Contenu du sommaire : Le management des banques

The role of credit rating in a strategy of acquisition. In a context where the financial dimension becomes more and more relevant in the definition of strategy taken by some companies, our research explores a new perspective in analyzing the influence of credit rating in the process of a firm acquisition. We examine in particular the role played in 2006 by Standard and Poor's and Fitch within the competition between steel producers Arcelor and ThyssenKrupp in order to take over the ownership of Dofasco.

Universities on the way to strategic management Chantale Mailhot, Véronique Schaeffer. As a consequence of the diversification of their missions, universities are experiencing changes in their organisation and in the way they are managed. In many OECD countries, the evolution of the management of universities is influenced by the entrepreneurial model. We consider the cases of France and Quebec to show that the actual challenge universities are facing is whether they will be able to devise their own strategic approach internally.

Knowledge transfer in North-South interfirms cooperation. The cooperation between northern and southern firms is creating value by enhancing knowledge thanks to an asymmetry between partners. The part of the knowledge is double. It allows to organize complementarity when the exploitation of existing knowledge is used in known situations. And, the transfer of knowledge allows also to build new situations and new knowledge when the initial situation is highlighted by a perception of complexity. According to each situation, transfer of knowledge is called by “authority” or “by associated knowledge”.

Innovation and creation in videogame industry. How to combine exploration and exploitation? How do small and medium enterprises combine exploration to innovate and develop radically new games and exploitation of existing products? We focus on the videogame industry where firms deal with complex innovations, both technological and editorial (artistic) innovation. Based on 10 case studies of small firms (under 100 employees), two ways to manage the tensions between exploration and exploitation are characterised: project management within the firm, with engineers and developers dedicated to specific projects and outsourcing of creative activities, especially editorial innovation managed by specialised firms which are highly connected with gamer communities. The paper shows that artistic and editorial innovation can more easily be outsourced than technological innovation.

Operational risk in banks: designing a supervision and control framework. The recent scandal of Société Générale has revealed the heavy consequences of risks related to operational disruptions and failures. Under the Basel II Agreement, these risks must be taken into account when it comes to evaluating the banks' regulatory capital. A quantitative approach seemed to be the most logical and thus was adopted by a vast majority of banks. However, this approach has become insufficient in order to control all these risks simply because the severity of extreme events is very hard to anticipate. Using both quantitative and more qualitative methods is now necessary. A qualitative approach should deal with the implementation of an efficient internal-based control system, and more generally, with an overall governance of the control system that might secure safety of the bank's daily operations. This article is based on several case studies and analyses the key components of such a framework.

The integration of the qualitative dimension in the evaluation of credit risk for SMEs. This article aims at establishing the consequences of progress in the evaluation of credit risk within a bank-SME relationship. Thus, the reliability of quantitative approach implies the development of the relational approach. Four case studies with four SMEs underscore the progress lines that optimize the bank-SME relationship. One progress line in particular is the role of banks regarding the misunderstanding and the lack of comprehension of SMEs' managing directors concerning banking offers.

Relationship management in the banking sector: myth or reality? This article deals with the question of relational marketing in the banking sector. First, the authors show that relational marketing is appropriate in this sector. Second they highlight the changes that deeply modify a banker's occupation because banks have diversified themselves in new sectors in very different ways from the traditional strategic activities. These changes lead us to wonder whether banks are really customer-centric.

Which knowledge management for banking organizations? Banks are facing unprecedented challenges of increasing risks combined with a tough competition and a renewal of their employees. It becomes crucial for them to manage their organizational knowledge. This article seeks to identify the most relevant Knowledge Management to meet banks' specific issues. Banks have received however little attention to date and have been rather analyzed with a technological perspective, that is limited. We propose then a conceptual model reconciling the various approaches of Knowledge Management.

New monitoring tools for the banking sector. In this article, we investigate the conditions of the coordination mechanisms improvement in two banks from 2004 to 2007. We explore how the first bank mapped and optimized it organizational process. The processes were already formalized in the second bank. That the reason why we mobilize a specific approach of process monitoring: the convention based management.