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Direction Générale

English translation: Senior Management


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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:Direction Générale
English translation:Senior Management
Entered by: Virgile
Options:
- Contribute to this entry
- Include in personal glossary

05:52 Oct 17, 2006
French to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Management / company structure
French term or phrase: Direction Générale
I always have difficulty with this one - what is the exact english equivalent of this? "General Directorate" never sounds right to me, and "board of Directors" is not quite it either - "general management" perhaps???
TIA for help!
Here it is used in the context of a job description for the "Directeur des Ventes" of a company:

"Elabore et propose à la Direction Générale la politique des ventes pour la France, s’engage sur des objectifs ambitieux, détermine les moyens et les ressources nécessaires pour atteindre ces objectifs de ventes, propose et assure la mise en œuvre de la stratégie après validation par la Direction Générale"
Josephine Billet
Local time: 20:43
Senior Management
Explanation:
Depending on the contexte. May fit better if within the same building/company. If remote affiliate, headquarter would be better I guess

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Note added at 30 mins (2006-10-17 06:22:59 GMT)
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Senior Management at Head Office is a good option!

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Note added at 2 hrs (2006-10-17 08:00:34 GMT)
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I have to disagree with Management board which is, in French, le comite d'administration, a comite that meets once in a full mooon. La direction generale is an executive body who applies reports to the board of management and executes whatever they may have decide. They also take decisions for strategic moves but often need to get approval from the Board. The sale director would not directly report to the board, but to the executive senior management, who would evaluate his report and present their findings to the board if necessary.
Selected response from:

Virgile
Local time: 04:43
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +8Senior Management
Virgile
4 +7general management, headquarter, etc.
Francis MARC
4 +1General Directorate
Carmy Tutino
5 -1Managing director / general manager / general management
Jack Przybylski
4Head officehannalucas
4 -1the Management BoardMarc Glinert


  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +7
general management, headquarter, etc.


Explanation:
*

Francis MARC
Local time: 21:43
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench
PRO pts in category: 14

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  a05: headquarterS
5 mins
agree  gabuss: management
25 mins
neutral  Marc Glinert: headquarters, absolutely no way. The SD will undoubtedly be based at HO himself
1 hr
agree  Jonathan MacKerron: Robert&Collins agrees with "general management"
1 hr
agree  Catherine Johnstone
2 hrs
agree  rkillings: This is the best all-purpose translation, and it should be lower case. If it's clear from context that it refers only to *top* management, prefer 'senior management'.
2 hrs
agree  Emil ILEA: world-wide accepted
6 hrs
agree  Sophieanne: Absolutely not "headquarters", but general management is fine.
13 hrs
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
the Management Board


Explanation:
I don't like Senior Management. To me, this is 'la DG' + a handful of other directors who do not figure on the DG. So it is too broad.
In most French companies, la DG equates to the legal body le directoire which I find translates very neatly and accurately as the Management Board. (as distinct from the full Board, which will comprise external as well as exec. members).
Headquarters or Head Office refers to a place rather than a body and is far too vague for jobell's text.



Marc Glinert
Local time: 20:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  rkillings: No, save this for explicit mention of 'directoire'. It's wrong for any company with a PDG + Conseil.
55 mins
  -> so what would you go with, rkillings, bearing in mind my comments on Senior Management and HO?
disagree  Sophieanne: Management board = comité administratif
11 hrs
agree  234561: See this paper on Direction général GOOD http://www.alcatel.com/apropos/values/governance/document/vi...
18 hrs
  -> 234... my saviour!!
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11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +8
Senior Management


Explanation:
Depending on the contexte. May fit better if within the same building/company. If remote affiliate, headquarter would be better I guess

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 30 mins (2006-10-17 06:22:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Senior Management at Head Office is a good option!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2006-10-17 08:00:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I have to disagree with Management board which is, in French, le comite d'administration, a comite that meets once in a full mooon. La direction generale is an executive body who applies reports to the board of management and executes whatever they may have decide. They also take decisions for strategic moves but often need to get approval from the Board. The sale director would not directly report to the board, but to the executive senior management, who would evaluate his report and present their findings to the board if necessary.

