June 15, 2018

FV 090 : (Part 2) The success story of entrepreneur Joseph Puzo

40 minutes

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Joseph Puzo is the CEO (in French, “PDG”) of AXON’ Câble, a very high technology entreprise producing cables. These are not just any cables: Axon’ is the provider for the French Ariane space rockets, Airbus aircrafts, the camera on the Discovery robot sending pictures of planet Mars to the world, and many other fascinating projects!

Coming from an Italian family, Joseph Puzo came to France as a young child and therefore French was, like you, a foreign language he quickly learnt. In this episode, discover Joseph’s life journey: you’ll get to see how his early studies and trainings were already telling that he’s always had an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset. Mr Puzo became the manager of Axon’ during the early 1980’s financial crisis. The only way to save the factory from bankruptcy then was to differentiate it from its many competitors and start producing high-technology cables. This became a turning point for the entreprise.

Joseph Puzo will share his valuable experience of the business world. How to stimulate innovation ? How to find engineers willing to work in a rural area? Why is it actually a good thing when your boss is bad?

You can also read more about Joseph Puzo in the short book “Réinventer l’industrie : les aventures de Joseph Puzo”. Listen to the episode to hear anecdotes about how the book was written and why the name “Axon'” may be a revenge on Joseph’s difficulties with French pronunciation when he was a child!

Vocab List

chef (nm) = boss, manager

exposé (nm) = presentation

faillite (nf) = bankruptcy

formation continue (nf) = lifelong learning, continuing education

gérer = to manage, to handle

meublé, e (adj) = furnished

personnel (nm) = staff

résumé (nm) = summary, recap

stage (nm) = internship, training

un mal pour un bien = a blessing in disguise

valorisant,e (adj) = gratifying

Questions:

Which languages could Joseph speak by the time he was 10?

What was Joseph’s first decision when arriving at Axon’ in a time of financial crisis?

How does Joseph Puzo recruit the engineers willing to come and work in a rural town?

Answers:

Italian (his mother tongue), French and German. Not English.

He created a “Research and Development” department and hired experienced engineers.

He offers internships to complete beginners coming from engineer schools, trains them fully and provides them with accommodation (furnished, with the Internet access). The internship may result in a job offer.

Links & Resources

axon-cable.com

“Réinventer l’industrie, les aventures de Joseph Puzo” (Elisabeth Bourguinat, 2015)

http://www.josephpuzo.fr/biographie/

https://www.gpomag.fr/web/interviews/joseph-puzo-pdg-de-axon-cable

https://www.academie-technologies.fr/members/210-joseph-puzo

http://www.tracesecritesnews.fr/actualite/axon-cable-la-tete-dans-les-etoiles-68862

FV 068: (Part 1) Discover the history of my hometown with greeter Marie-Christine Poisson: frenchvoicespodcast.com/episode68

FV 069: (Part 2) Discover the history of my hometown with greeter Marie-Christine Poisson: frenchvoicespodcast.com/episode69

FV 082: Being a mayor in France: frenchvoicespodcast.com/episode82

FV 083: (Part 1) Re-enacting Battles from the Napoleonic era…and why Napoleon is so famous! frenchvoicespodcast.com/episode83

FV 084: (Part 2) Re-enacting Battles from the Napoleonic era…and why Napoleon is so famous! frenchvoicespodcast.com/episode84

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