This time it is safe the registry should take

Paternalism I hate this expression. But I have always considered that Pierre Fabre was our father at all. "This joke of Philippe Leroux, doctor in the pharmaceutical laboratory and President of the mutual fund of group Pierre Fabre, was already outdated perfume. The pharmaceutical group and dermocosmetic, who will celebrate his 50 years in 2011, largely began its molt. First index: half of its net sales EUR 1.750 are now performed internationally. That is far away from the birthplace tarnais of the company. It is in 1961 that Pierre Fabre, pharmacist at Castres, created what became the second French independent pharmaceutical laboratory and launched brands such as Parfum, Avène, Galénic, Ducray... The whole growing fiercely independence. To the point that his eighty years from, the entrepreneur without heirs decided to put his group from the "predators".He therefore sent 65 of its capital to a Foundation (recognized public utility since 1999): a France first, whereas before the Act "dutreil ii", August 2, 2005, it was impossible to transmit more than 5 of the capital of a company to a foundation. The Fabre family retained 25 of the capital and gradually gives employees the remaining 10. To date, 91 of the employees Group 9.800 hold 6.9 of the capital, "which represents a total 85 million euros of assets, or about 10,000 euros per employee", on Philippe Leroux. With the expansion of the shareholding employee to 130 countries in which the group is present (is the actual moment in 7 countries), the share of employees should rise to 10 in the coming years.

At the same time, the Group has a new governance: Pierre Fabre SA became a supervisory board company, whose founder took the Chair. But he has entrusted the chairmanship of the Executive Board Jean-Pierre Garnier, who chaired the 2nd global pharmaceutical group, GlaxoSmithKline Beecham until May 2008. After several aborted attempts, Pierre Fabre seems really decided to transmit the commands of the company: "the two men know each other and appreciate since more than a quarter of a century," says Eric Ducournau, Secretary General of Pierre Fabre SA. This time, it is safe, the registry should take... even though Pierre Fabre has kept some joysticks in hand: if he left the Presidency of the drug industry, it has retained the Presidency of the dermocosmetic division.

A no return process

The Director of human resources considers however that the group is indeed engaged in a process without back: "We started to ask about the culture of the society in the years 2002-2003, at the time where we felt the need to enter company - beyond the single breath of the founder - performance logic," recalls Bruno Foucaud. It therefore entrusted a mission to the IAE of Toulouse: bring out the values of the group to decline in managerial practices. A survey of employees (57 of them answered) identified six values: passion to undertake, pharmaceutical rigor, listening to the land, innovation, respect for the environment and humanity. Then, two additional values have been added: the recognition of the performance and cohesion of a group (despite its 3 trades and its 18 subsidiaries). This work also revealed the reeks of a culture, if not paternalistic, to the less family, whose group is shed: the requirement of availability and absolute commitment to collaborators. The Group Pierre Fabre normalizes... all feeling reinforced by the financial crisis: "this crisis marks the revenge of heritage firms," smiles Eric Ducournau. A fortiori in the pharmaceutical industry: an activity in which it is difficult to show tangible results in the short term to the shareholders.