Virgile
Local time: 04:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Conor McAuley: Or SenMan at Head Office
12 mins
  -> You are right, Head Office would be better! Thanks
agree  Karen Stokes
18 mins
  -> Thanks
agree  Rob Grayson
45 mins
  -> Thanks
agree  xxxMaudarg
49 mins
  -> Thanks
agree  MurielP
1 hr
  -> Thanks
agree  divas
3 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  Ingeborg Gowans
5 hrs
  -> thanks
agree  Sophieanne
13 hrs
  -> thanks
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Head office


Explanation:


hannalucas
Local time: 19:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
General Directorate


Explanation:
1. an executive staff in charge of a program, bureau, department, or major subdivision <astronautics directorate> <four main directorates deal with the various aspects of local government -- Brian Chapman> <a 4-man aircraft directorate created to speed up production> according to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionnary.
2. - management
-administrative and technical organization
- public administration
synonyms:
general management
top management board
branch,
according to Grand dictionnaire terminologique

Carmy Tutino
Local time: 20:43
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  xxxmlechevalier
107 days
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): -1
Managing director / general manager / general management


Explanation:
This requires some background explanation:

To me, the job description definitely refers to the *person* the sales manager will report to. Suggest sales policy to "direction générale", implement policy decided by "direction générale", etc. It is crystal clear that we are talking about whoever the candidate will report to, in the company's management org chart.

In that case, would one ask, why does the French use "direction générale" instead of "directeur général" ?

In a French "société anonyme", general management can be assumed either directly by the chairman of the board, in which case he will be called "Président Directeur Général" (aka PDG), i.e. Chairman and CEO, or by someone else, who will report to the Chairman and the board, and who will be called "directeur général". In turn, this "directeur général" may also appoint one or several "directeur(s) général(aux) délégué(s)", i.e. deputy managing director(s).

My understanding is therefore that by using "direction générale", the author of the ad meant "whoever assumes general management" at the company.

Now, my firts suggestion above may be too specific, "general management" could be just as vague as the French wording, however I am not sure whether it will make enough sense to the reader... so my suggestion would be to name the exact management duty we are referring to, whoever assumes it.

Anyway, definitely not "headquarters" or "the management board".

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Note added at 9 hrs (2006-10-17 15:07:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Ok, I just talked to the lawyer next door (that's one of the good things about working in a law firm !), and I was wrong about one thing: a one-board SA with a PDG assuming general management can also appoint one or several "directeur général délégué", i.e. deputy managing directors.

So the SA we are talking about can be one-board or two-board (i.e., either with a "conseil d'administration" or with a "directoire" and a "conseil de surveillance"), and "la direction générale" will refer to whoever assumes general management at any given time: the PDG, the DG (if any), or the deputy DG (if any).

"Direction générale" refers to specific powers within the company, and involves (among other things) being the legal representative of the company. If the company is sued for any reason, the civil or criminal liability (if any) will be assumed by whoever acted as general manager at the time of the prejudice.

In view of that, "general management" is definitely the best choice, so Francis Marc has got the better answer above.

(although definitely not "headquarters).

Example sentence(s):
  • "la direction générale dans la société anonyme était exercée par le président du Conseil d'administration, d'où l'expression communément utilisée de "Président Directeur Général"."
  • Eu égard à l’importance de l’entreprise, la charge de travail du directeur général risque d’être très vite insupportable. Pour régler ce problème, la solution qui est prévue par la loi permet d’adapter l’effectif de la direction génér

    Reference: http://www.netpme.fr/creation-entreprise/172-dissociation-fo...
    Reference: http://www.fidal.fr/Fichiers_articles/affichage.cfm?num=223
Jack Przybylski
Local time: 20:43
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  rkillings: A French SA has either a one-board structure (conseil d'administration) with a PDG or a two-board structure (conseil de surveillance + directoire) with a DG. I agree with "general management" as the best translation, though.
3 hrs
  -> This was true BEFORE the law n°2001-420 of 15 May 2001, known as "loi NRE". See the first link I quoted in this respect. This was indeed one of the main aspects of the reform in respect of corporate law: SAs with a *board of directors* can now have a DG.
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