Hostage and manager. These are not two words that you would 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 have taken managers hostage. Why? To negotiate be³er severance packages and benefits For laid-o´ employees. French workers have long been known For their aggressive and radical responses to what they Feel is wrong or oppressive treatment. One French executive said, “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 traµc 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 ²rench 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 Crédit 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 in 2004 Found that 18 oF them had experienced in “executive detention” in the prior three years. The actions being taken by workers, which have been peaceFul and more oF a symbolic protest, are in response to a continuing economic downturn. Although ²rance isn’t in any worse shape than the other big industrialized economies, the country’s “strong tradition oF egalitarianism triggers strong reaction when people think they are being mistreated or when be³er-o´ people appear to ¶aunt their wealth at a ±me oF general hardship.” At Caterpillar’s ²rench Facility near Grenoble, unhappy workers frst went on strike For a day. The next day, they detained the plaint 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 o´.” The incident at Caterpillar Followed others at Sony and 3M, where managers also were held captive by workers angry over being laid o´. Although all 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. Questions 1. Research what HoFstede’s cultural dimensions and the GLOBE studies (Google it) say about ²rance. How would you explain these workers’ actions given these findings? 2. What might the ²rench managers have done differently in this situation, especially prior to the point where workers Felt they had to make their point by taking them hostage? Explain. 3. Do you think something like this could happen between unions and employers in the United States? Why or why not?