Contenu du sommaire : Prix de thèse 2007

Our work is about local and public organizations. More precisely, we are interested in metropolitan organizations. These are public establishments with metropolitan strategic responsibilities such as the development and management of an institutionalized territory. The discussion is oriented towards the paradoxical nature of these organizations.Thus, our aim is to explore the particular case of public organizations with two intentions.First, we want to demonstrate that these organisations experience a situation of paradoxical management. Also, we want to grasp what are the management tools of these organizations. Understanding the modalities of the management of paradoxes is our second goal.The paper is organised as follows. We begin by introducing certain theoretical ideas on paradoxical management that are central to the analysis. We want to explore paradoxes faced by metropolitan organizations in order to understand the inherent constraints of local governance. We then present the methodology of our research process. We illustrate our topic with the results of case studies (Lyon, Nantes, Marseille, Barcelona, Nottingham).

The management of Inherently Dangerous Territories (IDT) represents a major issue for our territories' competitiveness. Indeed, the protection of industries and populations is a fundamental constituent of the added value of a territory and may play a critical role in locating decisions. Since territorial safety bears on the intrinsic performance of companies and the preservation of their competitive advantage, the analysis of IDT typical risk factors is a clear resource of the economic intelligence of firms. This qualitative research proposes elements of theorization for IDT management. Drawing from four case studies, the research highlights the learning capacities of territories facing crises. This approach repositions change management as a complement of the classic engineering of risk. It also invites us to reinvest the modes of governance and development of territories with regard to their dangerousness.

L'objet de ce travail est de déterminer si l'innovation, définie comme un ensemble d'activités volontaires et formalisées de recherche et développement, peut constituer un facteur de croissance pour les entreprises, lorsque les systèmes financiers dans lesquelles ces dernières évoluent sont essentiellement basés sur les banques. Nous cherchons à souligner le rôle du crédit bancaire dans la capacité des entreprises de quatre grandes économies européennes (Allemagne, Espagne, France, Italie) à implémenter des innovations à réel potentiel de résultats. A partir d'une fonction de production simplifiée à capital-recherche, nous avons distingué les crédits souscrits à court terme des crédits souscrits à long terme. Au-delà du rôle joué par les financements bancaires sur l'effort de R&D et la croissance, cette approche nous a permis de souligner l'importance des relations de long terme entre les entreprises et les banques comme vecteur de croissance et d'innovation.

Based on a comparison of the silences and discourses of Economics and Management scientists, this article proposes to identify the constitutive convention of Management Science which distinguishes it from Economics. After arguing consequently that Management Science is embedded in the Sophisticated Methodological Individualism' Paradigm, a model is proposed to analyze the scientific production and definition of this emerging discipline. As an extreme result, Management Science could be seen as a specific approach of Economics sharing a common metaphysical approach with French Conventions' Theory and Economic Sociology. On a more pragmatic view, this essay is an interrogation on the usually defended definitions of Management and Economics' bordures. It also suggests the interest of Action and Conventions' theories to contribute to this epistemologica program.