Female MBA Rises To Top Of French Industrial Empire

AFTER AN MBA AT EMLYON BUSINESS SCHOOL, SYLVIE GUINARD HAS RISEN TO THE HELM OF HER FAMILY'S BUSINESS. THE CEO OF FIVE YEARS SAYS HER INDUSTRIAL EMPIRE IS BUILT ON THE VALUE OF DIVERSITY.

AUTHOR: Seb Murray
PUBLISHED:
Tuesday 22nd April 2014 19:40:00 GMT

This time last month Sylvie Guinard was back on campus. It was Entrepreneurs’ Day at EMLYON, the leading French business school, and she was a distinguished alumnus. Budding entrepreneurs would have taken note.

Sylvie did not look like your average manufacturing expert. But her CV is impressive and she has been running an industrial empire for the past five years. That is also more remarkable than it may seem.

There are but a handful of female industrial workers. There are far fewer CEOs. There are also less female entrepreneurs and business owners, and less female MBA graduates, although that is improving.

When Sylvie acquired all of Thimonnier's operating company’s shares in November last year, she joined the dwindling list of leading female company bosses. She now owns 100% of the business.

“In France, women have so few responsibilities in the engineering industry that they are not perceived as a threat, but rather as added value,” said Sylvie, who graduated from EMLYON’s MBA program in 2002.

“For me, diversity in all areas is a great enrichment. It is also damaging to have only men or only women [in a company].”

Thimonnier, her family’s business, was started 150 years ago. The company operates in a bevy of different industries – food, medical, cosmetics and packaging, to name but a few. Her ancestors began with a single sewing machine. Today, the company operates in more than 150 countries and has an army of about 60 employees.

“International markets now represent 85% of our turnover,” said Sylvie. “[The] growth drivers of the business are clearly outside Europe. Our playground is global and our direct competition is equally important.”

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