ABSTRACT

This chapter presents a case that focuses on the relations between the multinational company and the town of its founder—La Gacilly in Brittany. This case looks at the power relations of an industrialist, Yves Rocher, with a local community, La Gacilly, Brittany, France. The theory of power sees three dimensions of power: power as decision capability, power as ability to frame decisions and power as control of legitimacy. The aim of this case is to invite students to examine and understand power relations at the heart of the town-company "symbiosis". The municipality of La Gacilly has been the capital of the canton since the French Revolution—a status that helped it develops more rapidly than its neighbours. National and regional development policies in France began in the post-war period. In 1959, Yves Rocher refused to accept the economic and demographic decline that seemed to be La Gacilly's fate and drew up a rural industrialization plan.