Written By The days of operating in isolated silos are over. Business success today demands integration, collaboration and unity across all departments. And no one understands this better than Yannick Bolloré, the Vivendi heir who is set to revolutionize the company’s business model by breaking down boundaries and promoting cross-functional teamwork. In this blog post, we’ll explore how Bolloré plans to integrate businesses for greater success, why it matters and what lessons other companies can learn from his approach. So buckle up and get ready to break down some silos!
The history of Vivendi
In the early 2000s, Vivendi was one of the world’s largest media and telecommunications companies. But by the end of the decade, it was on the brink of collapse.
Vivendi was founded in 1853 as a water utility company in France. It later diversified into other businesses, including energy, waste management, and construction. In the 1980s, it started to build a media empire, buying stakes in movie studio Universal Studios and music labels such as EMI and Polygram.
In the 1990s, Vivendi expanded further into telecoms and became a major player in Europe with its acquisition of French company Havas. In 2000, it merged with Canadian entertainment company Seagram to form Vivendi Universal.
The new company was led by Jean-Marie Messier, who embarked on an ambitious plan to turn Vivendi into a “convergence” powerhouse, combining different types of media and technology businesses. This included buying US telecoms firm Sprint for $34 billion in 2002 and video games company Gameloft for $800 million in 2016.
However, Messier’s expansion spree left Vivendi heavily indebted and when the dotcom bubble burst in 2001, it began to unravel. In 2003, Messier was ousted from the company and Vivendi started to sell off assets to pay down its debts. By 2010, it had sold most of its media businesses and was back to being a water utility company.
The current state of Vivendi
As of 2019, French conglomerate Vivendi is the largest shareholder of Ubisoft, with a 27.3% stake in the company. It is also the second-largest shareholder of Telecom Italia, with a 24.9% stake. In addition, Vivendi owns a number of other businesses in the media and entertainment industries, including Canal+ Group, Havas Group, and Editis.
In recent years, Vivendi has been undergoing a transformation under the leadership of CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine. The goal of this transformation is to make Vivendi into a more integrated and efficient company by breaking down silos between its various businesses. So far, this process has included spinning off non-core businesses such as Maroc Telecom and SFR Group, as well as merging Havas Group with Vivendi’s advertising business.
Looking ahead, de Puyfontaine has said that he wants to continue to grow Vivendi’s businesses both organically and through acquisitions. He has also hinted at the possibility of taking Ubisoft public in order to provide liquidity for shareholders. With its strong portfolio of companies and de Puyfontaine’s vision for the future, Vivendi looks poised for continued success in the years to come.
The heir’s plans for the future
As the heir to the Vivendi empire, Yannick Bolloré has big plans for the future. And those plans involve breaking down the silos that have long divided the company’s businesses. We need to create a more integrated group,” Bolloré said in a recent interview. “The world is shifting and we need to be able to adapt.”
To that end, Bolloré has been working to bring Vivendi’s various businesses closer together, both operationally and culturally. He has also been pushing for more collaboration between the company’s different units. It’s not enough to just have good relations between the different businesses,” Bolloré said. “We need to create synergies.” Bolloré’s ultimate goal is to make Vivendi into a “total entertainment platform,” offering everything from music and movies to games and TV shows. And he believes that by breaking down the silos within the company, Vivendi will be better positioned to achieve that goal.
How this will benefit shareholders
If you’re a shareholder in Vivendi, you’re about to see the company start working a whole lot better. That’s because, as new chairman and chief executive officer Arnaud de Puyfontaine prepares to take the helm, he’s vowing to break down the silos that have long plagued the French media conglomerate.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, de Puyfontaine said that he wants to bring Vivendi’s businesses closer together and make them more efficient. “The group has amazing assets,” he said. “But it is not integrated.” That lack of integration has been a major problem for Vivendi, as its businesses have often competed against each other rather than complementing each other. But de Puyfontaine believes that by changing the way Vivendi is structured, he can make it a more cohesive and successful company. So what does this mean for shareholders? Well, if de Puyfontaine is successful in his mission, it should result in a more profitable and valuable company. That’s good news for anyone who owns shares in Vivendi.
Conclusion
Vivendi heir Vincent Bollore’s promise to break down silos and integrate the company’s businesses is a sign of forward-thinking leadership. This approach to business strategy has potential to bring major successes in terms of revenue, customer satisfaction, cost efficiency, and overall competitive advantage. By leveraging advances in technology and putting people at the center of operations, integrating different business functions could help Vivendi make significant progress towards its goals.
