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The odyssey of a concept and the multiple figures of the entrepreneur This article focuses on the role and economic contribution of the entrepreneur. The role and concept of the entrepreneur have been extensively discussed in the literature. As a result the concept of the entrepreneur has evolved and the entrepreneur is often mixed up with the firm. An historical and dynamic perspective is adopted to study the role of the entrepreneur, and the analysis suggests that the times when entrepreneurs have been particularly active in the economic and social context tally with the emergence of new entrepreneurial stereotypes and forms. The purpose of the article is to link the conceptual and contextual dimensions to study the emergence and raise of entrepreneurs through time. It appears, however, that entrepreneurs often defy aggregation and economic theory. The economic cycles and the spirit of capitalism require that the entrepreneur assumes risk and questions the established order. Today, this is even more true in the globalisation context. We live in an entrepreneurial era : times are particularly favourable for entrepreneurs to move up in the social and economic ladder.

Profile of the manager like explanatory variable of the choices of diversification in agriculture Management Sciences can explain the movements of diversifications in agriculture ; in particular how the farmer performs his choices among the multitude of the possibility. The literature on small business firm generally distinguishes two profiles of manager. According to whether it is undertaking or following, the manager will adopt more or less daring behaviors toward diversification, and will prefer certain kinds. The proactif one will develop innovative activities, more complex, freed from the uses ; whereas the follower prefers diversifications of proximity, in conformity with the local practices. The validation of these proposals on a historical ground of about fifteen cases previously studied in 1991, confirms that the economic preferences and the social references intervene at the various stages of the choice of the activities. But the study also raised some contradictions. The definition of diversification in agricultural sector is not the same one as that is used in management theory. And the traditional opposition between goals of growth and perenniality is not checked. On the contrary, the undertaking managers can justify their strategies of rupture by family objectives, and the growth is often the follower fact. The existence of a normative model conditioning the institutions and mentalities, explains only partially these limits of the theories in agricultural sector.

Contractual incompleteness and uncertainty in work relations The analysis of both the economic and legal aspects of contractual incompleteness and uncertainty of individual behaviour is of interest to management science. The notion of incompleteness of a work contract does not have the same meaning in economics or in law. In economics, it signifies the importance of the power behind the management of the employer, whereas in legal rulings it shows the importance of other normative sources. The concept of uncertainty is likewise the object of special attention within the two spheres : the firm as well as the law seeks to manage uncertainty by using and supervising the work relation.

Decision-making aid through semantic analysis of the interaction in organicube, an enterprise model An enterprise is a complex and evolving system consisting of numerous interacting elements of differing nature. To make a decision and being fully aware of all the possible repercussions is sometimes difficult. This article proposes an original method of studying interactions based on a semantic analysis of the elements that constitute an enterprise, with the aim of demonstrating the effects of any given change.

Methodology of assistance of the structuring and formalization of legal documents In the legal domain, that contains some particularly complex and evolutionary knowledge, it exists a considerable mass of written documents. These legal knowledge are various and can be obtained from multiple sources : texts of laws and regulations, case content of jurisprudence, practiced jurist knowledge, etc. We observe systematization tentatives of system trend conception and knowledge representation strategies, but no one develops a correct « model « that one can generalize. It is the most often, the experience and the inventor's opinion that guide it at the time of operations of system construction. The objective of this study corresponds to a methodological reflection on knowledge modelling in the field of law. The final objective is to extract a formal modelling by translating a natural language text into a formalism of knowledge representation, then to deduce automatically a program. We propose here a process that first consists in restructuring the chosen text, then formalizing the written document. In other terms, we try to finalize a methodology of assistance of the structuring and formalization of legal documents. In order to apprehend the complexity of the structuring problem correctly in its totality, we achieve a detailed and complete structural analysis represented with an extension of the Structured Analysis and Design Technique (SADT) method. Our interest is to define a strategy of knowledge representation to facilitate the knowledge acquisition from regular texts. The SADT method is adapted to the modelling and the specification of the functions of a system to achieve. Its graphic syntax provides a powerful common language allowing to well structure the domain knowledge on which we work.

