Entrepreneurs, towns and regions

The French economic landscape is changing in a way which defies classical analysis of management theories. Finance no longer knows any boundaries; markets are becoming standardised; factories are relocating; major management consultancies are becoming globalised; clones of business schools are spreading; managers increasingly have international careers, all of which makes one think that in the future everything will be managed in the same way across the board. However, the way in which companies put down roots in their local area is a factor which is essential for their success : entrepreneurs need towns and dynamic regions, which in turn need entrepreneurs who are both competitive and attentive to what goes on in towns. However, in France, there are very few formal means of bringing together these different factors which are economic, political and administrative and are derived from separate sets of institutional logic. Nevertheless, initiatives can be taken where entrepreneurs and those concerned with towns and regions are able to devise original methods of collaboration. However, these economic, political and administrative cross-fertilisations are local decisions which are unknown. Finally there are practices which have no theoretical base and are therefore not easy to reproduce elsewhere. There are many aims of the seminar : to pinpoint significant experiences, analyse them and let them be known;; to find research being carried out on local development; and finally, to determine the factors which lead to success and the methods which could usefully guide those taking part.