Rumeurs d’ateliers – Vous avez dit flexible

The Canson-Arjomari paper company was taken over by a multinational whose demands made restructuration indispensable. In a bid to cope with the new situation, the management of the Annonay factory in Ardeche has been experimenting with new forms of participation in the workplace for the last five years, a move that profoundly affected the personnel. The accent was on developing a sense of responsibility at all levels and encouraging initiative. The repercussions of the changes touched on several points – hierarchy, working hours, quality of work – and the reactions were varied. A sociologist and a documentary film maker kept a diary of this process for a year. The film analyses the experience and its implications for both human problems and company management.