(2 of 2)
Down to a Fig Leaf. Along with ponderation. Dontot has imbued Thomson-Houston with a dedication to long-range economic planning. Though French house wives have as yet shown scant enthusiasm for automatic washing machines, Dontot is convinced that they will come around in time, has doggedly plastered France with posters of a little man loading a Thomson-Houston washer with such enthusiasm that his sole remaining clothing consists of a straw hat and a fig leaf. Such investments in the future have paid off handsomely for Thomson-Houston. Currently, the company is swamped with or ders for short-wave transmitters from new African nations. "It takes over two years to put a transmission facility together." says Chief Engineer Mario Sollima. "We'd be lost if we hadn't prepared."
Along with selling short waves to Africans. Thomson is reaching into other world markets, last year exported 10% of its sales, mostly to Common Market nations. Nonetheless, Thomson, faced with heavy competition, is openly uneasy over the speed with which Common Market customs duties and quotas are being lowered. "We agree with the goals," says one executive, "but not with the timetable."
Discouraging the Wild. One reason for this uneasiness is that, although Thomson wants its share of foreign markets, it prefers to keep France's Mr. Average Man for itself, Generously protected by French law, Thomson is usually able to persuade potential foreign competitors that rather than try to invade France themselves, they stand to make more money by letting Thomson handle their French production and marketing. With ties to General Electric dating from the Le Havre days, Thomson keeps a permanent engineering staff at the G.E. plant in Schenectady, produces under license products ranging from toasters to turbines based on G.E. patents.
Thomson is also adept at discouraging too much domestic competition. Says Dontot: "Competition is good if it's not wild. It has to be somewhat orchestrated." In cooperation with other big French companies, Thomson is sometimes accused of orchestrating overly aggressive little new comers clean out of business through "exclusive dealer" relationships and offers of easier credit terms to dealers than its rivals can afford.
Confidence In & Out. Determined to keep ahead of the technological revolution, Thomson has furnished much of the electronic equipment used in France's atomic tests, currently has its scientists at work trying to find a role for the company in space. Outside the company, too, there is confidence in Thomson-Houston's future. In a recent survey, 50 French stock market analysts were asked to name the company whose stock they thought had the best chance of rising in 1962. Free to choose from the entire array of French and foreign industry, 13 of the analysts picked Thomson-Houston.
* Name derived from that of an affiliated U.S. firm that has long since disappeared in the mergers that ultimately produced General Electric.