The building up of an identity around the concept of european culture : tensions, projections and success of a specific experimentation

This research presents an analyse of the building-up of an « ad-hoc » identity in a group formed through the merger of several european companies. In particular, we study the relevance of the concept of european managerial culture in the case of EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Group). We specifically set out to examine the cultural and managerial specificities of this group by questionning 313 managers. Our study showes in particular that if EADS has european Basic assumptions (name, headquarter, political construction...), its goals, philosophies and corporate values are very close to the american way of management. We conclude that in a multinational group beyond the quality of post-merger integration, organizational identities, cultural and intercultural questions still apply but can be reaching out by a “project-based structure” where collective and worldwide dimensions are essential for sustainable success.