Do career paths of top managers and board members evolve over time? A longitudinal case study of Airbus
Résumé
This study examines the career paths of top managers and board members at Airbus, a European multinational enterprise (MNE) that has evolved from a binational (Franco-German) to a global company. We developed a longitudinal case study covering the period 2000-2023 to explore the changes in the cultural diversity of the executive committee and the board of directors at Airbus. Our findings highlight the increasing internationalisation of corporate governance bodies, with the stronger representation of different nationalities. They show that the career paths have also become more diversified except for French top managers and board members whose career paths exhibit remarkable stability, with the dominance of the “Grandes Ecoles” and the previous work experience in public organisations. Our findings suggest that career paths of top managers and board members evolve in different ways and that certain national career models show stronger persistence despite globalisation pressures. We enrich the debates on the convergence of national career models by pointing to the importance of cultural and institutional factors.
