Industrial groups and territories: the case of Matra-Marconi-Space in Toulouse

This article examines the relations between industrial groups and territory (defined as the overlapping of geographical and organisational positioning). It tries to isolate the key factors which determine the way in which industrial groups use territory in business activities - inparticular, the factors linked to the transformation of group productive organisation, and the socio-economic space in which they are located. Thus, the traditional allocation of resources approach is replaced by one that concentrates on the creation of resources. For some industrial groups, business locations provide not only specific human resources, but also various kinds of technological knowledge and skilled service capacity, as well as top-level training facilities. The crucial importance of territory is shown in a case-study of the Matra-Marconi-Space company based in Toulouse.