Interim Management

Anglo-Franco business cultures differ greatly in terms of mindset as well as employment legislation.

Interim Management, the use of Senior Executives and Managers on a temporary basis for operational assignments, has become a well developed concept in the UK in recent years. However, in France the market is very different and this type of service has not been developed.

This can be a major problem for UK companies with French subsidiaries, especially if there is an urgent need to resolve critical situations at a distance and senior management resource is an issue.

But this is changing with the arrival of the ìDirigeant de Transitionî, services offered by NIM, an Interim Management company based in Paris, who are developing what is essentially an English concept, but adapted to the market ìa la franaiseî!

An Anglo-Franco focus

In October 2001 Stirling Austin started NIM Europe, based in Paris, providing Senior Interim Managers, Executives and Directors, but with a specific difference: an ìAnglo-Francoî focus.

NIM specialises in providing Executives for international organisations with subsidiaries in France, and for French companies with Anglo-Saxon subsidiaries worldwide.

The challenge suits Stirlingís profile perfectly, having spent most of his professional and personal life in the last 20 years between France and the UK. Prior to working as an Interim Manager himself in the UK, he built up the French subsidiary of a UK Plc.

ìThrough my own experience of running a French company and in Interim management, and with a multicultural background, I can understand and relate to the business issues facing English and American companies in France, as well as taking into account a local managerís perspective.î

ìBusiness objectives may be shared by managers of different nationalities, but the methods and mindsets and ways of getting there are not. This creates many problems when dealing inter-company and it is important to work with specialists to find quality executives in France who can understand your business strategy, methods and objectives, and adapt it to the French market.

We are able to provide valuable insight on how best to approach human resource and operational issues on a local basis, react rapidly to critical business situations requiring urgent action and present quality candidates within a very short time scale.î

NIM has now successfully established a presence in the French market and counts amongst its clients both international and French companies, across a broad range of industry sectors.

NIMís status as a legally registered French Interim agency enables the company to provide Interim Managers in France who, in line with French legislation, can assume full operational authority and line responsibility where required as part of the assignment objectives.