our team's
events and sometimes, it's his idea to do one.

25
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

Is it important that the co-workers are innovative?

Yes, but I think it depends on the service. For example, in our scientific department it is very
important and highly incentivized, but in the departments related to support personnel,
innovation is not a highly encouraged quality, since their works are mostly limited to
predetermined tasks.

Do they celebrate achievements?

Yes, we do it through evening parties. Moreover, we have an Instagram account used to

publicize our successes and promote the company. This one allows our clients to see how we
celebrate the achievements and provides an internal vision of the company and how our
workers come together.

How do you evaluate progress?

If we succeed in retaining the interest of big companies, and if we have their trust to do deals
with them, then we know we have succeeded. When we have partnerships with large
companies, it means that we are successful because their waste can be reused through our
system. The more we reduce the more we have progressed.

Do you have a quota? What is the proponent's gender?

We don't have strict quotas, but we try to promote equality. In France, women are under-
represented in the area of science. But in our company, there are 43% of women. It is really
important to have diversity of genders, because every single one of them provides different
working styles and contributes to make productivity better.

26
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

How does your manager communicate?

Like he is not always present at the company I will say that mainly by emails, but sometimes
we can have personal meetings with him, and we even have a contact number just in case it
is something urgent. And obviously, when he is at his office, he talks directly with people.

How does the manager deal with the team? How do the managers deal with
conflicts?

Managers are usually people with good knowledge and skills regarding this area, so they try
to listen properly to people’s demands and have always the actualized information of how
everything is going. When it comes to the conflicts managers are the ones who report them,
but this is something that we deal with here in the Human Resources department. We seek
to understand the basis of the problem and try to work with the emotions that made arise
the conflict. We do mediation sessions.

Do you authorize remote work?

Yes, since the covid, the company has become more flexible in this area and now people are
able to work 1 or 2 times per week at home. But not more because communication is
important, and teamwork is one of the main keys of the business.

What do Carbios hope for in the future?

We aspire to become bigger and still maintain the monopoly of our licenses. Recently, in
January, we built a reference unit in Europe to speed industrial development. We pretend to
do this trough our patents, with which the company can protect its technologies,
simultaneously secure its future growth, and gain a competitive advantage in the industry.

Growth is driven through an intense focus on innovation and the development of new
technologies. The R&D budget takes up 61% of the company's total expenditure. Our

27
 Julie Tanvé and Ona Peral

intentions are to eliminate as much plastic as possible and try to attract new companies with
which we can collaborate.

28