Not a month now without problems are back

Discussions all-out between Renault-Nissan and General Motors, improperly incurred, bear their fruit And in the event of the constitution of a new trio, the constructor for the diamond will not become the third wheel of the bus, behind two constructors firmly implanted in the United States Whatever the outcome of these ambitious negotiations, Boulogne-Billancourt group can now avail of an asset that will be useful in the future: the new international organization.

Driven by Carlos Ghosn, on the model of what it had held previously at Nissan, it must allow the group to be more agile and much more reactive, stalking drift lower financial or operational in the implementation of its plan, strategic "contract 2009", unveiled in February.

The conclusion was clear: "Renault was not close to the international requirements." The heart of the company, it was Europe. "The functions were before any intended to satisfy the customers of the old Continent," explains Luc - Alexandre Ménard, former Director of international operations (DOI) of the time of former President and CEO Louis Schweitzer, who agreed to scuttle his service (175 people) to take the head of a new area geographic "new look", named "Euromed".

A strong default embarrassing in the armor of the French group, because the expected progress of the sales will occur outside Europe: on the 800,000 additional cars that Carlos Ghosn is committed to sell at the end of his plan (it is one of three contract 2009 commitments), the two-thirds, or 550,000 to 600,000 vehicles per year, must come from the rest of the world. Where the obligation to isolate any time not only the profitability of each region, but even "operating margin of Moldova, and by product lines", summarizes at Headquarters.

The new boss of Renault, itself in charge of a geographical market at Nissan (America) in addition to his title of President and CEO, hammered a very clear message upon arrival at Boulogne: "I want that international is at the centre of the concerns of all functions."

No space at random

The logic of the new organization is very little book. Click dates back to June 2005, in the margin of a double visit to the new CEO in its new plants in Romania and Turkey. "The plane on this trip, Patrick Pelata (former Director-General Deputy Nissan and this number two in Renault) at length explained to me how it worked at Nissan", remembers Luc-Alexandre Ménard. Linchpin of the managerial system is the "area management Committee" (RMC), a device which leaves no space at random, and which confers "extraordinary cross power", says.

Will to a duplication of the system at Renault, where five major geographic areas are delimited: America (without the United States), Africa-Asia, Euromed (of the Maghreb to the Russia), Europe and France. The goal: "moving from a business focused on Europe in an organization where all functions are responsible for the rest of the world and take into account".

But the risk of the system was also "mount an organization ranging with the new region", explains the management of Renault. Also, RMC version Renault is a relatively mild, management control and "verify that the planned revenue will return."

Under the authority of a leader (one of the leaders of Renault who assumes this task in addition to his duties), each regional Committee meets once a month for two days, involving representatives of the global functions of the company. A variety of topics, large or small, are passed in review: transfers of engines of a Spanish plant to the Romanian and Turkish Assembly sites, extension of a specific model (Kangoo) for markets of the Maghreb or Argentina, derives from the costs of transport of components in such area, disparities in Exchange, definition of a more basic and less expensive than traffic utility, on the basis of the Logan, for some developing countries...

A specific dashboard

"The WRC must be a source of opportunities, new business and new partnerships", says the former Director of international relations. But its primary role is to perform in each region plan contract 2009, with a specific dashboard: the objectives of operating margin declined in each CMR, for the next three years. It is also, according to the leader, a "positive conflict management system". In case of blocking or conflict with another region, the Court of appeal is the Executive Committee of the Group (CEG), chaired by Carlos Ghosn, who decides on the key issues.

The important is therefore primarily to put an end to the drift of water records. As this period where Renault has cashed without too react losses several years during the Brazil and Argentina, after significant investment. Not a month, now without problems are back. So, in Romania, the position of purchasing began to derive at the beginning of year, due to variation in exchange rates. Immediately following RMC has decided to accelerate local manufacturing of components, to quickly retrieve EUR 8 million. And for executives soon convinced by the focus on the international, the carrot is perfect: now, a part of the remuneration of officials of the "aggregate functions" the company is linked to the results of this or that region (20 to 50 of the variable part, itself between 15 and 40).