In 2010, France Telecom has faced fierce competition from other major European telecommunications companies, as well as from the French telecommunications companies. Industry has been changing rapidly, and France Telecom was also competing with content providers, Internet giants and manufacturers, who moved into the business operators, creating a "pressure cooker" for telecommunications companies. In response, France Telecom offers content such as movies and games, as well as the development of new fields, such as e-health and online advertising. France Telecom wants to keep up with its European competitors, which have grown both organically and through mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures. However, France Telecom had to act with caution, as it almost went bankrupt seven or eight years earlier because of debts arising from international acquisitions in Europe in 1999 and 2000. However, according to many in Europe that consolidation among telecommunications companies was necessary, and France Telecom entered into joint ventures in the UK and Switzerland to expand its footprint. France Telecom is also expanding its presence in emerging markets, particularly in Africa, which was higher than the gross profit, but also saw the occasional political instability. France Telecom has been added to the problem is that the vast majority of France Telecom employees were civil servants and therefore could not be fired or laid off. In addition, the environment for employees is becoming more intense and competitive, and people often redeployed several times in order to find suitable jobs for them in the company. In fact, France Telecom was facing a crisis, between early 2008 and early 2010, more than 40 France Telecom employees have committed suicide. The case also includes a general manager transition from Didier Lombard (2005-2010), to Stephane Richard. "Hide
by Robert A. Burgelman, Debra Shifrin Source: Stanford Graduate School of Business 41 pages. Publication Date: June 1, 2010. Prod. #: SM186-PDF-ENG
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