Altran Case

Altran Case

Altran is an European consulting firm created in France in 1982, by Alexis Kniazeff and Hubert Martigny. Leader in high technologies consultancy, it operates primarly in technology and innovation consultancy ( about 50% turnover), administrative and information consultancy ( 33%) and strategy and management consulting (17%)

Strategy (1980’s)

Altran first provided consulting on space programs and military projects. It’s business model was similar to an in-house system (all the work was realised within the company) using a decentralized management. The idea was to create a lots of independant units, employing from 10 to 200 employees. Each one of those business units identified its own growth strategy as well as its own investment program while receiving support from central management. This model created a « cross fertilization » of expertise ( the expertise of one unit could be use by another if needed)

Strategy (1990’s)

In the early 90’s, Altran developed a new business model, similar to a temp agency. When needed, the firm’s staff would work directly with the client’s projects. In 1992, (and the Maastricht treaty), the borders in Europe vanished, allowing Altran’s clients to the business in other European countries.

In order to remediate to the situation, Altran began to create foreign partnerships. Unfortunately, this approach proved itself quickly unsatisfactory. Altran, then, decided to launch itself in a vast acquisition program through all Europe.

As a result, at the end of the 2000 decade, the firm had reached a turnover of 1,4 billion, employing more than 17 000 people with 200 branches in 26 countries.

The project

With the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty, the creation of European office closely linked to the EU institutions because necessary for Altran’s management. This project went through 3 phases:

- Phase 1: Creation of the office in Brussels (chosen for its proximity to the EU institutions) with 6 Altran companies (pilot companies)