Earning quality, governance mechanisms and market performance of the Internet firms The aim of this paper is to identify the impact of the relationship between control and incentives mechanisms and the quality of the accounting and financial information on the valuation of Internet stocks. It is shown, on the basis of a sample of 173 Internet firms that a decrease of the earning quality is associated to a concentration of the ownership structure, a lesser CEO occupying at the same time the position of chairman of board and an increase in the size of the board of directors and the proportion of the external administrators. Compensation and renewal decisions of the manager based on the operational performance become less effective. Market performance measures replace operational performance measures. The CEO turnover seems to be the disciplinary mechanism most valued by the market. Direct control mechanisms have lesser importance. Incentive compensation based on stock-options plans comes in the third place. Finally, indirect control mechanisms are least effective in explaining the market performance of the Internet firms.

Validating the strategic alignment of projects on the organisation strategy : The case of the Panama Canal Probably one of the world's most economically sustainable development project was the Panama Canal Project. In spite of the formidable challenges and risks involved, the project was and still recognised as a major strategic success of the 20 th Centur y. What was its secret ? The authors demonstrate that the answer lies in the alignment of the project on the organisation's strategy ; an alignment obtained by the systemic and successive embedding of the project's logistics, operations, and tactics into the organisation's strategy. As a general methodology, the Project Strategy Framework (PSF) proposes a systemic backward induction process that enables decision makers and managers to validate beforehand and during execution the project's alignment with the organisation's strategy.

Alliance networks and power asymetries — Microsoft and the Internet navigators The development of alliances suggests a questioning on the dynamics of alliance networks as well as their impacts especially in the competition field. In this paper an attempt is made to show that alliance networks can be a source of power affecting competition dynamics, as well as the development and technological spread. The study of the role played by Microsoft in Internet navigators market confirms that in presence of a central firm dominating the other members, the networks create entry barriers wich restrain extra-networks competition and forces firms to integrate the established networks.

Performance and decision mesurement : theorical reflexions and a Tunisian cases application The global context in which companies are currently moving is characterized by turbulence, complexity and uncertainty, compelling such companies to be extremely watchful as regards their environment and to gain perfect knowledge of their internal capacities. Starting from the assumption that confirms the existence of a relationship between the company's performance and its strategic choices, that is to say its proper strategy or the strategy of one of its business units, this article of empiric importance, through the application of a model, i.e. the Profit Impact Market Strategy (PIMS) on the level of certain activities within the scope of various sectors of Tunisian economy, tries to determine at least partially to what extent the performance of a company or a commercial activity depends on strategic manoeuvres and how strategic decisions measure the performance, but how at the same time performance is a measuring stick for decisions and/or strategic manoeuvres. – The results obtained show the existence of a link between the performance of the commercial activity (company) and the factors expressing the actions or strategic manoeuvres of Tunisian companies. – This link or relationship is sufficiently confirmed for all commercial activities studied. The results obtained for the Tunisian case study are in accordance with the results of former research work using PIMS in other countries. – The specificity of the Tunisian example is residing in the fact that variables were introduced which were not held back before by the PIMS model and which proved to be very influential on the company's performance, such as the variables related to HRM and social regulation for the manufacturing industry and the variables related to the organisational structure for the service sector.

Attention and Network Organizations : the case of the « cognitive communities » This work is about a specific step of the decision process called « attention ». The first part of this work describes different aspects of the « attention » from an individual and an organisational point of view. In the second part, we speak about interorganisational collaborations, called « cognitive communities », that are not interested in the production of market products and services. These communities are built upon their abilities to create favourable informational and decisional opportunities. 62 head managers belonging to three « cognitive communities » are interviewed in order to understand how such communities may improve attention capabilities. Results show that it is relevant to distinguish two classes with a related regression model in order to explain a level of perceived attention.

Individual and organisational learning in the decision-making process Many theoretical contributions treating of organisational learning are not really settled yet the question of the passage from individual knowledge towards collective knowledge, in particularly in the decision-making. This article tries to clarify this question through an conceptual analyzes, on one side, and an empirical study carried out on 21 top managers, on other side. The results of this study shows, particularly, the importance to call into question the fragmented and linear character from the problem of the transfer from the individual learning towards the organisational learning and to pleading rather in favour of an integrated and constructivist approach.

