The French culturalist way: an interpretative approach on national culture

"Managing corporate values in diverse national cultures, the challenge of differences" (hereafter ‘Managing Corporate Values'), is the English version of a French book published in 2009 by Philippe d'Iribarne, Managing Director of Gestion et Société (Management and Society), at CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) in Paris, France. Reading this book, one is immersed in a thorough and original piece of work showing in different cultural working contexts, how relative the meaning of certain values can be: in this instance, corporate values. Such values are not necessarily the same things for different people – nor are they seen the same way. The author, Philippe d'Iribarne, looks at the way a set of corporate values is diffused within a multinational company. D'Iribarne is able to detail how these values materialize in the employees' daily practices in several subsidiaries, thanks to in-depth investigations within the Lafarge group -‘an industrial group with French roots and a humanist tradition' (Foreword in d'Iribarne, 2012). The Lafarge group is a world leader in cement, aggregate and concrete, employing 68,000 people in 64 countries ( "Lafarge - Etude Xerfi "(2012). In this book, d'Iribarne compares what it means to the French, the Americans, the Chinese and the Jordanians to comply with the values defined in a corporate text called ‘Principles of Action'