French Cement Giant La Farge Discovers Turkish Managers

Apart from in Turkey, Turkish managers can also be found in Canada, Austria, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, and The Philippines.

Zaman caught up with the company's vice-president Bruno Lafont in Paris, at the Batimat 2003 international construction fair. Lafont said he was pleased with the performance of Turkish managers. He stressed the importance of good administrators and attributed the success of Turkish administrators worldwide to their experience with economic crisis conditions.

53-year old Lafont had been president of the company's Turkey branch from 1989 to 1994. He knows Turkey and Turkish workers very well. He is one of the four top-level executives at the company and is responsible for the cement working area. We asked if he was responsible for the rise in the number of Turkish administrators at the company, to which he replied: "Not me, they themselves are the reason. It does not matter who you are at La Farge, as long as you are successful."

Yves Clerk, the Central and Eastern European and Turkish regional director is of the same opinion: "Turkey is like a puzzle. It is so hard to make forecasts but having staff educated and gaining experience there gives me hope. They have good foresight." Clerk expresses his admiration for Turkish people's work ethic and resilience in times of crises and hardship. He adds, "you cannot find this in other countries." Clerk, a former navy officer, sums up the difference between Turkish, English and the French workers as follows: "in planning and talking, French, in vision, English, and in practice, Turkish workers are very good at."

Manager of the company's branch in The Philippines, Erdogan Pekenc, who is now at the top-level at La Farge, had been assigned there, as an administrator with crisis experience, when economic problems arose last April. Pekenc was brought to La Farge's Turkey management about 18 months ago.

We also met Ertan Akis, who was transferred to France three years ago as director of La Farge Electronic Trade and Marketing in France. Akis says: "Turkish administrators are not inferior to foreign administrators, in terms of professional and technical aspects, as well as having knowledge of foreign languages. They even have some advantages. The foreigners who experience the least adaptation problems are Turks. We are able to adapt to other cultures without being estranged from our culture."

Lafarge, which has a 14,6 billion euro endorsement worldwide, is the world leader in cement and roof-coat production, second in agrega production and third in plaster production.

Employing 1,500 workers, Lafarge has four cement factories and four grinding plants in Turkey. Turkey is the third biggest group with three agrega pits and second with 20 ready-mixed concrete facilities. In terms of plaster powder and plaster plates, it is the second big group in Turkey. Its total sales for 2002 reached US$204 million.

'In Turkey, I learned about inflation, patience and that banks sink'

Vice-President Lafont says that he left Turkey with a wealth of experience. He learned about inflation, liquidated banks, long queues at banks and patience. Lafont continued: "However, the concept of family, which we have lost here, is very good in your country. You have resilience and strength for crises." Discussing plans to expand in Turkey, especially in plaster production, he said, "we believe that turkey will be one of the best markets in plaster plates." Lafont added that lower inflation was important for the Turkish Lira and if U.S. credit is received, business will be better.

Some Turkish names in La Farge's administration:

Erdogan Pekenc: President of La Farge in Philippines

Agah Durukan: Director of Product Development in France

Ertan Akis: Director of Trade and Marketing in France

Atilla Pars: Auditor of the Mediterranean Region

Nuri Ozkaya: President of the La Farge Cement Group in Turkey

Yonca Atac: Vice-President of the Cement group in Turkey