Industry executives and international mobility : reflections on constructing an identity Today, company life is influenced by this simple observation : all individuals, in their daily activity, are discovering that they are able to position themselves with regard to other cultures and no longer simply within their own national society. Thus, as expatriation practices and business internationalisation diversify, the strategies of multinational firms increasingly rely on processes of socialising their employees, who are seeking to develop and reinforce a « global » company culture, without endangering the cultures of local subsidiaries. Specialists have coined the term « intercultural management ». The role of « company ambassador » is allocated to a new generation of international executives whose mission will be to play an effective role as interface between head office and its subsidiaries — and between the subsidiaries themselves — once they have been suitably « impregnated » with the company culture and the particular features of different markets. The process by which international executives continue to adopt the spirit of the community which they belong to and, at the same time, identify themselves with professional roles by learning to handle them in a personal and effective manner, outside the context of their culture of origin, is a fertile area of study which has not yet been explored to any great extent. This issue has most often been evoked in terms of the mechanical assimilation of company or management values, or in terms of the dual identity which employees are unable to overcome (the infamous « culture shock »). Far removed from this, the socialisation modes of Alpha international executives demonstrate a type of problematic integration, which is shown through a series of experiences linked to the international context. Underlying the immediate « adherence » demanded by managing bodies, a process of reflection takes place, during international mobility, which operates between the subjectivity of management, one's relationship with one's origins and the objectivity of one's social roles. At an individual level, being an international executive is a unique way of living the experience abroad, or rather, several different ways of experiencing identity strategies linked to the manipulation of one's ethnicity in a context of significant geographical and functional mobility. This article also demonstrates that the socialisation of international executives does not define itself through one single global or transnational elitist culture, which will eliminate ethnic roots and national differences. The « community », this set of affiliations, will not disappear in the « globalised » company. Hence, to an increasing extent, large companies can be characterised as favouring a multiplication of areas of social reference, which can partially be used in a strategic manner via the implementation of social mobility based on the diversification of definitions of oneself. Maintaining a dynamic relationship with their ethnic or cultural identifications which they seek to weave together as a life story, international executives confirm that one of the key aspects of business sociology is face to face contact with this « other » person with which one is obliged to cooperate.

The impact of strategic signals, named « mistakes », on relationships between graduates and Managers Based on an ongoing collection, observation and analysis of life stories, the following research shows how information on mistakes in the professional field can be gathered by means of successive sortings. After having analyzed 171 situations of mistake in relation with 139 managers, amongst 1047 life stories, we have underscored that a mistake is a strategic signal, meaning that it is not only a means to review a procedure, but that it is also an opportunity to create a social link, insofar as easy amendement procedures are observed. A double procedure is recommended, aimed at the author of the mistake and his » N + 1 ». From a methodological point of view, this approach is an empirico-inductive application of the Grounded Theory.

The problem of the transfer of skills within euro-Mediterranean alliances : the case of Tunisian and Egyptian firms This paper, based on the study of a sample of 56 euro-Mediterranean agreements, sets out to examine the way in which technological and managerial skills are transferred from one company to another. From this study it appears that European firms see these partnerships mainly as a means to circumvent tariff barriers and to reduce their costs. It emerges also that the motivations of Egyptian and Tunisian firms when establishing contracts with European partners are quite different and seem to vary with time and depending on the nature of their partnership. Moreover, the nature of exchanges that take place concern, at the beginning, mainly the products transferred, but then, with time, they are gradually complemented by the transfer of managerial and technological processes.

The middle managers, levers of radical change Organizational change has been largely debated within the organization theory literature. However, little is still said about the role and motivations of actors involved in organizational change processes. This paper emphasizes the growing role of the middle managers in the management of radical change rather than the top management as stated by Crozier, M. (1991 : 117). Drawing on a literature review and the analysis of two metaphors, we explain why middle managers should be considered as the core knowledge base of the corporation and why they are the most important actors in leveraging organization's radical change capabilities.

E-learning training methods : which organizational coherence ? The inductive approach advocated by the Grounded Theory is applied to e-learning training methods as they appear in the experience gained. According to companies the adoption decision is largely dependent on coherence between the technological environment, the quality of the information system and the training practises used by the companies. There appear to be three main scenarios, which though different are complementary, depending on whether the company's e-learning initiatives have been ambitious, cautious, or negotiated. The advantage that e-learning can bring is as much linked to the internal resources of the organisations as to the managerial desires of those in charge. This situation makes aligning e-learning training with strategic orientations a particularly delicate matter.